Message from my Gran

I am not sure if she made this up or not- but I love it.

"You can't find peace by avoiding life"

Words to live by

Monday, February 2, 2009

Running-attachments- etc

Running

After the run at the fitness test and the next five days of shin splints, I was dubious about running. I'd been doing my cardio on the stair master and elliptical without any problems. But...my partner told me that he would start running again if I would agree to join him. That was more good motivation to give it a try. After listening to a number of you (or reading your comments), I went to the Running Company (had a great experience) and left with some new shoes. My salesman laughed out loud when I told him that I had no idea how old my shoes were; but that I remember buying them at Spiece on Keystone. He told me that they were at least 5 years old. No wonder I had shin splints.

I love my new shoes. It took me until Friday to get on the treadmill, but they really did make a difference on the StairMaster. I wanted my first run to be on a Friday as it is the 'lowest push' day. I ran for 45 minutes-4.5 miles- and no shin splints at all. I was plenty tired and a bit sore on Saturday- but the run was really fun. I wasn't quite ready to brave the snow outside this past week. That will come.

Attachments

I am still a bit attached to my heart monitor and scale. It is just the scientist in me- I am slowly trying to wean myself off of the heart monitor- but I'm still way more comfortable with a measurable unit to track the food intake. I haven't taken my food scale to a restaurant yet, but that isn't completely out of the question when I venture out to eat with non-Project members. I am getting less and less focussed on the heart monitor and more in touch with how I feel. I also track it with my silent lip-scincing ability to my I-Pod. My version of Chris's 'difficult to have a conversation' analogy. I may look ridiculous- but it works for me.

Sleep

Sleep seems to be my biggest enemy so far. It is just hard to go to sleep at 9:00. Hopefully, another good thing about running will be that, once the days extend, I'll be able to sleep in a bit and still get in a good run. One of the motivators to get to the gym right at 5:00 was to get on one of my favorite two elliptical machines- but they got rid of them this week- and there is never a line for the StairMaster. So...I may try sleeping in a bit - an extra 15 minutes may feel like an hour.

Calmness

So far, the most surprising thing that has occured over the past few weeks is that I feel alot calmer about just about everything. I'm a type a person, which like everything else, has pros and cons. Now I'm not sure if I am just exhausted, but I get worked up much less often than usual. Focussing on what I'm eating and my workouts are a big help- but this is working!

Food

My goal this week is start cooking- rather than preparing single units of food. I copied all of the recipes from blogs and Chris as a start. I love to cook- but am Norwegian- so most of what I cook is very buttery and full of fat. This will be a fun challenge.

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive!

4 comments:

  1. Great updates! Missed seeing you and Patti and Linda at the saturday meeting.

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  2. Paul,congratulations on the 45 minute run! That is really fantastic! Ten minute miles ain't too shabby! When you are ready, I think you will love runs outside. I had never run under 32 degrees outside before and now I wonder why! Hope to see you soon.

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  3. Hey Paul,

    Congrats on the 45 minute run. I think venturing into new turf can really be daunting, which makes a successful day like you had Friday all the more rewarding. And remember that everyone in the project is faced with challenges, and they don't lick 'em all at once. And there might be some you don't want to every fully lick! Hmm....that sounds strange, but you know what I mean!

    Here's to more runs! By the way: NIFS, where Jen and I go, has a GREAT indoor track. If you ever want to go, I can get you in for free THREE times!!!

    xoxo,

    Rob

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