A Setback

I am really disappointed.  I've heard about "running injuries" but didn't quite understand.  How do you get injured from just running?  I get it if you step into a hole or trip and fall...but how do you hurt yourself from just running?

Well the pain in my right calf has not gone away.  It has intensified and gotten more specific.  It is clear that I am not just "sore" but rather I am injured.  Walking hurts.. a lot.  Running is impossible.  Did a lot of reading tonight on calf strains and it is clear that I need to rest the leg for a few days.  If I run through the pain, which is what I did last week, I'll just make it worse.  Hoping I can rest the leg for a few days and get back on the road.

This is a precarious time.  I could easily "rest" for a week, then two, then more, then the whole program is shot.  I need to make sure I do the right thing here.  I need to give it enough time to heal the leg, but I can't let the program fade away.

Really depressed about this....

Sunday - The Day After

I can see Sunday's are going to be painful days for a while.  I am very sore from yesterday's five miler.  But the pain is a good thing...that's what I keep telling myself.

I went to Planet Fitness today for the first time since February.  I half expected the staff to laugh when a scanned my membership card, but there was no public humiliation. 

I did 30 minutes on the elliptical.  So much smoother than running, no pain in the joints.

Tomorrow is a rest day.  Facing Thanksgiving this week and Thursday is a run day.  I'll have to hit the road before I stuff my face.

The Polar Biathalon

What a great day.  Started at 7AM setting up at Cedar Beach for the Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics.  Then at 12 noon I jumped into the Long Island Sound.  It was COLD!! But it was a lot of fun and I will do it again.  And it was a huge turnout from the community for the first time event.  About 300 plungers!

Then after I got home and all the commotion was over, I still had to tackle long run day.  I did 5 miles today at 2 minute walk / 2 minute run intervals.  Longest effort yet.  It was a little tough, but I was still on a high from jumping in the water so I got through it in about an hour and ten minutes.

Funny moment was running past one of those roadside digital speed signs that show how fast you are going.  It didn't flash as I passed it.  I guess I have to pick up the pace a little!

And the best news is I am down 11 pounds since I began the program 2 weeks ago!

****
5 minute warm up walk
5 miles at 2/2 intervals
1 hour 11 minutes

Saturday weigh in : 279 (-11 lbs total)

A Long Day Finished on the Road

I spent yesterday volunteering at the Suffolk County Board of Elections doing the absentee ballot count for the very tight Bishop/Altshuler race.  I spent about 11 hours sitting on a folding chair in a big warehouse starring at envelopes and ballots.

They are nice enough to feed you lunch and dinner during the process.  Lunch was easy, I was able to order a healthy sandwich.  But of course dinner was the usual Italian take-out feast that I can't eat any of.  Meatballs heroes, chicken parm, fried calamari, lasagna, etc.  I did good...I picked at the salad while others at the table were scarfing down the food and probably wondering why the large man in the corner was nibbling on cauliflower...

So after hours and hours of sitting I got home around 8 PM and still had my Thursday run to do.  Again, having this printed daily schedule is the best thing yet because I know I just can't skip a day.  So out into the dark I went to do my program.  It was 2 minutes jog / 2 minutes walk, 34 minutes total.

Damn it hurt like hell again for the first 15-20 minutes.  Tonight it was my knees.  On the brighter side, the shin splints are getting better and hopefully will continue to fade away.  Once I was out there for a while things started to loosen up and feel better.  But it seems like every time now it just sucks for the first half and then gets tolerable for the second half.

But when I was back in the house at 9 PM and showered and resting, it felt great to have gotten out there, even late in the day and after a long day of complete inactivity.  Not something I would have done in the past...

****
5 min warm up walk
24 minutes of 2min walking / 2min jog intervals
5 minute cool down walk

Back on the Road

As per the program, I took Monday off after just doing the 25 minute walk on Sunday.  Tuesday had me back out on the road, increasing the jog time compared to the walk time.  I did intervals of 3 minutes jogging to 2 minutes walking.  Did these seven times along with the warm up walk and cool down walk.  Total of 45 minutes on the road.

My legs were totally dead last night.  The shin splints are getting much better, but I was cramping up a lot last night in the lower legs.  I just keep telling myself that the weight will decrease while the legs get stronger and eventually, the pain will subside.

Since my last run was Saturday, I noticed during the day on Tuesday a feeling I have had many, many times before.  I kept thinking, I don't have time to run today...maybe I'll skip today and do it tomorrow...I'm just too damn tired to do this today...etc.  This is the point, a week to two weeks into a program, where I have quit so many times before.  This is where a day off becomes a week off which becomes...Program Over. 

The best thing I have dome this time around is actually map out this program day by day.  I simply cannot skip a day or half-ass a day.  If the calendar says I need to do 45 minutes today, then I just need to do it.  I have every day planned out through May 1, which is half-marathon day.

I read this week that Al Roker said he hates running.  He did it just so he could accomplish the marathon, but found very little joy in the training.  I am experiencing a lot of pain and the process has been more difficult than I thought it would, but somehow I am I am finding a lot of joy in the process.  Twisted...

****
Tuesday 11/16
5 minute warm up walk
3 minute jog/2 minute walk for 35 minutes
5 minute cool down walk

Sunday...

Today is just a walk day, to recover from the long run day that is Saturday.  I was pretty wiped out yesterday, but in a good way.

But now we have the latest issue to deal with on this journey...chafing.  I'll spare you all the details, but lets just say that certain body parts are doing a little dance with other parts in a way they haven't done in a long time.  And the result is not comfortable.  So now I find myself researching running underwear (for big guys).  Its funny, every search I have been doing for the past week and a half is always "something for big guys", like running shoes for big guys, running for big guys, exercise for big guys...etc.

Good news received yesterday was that my 2-pack-a-day, 10 year older brother seems to have been inspired by my  message and has vowed to get on the program and run in the Long Island Half Marathon with me in May.  I look forward to sharing the journey with him, and hopefully this will get him to kick the habit once and for all!

***

25 minute walk / 1.4 miles

The Long Run Day

So this sadistic program sets up Saturdays as the long run day.  This week it called for 4 miles of 1 minute jogging/2 minute walking intervals.  I went to the HS track so I could know how far I had gone.  Running the track sucks.  Every lap I see my car sitting there and all I was thinking about was quitting.  At least when you run the roads and do an "out and back", once you are out there the only way you are getting home is by foot.

Despite running on the track, which is softer then the roadway, the pain in my lower legs is still pretty bad.  But I did learn that if you run long enough the pain goes numb, so that's a good thing I guess!

And I thought I was beginning to experience the "runner's high" I have heard so much about around 3 miles.  But I think I was just getting dizzy.  My body is still trying to figure out what the hell I am doing to it.  9:00 AM on a Saturday is meant for everything bagels with cream cheese, the newspaper and a cup of coffee, not dragging your fat ass around a high school running track!

I have to admit, now that it is not quite 10 in the morning and I have finished 4.5 miles on the track, it feels pretty good.


***
1/4 mile warm-up walk
4 miles walking 2 min / jogging 1 min (jogged the entire lap 16)
1/4 mile cool down walk
4 miles = 58:45


Saturday weigh in = 284 lbs (-6 lbs)