Starting Week 1 Again after a break

Hello All,

Yes it's been a number of weeks since I ran last. Two reasons, one: The pain I was in walking much less running was not good. two: I'm a lazy bastard.

After 5 weeks of not doing anything I thought it was best to get back on this horse, but I started by walking two miles this time. I'm the heaviest I've ever been and the running was not working, so I've decided to walk for whatever time is needed to lose the weight so that I can run.

The walk was good and brisk and hot!! It had to be 80 by 7am this morning and it really makes a difference. But I worked up a good sweat and that's what important. I will walk everyday as that doesn't seem to be a bad thing, although I will try to get out by 6 am instead.

Thanks for the comments and concerns to everyone.

Week 4 - Day 2 - More Walking, with a small run thrown in!

Well after taking a couple of days off to let my legs stop hurting and me not hobble around I went for my fast walk this morning. I even tried running for a couple of minutes and sure enough the problems came back. I've really got to figure out a way to do this without hurting so much. I expect a certain level of pain when exercising and being out of shape but this is ridiculous.

I will go to swimming and maybe go to the YMCA and get on an eliptical or something.

Will try again on Sunday.

TTFN

Week 4 - Day 1 - Walking; The other exercise!

After taking 3 days off to let my legs "heal" or at least stop hurting, I decided to again walk this morning. I'm glad I did, as I realized that my calves started to hurt again even without the pounding of running. I'm not pleased that I'm reduced to walking as I'd hoped to be running even further by now, but as I've been told many times "this is a lifestyle change, not a race!". And even though I know this to be true, it's not too encouraging.

I was able to walk approx 2+ miles this morning without stopping and I was able to generate some sweat but not as much as I'd liked. I will try the deep water running today after work and see if that makes it any better. I'll admit the technique for water running feels "weird" but it's supposed to be just as good without the pounding. I'm thinking that if can either increase my stamina or lose the weight to get below 300 lbs that I will start running again and really get this transformation going.

Laura was able to run the 28 minutes straight today that her program week is on and she is doing that with a broken toe!.....I am very proud of her and not such much of me.

Enough of the pity party, I will walk again tomorrow and try to run on Thursday and walk on Friday. If I'm going to walk I think it should be daily!

TTFN

Week 3 - Day 3 - Walk! Don't Run!

Today I woke up and decided that instead of running and further aggravating my calf and achilles tendon I would walk briskly and not stop. I was able to accomplish this quiet well and was glad for the decision not to run. I did not sweat as much as when I run but I did elevate my heart rate which is I guess - the point! I went just as far as I normally did running, I think it's just a hair under 2 miles so that's not terrible and I'll increase it on monday.

I've come to the conclusion that the whole point of this exercise thing is to change my outlook on a healthy life. This is not a race to see if I can lose weight faster or go farther, it's a journey to just be healthier. Those other things will come with being healthier.

It was a beautiful morning for a walk, it was about 74 degrees with a slight breeze and a beautiful clear sky. I've attached a picture of the view that I saw as I was walking back home.

Week 3 - Day 2 - New Plan!

Today I started out with the week 2 program....this entails 6 - 1.5 runs with 2 minute walks in between. I will say that everything started just fine, I was able to run continuously for the 90 seconds without too much additional effort. I thought "hey this is going to work out!" but by the third run I noticed that my right ankle was on fire with pain, the tendon and the muscles were just screaming at me. After finishing that run I decided to walk the rest of the way, at first it was pretty painful but I had to get home so there was no alternative (I did think about calling Laura to come get me at one point) but it got better as I continued home. I made a half-hearted attempt to run again but after 45 secs I decided "don't be stupid" so I went back to walking.

I'm thinking that maybe I should come up with a food plan and walk everyday until I can lose enough weight so the running stops hurting. I'm very bummed out right now and I feel like one of those wimps I would normally make fun of. This is karma's way of saying "Ok you fat bastard! Stop being so judgemental and see how you like being in pain!" so I am learning humility right now.

So I will be walking everyday for the next week or maybe longer to strengthen my legs and get my heart rate up and lose weight, which is what I wanted anyways.

Week 3 - Day 1 - Memorial Day Run!

Got up this morning after an absolutely wonderful weekend with family and went for my run. I decided to take yesterday off instead of run to the schedule. I like running Mon/Wed/Fri and I think that will work best for me. So at 7 am I got up got dressed and headed out. I'd decided that I was going to run the week 1 day 3 run again as I hadn't finished the last two portions of that run completely before. This time, no problem...I'll be moving on the Week 2 program on Wednesday. The one fact that I really liked was that I wasn't breathing anywhere near as hard as I had been in the previous runs, it looks as if my fat body is getting used to running again and my endurance is starting to pick up. So that makes me very happy.

My new goal is to run the Winter Park 5k on July 4th with Laura and Amanda and Lea, after which everyone will come back to the house and we will just play in the pool and watch Jaws that night outside on the 16 foot screen while in the pool.

Laura is really making great progress in her running....I've never seen her so motivated in ANY form of exercise and it's really pushing me to be right there with her. My achilles is still a bit sore and even after two days of rest, it seems to just get aggravated every time I run. It's getting be annoying.

Well since I have today off, I am going to go the range today and make little holes in paper from 200 meters away! Talk again on Wednesday!

Week 2 - Day 2 - Not Motivated Today But Ran anyway!

Well my alarm went off at 6 am as it was supposed to but I was NOT in the mood. I laid there in bed for about 5 minutes debating whether or not I could say I was too tired and that I slept through my alarm. But then I thought about this Blog and the people who've been following it and then I thought about Laura who has been so diligent in her running and said to myself - "Stop being a wimp and get up and go running!" so I did. I ran the week 1 program again and I am improving, I was able to get through the first 6 runs without stopping early and the last 2 runs I stopped at about the 50 sec mark on each. I was really spent after those first 6 runs and the last two were very hard but I did push through. I'm feeling better about my chances of completing this program after today. I am very sore and hobbling around when walking, but I believe that I'll be able to do this and it won't be as difficult as I proceed along.

Yes, I know it's the same shirt as last week but it is very comfortable and it's clean. My pants are becoming a little more comfortable to put on as well so I know I'm making some progress, nothing dramatic yet but I'm guessing that it's around 10 lbs or so. I'm very lucky that in the past I've been able to drop weight really quickly but I usually plateau at around 280 for a little while.

Anyhow I will be running again on Sunday and Laura said she may run with me, hopefully I'll move up to the next weeks' program next week.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend everyone!
Alan

Week 2 - Day 1 - Successful Run Today! Yeah!

Well my calf seemed well enough to run today, so I did. I think I'm going to repeat the Week 1 program since I didn't really complete it last week and to be honest the 8 one minute runs were about as much as I could handle. Today's run started kind of slow as I was "feeling out" my leg and I decided that I should half-step the run as to not aggravate it too much, that turned out to be a good decision. So I turned on my cadences and started the run. It was tough, although not as tough as last week. This time after each run I was just breathing very heavy like a freight train, but I did not feel like my lungs and heart were about to come out of my chest. So I look at that as a positive step. I will continue the week 1 program for this week and bump up to the Week 2 program with the 8 90 second runs next week.

Since I'm in this for the long haul and have no race that I'm preparing for I figure I might as well take this easy and get my legs so to speak.


<<** Gross Out Point here - read at your own risk **>>


I also remember now why I might not have like running in the past, I sweat like a pig. My entire shirt was ringing with sweat and I was disgusted with even touching it to take it off. It might have to do with the extra 120 lbs I'm carrying so it's understandable, just not nice.

Anyways I really want to thank you guys who are following this for the words of encouragement, they really have been great and make me feel like I'm not alone.

Thank You ALL! :)

Week 2 - Day 1 - Postponed due to Calf failure!

Feeling a little bummed as I'm taking a 2 day break from running and starting W2D1 a day later than expected because I've pulled my right calf muscle and it hurts to walk much less run. But I will not let it get me down!

My brother-in-law in Colorado is very excited at the fact that Laura and I have stated that we wish to run the Bolder Boulder 10K next year. In fact he sent a calendar with all the course details back with my Mother-in-Law who was out for a my nephews' graduation. I looked at it last night and was a bit intimidated by it, but I'm sure I won't be the closer I get to being able to run that distance. I'm thinking I need to be able to run at least 15k by the time I run that as the altitude will kick my "sea level" butt at 10k.

Anyhow I hope to run tomorrow morning if my calf stop hurting and I'll walk if it does! I'm not going to stop this trek.

Week 1 - Day 3 - The "Re-Run"

Well this morning turned out a little better than Friday. This time I was able to run half of my runs before my calf started twinging a bit and I decided to walk out the second half of the program. I think I will be doing week 1 over again this upcoming week. The interesting part though is I'd pulled down some Army Cadence run songs to try this morning and I got into it so much that I actually ran 2.5 minutes the first time instead of run 1 minute walk a minute and a half. I totally missed the que that the program gives you. That is very encouraging, because a week ago I know I would not have been able to do that.

My new shoes are really an improvement and my leg isn't hurting anywhere near as much as it did on Wednesday so I think I'm on the right track to healing up. I just hope it's quick as I really want to move on to the week 2 program.

Beyond that I have nothing to report except that I'm starting to feel better and I'm hoping soon that the weight will start to fall off. I'm looking forward to being under 300 lbs.

I've also found a great running forum for us big guys!

http://community.active.com/community/sports/running/newbies

Week 1 - Day 3 - Feeling Like a Failure!

I went and bought new running shoes which feel great and don't seem to hurt my achilles / calf like my old shoes, but apparently I did enough "damage" on Wednesday to have made it nearly impossible to run today. I got out on the road, was doing my warm up walk and I could feel my calf was a bit "tender" but I thought "Hey, I'll just run this out!". Well about 20 strides into the first run part my calf said to me "what, are you crazy?!?!? I'm hurt here, you should just try this some other time!". So I stopped running but continued to walk through the 30 minute program.

Now I know I'm not a failure for being "injured" and I know I'm not a puss for stopping running and not hurting myself further, but I'm not feeling very accomplished for walking. I'm just hoping that I can heal up by Sunday so I can try the W1D3 program again. I may try to add some additional exercise on my "off" days, not sure what type yet. I've done the weight thing before and it's great for building strength and muscle, but you then have to keep doing it to maintain. Not sure that I want to bulk up with muscle which I've done before, because I don't get thin and lean I just get bigger and stronger. Anyhow, I sound like I'm whining now so I'll stop.

So on Sunday I'll try again and maybe my calf won't still be in pain.

Week 1 - Day 2 - I need new shoes!

I got up this morning at 6 am and got dressed to go for my run. I put on my shoes which I've had for 6 months or so. They are cross trainers and I've known that they didn't feel good on my heel for a while. But being the slow witted twit that I am I thought it was me and that I was just out of shape, which I am, but that I would "work through" this small inconvenience. I was wrong. Again.

I got out on the road in front of my house and began the warm up walk and everything seemed ok, in fact things seemed better than OK. I felt a new sense of purpose and like I was doing something really good, but my achilles tendon was still very sore and achey. I powered through it and started my run, that first minute was so different than two days ago that I felt great and I thought "Hey this is getting easier already...Wow!". I got to the first walking part after that minute and I started to feel a little more pain, but again I thought that I should just power through it. The second minute run was good too, as well as the third. But when it came time to start the fourth run, my achilles just screamed bloody murder and I fell down to the ground clutching my ankle.......first, it did NOT pop, it just hurt like hell and I decided that it was time to walk back home. So I hobbled back to the house and took a shower. I am buying new shoes today, specifically RUNNING SHOES. I am not going to ruin my chances of getting healthier over a stupid pair of shoes, I may just burn the ones I have now.

So I took away two things from this experience: First - I can already tell that my heart and endurance are starting to improve, thus encouraging me further. Second - always get the right equipment, I do for every other hobby I've had and I still subscribe to that theory. I happy that people all over the world can do great things without the proper equipment and that's great for them. But I'll bet you a dozen donuts that if they HAD the choice they'd get good stuff too.

And now for the moment we all dread, my post-run picture! And don't make fun of the shirt, at least I'm wearing one for now. :)

Week 1 - Day 1 - "Oh my God am I out of shape!"

May 16, 2011 - Week 1 Day 1

Well this morning I decided that I'd had enough of being 6'2" 340 lbs. I'm 43 years old and at several times in my life, I'd been in shape. When I was young and a teenager I could play all day or run sprints or play soccer for hours at a time. Then I stopped, went to college and got chubby and then joined the Army. In the Army, I battled my weight but I could run forever (15 miles, that's a lot for me at least) and was in great shape. I got out and the start of a long love affair with food and smoking made me the wreck I am today. It's starts slow, first you go from a 36" waist to a 38" and you think, that's ok. What did you expect? Then you hit a 40" waist and you say to yourself, you know you are a man who is growing older and you're working and not exercising, you still have your hair! Then several years go by, about 20, and you wake up to realize that you have a 50" waist and you can't walk up 3 flights of stairs without getting winded.

Now a couple of times over the last 10 years or so, I've rallied and done the Body for Life program and lost a total of about 120 lbs over the two or three times I've tried. It is great, and it works, but it requires a lot more work than I had time for. First of all for the last 11 years I've been a consultant who has traveled every week to different places around the U.S. and some out of country locations. It's not really conducive for me to maintain any kind of regular discipline or exercise. It's not the jobs fault, It's mine, but I just would fail and keeping a regular schedule and therefore give up. Plus Body For Life requires a closer adherence to diet than I was able to maintain.

So now I'm home and my wife, Laura, has been doing the C25K program for 5 weeks and it is making a huge difference in her. Not only in her appearance but her attitude is much improved. I am supremely proud of her and will do anything to support her. With that being said, I'm also jealous of her ability to stick this out, she hasn't exactly done so in the past so I'm really impressed right now. But I couldn't let her be the only thin parent in the house so I decided to start as well.

First, let me say that during the run I felt like an idiot for all those years of smoking. I still miss the initially feeling of that first morning smoke, but when you're hacking up half a lung or at least feel like you're hacking up half a lung. It puts a different perspective on that habit. I was able to complete the days' program of walk 5 min, then (run 1 min, then walk 1.5 min) X 8 then walk 5 min. My legs are very sore and I feel like an old man, but just like when I was in the Army; I never fell out of a run! I would sooner fall over on the ground than give up running.

I figure I'll also state my other goal here: To Lose 100 lbs in 1 Year. When I get to a weight of 235 or lower then I will feel like I've accomplished something. Now it took me 20 years to gain all this weight and I think it'll take me a year (or more) to get rid of it all. I want to run the "Bolder Boulder" in June 2012 with Brian (brother-in-law) and Laura!

So off I go on this Journey and I hope I see some interesting things along the way!