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