Once A Runner…

The Road Back So Far (Week Two)

Okay, so I’m still not running, but I know from my past experiences that this isn’t something to push too recklessly. Too fast and too far don’t help worth a bit. So, I’m still walking and not ready yet to start jogging, much less turning loose the demon to run and play like he wants to. I’ve tried throwing in a little easy jogging here and there and found my knees not up to the task yet, so curbing my enthusiasm and impatience is still the order of the day and for the foreseeable future.

I weighed in at 190 pounds this morning. Since February 4, that’s 16 pounds. Most of the early weight loss was just water, I know that, since I’ve restricted my sodium intake severely with the change in my eating habits — cutting way back on processed foods will do that for you, and I reach for the salt shaker only rarely and use it far more sparingly than I used to. Snacking between meals — or instead of meals — and settling on fast food instead of taking the time to prepare a proper meal are also out.

As my body starts to accommodate the increased activity level and I stick to getting in a walk every day, I’m starting to be able to go farther and maintain a good pace longer. I’m not quite up to a 4-mph clip yet, so my walks are brisk but not too brisk. I’m trying to keep the pace down a little during the early minutes of each walk and gradually increase my pace as I go along. This feels pretty good to me. I still feel the urge to hit a double-time as I warm up, but I still have to continue to resist for the time being.

I haven’t started a strengthening program yet, but I have assembled a good general conditioning program that should help to strengthen my whole body. I realize that getting that ingrained as a regular habit is important to continuing it after I finally get healthy enough to run, so I have to get cracking on that in this third week.

The new eating regimen is starting to feel a bit stale. I’ve settled into picking a couple of regular meals and not varying it enough. That’s dangerous, so I’ve dived into Google searches for recipes that either adhere to the diet goals or can be modified to fit it. I never was a fan of meatloaf or meat balls until I found a recipe using very lean ground beef and no cereal products for fillers. I’m going to be making my own beef jerky today so I will have a good high-protein, low-sugar/low-sodium snack that isn’t a handful of dates and walnuts — good as that sounds, it does get boring after a week or two. Preparation time for eating real food instead of processed food products is a bit of a burden in the morning after a walk, shower, and trying to get ready for work, but the meals are worth it and will pay off in the long run.

I’ve back-slid a bit into my bad sleeping habits. I’ve gone to bed a little too late for several nights running this week because I’ve let the computer geek in me have his way about researching and working out ways to make the blog run better and do more that I want it to do. I’m learning great things, but I still need my sleep and rest is a critical component in not only my getting back into shape but also in my settling into a more healthful lifestyle altogether.

In the past, I could always count on a good solid month of working back up to a decent level of maintenance conditioning, but I’ve never let myself fall so far out of shape before. There will be a much longer time frame for this early, less strenuous walking and general adaptation than in the past, but it will eventually give way to a level of conditioning that will let me do more and faster. Patience and perseverance are the keys.

After sitting for a bit, I get up and my right knee cracks and pops so much it sounds like I’m walking on bubble-wrap, but there’s no real pain — just tension and pressure being released. The pain only comes when I try to jog, and it’s not as acute as it was in the first week. Not enough progress yet, but any progress is good.

So, thus far, all is well, but I’ve still got a very long way to go.