Once A Runner…

The Road Back So Far (Week Five)

Well, here I am at the 35th day since starting up again with the walking. Whether you subscribe to the “21 days makes it a habit” adage or the one that says it takes 35, I guess I’ve reached the point either way. I feel compelled to get in the workout before I can consider my day as done. I’m on an uninterrupted streak and even my wife accepts that I’ll be getting in the workout before I do anything else that needs doing. I count this a good thing. I’ll need this kind of commitment later on.

I still have to get my sleep cycle settled, though. I’ve been alternating between morning and evening walks some days because I get wrapped up in a book and don’t get to bed on time. That makes hopping out of bed the following morning more trouble than it’s worth. My reading over the past few days has kept me up later than I should have been, but revisiting Quenton Cassidy has been worth every minute. Besides, when I go in the evenings, I get to go longer than in the mornings, with nothing held up but dinner.

Today was an evening workout, and it was — for me, at least — a red-letter day. I alternated walking with some good jogging. I managed quite a lot of jogging, actually — more than I probably should’ve, but it just felt good. I tried to concentrate on good form and quicker steps, so there were a couple of bouts in there where I actually exceeded the intensity that I was aiming for. My Nike+ iPod tapped Joan Benoit Samuelson to do the honors in congratulating me on my longest workout so far (4.66 miles), but I also ran up a better mile time and 5K time than I’ve done up to now just walking.

I weighed in at 185 pounds this morning, so that’s 21 pounds since February 4; 12 more to go before I drop under the “Overweight” line. I’ve said before I’d love to get down lower, of course, to be able to run better. I’ll have to work harder to get there, but I still think lightening up more will permit me to actually run more and better, which would then let me drop a little more weight.

The diet is hanging tough. No real problems with maintaining it, though we have modified it slightly. Oatmeal a few times a week is a good modification, I think. We still make sure to get a portion of lean protein at every meal, along with fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. A while back, we added back in a healthier canola spread to substitute for the unhealthy margarine we had grown to depend upon for our English muffin. This canola spread is only cream, canola oil, salt (90mg per serving, 4% RDA, and we use it a little more sparingly than that), and vitamin A palmitate — no soybean oil, no hydrogenated oils, nothing else weird. Oh, and lately I’ve been craving asparagus, of all things. Go figure.

Homemade beef jerky, fresh fruits, and walnuts have been the snack foods of choice. For a crunchy snack food — instead of potato chips, corn chips, etc. — I’ve got a bag of good, ol’ chiccarones — yeah, pork rinds. They’re low carb, a good supply of protein though they have a good bit of fat in them, too, and they have a satisfying crunch. Eaten moderately, they make a decent snack — if you can get a brand that’s not too heavy on the sodium.

Those nasty headaches I used to be plagued with before changing my eating habits and walking again? None, nada, zip. No tension headaches, no morning headaches, nothing. I used to pop acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or aspirin like candy all day long. Now, I take one 81mg aspirin with my morning supplements, and occasionally I take one aspirin or ibuprofen for muscular or joint aches from my working out. Nothing like before. I’m sure the local WalMart is probably wondering why the demand for NSAIDS dropped almost overnight.

With the success of the jogging I threw into the mix today, I’m feeling even more confident that I can make a go of this. Whether or not I’ll be ready to make a good showing in the 10K at the Cowtown 2009 with my brother next February remains to be seen. I think I’ve got enough time between now and then to work up to decent enough shape to not look like hell trying to stay with him. I’d like to push him a little, too, especially as he jumps into the 50-54 age group with me — they’re running it after his birthday next year, so we’ll both be competing in the same age group. I’d like for us to both turn in decent times and place well.

Yeah, I know — dream on. But it could happen. Time will tell. Patience and perseverance.