Once A Runner…

The Road Back So Far (Week One)

Well, with almost two weeks on this new eating regimen and a full week of walking every morning, I can see some progress. No, I’m not thinner, though some people say I look like I lost a little bit of weight. Instead, I notice internal changes that are far more important at present than changes in my appearance.

I don’t wake up with a headache as I used to do just about every single day before changing my diet. I do wake up with a few muscular and skeletal aches and pains, but that’s just the body reworking things to accommodate activities long forgotten. Past experiences — even though they are from periods in my life when I was much younger and more resilient — tell me that this will mostly pass as I get into shape. There will be adjustments to take into consideration given my current age, so I have to try to be smarter than I have been in the past especially seeing as that resilience of youth ain’t there to protect me from my own reckless enthusiasm.

I sometimes had edema — swelling, caused by fluid retention — in my lower legs, and after a day of standing or sitting too long without exercising the large muscles of my legs to help pump blood back to my heart I could actually press my thumb into my shin and leave an indentation. That’s gone now. And I can actually feel my lower legs — I mean, they feel more alive right now instead of tired, aching, hot and swollen. I give part of the credit to the fact that far less sodium in my diet now means my body retains less water, of course. But also some credit has to go to my actually getting up from bed early and stepping out into the darkness to use my legs for something other than two supports to hold me up — like, to instead move a bit and help my blood circulate more strongly.

I feel far less irritable than I used to, so that’s a very positive thing. I get frustrated less often and even when I do I’m less prone to outbursts now than I was. My wife says I’m much easier to live with like this.

I’m not really concentrating significantly better than before, but I notice a little bit of improvement. More will come in time, I think.

My sleep patterns haven’t fully adjusted, but I sleep better. I wake feeling more refreshed and I don’t lie there for long dreading the act of pulling on my sweats and shoes to go out for my walk.

The sore muscles and joints, however, are part of the game and I’ve really never minded that too much. The stiffness — even after a little stretching, which I was never as conscientious about as I should be — is annoying, but that will become better with time, too.

I’m still not physically prepared to run — much less run well — yet. I’m still too heavy. My muscles and joints aren’t quite adjusted to the increased activity. But I’m chafing at the bit to get there. I have to rein in the urge to run too soon. I will start some sort of “beginning running” schedule when I’m ready, I think, but I have to make sure I’m ready. The exhilaration of a run too early could lead to undoing all I’m trying to do if I injure myself.

Eh, this ain’t a race. This is progress and I have to stay with the plan. I’ve got the rest of my life to run. I’ll eventually get back to a point where I can run and I can say that I’m seriously running for my life, but just not yet.