I Don't Like Mondays

Anyone remember the song by the Boomtown Rats? I actually don't mind Mondays, but after a tough run this morning the song popped into my head. My plan called for an easy 3 miles today, but it was anything but easy. I went over to the nearby Westchester subdivision, the temp and humidity were not unreasonable for 8:30AM, about 80 degrees/40% humidity.

I felt fine starting out, then my left knee started feeling "wonky." Wonky is a "medical term" that I learned from my wife to describe her ankle. It wasn't painful, just a slight discomfort. At about 1.25 miles, I started to feel some discomfort in my left shin, and then a short time later in my left exterior ankle. I pushed ahead, but at mile 2 decided to walk for a period to see if that would help. I started back up, running another 1/2 mile before deciding that it wasn't worth pushing it another 1/2 mile to reach today's goal. I walked the rest of the way back to the car.

I'm assuming the "pain" today is a result of running the 7.5 on Saturday. Even though it was at a very easy pace, it was still much longer than my body has run a month. I'll see how it feels tomorrow and give it an extra day of rest if needed.

I ran by and picked up a large Dunkin' Donuts coffee (decaf, one Splenda and skim milk). The woman in front of me got a medium with 5 Splendas! Like it sweet much sweetie? I did show good restraint passing on all other temptations, even though I wanted the eclair really bad.

After getting back home, I completed Week 1 Day 2 of the 100 Push up Challenge.

A quick note on Sunday. We had another amazing church service at NewSpring. Then went with Eric, Rob and Heather to lunch at the Liberty Tap Room. Unfortunately it was not as good as last week. We chilled a bit in the afternoon, and then drove the 2 hours to Columbia for the 3Day Film Festival. Over 30 students (middle and high school) had entered and only 3 got completed projects done. Chelsea was one of three and did a really terrific job with her first "public" film. I'll post a link one she posts it on youtube. As you can probably tell, I'm a very proud dad of an amazingly talented daughter. Heather was the actress in the film (along with a white rat) and she also did a really good job. Nice to see sisters getting along and working towards a common goal.

3 Miles on Dreadmill

As Dexter Poindexter would say, today was "HOT, HOT, HOT!" Okay, I'm showing my age with the Dexter Poindexter reference, but it was hot in Warner Robins, GA. When I got into my car to leave the restaurant around 3:00, the exterior temp showed 106 degrees. A local nearby bank showed 107. Weather.com showed 100 with heat index of 105. It was way to hot to start my training outdoors on the pavement, even as the sun retreated in the afternoon.

That left the dreaded hotel treadmill. By hotel standards, the two available TM's were not horrible. I choose the better of the two. My plan was an easy 3 miles with a 1/4 mile warm up and cool down walk. As I started turning the speed up, the TM started screaming at me to slow down, or was that my body speaking to me? It has been about a month since I ran 3 miles, Peachtree 10K probably. I started out very slow, much slower than I have ever run, and gradually increased the speed throughout the run.

I was not going for records today. This is day 1 of 33 weeks. The goal is to start slow, build slow and stay injury free. While I start getting my endurance back, I also want to start on some strength and core. To that extent, I finally started Week 1, Day 1 (W1D1) of the 100 Push up Challenge. I know, I blogged about it some time back. It's time. In addition, it's also time to begin focusing on eating properly again. After the run, I headed off to Subway for a foot long Turkey Breast on wheat, baked chips, and good old H20. Most importantly, I PASSED on the cookies, my weakness when visiting Subway.

I'd like to drop 8 pounds minimum to get back below the Mendoza line (199) and would love to get down to 190 pounds, or 17 pounds. I know this would not only improve my overall health but also take some of the strain of running off my body. Research says that each pound dropped equals about a 2 second per mile improvement in running speed. Wouldn't that be nice!

It feels great to once again have some goal races and a training plan in place. Day one is in the books. Stay tuned...

Time to stop slacking

It's been almost two weeks since I last wrote a blog. It's been over two weeks since I last ran. I'm beginning to feel it. Weight up slightly, old bad habits starting to kick back in. It's time to re-commit.

Commit to running 3-4 times a week. Commit to watching what I'm eating, and tracking food in Spark People. Commit to drinking 80+ ounces of water a day. Commit to finally starting the 100 Push Up Challenge. Commit to some Ab exercises.

I've worked far to hard in the past year and half to get my weight down and improve my overall fitness level. Hell, I ran a freaking marathon just two months ago.

Three months until Spinx Runfest Half Marathon. My goal is sub 2:00. I know I can do it, and now it's time to get back on track and stop procrastinating. I can, I have, I will.

One Hundred Push Ups

I've procrastinated long enough. I've told Gerri over and over again that I was going to work on my core. The excuses are always the same, I'll start "after the 1st of the year", "after the Tybee Half", and finally "after the Vermont Marathon." It's time for me to step up.

Now I know that push ups are exactly a core workout, but they certainly will help the core. I'll also find an abdominal workout to use along with this challenge. This will be a struggle, but isn't everyone worthwhile that we do?

I found this challenge while reading the Shut It and Run blog. Mar is another Greenville runner and a fast one at that. I found her blog after a link was posted on the Greenville Track Club website.

Anyone care to join me in this 6 week challenge?