View from inside the Y as I stretched. What a beautiful sunset
Today I had my first run of the year! Yeah! It was totally awesome -even if it was on the dreadmill, I mean treadmill. Yeah, I’m not a fan of treadmills but today was different. After more than a week without running today’s run on the treadmill was like running on the clouds of heaven.
Over a week ago I blew out my calf running on the treadmill while wearing my brand spanking new vibram 5 fingers. I don’t blame the shoes for the injury. I blame myself. I did not slowly ease myself into the new way of running that the five fingers demands. Instead, on my first run with them I ran 3 miles outdoors. The next day, I did six on my mountain bike. And the following subsequent days I tore it up on the elliptical and on the stationary bike -all the while my calves and shins were extremely sore. And then, after about 50 miles of no rest cross training I decided to run again on the five fingers and that’s when the calf screamed “HELL NO!” and sent me to my knees with excruciating pain at the bottom, base of my right calf.
For over a week I’ve pampered my calf. I’ve slowly worked in some cardio. I’ve avoided calf-raises with weights and I’ve used “the stick” on it every day and have iced it and elevated it and have caressed it and have sung lullabies to it. I’ve turned my right calf into a big baby -Ha, a big baby cow -calf – get it…you know, calf as in a baby cow….get it? ok, forget it…stupid joke.
Today when I went to the Y I jumped on the stationary bike for a light 20 minute ride/read. I’m reading Michael Crichton’s “Travels” as I ride on that stationary bike. So far, its a good book. I recommend it so far. But, who knows how I’ll feel about it in a week. Only time will tell.
Stretching my leg at the Y
After the stationary bike ride and 6.83 miles of going no where I got on the big blue mats and stretched nicely for 15 minutes. My stretching was good except for my little slip up that caused me to turn red in front of the pretty blonde sharing the mat with me. I won’t get into too many details but I’ll just say that I was doing one of my favorite stretches where I lift one leg up in the air, cross the other leg over the straight leg and throw my weight back to my shoulders to get a good stretch of my gluteus maximus. Well, as I did that a bit of methane gas shot out of me like a machine gun blast. I pretended like nothing happened even though, I could feel my face turn very, very hot. Perhaps, ten seconds later, the pretty blonde had left. Hmm…not good.
Well, after stretching I did my epic twenty minute run on the treadmill. I walked the first five minutes and, slowly upped the distance. By the time I had finished my twenty minute run I was running 5.7mph at an incline of zero with a total distance of…drum roll please….1.61 miles. Pretty pathetic, eh? Yes, it was but I don’t care. I ran! That’s what counts. And, not only did I run but I felt no pain at all on my right calf. Interestingly enough, it was my left calf that bothered me during the run. WTH? (What the heck?).
Any way, the left calf ache was nothing. It was just stiff. So, after my treadmill run, I stretched a little bit and then jumped on the elliptical for forty minutes and watched Aliens 2 (forty minutes of it, that is) on my iphone. It was great. I love Aliens 2. I think its the best of all the Aliens movies. And, its one of my favorite sci-fi flicks. I put it right up there with Blade Runner and District 9 , The Thing and Ghost Busters. Very cool.
So, what’s next? Well, one of the big things coming down the pipe is a major overhaul on my junk food intake and a rev up of cardio. Today, I weighed myself and I was blown away. I am currently weighing 192 pounds. That’s the heaviest I have ever been. Last Spring I weighed 175 pounds. On October 2008, I weighed 165 pounds. I think that my best weight is at 175. My 165 in October 2008, was right after my hundred miler (Boulder 100). I have definitely gotten thicker but I had no idea I was over 190 pounds. Before I got on the scale I thought I was going to top out at 184 or 85. I was quite surprised.
So, what am I doing differently? Really, its not junk food binging. I don’t do that. I mean, I do like twinkies but I don’t eat a whole lot of those. A box of twinkies will easily last me two weeks. Soda pops? I drink soda pops only when I go to the movies and I haven’t watched that many movies (at the theatre) in the last 4 to 5 months. Do you know what’s actually killing me? Eating out. I eat out too much. This is a bad habit I’ve gotten into since this Fall. I eat out with my co-workers two, some times, three times a week. That has to change! Number 1, it cost too much money. I could be putting that money in savings or investing it in more Cisco shares. Number 2, its a pretty much a proven fact that people that regularly eat out are over weight. And, to be honest, it seems to me that pretty much everyone that I ever see at restaurants during lunch time is over weight. I don’t know. I think there’s something to that.
So, I’m only going to eat out twice a month. And, the twinkies, well, that’s not going away…twinkies are really a necessity, a luxurious necessity I’ll admit but a necessity nevertheless. If you take away my twinkies I may go postal. So, twinkies are in, eating out for lunch is out. Soda pops? Ok, I’ll do diet. No, I won’t. A soda pop for a movie is fine. I hardly go to the movies. So, I will drink my soda as I watch a movie at the theatre and, it will not by any means be a diet soda pop. I might as well drink ditch water if I’m going to drink diet soda pops, right? Yeah, you know I’m right…for a change..;)
And, no farting at the gym especially when pretty girls are about.
Thanks for taking the time to read my running blog.
Have a great tomorrow.
peace, love & twinkies,
dh
01/07/2010
