Fitness Update...

[grandmoffdavid.livejournal.com]

So, when we last left our intrepid adventurer he had given up his diet but still exercising in the vague hope that he could at least maintain his current weight. At the same time he was increasing the length of his left leg by the use of clever inserts set into his shoe. Let's see how that worked out for him, shall we?

Truth be known, it actually worked pretty well until I was approaching the 1.2cm mark on the lift. My podiatrist had recommended that I cut back on the running and I was doing about 9-12 miles per week. My legs were hurting more than ever and in new and unique ways. That combined with my lack of progress made it really hard to even get my 9 miles in per week and odds are some weeks it probably dipped closer to 6. I also needed new shoes since I was out of the lifts (which are sloped, so it's like running in one high heeled shoe and one normal one, except that they're both sort of the same height--naturally my ankle loved this) and my old running shoes couldn't be modified to have a permanent (and flat!) lift installed.

It should be noted that at this point I noticed my weight which was 213 when this little experiment had started and had stabilized at 218 for some months when the lifts were doing me some good, had finally settled around 220. Clearly, this was unacceptable.

So I got a new pair of shoes and ran in them for a week or so to make sure they worked out before having them modified. (Long story short: They did.) At the same time, I decided to start using the heart rate monitor my dad had given me. He and my brother swear by it for training up for races, but it has a geeky chest strap and I'd always been too petulant to use it. Boy was I wrong.

The first time I used it I had huge problems trying to keep my heart rate within the Aerobic region. Within a week I was running my normal three mile course (which has some good hills) without too many problems keeping in the right range. Within two weeks, I had started adding some distance, once getting up to around 4 miles. At this point, I ran a 5k (3.1 miles) in right around 33 minutes. Slow for sure, but still perfectly acceptable all things considered.

The next week I kept amping up the distance, culminating in a 1 hour and 18 minute run along the Burke Gillman trail. Now I don't know how far I ran, but it was damn far. Up until this point I had been thinking of running in the 5k at the Covey Run, but after that run when my brother started trying to talk me into the 10k instead, I started to think it was a good idea.

Subsequent hour long runs with a lot more hills seemed to confirm it, so I signed up for and ran the 10k Covey Run through Woodinville this morning. And you know what? I felt good. My time was still slow (1:08ish) but for the speed at which I have been increasing distance, I'll take it. And I felt really good until the sprint at the end, which is totally understandable.

The great thing is that this has totally gotten me excited about running again. Well, except for the chafed nipples. And the other areas which are both chafed and impolite to discuss in public. But I digress. I caught myself wondering if I keep my lift at 1.4 cm for a while (and keep wearing my modified shoes more often than non-modified ones or going barefoot) and keep using the heart rate monitor, could I actually train for that Disney Half Marathon I've always talked about? (Cue Music: "When you wish upon a star...")

At the very least, my weight should be coming down slightly. Especially since I'm making a totally half-arsed effort to diet. But more on that in another post.