75% down - 25% to go

[djplong]

It took several weeks but I was finally able to complete W6D3 last Wednesday.  Every time I go out now, I'm having to be more conscious of things like when and how much I've eaten, the weather, how my right knee and ankle are doing, etc..

 

I was a bit concerned starting Week 7 - up to 25 minutes now - and those long runs have historically been the ones that have given me the most difficulty.  Even when I made the TIME for W6D3, I was short on the distance - but I didn't let that bother me.

 

Today, I banged out the 25 minutes and came a lot closer to the distance the app was saying.  Since the next two runs are the same, I might pick one of them to go the distance instead of the time.

 

I even seem to have found something in my stride that might help the knee pain I'm getting - if I consciously think about pointing my right foot out as it lands (it seems I'm landing a little 'pigeon toed') I noticed less stress on the knee.

 

The news kept getting better as I've lost a little more weight - nothing drastic but, cumulatively, it's making a difference.  One or two more runs and I might be down 15 pounds since the start.  But it was while I was drying off from my shower that I finally 'saw' something.  My wife and some friends have said they can see the difference in me - that I look a little thinner in the face and on the sides - but I wasn't seeing it.  What I saw was while drying my leg and I kind of rotated and flexed it a bit and there it was - definition near my (comparatively non-existent) calf muscle.  For the first time I saw some muscular definition that I've never seen.  I have very little to speak of when it comes to calf muscles because of my birth defect and spending so much of my early life in casts, crutches and wheelchairs to correct it.  But there it was.  I can't tell you how much that suddenly affected me.

 

Part of my motivation for this came from when I visited my father for the first time (I was adopted, found my birth family when I was about 30).  My father has what would classically be called a 'beer belly' and I made a note to myself that I didn't want that.  The picture that my stepdaughter took of me sleeping on a flight from Reykjavik to London made me look pregnant and I had to face the fact that I was becoming my father - at least from the bottom of my ribs to my hips.  That picture is in my mind a lot when I'm running at the park.  That's the Blurge that I'm running from (Look at theoatmeal.com to find out what that means)

 

I don't know how long these last two weeks are going to take but I'm more determined than ever to finish this.  I have to be more careful these days.  I wear an ankle brace for a while after every run and I ice my knee down as well.  I signed up for those two races in January and I damn well intend to finish them BOTH.  (Who knows HOW long it will take me to get from 5K to 10K)

 

[Batgirl]

Wow! Thanks for sharing. You're really listening to your body & caring for it through this journey. it's going to pay you back (muscle definition). The best payoff is how you feel & being able to enjoy an active life with friends & family. Rock on!