The Training Blog of newbierunner

OK, so I’m nuts…got my newsletter from the local track club, and though I said the kids and I were done running races for the year (I’m three weeks out from surgery), I was soon poring over the fall race schedule. There’s a bunch of short ones…I’ll be ok for a little ol 1k in a few weeks, right?
I know…I’ll square it with the doc on the 8th before I go blowing stitches in front of a horrified crowd (though it would be just the thing for this halloween run). But what’s buzzing round my head isn’t so much the races, it’s the need to be in the race loop. I was talking to a friend just recently who is going through a process I am well familiar with, the road to a gastric bypass. I told her that one critical step to success is to *replace* that food addiction with something positive, citing things like running, martial arts and yarn that have worked for me. I only credited any of those three with partial addiction, but as I sit here and try to will my incisions to heal, I know I’m totally hooked!

Health:

• Date: 08/31/2008

Well, today was a royal kick up the jacksey! On August 11th, I had surgery that left a belt incision around my waist, so I knew running would be out of my picture for a while. Back in my heavyset days, this would have been a glorious excuse to loaf for a few weeks. As much as my doc tells me to take it easy, I can feel that little devil on my shoulder, prodding me to turn back to my old, sluggish ways. I felt that a solid act of rebellion was in order, so today I hit the treadmill, huzzah!
OK, I wasn’t a total fool about it. I used to cool down at 3.5 miles an hour, so I figured it wouldn’t be too bad to knock out 1.5 miles at that pace. My heart and legs weren’t taxed very much at all, but my sutures are mighty snuuuugggg. I feel like a sudden bend at the waist in any direction would make the stitches just bust open! Sorry if that’s TMI, but I wanted to illustrate my biggest obstacle right now. And keep focused on the prize…the reason for this surgery was losing a bunch of weight, I had the skin trimmed up! All the more reason to keep moving! That’s the thing about losing weight…it’s a race with no finish. I suppose it’s not too different for thin people trying to maintain.
So that’s it for today. I think tomorrow will be martial arts, I don’t want that to slip either. I’ll just go slllooooowwwwww!

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 08/28/2008
• Time: 22:37:24
• Total Time: 00:25:30.00
• Distance: 1.5 miles
• Average Pace: 16:59.83/mile

Well, surgery happened Monday, and things went fine. Now for the business of getting better! The doc said no serious exertion for about six weeks…*not* what I wanted to hear! I was hoping to be back in martial arts classes in four weeks, maybe starting to run. Well…maybe not so much in four weeks. One thing positive….the old me, who was 100 pounds heavier, would have said “six weeks without exercise, hallelujah! Can we stretch it to eight?” The new me wants to find a way around restrictions. I know, do what the doc says…at the same time, I need to stay in this headspace, where I’m getting a little tweaky cause I can’t run, swim, jump kick, whatever.
Like so many of us, I have an addictive personality. I was stuck on food for many years, and for a stretch, I was also hooked on nicotine. Scientists have started making claims that using drugs, alcohol and overeating stimulate the same pleasure centers in the brain. Ironically, those pleasure centers can also be roused by the endorphins released during exercise. The trick is to make exercise the addiction. I need to stay in this headspace, where the activity is what I want, even when I can’t have it.

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 08/14/2008
• Time: 22:24:32
• Distance: 1 miles

Le sigh, le bummer…Today was the last race I’ll be part of for a while, and probably the last of the year for the kids. Monday I go in for surgery, so it will be late september before the doc gives me the ok to power walk, let alone tear up the roads. As someone who used to be very heavy, it’s strange to realize how much I will miss both the running and martial arts. Who’d have thought?
The kids ran too, as I mentioned…my girl did well, as professed by one race volunteer “your daughter flew through here!” I tried not to let my chest puff up too much! As for the boys…sigh, hehe…my older son has begun the struggle with his weight, and with this comes some indifference towards athletic pursuits. He goes along, but just isn’t that into it. How much do you push? I don’t want to make running a chore. My littlest guy poses even more challenges. While his weight isn’t an issue, he is young, and autistic. I’m not sure how much he even understands about being in a race, though I want to keep him involved in family stuff. Getting him through a race has consisted of “Mommy’s gonna getcha!” and chasing him. He wasn’t going for that today, so I carried him for about half the distance! Maybe two miles was a little ambitious. So while my girl rocketed past Daddy’s snapping camera, the boys and I took up the last three places. Ah well…we did what mattered…everyone finished (learn about goals, my dumplings!), no one got hurt, and we all had fun commandeering the playground afterward, woohoo!

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 08/09/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 00:40:00.00
• Distance: 2 miles
• Average Pace: 20:00/mile

The following contains a fair bit of moaning and feeling sorry for myself. For those who are whine impaired, discretion is advised.
So I went to Tae Kwon Do class, and was looking forward to having it. This would be my last session before surgery, so I’m sure leaves would be falling before I tried any more jump kicks. Class is in the wrestling room at the high school, so the floor is covered with mats. While this usually is an advantage (much nicer to land on), today it backfired. I was just starting a turn kick when my baby toe slipped into a small crevice between the mats. In a fraction of a second, all of my foot turned drastically to the left, while that baby toe stayed behind, much to my regret. I can’t say how far that toe bent, but it felt like a solid ninety degrees, straight sideways. Yeowch! I bluffed through class and am now icing my dainty piggies. Sadly, it was too late to call into work, so now I sit on the hospital unit, still icing. Could be worse, at least it’s not a day shift.
Just to add to the picture a bit, Saturday is the last race that the kids and I will have this summer. It’s a two miler, and I really need to run, because my autistic son is registered. He won’t be clear on what to do, and I don’t feel right asking one of my other kids to babysit him when their focus should be on their own run. This toe has got to shape up! I should mention that come Monday, I’ll be having surgery and will be wallowing in bedrest and pain meds, so at that point my foot won’t matter much.
All this had made for a funny-stupid kind of day, but the last bit is what really bites. I just got an email from my husband. He’d had the sweetest cat, a little ball of white fuzz named Snowball. Snowball had been our baby for years, but didn’t like it when actual babies came along, so he went to my husband’s mother’s house to live. This email now tells me that Snowball had developed cancer, and was put to sleep a couple days ago. I keep thinking about how he would come up and “headbutt” you when he wanted a snuggle, and how crazy he would get when he got hold of a drinking straw (the best toy in the world!) I feel like crying. Hopefully my co workers will think it’s my foot and just roll their eyes. I don’t think I’ll be able to talk about it just yet.
So this has been my sucko day. For anyone who read it through, thanks for listening!

RIP Snowball
10-31-90 8-5-08

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 08/07/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00

Tempo run today. I have to research more about what my max pulse should be. Turns out I’m not 18 anymore (oh crap, when did that happen?)
:0)

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/06/2008
• Time: 15:00:00
• Total Time: 00:35:05.00
• Distance: 4 miles
• Average Pace: 8:46.32/mile

Woohoo! This was the last big thing I wanted to do before my surgery date (which is Monday). I got through the test and earned my first belt. This was really exciting for me…even though the instructors and other students are very welcoming and encouraging, I now feel like some kind of initiation is ended. I have a belt, I’m in the club now!
I’m still percolating with nervous energy over the whole thing, so I’ve been sewing a bag to keep my uniform in. Martial arts is so cool!

Workout:

• Type: Other
• Date: 08/06/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00

Ran into Amy at the pool. Actually spent about 30 minutes just bobbing in the water and yakking! So, our jaws got a good workout. Eventually I did get 35 laps in, so that’s not too shabby. Running and maybe some weights tomorrow!

Workout:

• Type: Swim
• Date: 08/03/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 00:25:00.00
• Distance: 880 yd
• Average Pace: 2:50.45/100yd

How the mind dictates what the body can do…as I’ve slowly gone further and further distance running, I find that getting into the right headspace is as important as warming up the legs. If I set out to run three miles, then I gasp and huff across the three mile mark. If I run twelve miles, then that’s when I huff and moan (so I’m a drama queen, sue me!), and I barely notice the three mile mark. But there is another facet to the mental part of endurance sports, something my kids have taught me.
I love the little things dearly. We feed and clothe them, read to them, spend the day at the fair with them, and get them involved in running. We do our best by them, but dangit…when Mommy is on the treadmill, Mommy needs to pay attention to what she’s doing! Bless their little hearts, we usually spend the first 30 minutes or so of a run with little squirts walking right by Daddy to bring Mom such emergencies as fort building, crayons, and fighting over the remote. Augh! Most of the time it’s not a big deal, but there are days when there is no peace to be had! After three or four interruptions, I find that it’s hard to get my head back where it belongs.
I know…one day I’ll miss all this. They are interrupting because they are sweet, busy little things, and they forget that running time is Mom time. I just keep reminding them, and try to keep my mind on my run.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/02/2008
• Time: 15:00:00
• Total Time: 1:37:25.00
• Distance: 10 miles
• Average Pace: 9:44.42/mile