It's coming back (whew!)

Achieving my goal of running the half-marathon early last month was fantastic. But I never expected that to be the end of it. Instead, I wanted to keep exercising, probably keep running, and continue to make improvements in my health & fitness. Trouble was, after the half-marathon I didn't feel as compelled to run regularly.

Well, I'm happy to report that there's been an improvement. As I mentioned before, I really do think I pushed myself too hard in that last month to achieve my half-marathon goal. I was only doing the weekend long runs in my training program, because I was just too wiped out to do the midweek stuff. And I'd dropped the off-day cross-training a long time ago. However, I also wrote earlier that I'm experiencing many things about running for the first time, and one of those was the post-race letdown. I think that, combined with the overtraining, is what led to a (natural?) drop in my running afterward.

Which is why I'm so pleased now to report that I seem to be back on the upswing. There was that 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, and some more irregular running in the month of December. With a big upheaval in our main program at work, the hours were long and stressful. Combined with the holidays I found it difficult to run during the week. Still, I did so a few times, and I also got in one run most weekends, and usually a little longer. A treat was a midweek run on a cold night where I listened to the Charlie Brown Christmas Special soundtrack while running up Copper Hill to the incredible Wakefield Court neighborhood that sets out record-setting, award-winning Christmas light decorations every year.

A week ago I came down with a 24-hour flu, which interrupted some running, but when I got out there again I ran probably 4+ miles. (Lately I haven't been measuring my mileage, sometimes not even timing myself--just running to run.) Then last night I ran down to Saugus High School to use their track and attempt my first track workout. Following the helpful advice for intimidating newbies in John Bingham's book, The Courage to Start, I ran five 1/4-mile laps with resting in-between to establish a track baseline. My times were 2:07, 2:12, 2:10, 2:05, and 2:06, which looks consistent enough to me. When I got home I wrote that down in my new running journal, a gift from Molly.

We've got two 5K's already planned for early next year, the Firecracker 5K through LA's Chinatown district, and a 5K through the LA Arboretum in early spring. Maybe I'll even run one of those as a 10K, if that's an option. I'm taking my running gear to Hawaii next week, and am really looking forward to some runs in a new setting, one that happens to be paradise.

The fact that my running is picking up steam again--and that I'm looking forward to it--is very encouraging!

Just as exciting is the fact that I'm on-track for my weight-loss goal for 2009 already. I wanted to get down two more pounds in December to start the new year at 220, then try to get down to 200 by the end of that year. I don't know if I can do it or not, but that's my goal. My cheapo digital scale at home is always suspect in my mind because it only seems to report increments of 3 lbs. I was at 222 lbs for most of this month, but then just before Christmas it dropped (3 lbs--hmmm) to 219! Very encouraging, and though I ate well enough during the holidays, I still ate notably less dessert and treats than in previous years. It may well be that 24-hour flu that helped me drop the little bit more I needed to trigger my scale, but I'll take it! Now I just need to avoid losing lots of ground while on vacation in Hawaii. My plan is to cut back a little, but still enjoy myself on vacation, trusting that the extra exercise I'm getting will keep me on track.

Half-Marathon prep notes

Here are my notes in a memo on my PDA before the Half-Marathon. I'd learned the hard way in my long run training that hydrating the day before is important. Even though this race was my ultimate goal, I didn't sign up early enough to use the online system. There is no race-day registration for this event, so I needed to do all of that the day before. (Fortunately it is local to me, just a quick drive across town.)

The smileys are for things I was too embarassed to write, even in my own notes. The first one refers to what happens after coffee & breakfast, the second one what happens after several miles into the race. My low-profile running socks started being a problem, maybe more due to my slipping insole than the socks themselves.

!!! Hydrate on Saturday !!!
!!! Sign up on Saturday !!!

Buy choc gel packs
Take ibuprofen before (have some on me?)
Wake up early enough for breakfast, etc. :-)
Wear tech t
Tape up :-)
Make sure socks are pulled up tight
Update playlists--have a few
Gloves?

New goals (TBD)

My running started when I made a commitment to myself to run the Santa Clarita Half-Marathon. I made that commitment about seven months before the race, on my 42nd birthday. I didn't really know what I was jumping off into, but I knew I wanted to take better care of my body, mostly so I didn't abandon my family suddenly. You know what I mean. And although any of us could go at any time, I didn't want to be negligent in the part relating to my own health. Not quite knowing what else to do, I opted for the half-marathon.

That was great. In fact, it's been one of the most personally satisfying experiences of my life! Not only that I made my goal, but that I made it through a (mostly) slow & sure training program, I stuck with it, and I saw myself improve. It is now a metaphor for many other things in my life, things that seem too difficult or distant, now I can imagine making slow & steady progress toward them.

Ok, now what?

Apparently some people can keep running just for its own sake. I'm not that way. At least, not now. I need a goal to focus on. It could be running the half-marathon again next year. It could be doing that with a better time, or even a target time. Heck, it could even be running the full marathon in Santa Clarita next November. But I don't think any of those are the right goals. I'm not sure what is, and that's not doing my any favors. Because without that goal my running is slipping. Fewer days, fewer miles. I haven't stopped, but I've slowed way down.

I've decided on a weight loss goal, that's something. I was just over 235 lbs back on that birthday, and now I'm around 222. Still no lightweight--still overweight--but an improvement. (And Candy points out that I've both gained muscle and lost weight, which is doubly good.) At one point I dipped under 220 near the peak of my training, but now I'm back around 222. I've kept very irregular records of my weight since 2002, and I've never been lower than this. Most of the time I was up around 230. My goal is to get back to 220 by the end of the year (this month), then get down to 200 by the end of the following year. That's averaging about 2 lbs to lose each month (plus a little margin for setbacks). Can I do it? Of course I can. Will I? We'll see.

However, weight loss goals are very indirect. You lose weight by eating better and exercising more. Those are the actions you take. Weight loss is what happens. You can't do much with a "what happens" goal. You need a goal that relates to actions. That's what's still missing for me. I'm not going to figure it out today, either, but writing this all down helps.

Stockton 5K Turkey Trot

My first race after the Half-Marathon was last weekend's Turkey Trot in Stockton. We'd driven up to my folks' place in nearby Lodi for the holiday. It had been Jessie's idea to run a Turkey Trot, and I jumped at the chance. Jessie has been my virtual running coach for the past six months, and this was my first chance to run with her.

Well, not with her. There were 5K and 10K distances at this race, and though I originally thought about the longer distance I decided to stick with the 5K. Jessie still did the 10K. (Even if I'd done the same distance, she runs quite a bit faster than I do, at under 8 minutes per mile.) Candy & Molly again signed up with me to run/walk the 5K, as well. I was really happy about that. (Sam opted to sleep in at the hotel!)

I did ok, coming in somewhere around 30:04. I've run a few 5K's by now, but only have a couple reliable times (the race through CBS in Studio City wasn't accurate enough). The first 5K since I started training saw me complete it in less than a half-hour, at 29:47. Of course I wanted to do at least that well this time, but it didn't work out. I know some time was lost on a really slow start to the race: there were 3,000 people all run/walking together and it took some time to first reach the starting line and then separate yourself from the mob. I think with a cleaner start I would've finished in under 30, perhaps as good as my earlier time.

More important, I enjoyed myself. I forgot my headphones but Candy lent me her iPod which happened to have the same run music I planned to listen to. It was cool enough to make a longsleeve race shirt comfortable, not hot. I didn't walk at any time, and didn't stop for water at the halfway point, either. In previous races I haven't really pushed at the end, but this time I did. I think I pushed too early, though, because I kind of ran out of gas near the end (still running, but not as fast).