Run Your Ass Off

Ran Yesterday — Actually running

Just a brief report. Made it out the front door yesterday and got my ass moving. Event time: 31:48. Can’t get the GPS to function right on my Timex Ironman, so I don’t know how far I went. However, given the lay of the land, I’d say it was a bit over 1.25 miles. Made better time than previous days. I’m happy with that.

Average HR in zone: 117. Time in zone: 13:30. Average HR overall: 110.

Cheers to my doctor, Mark McKeigue. I never wanted to reach the point in my life where I talked about my doctors like I remember my grandparents talking about theirs, but, I’m their.

McKeigue was a friend first, however, before he was my doctor.

So, here’s his honorable mention in the blog. Thanks for the motivation, Mark.

I reserve the right to take Monday off also

Back in the day when I was running Marathons, Monday was an off day, or a cross training day. Never a running day. That’s according to the Hal Higdon’s training programs, which I highly recommend. You may think that you are in very good shape, but your first Marathon will be a monster. Go with Hal.

Anyhow, I reserve the right to take Monday off. That’s what I did today. I did walk the dog, about .8 mile, stop and go. One of the most ridiculous things I heard and saw today was a Toyota blaring bass music. It was so out of character for Toyotas.

Made it to a Sunday run!

The Park Forest Running and Pancake Club regularly meets on Saturdays and Sundays. Today it was cold, 14 degrees, I think, when I left the house. I over-dressed, perhaps, but I was warm enough, and got in my 33 minutes. I don’t know if I should record my HR, as my monitor said 44 bpm as I started out. I don’t think I’m in that good shape yet.

It was good to see some old friends again. Recently, I’ve only been catching up with the club at monthly meetings or while volunteering at races. I had been walking on my own. But, our club is for walkers as well as runners.

And Prez Fred brought me a nice little statue of the Hindu god Ganeesha for my World Religions classes. He just returned from India. Thanks, Fred!

It was good to see everyone, even if I couldn’t keep up with them. Looking forward to next Saturday and Sunday.

Almost forgot to write today…

…but I didn’t forget to run.

Ran this morning — or rather walked quickly and sometimes trotted — out at Yankee Woods at 8 a.m. First walk/run with the club in quite a while. I did meet with club members this summer at Chestnut a few times. But it felt good to get out today with everyone.

I was moving on the ice for about 37 minutes. Had a blast.

I’ll have even more fun when I can run long enough to say hello when everyone’s finished with their long runs.

I’m the Big Fat Guy Trying to Jog

Yes, that’s me. Day two.

I’m the big fat guy, struggling to run down your street in Park Forest, trying to jog.

Day two shows an event time of 29:32, but I covered more distance than yesterday. My average HR in zone was 118, my time in zone was 18:40, and my average HR was 113. I don’t know my distance, but I did remember what will now be rule #2: Jump in the First Puddle You See.

More on that later.

Rule #1: Leave the Dog at Home

Made it back in today from my first official walk. The official time is 31:31:25, and my average HR was only 105. My HR was in a lower zone averaging 116 for only 2:26.

But that’s more than I did yesterday.

I decided to leave the dog at home. I took him with me over the summer, and there’s too much stopping and starting with him. He can wait. I took him on his own walk when I returned.

I didn’t measure my distance, but given where I walked, it was probably about 1.25 mile.

That means I beat the 30 minute mile. Wow.

And this was only the first day.

Back to the Trails

Well, I just finished a big bowl if ice cream: Chocolate syrup, some marshmallow, chocolate whipped cream. Probably put on another pound. Maybe not.

But that’s it. It’s time to start losing it all for real.

Thinking back, there were 6 Marathons (always spell that word with a capital “M”), one Half-Marathon, numerous 5Ks, three or four Park Forest Scenic 10s, and tons of running, all the time.

Then, HCM showed up: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Turns out I was born with it, and I was lucky to make it through all of those Marathons. HCM is usually diagnosed post-mortem. Yes, I was told that, and it scared me from running any more. My cardiologist, Dr. G. Gary Gibbs, insisted from the start that I get back to running. But I was still afraid.

And lazy.

Anyhow, I’ll write more later on. Time to get moving. The ice cream was good. Now it’s back to the basics.

Time to run my ass off.