Run Your Ass Off

Hugh and I go for a run

Well, today was not nearly as impressive, but it was worth it. And I get tomorrow off.

Hugh Dzhass is really slowing me down. I try to leave him at home, but he is very persistent. Where I go, he goes. He’s a real pain sometimes. I don’t know why I’ve been so patient for so long, putting up with his antics.

So, I could only run 3.5 mph. I was out for 30:47, and my average HR was only 107. My distance was still 1.931 miles, and I don’t really know how that happened, as I completely left out one of the parking lots on Birch St. But, hey, who am I to argue with technology?

I’ll never run another Marathon, but at least I can still cover distance. And I’m not out of breath any more when I climb or even run up stairs.

I can’t believe I’m saying that. How did I let myself — oh, never mind that at all. I started hanging 0ut with Hugh. Worse yet, when he showed up, I started feeding him. You should never feed Hugh.

I’ll make that my next rule. Is that rule #3 or #4? I don’t remember. Well, here it is:

#4 (ca.) Never feed Hugh Dzhass.

Meet Hugh Dzhass

Meet Hugh Dzhass. Hugh has been with me for quite some time now. So long, that I sometimes forgot that I actually had another dependent. By himself, you probably wouldn’t notice him: 50, maybe 60 lbs. tops. But he’s always with me, and I’ve had the devil of a time getting rid of him. He’s with me in the morning. He shows up at work. He’s with me after work, at meetings, in the evenings, while watching TV. He’s so much a part of my life, that I often forget about him, and have even considered him a part of the family.

And, oh, does he like to eat. He loves sweet cakes. He adores chocolate syrup, and chocolate-peanut butter ice cream. He can eat a second plate at dinner after I’ve finished my first. He often orders dessert without finishing the main course at restaurants, and leaves me with the bill. When I’m stuffed at home after eating dinner, he makes himself a bowl of ice cream, or yogurt, or whatever.

I’ll tell you more about him later, and all the trouble he’s caused me in life. For now, it’s enough to say hello.

For my part, I actually ran up the steps at Park Forest Village Hall today without losing my breath. Didn’t even know that I had run up steps. Feels pretty good. And, I found out that yesterday’s run was actually a little over 2 miles: 2.036 miles. The GPS worked today, so I did it all again. This one took me a bit longer, 32:29, but I made it, and had time to stretch afterward.

Now I have to eat, and probably feed Hugh a little. But at least I made it through another run.

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.

Anger as motivation

In my strong running days, anger was often good motivation to run. If I was pissed off at someone or something, that experience could carry me 7 miles or more in a 10 mile run. Some days I would be upset at myself. Sometimes it would be something that happened at work.

It didn’t matter. Anger was great motivation. I don’t know that I ever solved anything while running, but I was able to process some pretty strong feelings.

Well, that’s all for now. Just an initial thought on the matter.

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.

It’s not about the campaign….

This blog is not about the campaign. I’m not even going to say what campaign. I don’t want to link the campaign site to this site. This is personal. This is about getting back on the road, losing weight, getting in shape, and jogging again.

If I win in April, I will have lost if I’m not in better shape, and at least 10 pounds lighter.

Essentially, I have to lose the equivalent of one bowling ball. That’s my motivation.

The first 10 pounds are supposed to be the easiest.

When I started running the first time I had different reasons. I imagined myself impressing others. I emailed friends and told them what I was doing. I wanted to run that first Marathon. That was goal number one. My first 5K? Brentwood Firecracker 5K, south of Pittsburgh, PA. I travelled in for it, and actually finished at a decent time. I have no idea what it was. 4th of July every year, 9:00 a.m., straight up and down Brownsville Rd. It’s a hilly course — at least by Chicago standards. Never level, up and down those little hills a little over 1.5 miles out, and back up and down the same hills, just over 1.5 miles back.

This time it’s not about a race. It’s not about training for a Marathon. It’s about running a mile.

Today is Friday. That’s a day off. Mandated, every week.

And it was too damn cold and windy to run. Tomorrow is a different story.

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.