Getting there

Well, I've been running. No big surprise by now right? I'm still at it. I've seen some results and its been motivating so I've done more of it.

For the last 4 days I've been sick. Not the kind of sick that I normally am where I can still get up and go about my day. This time its the kind of sick where every time I do anything besides lay there by head feels like a hammer is hitting it repeatedly. Now, keep in mind I get sick about once ever 4-5 years, so I guess I have it coming, but still... its annoying.

Because of that I haven't run for a few days. The weird part is that I miss running. Normally when I'm sick I miss being outside or eating what I want to eat but this time I actually miss running. Kind of weird eh?

Heres to getting better soon.

Cheers.

Evaluation

I started this in December of 2009. I weighed 185 and I couldn't run a half a mile without the feeling of my heart coming through my rib cage at a rapid pace.

It is now March of 2010. I can easily run two miles and can consistently struggle to three. I now weigh 167.

I even read a book about running.

I wish my previous employee evaluations went this well. Maybe thats a little insight into my future - being an employee may not be my thing.

Another

I ran another 2 miles today. I guess I'm still pretty impressed with myself. Running two miles was (as of December) impossible. I'm still looking forward to doing more but I don't won't to miss an opportunity to pat myself on the back... if you know what I mean.

I started reading about this today, and more specifically this.

To say the least, I'm interested. I'm going to start adding this into my routine (I don't necessarily have a routine but it makes me sound better than I am) at least 2 times a week.

That said, I didn't start running solely to burn fat, though I appreciate the pound losing here and there. I will still try to improve my distance running. I talked to a guy at Runners Den the other day (very knowledgeable sales staff) and he said I should never run so fast that I can't be talking while running. I don't know if I buy it yet but it sounds ludicrous considering sometimes when I walk I can't talk out loud.

Anyway, hope all is well with you wherever you are.

Book

For Christmas my sister-in-law bought me a book about running by one of my favorite novelists. It was a great book and while I don't ever want to be the kind of runner he is I think that it relates a lot to why I started running and why I keep running.

I don't think I'm a "runner." Two miles is still my limit. I can't imagine my limit ever being more than 5 miles, thats actually my goal now. To be able to run 5 miles a couple times a week consistently.

Anyway, I think there are two types of people. Process people and results person. I'm a results person, so thats what matters first. Once I feel like I understand/have a handle on the results I do like to look at process. This book is all process. It's all about why Haruki Murakami runs and why its important and how it matters and a bunch of other things you didn't even know you wanted to know until you knew it (kind of like reading blogs).

Its a good book worth checking out if you are a runner or not but especially if you are.

What runs you?

When I first started running someone asked me why. I didn't have an answer so I needed a political answer (the kind of answer that satisfies the question without really solving anything). My answer was, "I think I can learn a lot from running."

It was a good, political answer.

I think I'm ready to start diving into what really runs me and you. Why did I really start running? Losing weight was on the agenda, it was not THE agenda. There is a lot more. Over the next few weeks I want to start diving into what I learned from running. I'm not saying I'm going to stop running I just knew there was something more to it than one foot after the other. I think I'm starting to see what that "something more" is.

Today I ran 3 miles.

Hiking

Hiking may not count as running, but I did a lot of it yesterday. My brother and I hiked up Camelback Mountain (about 45 mins up and an hour down). It was crazy and according to my calorie counter I burned 855 calories... pretty good if you ask me (which you did by reading my blog).

This week Brittany and I are on 8 sections of 3 minute runs. So we walk one minute and then run for three, eight times. Its kind of crazy, but I'm actually starting to look forward to when we run.

PS - Music makes a HUGE difference for me. I used to listen to sermons and it was tough. Now that I listen to music I feel a lot better about the whole thing. Not as "spiritual", but more effective... maybe thats a metaphor for something.

Running

It's been a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been running. For the last week I've ran at least once every other day. Last night I read a blog post about running. It didn't come right out and say it but I got the idea from it none the less; don't focus on distance. By focusing on distance I'm comparing myself to marathon runners (which I never hope to be).

When I compare myself like that my meager one mile is pitiful.

Because of the advice from Brittany's mom (a marathon runner) and the above post we counted time. We ran for three minutes and walked for one. Last week we did five 3-minute sections, this week our goal was six. Today we ran for 3 minutes six times which is 18 minutes of running, 24 minutes of activity.

It wasn't bad and when I went back and measured it, we actually ran for two miles. Pretty good considering one mile has about killed me for the last two weeks.

Anyway, if you are a beginner, don't focus on the distance but on the time you are running.