Pressure, Numbers, and Goals

I MIGHT ACTUALLY BE THE BIGGEST LOSER. REALLY, GUYS.

Friday, I joined my work's Biggest Loser competition. It really did seem like a good idea at the time. Since I have to put a dollar in the pot for every pound that I gain each week, I figured it would be a good way to keep me from gaining weight, and maybe a nice motivator for losing the last few pounds I have lingering around my hips and thighs. However, after the bad run yesterday, I realized that joining this competition is one of the stupidest things I have ever done. Why?

More pressure. More goals. More numbers.

Currently, I am so overwhelmed by, and honestly, so freakin' done with pressure, goals, and numbers. How I could have let my competitive nature throw me into a competition which, by the way, I can't even win, is beyond me. This is a new low.

This competition is measured by percentage of weight lost and is going until May 27. Realistically, I can only lose about 10% of my current body weight. It might be a little more now since I binged on a ton of heavy carbs and chugged about 44 oz of liquid before I weighed in Friday afternoon (I weighed five pounds more than I did a couple hours before). I am competing with others who have a significant amount of weight to lose so I shouldn't be anywhere near the money on this one. I may not have as many actual pounds to lose, but since they are my last, they are going to be the worst pounds to shed. Weigh-ins are on Fridays, and I'll be sure to check in and let you know how I'm doing. I'm not too worried about this Friday's weigh-in because I probably won't have a starch and liquid binge beforehand.

I really admire my coworkers for doing this competition, though. I have seen many of them start on diets and workout regimes only to give them up soon after and get nowhere on their journey to a more healthy lifestyle. I hope to help. So far I have lost 93 pounds since April 2009, and I know that it never gets easy. Even now that I know a little better what I'm doing, it's still a struggle I have to approach one day at a time. I'll let you know how they're doing, too. 

AND THEN I WENT SHOPPING

Stopped at Oxmoor Mall today to have a little Dick's Sporting Goods binge. Even though I just bought a new pair of running shoes, I almost bought another pair today. They are the black and green ones pictured here (my new shoes are the black and pink ones):

I dig Sauconys. My feet felt delicious in them. Very light, very comfortable. However, I thought through things logically and remembered that I need more stability in my shoes or else my ankles will be ready to fall off pretty quickly. And I like my ankles. They deserve the best I can give them. So I put back the shoes. But I did buy a new Gatorade water bottle! That's almost as fulfilling!

DEATH OF ANOTHER PAIR OF HEADPHONES

These are second ones to go this week. I don't even know what happened, either! I was just doing a 90-minute easy elliptical workout. Indoors. No rain, I promise! They have a really weird short in them and I can't hear the voice track of songs. All I can hear is an echoed version of a song's instrumentals. In a way, it kind of cool, but not for long and not when I have to run in the morning. My dilemma is that I did order Yurbuds on Friday morning per my old buddy Dan's suggestion. They should be arriving tomorrow, but I have a run early in the morning. I doubt UPS will deliver them before 8 AM, no matter how hard I hope. I have no idea what I'm going to do about this. I guess I'll try a silent run?

I suppose I could think about all the pressure, goals, and numbers. This is sure to be the most relaxing five miles of my life.

But if Forrest Gump can do it for years, it can't be that bad, right? Right.

Worst Run Ever, Or How I Hate Saturdays

My plan on running an easy eight miles today didn't work out all that well. I think the proper term is "utter failure." I was really angry at myself earlier about it ands was almost to the point of tears when I stopped running, but I've had some time to reflect on it and I don't think it means that I am a terribly runner and I should just quit now, but I do need to switch some things around in the my routine.

HOW IT ALL WENT DOWN


The problems started when I was trying to figure out what to wear. Temperature was mid 50s and there is a light rain that, from looking at the radar, may or may not have been about to end. I knew that behind the rain was a cold front with falling temperatures, but I had no idea when that was going to happen. I went with a pair of thinner running tights and a cotton long-sleeve t-shirt with a sport tank under it. When I walked outside, I was feeling in the range of slightly chilly to pretty comfortable. The one thing I didn't consider? How incredibly humid it was. Within three blocks, I was sweating like a pig, and it wasn't because I was out of shape. I was running through a sauna with long sleeves.

I went up 2nd St to the bridge and crossed it, came back and things were fine. I went under the bridge which, by the way, passes right by the bottom level of the Yum Center (big new downtown Louisville arena). I assume the lower part of the arena is where they make the hot dogs because it smelled like a Nathan's paradise. Just a tidbit--I love hot dogs. Moral of the story? Finding a different route to Waterfront Park next time. Pure torture. But here's a lovely shot of the Yum Center and the entrance to the Clark Memorial Bridge taken right before I ran across it (this is the upper part that doesn't smell like hot dogs):

Decided to run through Waterfront Park along the trails. It's something different and since we've had so much rain lately, the Ohio River is way up over the banks and I wanted to check it out. It's not the highest I've ever seen it, but it's still pretty cool. Here's a pic of the water dangerously close to the running path. When I came back through a bit later, it was actually higher than it shows here:

After that I was about four miles in and I was really starting to get weak from so much sweating and so little food beforehand.  No muscle fatigue, cramping, or soreness. I passed by Slugger Field up Preston St, passed by the hospitals (and two very fantastic-smelling McDonalds) and to Broadway (past an obscenely deliciously smelling Long John Silver's), then to 2nd St. That's where I crashed 5.86 miles in. I wanted so badly to finish my eight miles. My legs had tons of strength left and I was ready mentally, but I didn't have the fuel. It was even a challenge to walk the two blocks back to the YMCA. All in all, the worst run ever.

LET'S LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES AND CHANGE, RIGHT?

Right. In non-running life, I am incredibly stubborn and I don't like admitting I go about anything wrong. I am admitting freely and openly right here and right now, that my Saturday morning routine is a hot mess and I've been ruining my running life with it for the last month. I wake up, eat two slices of whole grain toast and a banana, go to the gym, do arms and a Zumba class, eat a PowerBar, then expect to have a fantastic long run. It works until I get about 2.5 miles into it, then I crash and am forced to get through the next few miles out of sheer stubbornness until I give up and realize that I simply can't do it anymore. Today, I made it to 5.86, but I wanted to be done at 3.17. That won't get me through ANY of my upcoming races which, by the way, are coming up very VERY soon.

I know for a fact that my inability to do a Saturday long run has nothing to do with whether or not I can physically or mentally finish it. I know for a fact that I can. Throughout the week, I get through my runs, which aren't that much shorter. In fact, I did 6.2 on Saturday in a decent time AND I probably could have gone a few miles more quite easily. I only stopped because I wanted to avoid overtraining. I felt fantastic. My hill runs are harder, but I never get to the point where I feel like crashing. How did I get through the 5k last Saturday going at a faster pace than usual while feeling like I could have pushed it twice as hard and still be fine, but I feel like crashing after a slow 3.17 today? Something isn't adding up.

I've decided my new Saturday routine is going to be more like my weekday routine (except I get to sleep in a little longer). I'll wake up, eat my little breakfast, wait an hour or so, then run my long runs in the morning. No burning off precious energy and wasting time with a stupid Zumba class that I don't even enjoy. I have officially learned that I need that expended energy for the run. Afterward, I can go to the gym and do an easy elliptical workout if I insist on doing some other activity that day.

See? I'm learning from my mistakes! We'll see how it works in a couple weeks. Next Saturday, we have the Rodes City Run. It's a 10K and I want to finish under an hour. I have a feeling that I won't, so I'll also work on not beating myself up if I don't hit my goal time.

Mastering the Saturday long run will be much easier than mastering how not to be angry at myself after a missing a target.

Runner and Non-Runner Relations

Two technical things to get out of the way:

1. I ran four miles this morning. It was pretty good and easy, as intended. Nothing too hard before the Saturday morning long run. It rained a little bit, but not too much to develop puddles and ruin my new running shoes. Which brings me to . . .

2. I got new running shoes!  Again! This time, I have purchased the Nike Air Alaris. Since I've only run with them once, I'm going to hold out on a review until they've been broken in a bit more. They look pretty fly for overpronator foot support, and they looked even more fly with my favorite Japanese R2-D2 t-shirt on my run this morning:

 

BUT HERE'S THE POINT OF THIS POST:

Today, I arrived at work around 11:30 am, as usual. At this time, I'm still rolling on my post-run adrenaline rush. This rush involves having a ton of energy, being in a fantastic mood, and finding that I have a need to talk incessantly--about running. 

My coworkers are not runners. They don't go to the gym. They don't really care about physical activity. All of that is fine, and although that's obviously not my choice or lifestyle, I've been where they are before and I respect it. It's no sweat off my back.

Unfortunately, I basically drive these innocent people nuts everyday because I can't shut up about running. If it's not running, it's calories, or starches, or how much I love spinach. These people do not care, and I know they don't care. Truth is, I can't stop talking it all the time because I absolutely love running. Maybe they think I can't take a hint when they use single-word responses or just look at me like I'm speaking a completely different language. I get it. I notice it's happening. Again, I simply cannot stop. The words must come out and there's no keeping them in.

But this morning it was different. Maybe it's because it was Friday or the weather was warmer and everyone was generally in a decent mood, but my coworkers talked about running with me today. They asked me questions. They acted engaged in the conversation. They seemed genuinely interested in and supportive of my fitness goals. I was so happy.

I don't know what it means, or maybe it's only that after almost two years of being obsessed with  fitness and working out, I've just worn them down so much that they feel that they can no longer fight it, but I like it. I feel supported in a way that I never have before. Being a very self-driven person to the point where I call myself a Viking now, I have never put much stock in the support of others. Now that I have it from a few more people, though, I must say that it feels pretty nice. We'll see where this goes, but I wanted to share that because it pretty much made my week.

Tomorrow

Saturdays are an interesting training day for me. I'll wake up about 7 AM (a nice break from waking up at 5 or 5:30), eat breakfast, hop to the gym to do some upper body work, then do a Zumba class for an hour. I don't consider Zumba exercise because it really does nothing for me. I love to dance and it's gets the blood pumping moderately so I use it as a nice, relaxing warm-up. After that's over, I'll pop a PowerBar and drive downtown where I'll run eight miles. Last time I tried to run eight miles, two weeks ago, I thought my legs were going to snap at the hip somewhere in Old Louisville and I would die alone while hipsters passed by me smoking their Marlboros, not even looking at me because they couldn't hear my screams above the Vampire Weekend blaring in their earbuds. I hope it will go better tomorrow. I am mostly optimistic. It's supposed to be pretty rainy, so optimal Viking conditions are expected.

**Disclaimer: I know pretty much nothing about Vampire Weekend because I'm not all that cool. All I know is that they are a band and I'm 85% sure that hipsters dig them more than the rest of the population.

One foot in the front of the other! Earn the horns!

Another Blog About Running

Original, right?

I'm well aware that there are thousands upon thousands of running blogs. Blogging runners generally post reviews of new and popular running gear, talk about their mileage, discuss injury treatment and prevention, ponder varying their training schedules, chronicle what they eat for breakfast, blah blah blah, etc etc.

Yeah, I'll probably doa fair amount of that stuff, too. After all, I'm a runner and all we do is think about those things all day long, even if we're actively thinking about something else. But I'm not your average runner, or even your average blogging runner--

I'm a Viking. A running Viking.


This blog is going to be about why I love running and the progression of my passion and skill in the sport, and in turn, why running makes me feel like a Viking. I am going to talk about the boring, technical stuff sometimes but I also want to talk about how running makes me feel and why it makes me a better person inside and out. I want to talk about the little things I find along my route that make me smile, as well as why it is that I like to wake up so early just to run for an hour in a downpour and ruin a good pair of headphones.

This blog is still in its very beginning stages and I won't have a lot of time to work on it until this weekend. I am going to look into getting my CardioTrainer info from my phone linked up to this page so I can automatically share my runs. I plan on designing a calendar to visualize my training schedule. We'll see what I can and can't do, but most importantly, I'll try my best to track my trails, stay observant, and share my running/fitness journey in the most thorough, honest, and clever way that I can.

For now, this Viking needs to go to sleep because tomorrow morning is a four-miler through the rain, and as you will soon read, I live for running in the rain. The harder the downpour and the louder the thunder,  the bigger my smile. :)