Running 2011 Final and Run 2012
In April of 2011 I began my journey to become a runner. At the time I could not run one mile without my leg muscles retaliating, who am I kidding I could not run for 2 minutes without the muscles in my lower legs becoming painfully fatigued. By the end of 2011 I had run two official 5Ks and I was running 2-4 times per week, I had become a runner. Overall I was pretty happy with my improvement in my ability to run, though for a guy who lifted weights most of his life I was pretty frustrated at how I had lost my ability to run and the competitor in me wants more.
Beginning in June I have at times felt like I could really run, although currently the good days only come about occasionally, the sense of freedom I feel running is difficult to explain. I ran on the beach, I mean a real run of several miles, for the first time in my life in July and it was awesome. I ran two official 5K races for the first time in my life, the last being Thanksgiving morning, and I was not the one puking at the top of a steep hill. All of that alone was something I could only imagine doing at this time a year ago. Now my thoughts are turning toward, how I can recover faster, increase my distance and improve my running time.
This year I want to run at least one 10K and I want to run a 5K in under 30 minutes. For the first time in my life I am going to actually monitor what I eat for longer than a month with the intent of dropping some fat off my body. I actually lost around 15 pounds running last year, but I am still roughly 20 pounds heavier than I was in my early 30s. While my shoulders are a little bigger now than they were when I was 30, so is my belly. I am pretty certain that my lower legs would recover better and take a lot less pounding if I drop some more fat from my body and considering the amount of time I spent running and weight lifting over the last year, the fat is not coming off without a diet change. My wife and I are going to work on the diet changes together, the only way this is going to work is if both of us do it together.
My running year ended on a down note, I last ran December 23rd, intending to run again the day after Christmas. The day after Christmas I came down with a terrible cold that both drained me physically and left me congested and coughing. I was actively already working to increase my mileage prior to the new year, so I hope I can recover from this cold soon and get back out on the road again soon, perhaps tonight. Here is hoping that Run 2012 is even more productive than Run 2011 was.
