I felt really good about this week. I was able to get in two runs and two bike rides.
The other positive thing for my running this week is that I ran over 3 miles on one run. I kept my other run to under 2 miles so as to keep my overall distance in check. I also continued to focus on a slower pace as I add mileage.
Biking was at a steady pace and nothing too strenuous.
Also, I didn't record it because I wasn't sure of my distance (and the size of the pool). I did a few laps in a backyard pool. It was a scouting activity and I took 20 minutes to swim back and forth.
Starting from ground zero has taken patience, but it is paying off. (for a review of why I took the break see this blogpost). I took a leap of faith and began to increase my mileage as well as splitting my run to two per week. Here is a snapshot of the previous two weeks for running (only running shown).
I am doing my best to follow the 10 percent rule (Runners's World explains it here). I don't want to add too many miles too quickly. I am also sticking to a slower pace. For those of you that are looking to start running, you can do it. Take it one step at a time.
Here is an overview of everything I've done over the past 6 weeks. I've continued to do my best to keep things balanced. As I increase in running distance, I want to also keep doing other activities.
The following blogpost was written by Devin Hatch.
5 years ago I was way overweight. I couldn’t walk up a
flight of stairs without feeling like I’d just hiked through the Amazon jungle
or inflated a blimp with a kazoo. I didn’t like it, and one day decided to do
something about it. I conjured up some of the most amazing goals to get back
into shape and look and feel just like I did in high school. I was riding high
on the road to success.
Except I never did anything. All I did was make up some
goals, maybe wrote them down, and
waited for the results to start rolling in. If only it were that easy.
Here's from my graduation, not too long before I started running.
Then one day I did something that ended up being a game
changer for me. While talking with my wife one evening I said three words that
ended up being my magic words. Kind of like the old “bippety boppety boo” in
Disney’s Cinderella. Looking back over the past few years I realized that every
time I’ve set out to do something crazy, challenging, or insane I’ve started my
path toward those goals with the same three words. What are those words?
“Babe, I’m gonna…”
I recently dubbed my past achieved goals my “Babe, I’m
Gonna…” goals because every time I have said those words and followed them with
some goal I’ve found a way to achieve those goals. Way back when, when peeling
an orange was my equivalent of an Olympic gymnast doing a routine, I told my
wife, “Babe, I’m gonna run a 5k”. Fortunately I have a wonderful wife that
didn’t give me a look of, “Oh yeah? Let’s review your life insurance policy,”
and instead encouraged me on. I can’t go on any further without giving her
credit for helping me achieve all my “Babe, I’m gonna…” goals. She’s been
fantastic and I can’t say enough to thank her.
Running my first 5k
As I said, those three words have carried me through a lot.
They’ve pushed me to my limits and at times I’ve wanted to quit, but something
about giving up just didn’t jive with me because I knew I’d have to face my
wife and explain to her why I was quitting…and that would probably be more
difficult than whatever I was training for. I’ve endured with each of my “Babe,
I’m gonna…” goals and reached heights I never thought possible. And I am happy.
MapMyRun gave me a Fitness Flashback from 2 years ago.
I ran this during Ragnar - Wasatch Back in 2013. It was a great middle of the night run. A good distance. These are the types of runs that I continue to look forward to. I've set my sights on Top of Zion relay for 2016. Here's to setting goals and getting back into running!
Yesterday I increased my mileage to 2.5 miles. I am going to continue to increase a little each week. This week I will incorporate a second running day, but will keep it a short distance and slowly build up that mileage as well.
The other aspect of running that I tried was to increase speed, but not a whole lot as you can tell. My second mile was under 11 minutes and that was good enough for me!
When it comes to cross training there are three reasons why I do it:
Injury Prevention
Injury Recovery
Adding Variety to Exercise
In 2012, my brother Steve and I participated in a triathlon. The swimming and cycling was big for me as it was helpful in my recovery from a knee injury.
There are other reasons to cross train. Here are a few of them in a blog via runnersworld.com
Please excuse me (again) for deviating from running for this blogpost. We'll call this the "family" portion of "runningfamilyman". I had started this blogpost over three months ago, but I was not entirely sure how to say it or to finish it. Frankly, I am scared at the thought of the truth behind this. For months, We didn't tell anybody that we were having difficulty getting pregnant again. We didn't even our family. Then I read a blog post about the lies that our social media accounts show.
We have been extremely fortunate to have been blessed with two amazing children. Healthy and Happy Children. Don't get me wrong, we live a really good life. But something else is missing. We're trying our best to make our children happy. Sometimes we hold the pain in and keep it close so that nobody else knows it.
People would hint about us having another child... trying to get us to tell them we're pregnant. We joked back making up excuses of "we're waiting" or "not sure we want another". Oh how badly I wish we could say we were. We both have known that we want more kids. But the current situation is there and it hurts.
Over the last few months, I've spent time pondering and praying over this to find comfort and peace. I do know that there is a higher power in our lives. I believe that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us.
My sister shared this scripture recently and feel the need to share it. "For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith." Ether 12:12. I'd like to add verse 6 "for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." I've seen miracles happen for myself and for others.
Maybe next month or next year or whenever we will get pregnant. Maybe Heavenly Father has a different plan for us. Whatever that is, I know that the most important thing for me right now is to keep moving forward. To provide for what I have been given. I have hope that we'll be blessed with another child.
We continue to enjoy life with our children. We know it's not easy being parents as it requires utmost sacrifice. But when I see my kids or wife laugh, I know I'm doing things right.
It has been project after project on this house that we've bought. The front mow strip, the small section between the road and sidewalk, was supposed to be a "quick" project, but it evolved into something huge. Tree removal, gravel removal (which I found when tilling it with what was supposed to be final step before installing the sprinkler, but ended up being 20 man hours of removing by hand), mulch, and then the sprinklers.
On Thursday, the sun had set and it was beginning to rain. I was out finishing a sprinkler line in the front of our house. I was excited that the end was in site. My neighbor saw me and came over to see what I was doing so late. I was putting the final pieces together, but my fingers were hurting. My leather gloves had holes in them from all of the previous projects and I wasn't sure if my fingers could handle the remaining fittings. He then asked what he could do to help. I let him help me finish up. It taught me a lot that I should be looking for those opportunities to serve other people, to just jump in and get to work.
Whether or not you are a religious person service should be a part of your life. I just finished watching a video about how a group of men helped a woman with MS into bed at night . They have been doing it for 7 years. What I love about this video is that the men were honest about their feelings of providing service to this woman. To some it looked like it would be a burden, but I love how providing the service and examples of others helped to change their attitude. This video is 9 minutes long, watch it. It is worth it.
I may not always be in the right mind to be of service to others, but when I do, I know that I am happier because I know I've helped make another burden's burden lighter.
In March I wrote that I am "coming back to running". I've slowly, ever so slowly, making progress. I am running once or twice a week and slowly adding distance.
Last year (2014) was extremely hard not being able to run. 2015, I am feeling a lot better about my knee and it's ability to handle longer distances. The key for me is to continue to add mileage, but not speed. That is the approach I'll take for a while. Here is March, April, and May running distances. I will try again for 1.5 miles per run this weekend. Next week, I'll go for 1.75 miles per run.
The other thing that I am doing is cycling. I feel that having another form of exercise is going to help keep my legs strengthened.
I feel like my patience in 2014 paid off. I didn't push myself to get back into running before my knee was ready. And if the pain returns, I'll reconfigure my plan and go from there. Happy trails.
I have watched my kids and other people's kids and often thought that they are spoiled. I tend to think that we cater to them way too much. Then I realized that as I point my finger at my kids and other kids, that there are 3 other fingers pointing straight back at me.
I've been doing family history. Not the family history where I seek out ancestors, but the family history where questions are asked to those that are still living. They won't always be here and I want to remember them. I want to learn from them and learning is what I've done.
As I listened to my grandma Blake recount her history, I have come to realize that the joys and struggles I have she had the same. I've learned that I've been pointing fingers in the wrong direction - I have spent too much time casting blame to my kids and others around me. I am spoiled beyond what I deserve. As I learn about the struggles my own grandparents faced, I am humbled. I then sit back and count my blessings. I count my trials and I am grateful for them too.
It has been over a year since I ran my last race (Dogtown Half). It was a fun race with family and friends, but I walked away with an injury. I couldn't run more than a half mile without pain starting in my right knee. I would go out and try to run every few weeks, but the pain persisted.
I talked with my brother-in-law (currently attending PT school) periodically about what to do. He gave me tips and pointers for exercises to help since I didn't want to go to doctors as the pain never lasted more than a day after I ran.
I am now running 1-2 times per week. I run one mile at a really slow pace. I am going to keep this distance/pace for another week or so and then up the distance.
I am also exercising and focusing on building muscle. I also use a foam roller on a daily basis (sometimes 2 times a day) to help roll out my IT band. . I plan on supplementing with biking and possibly swimming.
It was one very difficult year not being able to run. Here I am trying again because I love it and missed it a lot.
