It seems that every year I decide to do some kind of fitness challenge/experiment in conditioning, building energy or losing weight. It’s always around this time of year. Actually the previous two years it started in August, right after vacation. This year, it was supposed to start today, (October 1, 2016), however I figured if I didn’t start when I thought about it, I might not start at all. When one embarks on an experiment, one must know thyself and thy weak points.
September 28th was the most recent of many a Day One in my athletic life. I went out and ran – and by “ran” I mean suffered – for two miles, non-stop in the chilly rain of this grimy, gritty city. Mind you, suffering is indeed a choice in my opinion and I not only choose to suffer, but embrace the suffering. It makes the victory more satisfying.
The catalyst for this experiment was a conversation with the woman who sold me my monthly transit pass. She was admiring my ‘guns.’
“You must like doing pushups,” she said.
“Huh,” I articulated in muscle-head-ese.
To which she indicated my biceps. I told her it was more pull ups than pushups. The interaction ended with my standard advice; “Walk 30 minutes a day for 30 days and I promise you’ll see a difference.”
Most people won’t even do this one simple exercise despite my personal guarantee that it will work. Certainly she told me she walked ten minutes to work, but couldn’t add another 20 – for whatever reason (she didn’t like “going that way.”) I left her with the idea that I’d be checking in with her next month, when I picked up my next transit pass.
I started thinking to myself that I should take my own advice, only, instead of walking, I’d run. My minimum default is two miles. By that I mean at any given time I should be able to run two miles… no time limit. I can handle it most times, usually in about 30 minutes – when I can’t, there’s a problem. I decided to go for it.
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| Another before pic. Sept 29th 2016 |
Another bit of advice I’d given out in the past involved losing fat-weight; “run it off,” I’d say, somewhat glib and matter-of-factly. Apparently, some people cannot run off their fat. I’m not sure I have this problem. I’m a pretty good eater, now’adays, but even when I wasn’t eating “clean” or “Paleo” or whichever way I’m eating now, a few weeks of running slimmed me down. But not only that; it improved my breathing (lungs) and lowered my resting heart rate, which means my heart pumped more efficiently. When I guarantee someone will get results, I’m not just talking about dropping a dress or pant size, I’m referring to several improvements that are seen, felt and experienced.
On Day Zero I weighed in at 180.4 lbs. (81.82 kilos). You should know now that I weigh myself every day – sometimes twice. You’ll discover why as we go along. At 5’ and 11” (180.34 cm) my BMI is 25.2 – which despite my muscle mass to body fat ratio, puts me in the “overweight” category (we’ll discuss this later as well.)
This is our starting point. In my video, (https://youtu.be/dovU9bHTJYw) if indeed I can link it here, I make no promises. I’m not promising that I will even run for 30 days. There’s no reason to think I won’t. In the past I’ve done 90 day “exercise challenges” and hit every day. Running is different for me. I’m not very confident about it and I know I will take advantage of any excuse to quit.
One of the reasons I document these events is to keep me motivated… keep me honest and take me to completion. During the course of this series you’ll probably get to know a bit more about me. I’ll share more as I feel more comfortable.
Stay tuned for Part II.
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