I’ve been sick now for over a week, and as such, I haven’t been able to run. I hope to be better by next Monday so I can resume my running and be ready for my APFT in the last week of February.
I’m salty about not being able to run right now, but my wife told me to cool it until I’m fully recovered. She’s smart, so I’ll listen to her.
I have the flu. Despite the fact that I got a flu shot, I came down with it late last week, and I’m only now starting to feel better. So much for trying to get my 3x runs in last week. I am not sure I’ll be able to do more than 1 or 2 this week; that’ll depend on how quickly I can feel better.
I hate this. I really want to get back into my running full-time with my 3x+ runs a week, but it just hasn’t been happening yet.
Sigh.
Oh well. I know that as soon as I’m better, I will hit the pavement and make my runs a priority over everything else. I will make it happen. I will not give up.
It’s been three days since I ran last. My schedule got a little messed up over the Holiday weeks, and it put me on a strange schedule. On Saturday, which would have been my third run of last week, I went shooting with friends and was out in the wilderness and on my feet for the entire day, so I figured I got some exercise.
The main reason we went out to shoot was because Sherry and my friends chipped in and got me a rifle I’ve wanted since I was a kid: the Springfield M1A. That’s the rifle I’m shooting in the photo above. I also didn’t have it held to my shoulder properly and bruised it. That was a primary factor in me not running on Sunday because I didn’t want to aggravate my shoulder doing push ups. What does push ups have to do with running, you’re wondering. Well, that’s my work out, and if I can’t do one, I rest the other.
Needless to say, I’ll be running today weather permitting. I have a short errand to run after work, but that shouldn’t get in the way of my run. Only heavy rain will do that, and I don’t see us having a lot of rain for a long duration tonight. A shower? Maybe, but they are over soon enough.
No excuses. I’m dog-tired and not feeling up for it, but I will do it. I need to.
I enjoy running, but not in the rain. It was raining all weekend, and when it wasn’t, I had stuff going on. So, I will run today after a three-day break. Boy, this isn’t going to be fun.
As I’m in the process of enlisting into the National Guard, I have to take documents in to my recruiter today after work so that I can swear in next week. That means I won’t have time to run tonight after work as I had planned. This makes me unhappy because I am into a pretty good routine right now, and I enjoy my after-work runs.
I will wake up early tomorrow morning and get the run in then, instead. My wife and I have plans for the entire day, but they don’t start until around 11 am, so that give me plenty of time to run. That will make Thursday and Friday this week my “Weekend,” and I will have a four-run week coming up. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes. If it goes well, I may just go to a day-on/day-off run schedule. So, there’s some positive to it, I guess.
I made an admission a few posts back: I actually enjoy running. I also dismissed the idea that I would never be able to like exercise in the future. I clearly have changed my opinion on it. However, there’s one thing I’m very certain about: I will never enjoy extreme exercise.
I get it; some people not only love it, but thrive on it. They truly enjoy pushing themselves to new levels of fitness, strength, and speed. Heck, I understand wanting to get better and stronger; that’s what I’m doing with my running ad push ups. However, I don’t see myself doing two or three different workouts in a row in a single day. I don’t see myself wanting to really push so hard that I’m left a puddle of sweat afterward. That’s not enjoyable to me.
I enjoy the gains I’m realizing after working out. I enjoy the fitness it’s bringing me, and the ability to take a long hike through a new city’s trail system without effort. It was truly pleasurable and a reward of all the work I’ve been doing on my runs. But that’s about it. I run to be fit, not to prove anything to myself or to anyone else.
I am not, nor would I ever begrudge anyone who does engage in extreme exercise. It’s neat to watch, and I enjoy reading the new levels of fitness people reach. I’m forever motivated by these very same people whenever I think about skipping a run for no good reason. However, I don’t want to run so hard that my muscles want to explode, or do so many push ups that I can’t brush my teeth afterward.
I feel fortunate that I’ve found a workout routine that is working for me. It allows me to make gains, get fitter, and not feel hurt or broken afterward. That’s the key for me: a manageable amount of pain for gain. I am not lazy, but I’m not a fan of pain. I accept some soreness, but pain is out of the question. It’s not a badge of honor for me; it’s a matter of quality of life.
The bottom line is that everyone needs to find what works for them. Also, realize what is working for you may not be what’s best for someone else, and vice-versa. What I do and write about is all about my journey and helping others find theirs. If mine works; great! If not, I encourage you to find what does work and go with it!
This morning, I planned on waking up at 5:15 a.m. to run, but due to a power glitch last night around 6 pm (that only lasted about a second!), the speakers connected to my Amazon Echo Dot that we use as our alarm clock in our bedroom powered down. I woke up at 5:45 a.m. to find that the alarm didn’t go off as planned and I didn’t have time for my morning run today.
So… that means I get to run in the heat after work.
This is going to be an interesting experiment. It should be a bit cooler than the day’s high temperature since I’ll be running at around 6 pm, but also at a time of peak traffic, so I’ll have to run on sidewalks and try to stay away from the roads as much as possible. Fortunately, I have some new running clothes that are quite amazing at wicking and keeping me cool, so I’ll be putting them to the test today. I’m also looking forward to seeing how much energy I have, and how hard I can push myself to keep a good pace through the planned 30 minutes. Maybe running at the end of the day will be easier for me? Who knows. Hopefully I survive this one.
I just read another Facebook post by someone who has been injured and has been unable to exercise. I get it; I’ve been there. Using injury as a crutch to be fat was a specialty of mine (I’m not implying that the person making the Facebook post was doing this. I used to do that!). What made me sad was that this person still believed that exercise was the key to weight loss.
90% OF WEIGHT LOSS IS WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY. 10% IS EXERCISE.
I know this is a fact because I lost 110 lbs in one year without exercise. You read that right. I did nothing. Sure, I dabbled here and there with some physical activity, but nothing regimented and definitely nothing that would make me sweat. I only recently began doing push ups daily, but that’s a far cry from an exercise regimen. I’m working up to it, and I’ll get there someday (soon, I hope!), but for now, I’m still living an exercise-free life and still losing weight.
If you’re putting off losing weight because you think you need to exercise, stop. Stop buying into the hype and marketing that losing weight means sweating. It does not. Not even a little. “But I know people who have lost weight by exercising!” you’re thinking, and you’re not mistaken. People who exercise tend to eat better and pay attention to the quality of the food they are putting into their bodies. My sister is phenomenally fit, and she eats foods I would never even consider eating, but she eats them in very small quantities and she also exercises more than 90% of exercising people I know. Not only is she limiting her caloric intake, but she’s exerting far more than the average gym rat.
“So you’re saying that I can lose weight just by eating certain foods?” YES I AM! I did it. Look at this picture of me before and after. Bear in mind that the only difference between the two photos is 10 months and a different diet.
No, I’m not skinny (yet!), but I’m no longer obese. Also, I didn’t do some sort of weight loss diet like Adkins or the Cabbage Soup diet. I changed my eating habits and adopted the Paleo Lifestyle after doing a Whole30.
You can lose weight without exercise. You can have two broken legs and lose weight. You can be a paraplegic and lose weight. All you have to do is eat right.
I’m not taking anything away from those who love to exercise, or who use exercise to be fit. I just don’t want anyone to believe that if you can’t exercise, you can’t lose weight, or worse, if you don’t exercise you won’t lose weight. That’s complete BS, and I’d be very incredulous of any fitness “Expert” who tells you that working out is the only way to lose weight. I’d stay very clear of anyone who spews that BS.
Take it from a guy who lost 110 lbs in one year without exercise: change your diet, eat healthy, and just get up and move a little, and you will lose weight.
PaleoMarine's Fitness Blog 