Runkeeper Stats
Did good walk tonight but slightly overdid it. Right calf is complaining about the abuse I gave it today. To be fair, it has a proper argument. My shoes are in need of being replaced as they are beyond broken in and are simply ground protection with no support. My stride on the right foot has a distinct slide to the right that destroys the right wall of the shoe. So when walking, I am trying to flip my show on its side on a natural step and then the over compensation to prevent that from happening is what is causing the leg pain. It's been just about 11 months since I bought my current shoes and they have gone through a fair amount of abuse after I started walking.
So new footwear is a necessity, however the first thing I need to do is get my passport so I can go in and out of Canada. $55.00 has to be scrounged from somewhere to make this happen ASAP. This mysterious message is brought to you from one of my other journals. You will just have to figure out which one. Should be easy enough.
Life is not perfect, why should your body be? This is the journey of a man set out to change his life. Not to any ideal of perfection that the world seems to be stuck on but to his own satisfaction.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Second non-stop walk. Trending?
Runkeeper Stats
Completed another no break walk today. Minor challenge was resisting the urge to take a break after hopping the gate to the main road. On weekends they close it to prevent people from cutting through our parking lot. I haven't even entertained the idea of trying to jog yet. Walking like I have the last couple days have been wearing me out, if I jogged, I might only be able to do a quarter mile which is not even leaving the parking lot. Still too much gut to try as far as I am concerned.
Had a big mental crash overnight. Possibly due to the amount of "high" I was on the previous 24 hours. Lots of self-doubt and internal questioning. Then today at work, our "On-Call" manager is starting to do his bad habits again because on of the Upper Management crew that was keeping him in check is not out on Maternity leave. So that got me somewhat pissed off simply because micro-managing irks me to no end. So I almost didn't even go out on the walk because I just didn't feel like it. Lunchtime came around and I went anyway, by the time I made it to the half mile mark, I hit my road buzz and negative emotions started to burn off. Its nice to see that the walking therapy is kicking in more and more.
Chest was tight today, so the need to keep an eye on that is high. If the muscles are too tight tomorrow, will have to skip the walk to let it heal. Something about the need to breathe is a powerful motivator to rest and heal.
Completed another no break walk today. Minor challenge was resisting the urge to take a break after hopping the gate to the main road. On weekends they close it to prevent people from cutting through our parking lot. I haven't even entertained the idea of trying to jog yet. Walking like I have the last couple days have been wearing me out, if I jogged, I might only be able to do a quarter mile which is not even leaving the parking lot. Still too much gut to try as far as I am concerned.
Had a big mental crash overnight. Possibly due to the amount of "high" I was on the previous 24 hours. Lots of self-doubt and internal questioning. Then today at work, our "On-Call" manager is starting to do his bad habits again because on of the Upper Management crew that was keeping him in check is not out on Maternity leave. So that got me somewhat pissed off simply because micro-managing irks me to no end. So I almost didn't even go out on the walk because I just didn't feel like it. Lunchtime came around and I went anyway, by the time I made it to the half mile mark, I hit my road buzz and negative emotions started to burn off. Its nice to see that the walking therapy is kicking in more and more.
Chest was tight today, so the need to keep an eye on that is high. If the muscles are too tight tomorrow, will have to skip the walk to let it heal. Something about the need to breathe is a powerful motivator to rest and heal.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Endurance for the win
Runkeeper Stats
Today marks my first non-stop/non-break walk since I started walking at work. I found my pace which allowed me to walk without feeling too much back pain and my breathing remained steady. From what I could feel, my heart rate was good if not constantly up.
I know I haven't walked much these past couple weeks, there had been a lot going on in my life and had a lot on my mind. Last night, however, things were brought to clarity and resolution. So I am flying high in good graces and energy. Pretty much just naturally high right now, so I will leave it at that.
Today marks my first non-stop/non-break walk since I started walking at work. I found my pace which allowed me to walk without feeling too much back pain and my breathing remained steady. From what I could feel, my heart rate was good if not constantly up.
I know I haven't walked much these past couple weeks, there had been a lot going on in my life and had a lot on my mind. Last night, however, things were brought to clarity and resolution. So I am flying high in good graces and energy. Pretty much just naturally high right now, so I will leave it at that.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Vroom Vroom.. ow
Runkeeper stats
Its been a bit of time between walks and that was on purpose. The pain in my right shin was worrisome and needing time for it to heal was more important than getting out and pushing myself to critical failure and not being able to walk again. One thing that I did pick up in all this rhetoric of weight loss and diet is: "Listen to your body". It was telling me that something was wrong and I listened. There are those "tough guys" out there that preach the "More Pain is No Gain", I call bullshit of that philosophy. Your nervous system was designed to let you know when you are damaging your body and I say to them: "Stop Ignoring It!". So I healed and today's walk was a testament to that philosophy.
I was able to push myself, semi-comfortably, to only 2 breaks in the walk and was able to up my pace a bit at the same time. There were some surprising energy boosts along the walk which were inspired by the random set of 80's tunes that were being played on my phone as I walked. I never knew St. Elmo's Fire was that inspiring on a walk. That bridge to the chorus though, man it really boosts you if you are in the right headspace. By the second break I was really feeling the burn and pull of effort but i was able to walk the last .25 mile with ease.
Breathing was good through the whole thing and I found that lip syncing while breathing is a good breathing control mechanism. Had my first side stitch in a month and a half, yet it wasn't even that bad of a pain. The dissipating heat of the day was just bearable and comfortable mostly due to the medium breeze that was constant throughout. Overall, today was a very satisfying trek. We will see how the repercussions will be after I sleep tonight.
Its been a bit of time between walks and that was on purpose. The pain in my right shin was worrisome and needing time for it to heal was more important than getting out and pushing myself to critical failure and not being able to walk again. One thing that I did pick up in all this rhetoric of weight loss and diet is: "Listen to your body". It was telling me that something was wrong and I listened. There are those "tough guys" out there that preach the "More Pain is No Gain", I call bullshit of that philosophy. Your nervous system was designed to let you know when you are damaging your body and I say to them: "Stop Ignoring It!". So I healed and today's walk was a testament to that philosophy.
I was able to push myself, semi-comfortably, to only 2 breaks in the walk and was able to up my pace a bit at the same time. There were some surprising energy boosts along the walk which were inspired by the random set of 80's tunes that were being played on my phone as I walked. I never knew St. Elmo's Fire was that inspiring on a walk. That bridge to the chorus though, man it really boosts you if you are in the right headspace. By the second break I was really feeling the burn and pull of effort but i was able to walk the last .25 mile with ease.
Breathing was good through the whole thing and I found that lip syncing while breathing is a good breathing control mechanism. Had my first side stitch in a month and a half, yet it wasn't even that bad of a pain. The dissipating heat of the day was just bearable and comfortable mostly due to the medium breeze that was constant throughout. Overall, today was a very satisfying trek. We will see how the repercussions will be after I sleep tonight.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Short walk, big realizations
Runkeeper Stats
Light night tonight. I noticed that my right ankle was giving me some tension problems and instead of pushing it too much, figured it was best just to put in my mile and come back. The mile in itself wasn't too bad at all, the atmosphere was cooler tonight but seemed heavier and maybe a bit more humid than I thought as the sweat was rolling off my head as if I were walking the mile and a half.
The food hangover, as I have been told it was called, is slowly working it's way out. I don't feel 100% yet, but the "getting better" feeling is on the rise so there is hope. If anything, it shows me what junk food will do to you. I was the same way after quitting diet cola cold turkey. After the detox of the NutraSweet in my system, drinking anything with NutraSweet in it gives me an instant headache. Plus that sweet taste I used to love is now very very bitter. Needless to say, it was an eyeopener.
Light night tonight. I noticed that my right ankle was giving me some tension problems and instead of pushing it too much, figured it was best just to put in my mile and come back. The mile in itself wasn't too bad at all, the atmosphere was cooler tonight but seemed heavier and maybe a bit more humid than I thought as the sweat was rolling off my head as if I were walking the mile and a half.
The food hangover, as I have been told it was called, is slowly working it's way out. I don't feel 100% yet, but the "getting better" feeling is on the rise so there is hope. If anything, it shows me what junk food will do to you. I was the same way after quitting diet cola cold turkey. After the detox of the NutraSweet in my system, drinking anything with NutraSweet in it gives me an instant headache. Plus that sweet taste I used to love is now very very bitter. Needless to say, it was an eyeopener.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Unfortunate cheating with end results
Runkeeper Stats
I didn't walk yesterday because I was recovering from a couple of screw up's I did on Thursday. First off, it was the Marvel Movie Marathon event that showed all of the Marvel movies leading up to the premiere of The Avengers. The night before there was another weekly event that ended up with an "after party" at a strip club. Needless to say, sleep did not come until well after 4am. So arriving at the theater with around 4 hours of sleep did nothing for diet awareness or preparation, on top of which, movie theaters do tend to frown upon bringing food in from the outside. Long story short, it was a fast food/junk food day that ended around 5am. Sleep was not easily won or given as a phone call at 8:45am woke me up for a phone interview via a temp agency that I used to work for, from there it was broken sleep til 11am.
Lack of good sleep and lack of good food slammed me hard by the time it was walking time. I found that my addiction to candy has been drastically curbed. I had 2 bag of movie peanut M&M's and I almost could not finish the second one and had no desire to go find any more candy. The fried food I ended up eating just did not sit well in my system and even today my brain feels "waxy" coated. Getting home I had my first real meal in a couple days and feel loads better and actually full. I got a good amount of sleep last night that was pretty uninterrupted, so by the time work rolled around, my mind was clearer and sharper than the day before.
I can't say I looked forward to walking tonight and once I felt the air outside, the thought of doing a full circuit was daunting. However, the walk is broken up into three sections in my mind. Once I get to the second section, the half mile mark has already been broken and the rest of the street that's left is only about .22 miles. From there the incentive is just to get back to work on time from lunch. My daily goal, when walking will always be to break a mile if I can, it seems to be a good goal for a minimum goal to set. Breathing was pretty regular throughout the walk and recovery time on breaks are quicker now. Usually I listen to music on my phone while walking and my breaks tend to be one full song. Tonight, the need to go came up well before the song ended and there wasn't and reason for it other than that I was ready, which was proved by the fact that there was no instant drop of energy when the walking started.
Last night,. while I was at Wal-Mart doing some grocery shopping, I stopped by one of those blood pressure machines in the pharmacy section. I know they are not real accurate, but the average of spot checking I do on the same machine was consistent. The last time I took my blood pressure was 1 week after I started walking. My Systolic was in hypertension range and my diastolic was in pre-hypertension range. Last night my Systolic was down to pre-hypertension and my diastolic was in normal ranges. So my heart is getting better and in a few more weeks I will spot check it again and see if I can get both of them in the normal ranges.
It's unexpected mini-successes like this that are keeping me going and defeating my impatience. I did have the forethought to take a "Before" pic in the beginning of this journey. I dunno when I will have an after pic yet. When I do, they will be posted together. If I remember correctly, I already posted the before pics waaaaay back in the beginning. View at your own risk. :)
I didn't walk yesterday because I was recovering from a couple of screw up's I did on Thursday. First off, it was the Marvel Movie Marathon event that showed all of the Marvel movies leading up to the premiere of The Avengers. The night before there was another weekly event that ended up with an "after party" at a strip club. Needless to say, sleep did not come until well after 4am. So arriving at the theater with around 4 hours of sleep did nothing for diet awareness or preparation, on top of which, movie theaters do tend to frown upon bringing food in from the outside. Long story short, it was a fast food/junk food day that ended around 5am. Sleep was not easily won or given as a phone call at 8:45am woke me up for a phone interview via a temp agency that I used to work for, from there it was broken sleep til 11am.
Lack of good sleep and lack of good food slammed me hard by the time it was walking time. I found that my addiction to candy has been drastically curbed. I had 2 bag of movie peanut M&M's and I almost could not finish the second one and had no desire to go find any more candy. The fried food I ended up eating just did not sit well in my system and even today my brain feels "waxy" coated. Getting home I had my first real meal in a couple days and feel loads better and actually full. I got a good amount of sleep last night that was pretty uninterrupted, so by the time work rolled around, my mind was clearer and sharper than the day before.
I can't say I looked forward to walking tonight and once I felt the air outside, the thought of doing a full circuit was daunting. However, the walk is broken up into three sections in my mind. Once I get to the second section, the half mile mark has already been broken and the rest of the street that's left is only about .22 miles. From there the incentive is just to get back to work on time from lunch. My daily goal, when walking will always be to break a mile if I can, it seems to be a good goal for a minimum goal to set. Breathing was pretty regular throughout the walk and recovery time on breaks are quicker now. Usually I listen to music on my phone while walking and my breaks tend to be one full song. Tonight, the need to go came up well before the song ended and there wasn't and reason for it other than that I was ready, which was proved by the fact that there was no instant drop of energy when the walking started.
Last night,. while I was at Wal-Mart doing some grocery shopping, I stopped by one of those blood pressure machines in the pharmacy section. I know they are not real accurate, but the average of spot checking I do on the same machine was consistent. The last time I took my blood pressure was 1 week after I started walking. My Systolic was in hypertension range and my diastolic was in pre-hypertension range. Last night my Systolic was down to pre-hypertension and my diastolic was in normal ranges. So my heart is getting better and in a few more weeks I will spot check it again and see if I can get both of them in the normal ranges.
It's unexpected mini-successes like this that are keeping me going and defeating my impatience. I did have the forethought to take a "Before" pic in the beginning of this journey. I dunno when I will have an after pic yet. When I do, they will be posted together. If I remember correctly, I already posted the before pics waaaaay back in the beginning. View at your own risk. :)
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