Holy crap.
It already felt like autumn here in Seattle on Tuesday, with dark skies and rain all day. Plus, it was “cool and breezy,” as one of T Junior’s favorite books, My Friends Tigger and Pooh: Enjoying the Seasons, describes fall.
The closer I inch to my Return-to-Running date (Sept. 10), the further I seem to slide off the workout wagon. I am watching my eating, but still not making it to the gym nearly as much as I need/want to.
I did, however, go for a walk over the weekend. I know I need to ease into running, so I figure walking some days and maybe a little slow jogging on other days should be good. But really, I’m not sure. Does anyone have a good base-building plan they want to share?
Bennie (“my bouncy boxer,” as T Junior describes him) is my new workout buddy. We’ve only gone once, but it was mildly successful: walking 1.08 miles in 18 minutes with a 7 out of 10 (10 being the highest possible rating) on the arm-yank scale.
I read in September’s Runner’s World, though, about how running/walking with your dog can be tricky at first. But once you’ve gone out together on a regular basis for a couple of weeks, it said, things get better, easier. Or, in my case, gentler on the shoulder (hopefully).
Bennie is a 45-pound 7-month-old boxer puppy (and he’s not even filled out yet!) that has more energy than should be allowed for this size of dog. He’s a big, playful goof that doesn’t recognize his own weight and strength. He never stops moving. Never. Not even in his sleep. He’s gotta let that energy out somehow. That’s one reason I will be taking him on walks and short runs (short-nosed breeds can’t do long distances). The other reason: I’m a big chicken and I feel safer with my big doofus dog. Really, he’s very mean and scary. You don’t want to mess with us.
SUMMER OF WEIGHT LOSS
I posted Wednesday that I gained half a pound the week before and stayed the same for the couple of weeks before that. For the life of me, I cannot remember what the scale said when I weighed myself on Friday and I’m not at home where I can see my Excel sheet. I think I was up or down about .2 pounds. I think it’s safe to say I’ve hit a plateau. I’m really watching my food this week, I cut back on the alcohol and am trying to drink more water. So, despite my lack of gym presence, I’m hoping I’ll be able to manage a loss when I weigh in on Friday. I’ll probably screw it up on Saturday, though, since the Cougs will be playing their first football game of the season.
Little side note: I taught T Junior to say, “Boo, Huskies!” (The Huskies are the University of Washington, Washington State University’s rivals.) Except he can’t say “Huskies.” So, he walks around and randomly shouts out, “Boo, Huksies!” Still counts in my book.
Okay, back to weight loss…I have no challenge for this week. I’m fresh out of ideas. I guess what I’d like to read is how you all are doing. So, if you haven’t posted about your weight loss journey in a while, why not go ahead and do it now. We’ve only got 22 days till the official start of fall and the end of the Summer of Weight Loss.
SWEET DEAL!
I received an award from Stephanie at Girls Just Wanna Go Run! Thanks, Stephanie! Here’s what I have to do:
#1. Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?
#2. The second thing you have to do is, pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award.
#3. The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.
#1: There are many things I’d want to do over, some big and some little. Picking one thing, though, is impossible, so in the interest of a theme, I’ll go with health. I wish I would’ve been more conscious about my physical health after I left college (aka when I started being an adult who sits at a desk all day and eats fast food for lunch…and dinner).
#2: I don’t know who has received this already, so I apologize if you already got this, and since it’s a girly looking award, I’m going to choose six women to give it to:
Amanda at 5 Miles Past Empty
Kelly at In a Field of Daffodils
Lisa at Lisa Runs? Wait…What?
Mel at Tall Mom on the Run
TMB at Racing With Babes
Zoë at Run, Zoë, Run
#3: Thank you, Stephanie! Keep inspiring us!
13 comments
i say ease back in to the running as much as you can! make a plan in terms of how many days per week and stick to that plan, but don't rush yourself in how long/far you run. i would start with 2 min jog/2 min walk intervals. i'd start with intervals for at least the first 2 weeks. you're not only getting your lungs, heart and muscles back in shape, but you also have to ease your joints back into it and reintroduce it. In terms of running longevity, less is definitely more right now. keep us posted!
When I came back from my stress fracture I tried hard to run/walk for the first two weeks. Then slowly add miles. I had a silly goal that I wanted to run 3 miles right off the bat, but had to keep myself reigned in. The BEST thing you can do is take it slow.
So excited for you! I have been doing great on my SOWL journey…although, I have been not doing so well blogging about it! 😉 Oops! Since the start, I have lost about 7 pounds and am pretty close to my goal. Things have been crazy around here with school starting and family visiting, that I only find the time to check in on my dashboard from time to time. But, I will be posting more once we get our routine in check! Plateaus are the worst! The only thing that I find to work for me it CHANGE. Whether it be in my diet or exercise. Instead of doing just cardio…try a cardio warm up and then an interval weight training workout. Bodyrock.tv has great 12 minute interval workouts. I swear, once I started doing those, I started loosing again! Good Luck!
Yeah, the plateaus suck. Been there. Feel for ya. I agree with Kelly though… try changing it up, whether that's food or exercise. As for me, even though I'm not “officially” doing the SOWL challenge anymore, I have started to lose a little bit. Down maybe 2-3 pounds which means only 17-18 to go. 🙂
Haha! We're having a big group dinner tonight to present the two newest additions to our clan (Maggie & Julia) their first UW onesies. Have to start them early! :)I'm officially eight weeks out from being able to run again. Keep us posted on what you end up doing, I'll likely steal it for my own use. :)Also, my neighbors bought a little bit longer leash for their giant dog, and they wrap it around their waist kind of belt-like…they say it helps a ton when they are running w/ theirs.
GO COUGS!!! I feel for you having to live over on the West side…to many stinky dawgs!
Thanks for the award, you brightened my day with those cute cupcakes!I'd agree with all who recommended easing into running. I'd also say running according to how you feel. Set a goal ahead of time that you are not going to exceed X miles, but don't feel any pressure to force yourself to get to a certain number. After a few getting back into it runs you might be in a better place to asses where you're at and set some training goals from there.
From a person who does not listen to her own advice, don't rush the running thing, mileage or pace. Now if I repeat it enough times maybe I will remember that too.
Don't worry, Kerrie. You've got us behind you with starting to run again! (Us meaning the entire blog runner world). :)And yes, Bennie looks extremely mean. So so so mean. Boo Cougs! Ha ha! Take THAT!
Go Zags!! Oh wait we dont have a football team so go whoever :)Thanks for the award doll. LOVE LOVE LOVE the doggie, hubby wants me to get a running buddy dog companion
I read the same article too. It's funny I'm at my parents house and took their 2yr old 75lb golden doodle out for his first run with a human. After telling him no to jumping he caught on and did great!I bet Bennie will be good too.
So glad you're near your return to running date. I just got knocked out of the game. I'll find out tomorrow if I have a stress fracture in my foot – gasp! Any pointers on how to not drive myself crazy while not running would be great.Winks & Smiles,Wifey
Great you find your new good buddy that was awesome, nice post too.