Experiment #1: Couch to 10k in 20 Weeks (Day 5)

Success! Sort of....

My Tuesday walk was lovely, despite the fact that I almost completely forgot about it. I was at work late, trying to prepare for a crazy week by making eight bazillion copies. (It's a real number, I promise.) By the end of it, I was cold, tired, and feeling a creeping sickness coming on. I made an excuse to walk to Starbucks, grab some hot tea, set my timer, and put my headphones on. I spent the next half-hour hour cracking up laughing, listening to Louis C.K. and strolling around Roland Park.

I was colder and even more exhausted by the time I was done, but it was well worth it. Actually, I'm pretty sure that today's snow day saved me. I got home, took some Nyquil, and passed out by 9:00, and I got up today around 1:30. Given the weather right now, I will be lucky enough to get another snow day tomorrow. Getting to the gym is another story, but I'm going to walk in the snowy drifts if it kills me. Something tells me that I will lose patience with being stuck indoors, early on.

Can't I just be a hermit, in peace? No, not likely.

Experiment #1: Couch to 10k in 20 Weeks (Day 4)

First of all, many thanks to Elizabeth for keeping me honest. ;P

I stalled on my C210k plan for a couple of reasons:

• It just felt too easy! I know that I need to start slowly, to avoid re-injuring my back, but having so many days off was strange. I am used to rushing around, trying to fit everything into my busy life. Yes, I am aware of how self-important that sounds. That said, I'm calling out a significant percentage human beings who do the exact same thing. Easy or not, I just need to stick to the schedule. It won't always be so simple.
  
• Weather. I picked the worst time of the year to start running. I would much rather be outside than in a gym, but the snow and ice has made me nervous. I love it, but not the prospect of falling. It is time to start packing my gym bag and scheduling some extra time into my weekly schedule. If I could do it for physical therapy, I can do it for this.

I started a Week 2 reboot today. It was frigid, so I took my walk indoors...in Target, actually. Tuesday is my next scheduled walk, so I'll be back to check in soon!

Experiment #1: Couch to 10k in 20 weeks (Day 3)

Wow. Today was one of those days when I got done early, and within a half-hour, my energy was below sea level. I blame myself. I wasn't hungry, and I had work to do, so I postponed my lunch until the end of the day (3:15). ...and then, I had to make a list and go grocery shopping. I was happy to have gotten a Whole Foods gift card for Christmas, so I was able to splurge on a handful of ingredients that I probably wouldn't have purchased, otherwise. The idea of cooking right now kills me, though. By the time that I got home, I would have been completely content not to see or hear from another human being. ...and let me tell you just how much I wanted to go out for my scheduled walk. Thankfully, the universe provided me with exactly the motivation I needed: my next door neighbor started playing his saxophone...that is, if you can call it, "playing." (For the record, this horror is still going on, at nearly 10 P.M. I am content to live in my headphones and retreat from the world.)

In the end, I am glad that I got outside. The cold air and some bad pop radio was exactly what I needed. I can't say that I am completely cured of my earlier moodiness, but my overall mood has certainly improved. (Now, if only I could say the same for everyone else in my life. Apparently, New Year's optimism has a shelf-life of about five days.)

Oddly, I have a few days off until my next walk. It feels almost too easy, so far. I am going to stick to the plan, to avoid working too hard, too soon. I don't want to burn out, early. I think that I will end up using some of the down time (ha) to compare other C210k programs online, and to attack some of the chores that are starting to demand my attention.

Cheers!

Experiment #1: Couch to 10k in 20 Weeks (Day 2)

I woke up on Tuesday with a sore ankle, for some reason. I am genuinely hoping that it wasn't the result of Monday night's walk, and that I can blame it on "sleeping funny" instead. The pain went away pretty quickly, though. As I mentioned before, Tuesday was actually a day off, because I am pushing the scheduled walk to Wednesday. ...and oh MY, was it a day off.

I was supposed to meet a friend for a beer, and when I got there, I had three waiting for me. So much for aiming for a healthier diet! I was also exhausted, after two nights with only about 4 hours of sleep, per night. I had planned to do some cleaning when I got home, but I bought two video games --so that I can crack open my new XBox 360, this weekend-- and a pack of new pens, and then I promptly fell asleep after dinner.

I'm glad that I finally got some rest. Hopefully, I will be able to make up for some of the chores tonight, since I will actually be able to leave work before 5:30 today! Speaking of work, I'm going to go and do that.... *le sigh*

Experiment #1: Couch Potato to 10k in 20 Weeks (Day 1)

I must be crazy, because I decided to pick a difficult and lengthy first experiment. I have good reasons to focus my attention on health and fitness, though. First of all, the New Year always brings with it countless advertisements on radio and television that play to post-holiday guilt. I'm more than a little disgusted with the idea that health is only important at the beginning of each year, and before "bikini season," but the way I see it, anything that motivates people to take care of themselves is a step in the right direction. Many of the problems can be blamed on the consumer, in this case; people are generally too lazy/busy/discouraged/uninformed to make good investments in future health versus wasteful spending on first-quarter guilt. In a world on information overload, it can be difficult to get a clear picture of what is appropriate for each person, and often, we are too full of ourselves to discuss "embarrassing" topics with our physicians. I can raise my hand and admit to all of the above, so I can't really be objective, in my assessment/over-generalization.

Secondly, I feel like a sloth, after months of limited activity following a lower back injury. I am scared to overdo it, as I creep back into a more active lifestyle. I could have opted to try a much shorter plan, but concern for personal safety is a huge priority. Starting at a very basic level of fitness and giving myself plenty of time to progress means that I will be able to ask for opinions from doctors and specialists, if necessary.

I will be following this plan (PDF), courtesy of Hanson's Running. (Their home site is INCREDIBLY out of date, but the plan itself looks pretty solid/precise.) I'm logging individual workouts through SparkPeople.com, but I'll post my basic stats here too, for ease of viewing.

To be fair, I didn't actually start on Sunday, because post-holiday packing and New Year's blog updates killed most of my day. I did walk today, and for this first week, I'm going to push tomorrow's walk to Wednesday, to give myself enough time to rest.

Today's Stats:

Scheduled workout: 30 minutes of easy walking.
My time: 33'31"
Mileage/Step count: 1.42 mi./3,182
Calories burned (est.): 136
Energy level: Med-low. I did NOT get enough sleep last night, and tonight is going to be rough, too. I can feel a headache coming on; it has been a while.
Motivation: Medium.

I still need to take some basic measurements, so I will plan to post those tomorrow, on my day off.

It's ALIVE!

I could be talking about Baby New Year, or about this blog, but the Mad Scientist in me is itching to start growing things in test tubes, again! Initially, I began this blog as sort of a catch-all for experiments in living, but I haven't done much with it, over the last year. I lacked both motivation and focus, but beyond that, I lacked a real desire to give in to each experiment. I had the best intentions and ideas, but I was too wrapped up in myself to allow for the integration of those ideas into daily living.

Change can be a frightening thing. It requires letting go of routines and surrendering oneself to something...else. One can't know the results of an experiment before it has ended; we can only theorize. I have an extremely soft spot in my heart, reserved specifically for theory, but theory without experimentation is nothing but a beautiful idea.

In the spirit of both letting go and gaining ground, I have reached a comfortable place in Paradox, and now sit squarely in the middle of those two opposites. I don't know what to expect. It is not my job to decide what course these experiments will take, but only to participate and observe, and to record those observations as time passes. It will be impossible to be objective, but I'm okay with that.

I can say this: a lot of early experiments will focuse on self-improvement, playing with the perceptions of things that are supposed to make our lives "better." I say this with no small amount of skepticism, as I suspect that many of my endeavors will also make my life considerably more difficult. Again, I'm okay with that. I will take my suspicions, expectations, fears, and joys at face value. I would love to say that I will reserve judgement, but I doubt that I can hold up that part of the bargain. I fully anticipate some ranting and raving, along with cheering. The process is the important part...seeing an experiment through to whatever end it may take. It's funny, because I don't believe in endings, at all, happy or otherwise.

At first, I was going to focus on a single experiment per month, but that particular formatting decision was flawed. Many of my ideas for experiments revolve around ideas that have already been tested and marketed, just not by me, and many of them go well beyond the 30-day marker. I will simply follow the parameters of each experiment as they present themselves, without trying to impose any other external structures on them. Also, I really hope to include others in the process. At first, this was all about me, but things are slowly shifting towards including a larger community. Perhaps it has something to do with social media, in general, but I feel like I have a responsibility to use it for something beyond self-aggrandizement and ego-stroking. I hope that some of my ideas will reflect both personal and social exploration.

The big question is where to begin? I'm going to reserve my choices and thoughts on that question for another post, just for the sake of organization. I do hope that you will join me, and perhaps even attempt some of these experiments on yourself. Whatever happens, it is bound to be a worthwhile journey.