Today’s slog – 2.5mi on the Ghetto Renew TM.
I have only been running/slogging/training for this marathon thing for about a year. I feel that I am at a point that I feel like I have made progress. Some of the good and bad things that I think I have discovered about myself in this past year.
1. I am finally losing weight. Yea, it took nearly a year to see the scale move without changing my diet a whole lot. 6 pounds as of today. I guess 6+ hours of slogging a week is my magic metabolism number.
2. My legs are more muscular. 3 semesters of weight training 4 days a week, 4 summers of bike commuting, and 2 years of using an elliptical did not help my legs as much as running has. Plus I can power up hills on my bike way better with these bigger quad/hammie muscles.
3. I have more spider and varicose veins. Not a good thing in a vanity aspect. I only had, like, 2 ugly veins before. I have a lot more now. I should be wearing compression socks more, like when I go to work and raise my feet after slogs for a few minutes. This is a good excuse to lose weight so running is easier on my legs, and a healthier weight won’t be pounding.
4. I can recover faster. After my half-marathon, my legs were pretty stiff and sore the evening of and the day after. Now, after slogs of 13+miles, my legs are not so sore. Maybe my knees feel a little stiff and swollen, but I am able to walk around and get up and down the steps to my house.
5. I am proving people wrong. Whether it is from their own jealousy or insecurity, or they really truly believe that I can not do it, I am proving them wrong. I am even proving myself wrong when I don’t think I can finish, I get it done.
6. Shoulders and blades. I have bonier shoulders. I can feel more bone then padding then what was there before. Arm swinging repetition are getting some parts smaller. I can even get my shoulder blades to stick out a bit. The muscles around and under my shoulder blades were so tight, I could not get the muscles to relax. Ever. Now my back tension does not bother me like it used to.
7. My body is connected. When my posture is off, I feel it affecting somewhere else. If there is a pain in my IT Band, it affects my knee, which affects my gait, which affects my posture ect. Things compensate for something else. And I get how the body works so much easier then looking at a Kinesiology textbook!
8. I have lost flexibility. I have not been stretching as much as I should. Which can potentially be a problem. I used to be able to keep my knee straight when touching my toes. Not anymore. I used to easily be able to touch my foot to my butt to stretch my quads. Now, it is a little further away then it used to. I have to stretch more.
9. I am faster. Today on the Ghetto Renew TM, my speed was more comfortable faster then around the start of summer. From struggling at a 4.3 to a 5.5. I think this is a big deal.
Boise State lost today. I am spending the rest of Saturday grieving.
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