Run away!

Been concerned about my weight lately. Sitting in front of a computer for 10-16 hours a day isn't very healthy. Tap on that the food I am eating (whatever can basically be made up within 3 minutes), and you can tell its not very healthy. Last night, while looking through some old stuff I came across some old military stuff, including things like my repell harness rope, a pair of miltary pants and a little photo albumn. That did it... it threw me into a bad fit of depression for about an hour. :(

So I decided I am going to do something about it. Now, I am not looking for the get slim in 21 days crap.. I want to healthfully lose 2 pounds a week until I am happy with myself. I don't care if it take over a year, as I will know I will be properly tightening up, and doing good to the body. I look at people who did the "Body for Life" program a few years ago and now note them complaining of joint issues. (3 out of 3 people I know that did it told me that). So that shoked me about the "blast" body building program, and has me not interested. So I decided to get back to basics, and remember that when in the military we ran almost every morning. Excellent aerobic activity. And could be done litterally anywhere. We ran everywhere all day. I was forced into it. Never liked running... but I was also in pretty good shape.

So I called up a buddy of mine that ... get this ... enjoys running FOR FUN. *sicko*. Explained my predicament, including my issue with joint problems. I don't have them yet.. but knowing Limos has had problems... I don't wanna go down that path. Low and behold he had an answer for me.

So tomorrow is the beginning of D-Day. He is going to drive out to Chilliwack and we are going to start doing the "Sun Run Training Program". Now, I am not training for the sun run... so don't fret about me bowling some of you over. But apparently the training program is pretty sound. The "Phiso" scientists over at UBC apparently designed the optimal training program to get into running for non-running types, and in a way to assist in joint development. On top of that, we are going to go run on the professional track which has a "cushion" matting that will lessen the impact. And because I already have excellent running shoes that fit well, I have all the tools I need.

The program is pretty interesting. It is a week by week building excercise for 12 weeks which will slowly and effectively build up the cardio to allow the runner to get up to running a complete 10K run. (Remember, this is designed for the Sun Run). In my case, I want to build up my heart strength so I can go and run 10K 3 times a week, and get the excercise to burn fat. Well, here is how it is scheduled out:

Week    Run     Walk

1               30s             4m 30s

2               1m              4m

3               1m 30s          3m 30s

4               2m              3m

5               2m 30s          2m 30s

6               3m              2m

7               4m              2m

8               5m              1m

9               7m              2m

10              8m              2m


* After week 10 it gets more complex. Download this schedule to get the full run down.

You do this cycle for 1 hour. So in the first week, I actually only run 6 minutes. Not to hard is it? Walk doesn't mean a stroll though. It is a brisk walk, with good posture allowing for lots of air to get into the lungs. Now, apparently the "wall" for this program is on week 7. This is where a lot of people stuggle. Hopefully with some help, I'll get through it. The only other thing is that I am supposed to have 6 glasses of water BEFORE I go running. And since we are going at lunch.. that is gonna be fun. Unbeknownst to me, the problem most people have when running is that they are TO dehydrated. Apparently most of us are ALREADY dehydrated, as we are not drinking enough water in our diet. We should not have to drink water during the sessions. We will need to replenish AFTER, but not during if we are properly hydrated. We will see what comes of this.

With the excercise queued up, I turn to eating habits. There is something I have problems with that I need help on. I have tried Weight Watchers, [name that shake] program etc.. and they all have failed. I can't swallow pills, so I can't do all the "pill" diets.. which is probably a good thing.. since almost all of them have been recalled one time or another. I am so confused since some people say high carbos low protien, others say the opposite. I spent some time with a nutritionist today and she put me on to the proper basic thinking. The Canadian Food Guide is, as we all learned in school, the proper way to eat. I thought I was safe eating lots of fruits... and found out all my orange juice, rasberries etc actually VERY high on the glycemic index and actually performing NEGATIVE things to my body at this particular point due to all the calories I would be taking in. As an example, I normally drink two 8 oz glasses of OJ in the morning. According to the food guide... that is actually 4 servings of fruit. Calories building up even before I am DONE breakfast. Add the fact I do that a night a lot... guess what.. I am a walking calorie holder. *sigh*. She also gave me some pointers to web sites like the Dietitians of Canada which has a wealth of knowledge. And none of it is targetted for some profit making health company. Its all raw facts and data to allow me to personalize my eating life style. We will see what comes of it. All I know is that I hate things like yogurt and fish, and that starts carving out some of the apparently good things to eat.

Well, we will see what happens. Chances are I will start using my blog to record some progress in how I feel so I can look back and reflect on it. If any runners in the crowd would like to provide me with some of their input, especially how you get motivated when its pissing down rain and you have to run... I would appreciate an email.