W2D1: Worried

I was supposed to do today's run (Week 2 Day 1) on Tuesday if following the every-other-day plan, but work and other activities got in the way.  I put off W2D1 until today, and as I was preparing my playlist for the activity, worry over skipping days (since not having attempted to run since Sunday) kept running through my thoughts.

Once again, I was surprised by my body.  The run/jog interval this time was 90 seconds, walking for 2 minutes.  I didn't even notice the extra jog time.  Well, that is until I tried jogging uphill.  The slight incline of the street I happened to be on had me panting for air during the last 5-10 seconds of that interval.  The 2-minute walk was a relief.

Every once in a while, I catch my body trying to limp because my right leg is so much weaker than my left.  The good news is that I am able to consciously control the limping (well, to an extent).  I remember when I scoffed at my physical therapist when he told me not to limp, and I thought he was crazy.  I had always believed that people limped because they couldn't help it, and for the most part, that's true.  But that no longer applies to me with this rehabilitation.  Anyway, I digress.

After that interval of running uphill, the rest of the of exercise was a breeze.  I didn't get overly exhausted, and when it was time to stop, I was a wee-bit sad.

If you had asked me 3 weeks ago if I could ever learn to like running, I would have given you a firm and unwavering "Heck no!"  Now, however, I'm in awe at how much I've taken to the new exercise and hope that I can actually build up to doing this regularly without hurting myself.  It's fairly inexpensive--other than having to buy decent running shoes, which aren't cheap, and since I already own an iPod (several, actually) and the computer to make my own playlists/podcasts--or whatever you want to call them--all the better.

Now, if I can only clamp down on the most difficult aspect of this healthy living thing.  I love food.  There's just no getting around it.  I've done well to cut back on the amount of salt and fat I consume, but apparently, it's not enough to lose weight.  I struggle with balancing all the nutrients my body needs to remain active (running, cardio kickboxing, weight/muscle training) because I hate running out of energy during a workout.  I'd rather eat a bit more to prevent that, which doesn't sound bad except when the "bit more" becomes "too much more."

Looks like Week 2 might not be so bad.  The day-after-tomorrow puts me running on Saturday.  Woohoo!  The only problem is how do I choose what to do--Body Pump or Kickboxing?  Running can probably be combined with either, depending on how much I push.  I'm thinking Body Pump since I skipped it on Wednesday night.

Stay active!