Thursday, September 8, 2011

Back in Business

I realize I've been slacking in updating the blog, but the workouts continue. Today was a kick ass day. Back on Monday I ran W5D1 which was 3 five minute intervals. I took Tuesday off, from working out and ended up cancelling soccer practice because it was raining, so that helped the knees out a lot. Wednesday I did weights and the elliptical and I felt great after.  I came home and stretched too.  I've found a pretty good routine of stretching my quads, calves, hip flexors and hamstrings. Hopefully over time that will pay off in more supple muscles and less pain.

Today I would have run in the morning, but I had a Dr. appointment. Its been six months since I was diagnosed with diabetes. In that time I've lost 43 pounds, plus my BP today was 120/78. It really felt great to walk out of there without a warning of impending doom. Now we'll see how my blood work comes back next week, but I'm feeling pretty damn positive about all that. Then after my wife made a delicious dinner of baked chicken, spinach and tomatoes with basil and mozzarella, I went to the gym.  Today called for 2 eight minute intervals and I nailed them. Well, I was struggling a bit through the end of both of them, but I finished. About 2 minutes into the second interval I realized that I wasn't even breathing heavy yet and I couldn't imagine how just a few weeks ago I could barely make it through a 90 second run. I broke into this huge smile while I was running, which probably made the other people in the gym think I was crazy.  At least I wasn't yelling out or laughing. So after the negative feelings just a week ago, I'm feeling back on track and excited about the journey. I don't know if I have enough in me to get through the first 5k without walking, but I know it will come.

I've been having some pretty good discussions with colleagues at work about happiness and feeling content but still wanting more. For a little over 6 years, ever since I saw the ultrasound picture with two little spots on it, I've been driven to achieve, to advance in my job, to make "something" of myself and be able to provide a good living for my family. By many measures I've done all of that, but of course there is always more to do. But last year someone asked me what I do for fun and I couldn't really come up with a good answer. That really got to me.  I like football ... I like music but what was I passionate about? What did I really look forward to doing? Well I couldn't come up with anything outside of spending time with my family and I realized that if I can develop parts of myself outside of work, I could be content more often. I started searching for things that I like, and my wife can tell you I explored a lot of options with varying degrees of success. A few things have fallen into place, with the running, with taking pictures and even with writing this blog and I've come to realize recently that I am able to find contentedness and achievement outside of work. As I lose weight, as I run farther, write more and take better pictures I can advance, achieve goals and feel that same sense of accomplishment that I used to get from solving a problem at work or being recognized with a special project or promotion. Does this mean I'm not going to continue to strive for greater things at work?  Absolutely not (in case any of my readers are wondering :-) ). But now I'm able to not become down during times when work isn't going as well as I'd like. Plus I think its helping me be able to create ideas and take risks at work without fear of disaster.  Hopefully this will make me a happier person, a better husband and father and keep me motivated in all aspects of my life.

I think all of this is part of me trying to psyche myself up for Sunday's 20 minute interval.  I'm pretty sure that if I can get through that, I'm well on my way to becoming a runner.  24 days until my race.

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