Long Post Alert!

This first section is a deep philosophical discussion about exercise. Feel free to skip down to my run re-cap & news if you aren’t interested.

My take on exercise

Chris and Fig both had posts last Friday about making exercise fun. It got me thinking about my own philosophy of exercise – indeed, I spent about 3 hours of yesterday’s run really thinking hard about that subject. I decided to write my thoughts down here. This is how I feel – it’s neither right nor wrong, nor better than anyone’s thoughts. I doubt it’s unique to me either – but this is what I’ve come to feel after 2 years of consistently exercise nearly every single day.

The Korean word “do” (pronounced “dough”) means “way” or “path”. The name “tae kwon do” literally means “the way of the hand and foot”. Like most ancient martial arts, as well as yoga, tae kwon do is about more than just physical prowess. Ancient (and many modern) students of these disciplines were seeking to reach that mind, body, spirit nexus – where the 3 meet – in order to make improvements in all aspects of their lives. Spiritual enlightenment can be achieved through physical conditioning, just as a spiritual activity such as meditation can lead to improved physical well being. Because all 3 aspects of life are innerconnected.

We have a dog named Butchie. Butchie was rescued from the shelter by my mom, who wanted a dog. Butch had been abused, and then he was at the shelter for a long time (past his “expiration date”) because he was so sweet, they hoped he would find a home. Unfortunately, Butch was very destructive when my mom got him, eating her koi pond, storm door etc, until she brought him to us in the hopes that being around another dog (Carmen) would help him settle down. It took Butchie a good 4 -6 weeks to get socialized into our family. He was very bright and eager to please, so really that’s a pretty short period of time. But even after that, he was just a little high strung and suffered from separation anxiety. He would still chew on stuff (or even his paws) if left alone. We quickly learned to keep him supplied with bones, rawhide chewies, rope bones etc. – this gave him an outlet for his anxiety. He has one bone (it’s one of those round ones with a hole in the middle) that he carries around like a child would a pacifier. We call it his “binky bone” because it is his doggie equivalent of a pacifier or blanket.

I am a lot like Butchie. Due to a combination of nature and nurture, I am a fairly high strung individual. Not only do I tend to see the glass as half empty, but I will obsess over how I am going to (single-handedly of course) make sure the glass gets, and stays, full. This is just a part of who I am. Counseling has helped offset some of the “nurture” sources of this, but partly this is natural for me. Like Butch, I need an outlet for this anxiety so I don’t chew on my own paws as it were. I stress, therefore I exercise.

When I first began exercising, it was to lose weight. But that has totally changed for me over the past 2 years. When I read Dave Draper’s weekly newsletter in which he discusses his take on following “the discipline of steel”, I totally understand where he is coming from. This man was a bodybuilding champion before I was born. He looks better today than men half his age will ever look. He views weightlifting as a path – one that leads to a lot more than an awesome physique. When people talk about making exercise fun, I tilt my head as if someone walked up to me and began speaking Swahili. It just doesn’t compute. I’m sure people have fun in church sometimes, but I doubt it’s their primary reason for going.

Indeed, the gym and the running path are a sort of church to me. This is where I go to improve my life’s vessel, to contemplate who I am, to reflect on my choices, to seek emotional well-being and to gain a measure of spiritual enlightenment. I have found all those things and more in the gym and on the road.

Pretend you got a phone call from someone you didn’t know. They said they were going to Chicago and needed directions. Having nothing better to do, you pull out your road atlas in order to help. I bet that before you began spouting off directions, you would ask the person “where are you now?” How can you given them directions if you don’t know where they are coming from? Even if every single person in America were headed to Chicago, they would need to take different roads based on their starting point.

Life is like that. Most of us may headed in the same direction, but we are starting from different places. Exercise isn’t the only mechanism by which I improve myself physically, mentally, or spiritually. But it is one road I use. You may not use this road at all, because you are coming from a different direction. Doesn’t mean we aren’t headed the same place.

Run report

I survived! Saturday I bought groceries and rested. Saturday night was thankfully the first night I didn’t have to sleep with a cough drop in my mouth to keep from coughing. I woke up at 2 am a little nervous, but finally settled back down and got some sleep. I was up at 6:30, washed a Zone bar down with a little diet Pepsi, and with the help of hubby (the best pit crew in the world) I packed my Walkman, Hammer Gel, and CamelBak, stuffed a tissue in my waistband, and took off.

I started out having to slow myself down – the air felt cool & great and I felt like I could run all day! After a couple of miles I removed my jacket – it warmed up quickly. I did the out & back to the cemetery (7 miles), then decided to stick in the neighborhood because it was getting warm and the road was getting crowded. (The neighborhood is a little cooler). The hubby rode his bike, and even jogged a little of my second 2 mile loop with me, so this broke the run up nicely. The first 13 miles were good – the last 2 were rough. It’s funny how whatever your last long distance was, those miles are okay, but the new ones feel like Mt. Everest! And it was getting hot. But with the Hammer Gel I have yet to bonk or to have a post run headache. I went home, rested, bathed, & went out for a well deserved lunch!

My right heel is bothering me a bit. This concerns me because last year I made it up to the 18 mile mark before plantar fascitis forced me to give up on marathon training. I am trying to baby it.

Other Stuff

Food was more this weekend, but not out of control. I don’t want my body to think we’re starving with all the running & the recent loss, so Sunday was a heavy calorie day. I read some of the Zone info again, as well as some of the nutrition section of Arnold’s encyclopedia.

My problem with the Zone is that a) sorry, 1000 calories aren’t enough and b) for me it seems to be a little heavy on the fat & light on the protein. Rather than a 40/30/30 split (40% calories from carbs, 30% each from fat & protein), I think I am going to use a 40/40/20 split, which will give me a little more protein. I will start at 1500 calories and see how that works. I have figured my grams of carbs, protein, and fat, and my next step is to write down all my stuff and see what the nutrition is. Then to juggle it all around until I come up with a Mon – Fri meal plan. Weekends will be a little more flexible, but not completely “off” either. We’ll see how this goes.