To Rest Or Not To Rest

I received a 4am text message from my trainer this morning letting me know we'd have to blow off our heavy lifting day because he came down with the flu.
This had mixed emotions for me. I was happy that I could go right to bed when I got home from work at 6am and rest my Jello legs after last night's 8.5K run. I was a little bummed out considering I want to face this getting in shape thing whole heartedly, but honestly I was tired.

Today was supposed to be a day of rest from running but I opted to do a light 3.5K run anyway. I was in a horrendous mood all day and it seemed like everybody I encountered was in a mood to fight or push my nerves. With this in mind I decided to run it out in an attempt to better my mood.

It wasn't completely successful, I'm still in a horrible mood.
But I got through my run no problem with a time of 18:38 for 3.5K. A pace of 5:18 min/km.
After a beautiful shower and some work I needed to get done on my laptop (including blogging) I'm ready to nap for a couple hours before heading in to work overnight.

These days are already starting seeming a lot like running in the mindset that it's all about always moving forward and putting one foot in front of the other.

I Can Feel The Burn Already

My legs were killing me all through my midnight shift at work. Of course I was doing bending and lifting moreso than I might normally notice, but those squats killed me.
I couldn't sit, and still can't, without discomfort in my butt cheeks and pain all through my thighs!
Regardless, tonight was the first running class at The Running Factory.
I knew it was going to be difficult due to my tired legs alone, but I was pumped to get my first run in.
Little did I know it was going to be an 8.5K run. I was thinking maybe 5K max!
My girlfriend chose not to participate in the first class so I was a little nervous to go it alone on the first night. Luckily I ran into my old friend Bob Stewart who filled the void and took some of the butterflies out of my stomach.
It was kind of funny after having a conversation with him earlier today via Facebook posts about how we were both starting our personal training for our marathons tonight.
I ran slower than my normal pace to run with Bob and feel out my leg situation but I was prepared to go the full eight. We kind of met in the middle to find a happy medium.
It was great jogging conversation and a fun way to catch up!
He definitely helped me get through my first night, I hope I helped push him a little harder in the process as well.
My time for today was 8.4K in 54:31, which is a pace of 6:30 min/km.
My legs are completely exhausted and I'm of course tired all around, but I'm happy to get the first day of class under my belt and know that I can at least run that distance without stopping or walking and in a reasonable time.
We were the last two to finish tonight, but that's because we were two of the very few that didn't only run 4K.
Good job Bobby!
Let's see how my legs feel in the morning when I go to my workout after working all night on my feet. Should be interesting.

Not Sure I Can Do This!

Ok, so I turned 40 years young on Saturday, June 14th and gave myself a week to recover before fully committing to the lifestyle changes in order to obtain overall better health and in the process train to run a full marathon which takes place on Sunday, September 21st at the World Alzheimer's Day 'Run For Heroes' Marathon in Amherstburg, Ontario.

As of today I have fully given up foods and beverages that I love so much but are absolutely horrible for me and every other human out there. Believe me when I say that I love pop, I LOVE POP! There are few things I love more than an ice cold Coca Cola. Protein shakes are good too...lol!
One of the few things I love more is candy! You can call me candy-oholic!
Seriously, I consume the candy by the handful, bag, until they're gone.
People often wonder how I'm not diabetic at this point. I have no answer, I'm just thankful I didn't become diabetic before I had the chance to change my bad habits.

I've only ever willingly ran or jogged any distance more than 100 feet maybe a few times in my life until last year when I ran the Canada D'eh 5K and then the Windsor Spitfires Mickey's Run 10K (which I finished in 46 minutes and change). Tomorrow evening I start my first marathon training class at The Running Factory and will do the first run of my training period. For the over the last month I've been consistently running 1-3 times a week for about 3-5K but now it has to become routine and not just a 'if I can find the time' kind of routine.

Today however was a different story. Today I had my first workout with my personal trainer and nutrition expert Steve Oriet where he kicked me off with doing more lunges at one time than I've ever done in my entire life combined! And now I know how to do them correctly. That was about five hours ago, my legs are currently in a 100% JELLO state. Stairs can kiss my gluteus maximus which is as numb as my thighs! My other starting exercise was three sets of wide grip lat pulldowns.

Honestly, like most people out there I'd like to say and believe that I'm in decent shape, but I know better! Despite how active I am, playing ice hockey, floor hockey, baseball, etc. all year round, I think I'm in the worst shape of my life! My arms are small, I've got chicken legs, but I've also got drive. This is most likely going to take more out of me physically and emotionally than anything I've done in my life before now. I just hope to be strong and motivated and achieve my goals!

I'll be tracking my successes and sharing anything I might learn as I work toward running the marathon in September.

Until Day 2. 

Good evening!