I can't even begin to tell you all the reasons behind this, but I can assure you, my opinion is well founded. I will say that 90% of it has to do with driving. And I love driving.
I've managed a mere 13 hours of sleep over the past three days, so needless to say, I am extremely tired. This morning, I put my left shoe on my right foot, spoke at least three sentences of complete gibberish, uttered the question, "Is the WK [abbreviation for Western KY Pkwy] about halfway down the Western Kentucky Parkway," and put ice in my coffee instead of my water.
I am a person incapable of making coherent, intelligent decisions as I wake. I have always been this way. I "wake" but still have delusions sometimes and have no idea what is actually going on. I'll hear my alarm and look at the numbers on the clock, but I don't process that I am supposed to get up because I have things to do. I interpret the numbers to mean various things - anything but the time of day.
This morning, my alarm began at 5:40am. At 6:35am, I woke. I was surprisingly more coherent than average and realized what time it was and what I needed to do. I knew it was Monday and that I was supposed to run. My newly-woken self decided that I would skip running today and just do it tomorrow. Nothing in the world could have felt better than that bed. All I wanted to do was sleep.
I got out of bed, got ready for work, and walked out the door.
All day, I knew I had to run tonight, but I didn't want to. I just wanted to sleep.
Today was the absolute fastest Monday of my life. I clocked in and suddenly it was time to leave. I promise, I didn't sleep at all.
I got home and knew that if I sat/laid down, I would be done for. I couldn't do that. I had to run. I was to begin a new week, one I knew would be hard. It was another step in my journey. I had to stick to the schedule.
I changed into my running gear and headed out. I decided to run outside again. In previous runs at Central Park, I have completed the runs there and then walked all the way home. Knowing how tired I was and how much sleep I plan to get tonight, I decided to try to end the workout back at my apartment.
The program for week 4 is as follows:
3 min run
90 second walk
5 min run
2.5 min walk
3 min run
90 second walk
5 min run
Cooldown - 5 min walk
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about this run beforehand.
The first run arrived and felt like it took awhile, but I was feeling ok. Run two came rather quickly and lasted forever. I was hurting and waiting for that two minute to go mark. It came and I pushed through it and the one minute mark, finally finishing the run halfway up the hill in the middle of Central Park. I was glad to know that I had 2.5 minutes to recover.
My mouth was super dry, so I popped in one of my sticks of gum I've been carrying. Gum never tastes as moist and flavorful as it does in this situation.
I was nearing the corner of the park that leads back down 4th street, towards my apartment, and decided to go ahead and head that way. Before I left the park, the third run came. I ran down the sidewalk of 4th street and my legs were hurting. I started feeling another of those side pains. I had to really push myself to make it to the end. Alison told me to walk and I was relieved. I put my hands on my head, following the advice of Sarah Bennett (thanks), and this helped relieve my side pain. I felt as I have after workouts from previous weeks. I was exhausted. I knew that I still had a five minute run ahead of me, and I was not looking forward to it.
The fastest 90 seconds passed and it was time to run again. I was approaching Hill St. and my pedestrian light displayed an orange hand. I was hoping that it would stay this way, forcing me to stop and catch my breath. I got within 30 feet or so and the light changed. It now displayed a white figure, taking a leisurely stroll. I had the right of way. I took it. I didn't stop.
I kept running, despite the pain. I couldn't believe Alison hadn't given me the two minute warning yet. I was in rough shape at this point. I wanted to stop. It was bad. My pace was slow, but I was running. I was giving it all I had. This last run was the hardest thing I've done, physically, since my senior year of high school, in the fall of 2005 (thanks Gordo).
The two minute warning came and I wasn't sure if I could make it. I kept running. Finally the one minute warning came, but I was getting weaker. Only one more minute. I could do it. I pushed myself, harder than I ever have before. Then it was over. I could walk. It took me several seconds to recover and catch my breath, but I did it.
I must say, I was pretty proud of myself. I'm sure running for 16 minutes seems like a menial task to a lot of you, but when you've been overweight half your life and haven't done much physical activity in a few years, it's rough.
I do think that I will move Thursday's run to Friday for this week. This workout is quite a bit harder than the previous three weeks, and I'm not sure I can do it back to back.
I don't listen to this band on a regular basis, but I like a lot of their songs. A few of them are on my phone, and coincidentally made it onto my playlist. One Republic - All the Right Moves came on about a minute into the last 5 minute run. This song is pretty upbeat and has a good flow to it. It helped me get through that last run. I was pretty glad to hear it over a slower song. For the record, I think this band is criminally underrated.
Here is the map of tonight's run, making a figure-8 like shape.
I feel pretty good right now, just very tired. My calves hurt a little bit, but I think I'll be more prepared for Wednesday's run. I'm strangely looking forward to it.
As of this moment, I weight 301.0 lbs. This is a 0.2 lb loss from one week ago. This is a little disheartening, but I know losing this much weight is a long journey. Considering my eating options over the weekend, I consider losing weight a victory.
Keep up the good work bro. =)
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