Be Careful What You Wish For (D+89)

I don't believe in making New Year's resolutions. I figure that if you have a change that's worth making, why wait until January 1 of next year to start? Of course, I rarely make resolutions at other times of the year either, so I'm really just undemanding of myself year-round.

However, I did sort of have a goal for the year — lose 10 pounds. Over the course of a year, for a guy weighing nearly 200 pounds, that's not very ambitious, and it seemed attainable through only minor adjustments to eating (a little less) and exercise (a little more). I had lost about 10 pounds the previous year, and I figured I could do it again.

And now, only five months into the year: goal achieved! I currently weigh roughly 15 pounds less than I did at the beginning of the year. It's amazing what a few rounds of chemotherapy, hospital food, a stem cell transplant, and an intestinal uprising can do. However, I still think my original plan was better.

Unfortunately, it looks and feels like most of the loss was muscle. My belly button is still more of an inny than it was in my super-fit college track days, so I don't think I lost much fat there. I don't know how much of the muscle loss is atrophy due to disuse and how much is loss due to energies being directed elsewhere. I had been lifting regularly for much of last year, which had not changed my weight much but had traded some fat for muscle. Now, my chest, legs, and arms are noticeably thinner than they were in December. My clothes are baggier. Fortunately, we all know I don't care much how well my clothes fit (or that they match) (or  that they are not inside out).

Where I most notice the loss of muscle is on my morning walk/jogs. In April, I started adding a minute of jogging every five minutes or so. It felt hard. In May, I worked up to a 2:30 jog/2:30 walk pattern. Still hard. Today, the first day of June, I moved to 3:00 jog/2:00 walk. The jogging is slower than 11:00/mile, according to my running gadget.

My gadget also tells me that 11:00/mile pushes my heart rate to 155 pretty quickly, which explains why that "speed" feels hard. I don't feel like I could run much faster if I tried. My legs ain't got no giddy-up! I know the speed will come back (mostly), as I keep jogging a little longer and a little faster, and as I add some strength training.

Eventually, I'll make the transition from jogging to running — I don't know what the official distinction is, but I know it when I'm doing it. For me, jogging is like walking, only faster, while running is like flying, only slower.

My mid-term goal is to run (not jog) a 5K this fall. It will be the slowest race I have ever run, and it's going to be great.