seeker7

Hope everyone likes my superhero avatar thingy! Not perfect but, works for now. Might tweak it a bit in the future. After all, trench coats don't make running all that easy. Used this site: http://superherotar.framiq.com/

An update for this week. Some positives and some negatives. I'll start with the negatives because, well, it's usually best to get them out of the way. First and foremost, my knee is still not where it needs to be to run. I am probably going to rest it for the remainder of January. Again, I've been through worse pain with it in the past, and would prefer not to agitate/aggravate it to that point again.My battle logs have been less than daily since Friday, in fact, I haven't posted one since then. However, I will get back on track shortly.I missed one day of my daily reading of Rediscover Jesus but, I made it up the next day so, still technically on track.Missed my sleep and step goals most of the week.Now for the positives: Started a new water consumption routine based on something I saw in a documentary. I've been drinking 32oz of water first thing in the morning and I totally feel better throughout the morning and day when I do this. It also makes sticking to my water goal consistently a bit easier.Thanks to a suggestion by my wife Tanya, I have switched from consuming a quarter cup of either walnuts or almonds as "breakfast" each morning to having both a fruit like a banana or orange with the nuts. While I might not always "feel" hungry in the mornings, I am finding that consuming the nuts and fruit does set me up for a better day overall.As I mentioned, Tanya got a kettlebell DVD from the library for us to try. For the record, the DVD is called Ultimate Kettlebell workouts For Beginners with master instructor Paul Katami. (whatever "master instructor" actually means) I tried the first workout on the DVD yesterday and upped my weight to the 15lb kettlebell. I got up to the part with lunges and was in too much pain to go forward but, the DVD does a great job on teaching form. Will try again later this week. I am definitely feeling it today!I do still need to create a back story for my character but, that will come in time. Overall a good week with some hiccups.

Thanks for the interval suggestion and the resting tip!

Just created my character. No details on my story yet but, will have something in the future. No time to be creative right now. Battles to undertake,,,AKA getting ready for work. Eventually I'm going to find some kind of superhero avatar generator and create some kind of cool avatar. I know there are plenty of them out there but, hoping to find one with just the right stuff.

I'll create my character tomorrow! Just haven't had time today.

I'm probably going to rest my knee for the next week. No real running. I may do some walks and such but, as far as running I am taking it easy. My knee even hurts when walking, although mostly on downhill slopes. I found that out walking to church and back today, which is under a mile total. So, while I am mad at the situation, I am not going to further injure myself. I'm not even sure how I re-injured things to begin with. All that being said, my running goals will likely not be met for this challenge. I mean, unless my knee feels better for next week and I can get 2.8 out of 4 weeks, I might still count it as a success. We will see what happens. However, I am still going to keep carrying the torch with the other three goals.

My battle log today details the reason behind my run issues. I am hoping that with the new week will come a new beginning. I've met 2 of my 3 challenge goals for the first week of this challenge period. It isn't ideal, but I am going to try not to be too hard on myself. (Note: Writing that and emotionally living it are two different things)

Next week is another week. Will give a couple days rest. Plus still can do kettlebell.

Sadly, I will not hit my 3 3-5 mile run goal for this week. I got 2.2 miles into running around my yard, had to stop to do something and then when I picked back up again my left knee started hurting, not aching but, hurting. So, .8 miles from hitting my running goal. I can't feel that bad about it, after all, I'd rather not push it and get injured.

There are two main reasons it works for me. Note: That doesn't mean it is for everyone. I like the idea of roleplaying and participating in a story. I've done some Pathfinder and Hunter:The Reckoning tabletop play in the past. You can really get into the story, the characters and into the moment. That is part of what Nerd Fitness is about too, making exercise like a RPG. To me, Zombies, Run! is an augmented reality RPG and it is a ton of fun. I actually get scared for the characters sometimes. No, you don't always take the "zombie attacks" seriously in your mind, but, I will tell you this much, when you run early in the morning and there are next to no cars and crows flying around in the town, you sure can feel the moment then! On the exercise side of things, it is a great interval training method. You can set the app for however many "Zombie Attacks" per hour you will encounter. Whenever one is announced, you need to run a default of 20% faster for around 30-45 seconds. It doesn't seem like a long time on paper but feels like an eternity when you are in them. Again, slight motivator picturing Zombies chasing you.I jokingly say that part of my reason for working out is to survive the zombie apocalypse. First rule of Zombieland: CARDIO!

I think I am going to stick with the DVD that came with my set for a little while but, I may, based on the advice here, switch from 10lb to 15lb. I just don't want to push myself too hard while learning basic forms. However, I don't want to be so light that I can't do proper form. It's a Catch-22. I don't feel comfortable with 15lbs because, well, it is heavier than I normally did exercise videos with in the past. However, if I work with the 10lb when learning the forms, I may learn them wrong and then hurt myself when I get to the 15lb. An interesting quandary for sure. Will probably purchase S&S for next month. The challenge this month is just to learn some of the basic forms.

I haven't made the time to actually run since Sunday. It's been a busy week. Today I did the 5.3 mile loop I have been running and found that my time was not where I wanted it. Granted, I am not running for speed but distance. Still, it is disheartening to hear myself closer to the 11 minute per mile mark than the 10 minute per mile mark. My left knee was slightly bugging me and I was getting some pain in my abdomen. I decided to keep going even though I was sore. Zombies came and went in Zombies, Run! forcing me to sprint, even when I had no desire to. At one point, my chest hurt from breathing so hard, my abdomen was still sore and my knee was still bugging me. I didn't want to give up, but was beginning to feel like I needed to. Then, somewhere around the 3.25-3.5 mile mark, I had to stop at an intersection. It was about 20-30 seconds before I could cross, maybe less. However, that made all the difference in the world. I felt renewed after that short break. No, the soreness didn't fully go away but, it abated somewhat. I actually was able to pick up my normal pace as well. In the end, my pace was 10:55/mile and do you know what? I was happy. It wasn't 11 minutes like it seemed it was going to be. Sometimes a small break is all you need. That holds true in other areas of life I am sure. Everyone needs a break sometime. I think part of the reason why I didn't do so well was because I may have been a little dehydrated. I will be sure to drink more water prior to running next time and not just 5 minutes prior either. But, I still completed my run for today and will likely be back out the next two days.

Thank you! Also, recommendation taken, it is on my Amazon list. I've been in the kettlebell thread already too!