Day 92, 273 To Go

April 2, 2013

Honey was sore.  Everyone all together now...Awwwwww! 

I'm only kidding, really.  If you haven't run in a long time, and you get off your lazy butt and just do it, you can expect to be sore for the next two days.  This is a good thing. Soreness, although it hurts, is just your body breaking down.  That might sound bad, but when your body breaks down, it builds itself up again and when it does that, it gets stronger.  This is a good thing!

Sometimes, the best thing for sore legs is to get out there and do a nice easy run.  Honey wasn't buying it though.  Maybe tomorrow. 

Today, I ran pretty easy from the outset, but picked it up a bit to get a respectable time.  I am feeling better today.  No Dayquil all day.  I'm not 100% by any means, but at least I seem to be improving...once again.  I hope I do not regress once again.  My lungs felt better too so I guess I can let go of that fear of bronchitis or pneumonia!!  It is probably just allergies.  Apparently, they are going to be really bad this year.

This is important to know, because if you are susceptible to allergies or you have asthma, this could be a very difficult year for you.  I know, because I had bad allergies a long time ago....

I was about 28, and I smoked like a pack a day of cigarettes.  I was having trouble breathing, and I was told that I had allergy induced asthma, whatever that is.  Asthma is asthma as far as I was concerned, and I was concerned.  A friend of mine had lost her love to asthma.  He had a bad attack and stopped breathing and was in a coma for a year before he finally passed.  It is a horrible disease.

I can remember waking up in the middle of the night struggling to breathe.  I had to forcibly take in air and push it out.  I felt like I was going to stop breathing.  I was scared.  So, I had to take matters into my own hands and quit smoking.  I thought that was the key.

I took a drug called Wellbutrin which is an anti-depressant that has the side effect of making you lose your desire to smoke.  Strange, but it actually worked.  I took it for a month (the prescription cost $100!) and then I just relied on will power.  Sure, I cheated here and there, but I have never started smoking again.

The next step was to get in shape.  I started running on a treadmill three times a week.  I would run only about a mile, but I did this for six months straight without missing a week.  Then, I had my first running injury.  I hurt my knee.  I was on the treadmill at the gym when I felt something pulling then stabbing in my knew (I can't remember which one).  I think it was in response to some squats I had been doing (wrong, obviously). 

I eventually got better and I kept at it and learned more and more about running and I am here today because of my brush with death (I told you I was a hypochondriac!)

Here are my numbers for today:

Time: 20:00

Distance: 2.16 miles

Pace: 9:19/m

Max Pace: 8:07/m

Calories: 272

Avg HR: 122

Max HR: 141

I felt better today than I did yesterday, so that is good.  I am still not ready to push it, but at least I didn't feel like dying.  That's good!

Run for Life!!