The summer did not go as I imagined. Back in the spring, when I was coaching baseball, I had these visions of three mile walks every morning, running every other day, and starting to add on to my fitness regime.
It didn’t work out that way. Oh, I exercised and I’ve been pretty active, but my regime’s been broken up by conferences, vacations, a nasty summer cold, a twitchy back, and a scraped-up heel. My goal’s gone from losing another 10 pounds to just keeping moving. The later one’s been a lot easier to achieve.
The vacations were great. In July we spent nine days at Lake Champlain, swimming every day and playing a lot of “island ball” with the kids (think kickball, but with trees for bases). In August, my wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary by heading to Cape Cod for a few days. That saw less swimming, more hiking, and ahem, lots of good food.
Now that the big vacations are behind me (as well as that summer cold … such a miserable cold) I’m finally establishing the routine I’d longed for. My runs are going well; I can now be said to run more than I walk, and I’m routinely hitting the 3 and 4 mile marks on my workouts.
I haven’t made good yet on setting up an appointment with the athletic trainer at my day job, but it’s on my to-do list for August. I’d thought about doing it earlier in the summer, but I didn’t see the point in starting a new routine until I had a good stretch of time to commit to it.
On the plus side, I’m almost done with my 5K training regime. Granted it’s taken me eight months to complete an eight week training program, but I’ve taken everyone’s advice and pulled back when I felt like I was overdoing it. I probably played it too conservative, but I’ll admit I’m paranoid about hurting myself. Despite my occasional missteps, this is the healthiest I’ve been in a decade. I’ve got a good routine going and — more importantly — I’m enjoyingthat routine. Hell, I actually like running now, which is not something I thought I’d ever say. I don’t want to ruin it by straining or tearing something important.
Weyerbacher, our local brewery, is sponsoring its “Jest Run” event again this year, which consists of 5 and 10 mile runs on September 18. It’s complemented by a dog walk, and they donate a portion of the proceeds to local animal rescue charities. Give my family’s love of dogs and our work with raising Seeing Eye puppies, this would also be a no brainer, but it’s 5 miles not 5 kilometers (5 kilometers is about 3 miles). That’s beyond my effective range as a runner; I’d end up walking at least a third of it (and really, probably half of it). But it’d support a worthy cause and they give you beer at the end.
My frequent exercise updates on Twitter have led a number of folks to ask if I’m going to try for a 5K. The answer’s yes; the challenge now is finding the right event. Talking to a colleague at work I learned that Easton’s own Baconfest had a 5K last year. There’s no news about this year’s event, but if they do it again this even would be a no-brainer. It’s the first weekend in November, which gives me plenty of time to prep.
I’ve got some time to decide, so look for an update as we head into September.