JJSB RunDate 16017: Heightened Awareness While Running

Hello and Howdy to all!

As I've mentioned before, one of the things that I love about running is all of the new things I get to experience.  We're so used to driving everywhere today that a lot of the "in between" is lost in a blur of speed.  Have you ever been in a traffic jam where everything grinds to a halt and you look around and see things that you never noticed before?  Things you never realized were there, all of a sudden, you become aware of for the first time.  It's an odd and awakening experience and it happens all the time while running.  I'm sure that it happens to people who go walking a lot as well but there's something about experiencing it while running that cannot be matched because while running, there is a heightened sense of alertness that magnifies your senses.

According to the Huffington Post article: This Is What Happens To Your Body When You Exercise, "Increase blood flow also benefits the brain.  Immediately, the brain cells will start functioning at a higher level, says Cameron, making you feel more alert and awake during exercise and more focused."

 So, while running, your moving slow enough to experience all the things that are happening around you while at the same time, your senses are heightened.  This creates the ultimate (drug free) ambiance to experience what's happening around you.  That's why when I ran through the nature trail yesterday, the colors of the blue birds were so brilliant and the thorns on the locust trees were so strikingly harsh.  Through slowing down and heightened senses, I was exploring places I had never been before, right here in my own neighborhood.

And you just can't do that in a car.

Blue Bird: courtesy Pixabay.com

Honey Locust Thorns: Photo by Greg Hume

In my last post, I wrote of my recent weight gain back up to 170 pounds and my goal to get back down to 155 to help lower my average pace, especially on longer runs.

I intended to update my progress every weekend, but I failed to post last weekend and the days just go away from me.

In the first week, I was surprised (and pleased) to find that I dropped 5 pounds, down to 165.
This past week (the second week) I was a little concerned because I had a few days on which I went 1000 calories above my daily goal.  But apparently, the running made up the difference because I dropped down another 2 pounds and as of yesterday, I'm at 163.  So I'm basically half way in two weeks!

Current Weight as of 1/16/16: 163 Lbs

JJSB RunDate 16002: Nauseous but gaining weight? Time for My Fitness Pal again...

Well, I finally made it out to run again today after nearly a week.  After the ice and snow last Sunday, it hadn't warmed enough to melt off of the sidewalks until today.  I almost went yesterday but felt somewhat nauseous and there were still quite a few icy spots so I didn't force myself.
 

I've been feeling nauseous quite a bit lately.  I think it's mostly due to allergy symptoms.  I have ringing in my ears most of the time and often wake up feeling like crap which then sticks with me most of the day.

I know, I know.  B - O - O    H - O - O.

It is fairly miserable though.

And imagine my surprise when, after all of this feeling nauseous, I get on the scale and find that I've gained several more pounds.  

This does not compute.

Although, I guess I have been eating a bunch of junk during the brief windows when I've felt half way ok.  I mean, it can't be good to eat pie every time a pang of hunger makes it's way through the fog of stomach queasiness.



At any rate, I was surprised to have moved up from 164 to 170 in the course of a couple of weeks, even during the holidays.



So, it's back to My Fitness Pal for me.  At least for a while.



During the summer, when I'm constantly running, mowing the lawn and doing other outside activities, monitoring my caloric intake is more or less unnecessary.  I almost can't get enough calories during those days.



During the winter, however, when my running schedule is stymied by snow and ice and my activities are largely sequestered to indoors, it's far easier to lose track of just how much I'm consuming.  Especially during the holidays when everyone around you seems to enjoy placing numerous little snacks in your path.

So, I went back into my My Fitness Pal account, (Of course there is an app for it which makes it about as easy as it can be to track your daily calories), and I input my current weight of 170.2.


Previously, the app would not let you look back more than a month of weight logs but I was happy to see that now I can view a graph of my weight changes throughout the entire time that I've been on My Fitness Pal (MFP).


I've been on MFP since February of 2012 and as you can see below, I started out at 180 and dropped down to below 150 that first year.  That was the lowest I've been because that was the year I ran a marathon and I was burning vast amounts of calories near the end of the training period.  I actually quit logging onto MFP for a bit in the fall because I could hardly get enough calories to keep up with what I was burning.  I think I actually ended up around 145 by the time the marathon was over.


I'm now back up to 170 which is the most I've weighed since that time.  My goal is to get back down to at least 155 in order to lower my average pace, especially on longer runs.


We'll see how it goes.


In order to give me incentive, I intend to post my current weight every week.  I expect to lose a couple of pounds a week, especially since I'll be trying to build my weekly running miles back up a bit.


Stay tuned!