<p>I say go for it. I’ve read your posts. I think you have a runner’s mind and you’re doing it for more than just weight loss. </p>
<p>If you can do 5-6 now, I think you can run a 1/2 marathon in the fall. Build up your mileage 10% each week and you’re there. The mind is the runner’s most important weapon.</p>
<p>Dad II, is there by any chance a 10K being offered the same day as the 1/2 in May? If there is, maybe they’d let you transfer your registration payment to that instead. You were well on your way training for the 1/2, but it was a short time-frame, and then you had to set aside the running for a few weeks. Maybe you can still do what you want but give yourself a little more leeway and chance for a successful experience, or multiple successes culminating in a bigger one, a little further on down the line as Ohio was suggesting.</p>
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<p>Probably because it sounds like you have some natural talent for it.</p>
<p>BTW, my advice would be similar if you said, I want to dead lift 600 pounds and start competing in power lifting tournaments. My question would be, “what are your fitness goals? Are you willing to accept a ruptured disk and the potentially life-changing pain/disability that comes with that?” Almost all power lifters end up injured.</p>
<p>If you think about it, you already have a running injury with the ankle that has been causing you significant pain for a couple of months now.</p>
<p>The race is in early May. I had some time to prepare but this 3 weeks trip throws my training schedule out. Plus I am coming home with a heel pain that requires max dosage of pain medicine. </p>
<p>I guess I will have to make a decision after Monday’s doctor visit. </p>
<p>In my heart, I still think I could do it and want to do it. As long as I don’t try to set a time limit, I should get there before all the walkers :)</p>
<p>Back to the basement for me. I did all seven of Boyle’s mobility warm up exercises. I had done them all at various times, but never all seven in a row.</p>
<p>Single leg squats were really good today. For the first time, I felt like I was able to get full squat depth. Barbell front squats were good, too. Those have been a long, slow process.</p>
<p>Ordered a new toy for the basement gym. If this one doesn’t bust my butt, I don’t know what will:</p>
<p>[Agility</a> Ladder Drills](<a href=“BASIC SPEED LADDER DRILLS - YouTube”>BASIC SPEED LADDER DRILLS - YouTube)</p>
<p>DadII - you can do the half. You’ve already run 10K in training, right? You could finish a half in 3 weeks from now, and you will be more than ready by May if your foot is OK. I agree with Ohiopublic. You have the training mindset. Go for it.</p>
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<p>I’m pretty sure that the people running government health ministries are politicians and political appointees. There was never any solid scientific evidence to support the initial policy that eating fat causes heart disease. The first time this was codified in the US was the McGovern Commitee Report on on Nutrition in 1977. It was written by a vegetarian staffer with zero scientific background. Since 1977, the lions share of funding for nutritional research has gone towards finally trying to come up with evidence that low-fat provides some measurable health benefit. </p>
<p>The final nail in the coffin was the Women’s Health Initiave Study. They followed 45,000 women, on a low fat diet vs not, for eight years with massive NIH funding. Came up empty, again.</p>
<p>[JAMA</a> Network | JAMA | Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Risk of Cardiovascular DiseaseThe Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial](<a href=“http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202339]JAMA”>http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202339)</p>
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<p>Lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease was the whole rationale behind the low-fat policy. The old “fat clogs your arteries” argument – as if your arteries are like pouring fat down the kitchen sink.</p>
<p>Hey, idad, thanks for the tip on the micro spikes - they look perfect (trax not spikey enough!) And yes re core, that’s pretty much what my body has been warning me, hence the planks 
With the kettlebell s I’m just practicing the hand turn movement and doing a few exploratory squats and swings each day to “feel” the form. I’m truly moving slowly toward a routine.</p>
<p>DadII-- my friend, who is a trainer and manager of a multisport team, believes it can be useful for some people to have a target such as doing a half because that keeps them motivated in their training. That said, she supervises the process. If its something you want to do, and you’re getting yourself to a place you can do it, that’s reason enough to set it as a goal. My sister ran her first half a few years back and for her it was about celebrating the change in her lifestyle (she’d lost 50 lbs and shed a spouse the year prior ;))</p>
<p>I personally am neither a runner nor sufficiently goal oriented to take it on, but I can certainly understand the motivation of those who do. Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>Fat does not clog arteries, it is cholesterol that accumulates at the sites of injured blood vessel. Injury is caused either by smoke (and other external “bad” stuff) or infections, like common colds. Cholesterol from food does not get to the blood. Cholesterol increases in response to the presence of toxins as it is powerful antioxident. High level of cholesterol indicates high level of certain toxins in your body. I am not an MD, sorry to offend with this simplified picture. Just wanted to tell that you can actually have very high fat diet and have absolutely normal blood vessels. It depends on many factors. There are certain regions with population historically consuming very high fat diet and being exceptionally healthy.
I do not need any motivation to exercise at all. Sometime I get so relaxed while exercising that I completely forget what I am doing, some kind of “zone”. …meanwhile the brain is counting laps automatically, and when I realize that, I always wonder if the count is correct, but then there is a clock to check, 1.5hrs = done.</p>
<p>DadII, I absolutely believe you can do the half. No question. Sometimes life throws you a curve ball, and you have to adjust, but I am 100% confident that if you want to do it, you can and will! </p>
<p>It has been a rough week and for the first time in a long time I was tempted to drive to the store, buy a dozen donuts, and eat them. You’ll all be glad to know I resisted the temptation. Headed off to the hospital with Mom for another procedure. Sabadog and I had our regular walk this morning. Kettlebell is still sitting there, mocking me. I have watched the DVD that came with it though. Small steps, right?</p>
<p>I did think that you were crazy in the given time-frame but it’s nice that idad broke the ice. I’ve been running for three years but I have my ups and downs and have the more modest goal of running 1,000 miles for the year. That’s only 3 miles per day but it does take effort and planning to be consistent.</p>
<p>I suspect that I could run a half with a few months of training for it but I like to set relatively easy goals so that I can hit them and my life can go haywire a few times a year which can knock me off any training regimen. It can be a cold, spring cleaning, taxes, the kids having an issue, home maintenance, work projects, traveling for a funeral, or helping out a distant relative. I’ve had so many of these the past 6 years that I don’t get my hopes up too high for any long-term goals.</p>
<p>I would like to run a marathon someday - just so that I’ve done it. But I’d want to get my weight down to the 150-155 area to minimize potential joint damage and the amount of effort that I’d need to run it. That would be quite a ways off for me.</p>
<p>DadII, I think you can do the half. Personally, I’ve learned to schedule in extra time to train for a longer distance, because unexpected things do happen and then you fall behind your plan. Then you feel like you have to catch up to the plan, so you jump ahead and end up doing miles your body isn’t ready for and then you get injured (or maybe that’s just me :))</p>
<p>I signed up for a half in October. Part of my plan for the half is to do a 10k in May.</p>
<p>Recommended by my previous manager who’s on the verge of retiring (we still need him though). I think that there are going to be a lot of people retiring from the office in the next few years.</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy - Until You’re 80 and Beyond (9780761147732): Chris Crowley, Henry S. Lodge: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Younger-Next-Year-Strong-Beyond/dp/076114773X]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Younger-Next-Year-Strong-Beyond/dp/076114773X)</p>
<p>^^Have you read that book BCE? The trainers at my gym are high on it and are recommending that people read it. </p>
<p>I was up early and walked outside (3 miles)–there was actually some sun. Drove to the gym after walking and worked with my trainer. We did:
TRX squats 12x2
TRX Rows 12x2
TRX lunges 12 x2
TRX push ups 12x2
kettle bell swings–20 seconds/rest 5 sec. 8x
mountain climbers–20 seconds/rest 5 sec 8x
squats lifting balance bar 20 seconds/rest 5 sec 8x
knee lifts (one foot on a step) 20 seconds/rest 5 sec 8x
steps–up/down 2 long flights with 10 second rest (I was breathing hard at this point and need the extra rest time) 8x
Finished with planks</p>
<p>I don’t love every minute of that workout, but I generally come home feeling good. I am a strong believer that you won’t continue to exercise if you don’t engage in activities that you enjoy. I have no natural athletic ability–about the only thing I have going for me is that I’m really strong–so I stick to the strength workouts along with walking and spinning class.</p>
<p>I haven’t read it. My former manager only recommended it to me this morning and he’s thinking of retiring again (he has the money and medical benefits to easily do so) and we just talked about his decision-making process and where he sees our larger group going.</p>
<p>I noticed that there’s a version of the book for women too.</p>
<p>I might get the Kindle version - I’m in between casual reading books at the moment.</p>
<p>Availability of sugar influences rate of diabetes, study says</p>
<p>Researchers studying 175 countries find that a 150-calorie daily increase in the availability of sugar raises the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes by 1.1%.</p>
<p>[Availability</a> of sugar influences rate of diabetes, study says - latimes.com](<a href=“http://www.latimes.com/health/la-sci-sugar-diabetes-20130228,0,373620.story]Availability”>Availability of sugar influences rate of diabetes, study says)</p>
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<p>Damn! Four sets of Tabata intervals (actually more intense. Tabatas give you 10 secs of rest). I’d pull your trainer aside and say, “We are gonna do 20:20 intervals today and leave the Tabatas to the Japanese researchers.” With essentially no rest, those intervals are basically 4 minutes of non-stop kettlebell swings or mountain climbers or squats. I don’t thnk even MMA fighters would do that!</p>
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<p>Thanks to a tip from a veteran lady hiker I met on top of Mt. Major. She recommended the MicroSpikes and, it turns out that they are the practically the official state traction device for recreational hikers in NH. YakTrax and Stabilicers are more for walking on icy sidewalks and driveways. MicroSpikes for snow, ice, mud with an occasional rock or two (because the spikes are short). There’s another step up for hiking on 100% snow and ice with 1 inch spikes ([HILLSOUND</a> Trail Pro Crampon - Eastern Mountain Sports](<a href=“http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4134503]HILLSOUND”>http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4134503)), but those are no good at all if there is any bare rock or dirt. The one disadvantage of MicroSpikes is that they tend to collect snow on the bottom if the conditions are right, although I have not found that to be a big problem. I did stop and kick my foot against a tree to knock the snow off a few times on the way down on one hike when the snow was soft. But, they definitely cover the widest range of conditions on the kind of trails this ol’ geezer is going to hike in winter. I wish I had discovered them two years ago because they would have allowed me to keep doing my state park trail walks in the winter time. Sneakers on icy trails is a bad combination!</p>
<p>Then, of course, there are real ice crampons. But, my feeling is that, if I need real ice crampons, I shouldn’t be hiking on that trail in those conditions. Who is kidding who? I’m not training for Everest! I don’t even like rock scrambling in the summer time!</p>
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<p>I’m sure I don’t do these as fast as MMA fighters–I counted and I did about 10-12 squats in the 20 seconds, same with the mountain climbers–don’t know how many KB swings (I didn’t count). The hardest part of that set is going up and down the stairs. I don’t run, it’s a fast walk. I needed more rest after going up and down the two flights. I’m pretty tired by the time the work out is over. This is a new thing I’ve started with the trainer.</p>
<p>Weights today. My usual routine, but I’m having to lower my upper body weights because my shoulder/arm is still bothering me.</p>