Losing Myself Ounce by Ounce

Monday Check-in

140.0 lbs.
54 - Pulse

Status
I thought it is time to start tracking things again. My goal, however long it takes to get there, to be at 125 lbs. The number is somewhat arbitrary. When I was my quickest, I tipped the scale at 107. I weighed as low as 139 in the last two weeks, but today am 140.0.

As being arbitrary goes, I have my eyes on weighing 125 on May 1. Why 125? Why May 1? May 1 is when the Illinois Marathon/Half Marathon is run. I want to run one or the other, and to run well, I need to be slimmer. Simple as that. 125 is a nice, basic number. As good as any. I do not expect to weigh 135 on May 1, but all of this is in God's hands, not mine.

To get to 125 from 140, I need to average 0.0553 lost lbs a day, or, 0.3871 lbs a week. Things will not be this snug, and hopefully starting with a bang, but I can't dwell on this. It is under two lbs in a month, so it seems all very reasonable, but weight loss is never all that easy.

I want also to lose five lbs my first month. The reason this is plausible is the severe changes I am making when compared to July. First and foremost: lots of running. Since kicking things up again July 23, I have logged 25.4 miles running, and six miles walking - 31.4 miles in all. Not a lot in the bug scheme of things, but moving forward with increased miles. I'll be at 20 miles/week next week, and at 34 miles/week by month's end. That all should get me close to my goal, but who can say?

Right now, I feel good after last night's five miles. Last time I ran I ran close to this was April 6, with a six mile treadmill workout. My Achilles aches a little. No surprise here, but I need to find the right balance.

As “overuse” disorders, Achilles tendonitis and tendonosis are usually caused by a sudden increase of a repetitive activity involving the Achilles tendon. Such activity puts too much stress on the tendon too quickly, leading to micro-injury of the tendon fibers. Due to this ongoing stress on the tendon, the body is unable to repair the injured tissue. The structure of the tendon is then altered, resulting in continued pain. - FootPhysician.com

Hurdles include injury, time and motivation. Same three big issues for any runner. It is one thing to tick off five miles as a long run, and another to run eight as a long run, with five as the short run. Yesterday's workout took 1:20 from leaving my driveway, getting to the track, running and returning. Then recovery issues are involved. The time adds up. Naturally, if I keep at it, my running time will drop per mile, but there is no getting around the bigger reality of parsing out the minutes each day and finding ways to be as efficient as possible.