"We're going to pump...you up!"
Whenever I think of working out, I always think of that Saturday Night Live (SNL) comedy skit with Dana Carvey, where they poked some fun at Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s. I loved Ah-nold even more. Watching his movies, whether it was The Terminator films, Commando, Predator, Twins, Total Recall, or True Lies, I reveled in the action films he starred in and couldn't wait for the next. He was my hero growing up, and I wanted to be just like him one day.
My physique didn't work out to an Arnold style as I had hoped, mainly because lifting weights was not my thing. My wife loves working out at the gym, which is ironic. I had the perfect opportunity for many years to go and work out with her but chose not to. What I loved doing for a workout was running.
I loved running all through high school, with my first year of cross country starting in Fall 1990 as an eighth grader. I was awful that year with running. That's a relative comparison for using the word awful, as all my times in eighth grade were faster than I run now. But they were horrible for competitive cross country as a teenager in school.
That fall was my rookie year running cross country, and for almost every race, I finished dead last. Towards the end of the season, I finally beat a few people and was so proud. Frankly, as I ran, I never actually thought about competing. It never dawned on me that I was even racing sometimes. I just wanted to run and did the best I could every time.
For that reason, years later, when I needed to lose weight, I began running again with the Midnight Flight 5K in 2010. I was nearly 90 lbs heavier than when I ran in high school for the final time. I had a lot of work to do to get my weight and time back down to a more reasonable level. I was successful at doing that too. I dropped my weight by over 30 lbs and recorded the fastest time I had in recent years during a 5K at the Midnight Flight in 2012 at 25:56. This time was still over 2 minutes slower than my fastest time in eighth grade, for reference. But it was the best I could do, and I felt good.
I felt differently by March 2019, however. I was heavier in 2019 than in 2010 and older than in 2010, which showed in my running ability. As I mentioned in a prior post, I had all but given up on running by the summer of 2019, and it was done by 2020. What could have been better was my motivation to do any working out. By March 2021, I hadn't lifted weights since 2005 and hadn't run since June 2019. My walking efforts could have been better too. Although I sometimes did 30-minute walks, those were becoming fewer and far between. Sometimes I would only walk for 15 or even 10 minutes. My exercise routine had become less and less since 2019. Many of my constituents would have said back then that I was good about healthy habits. They really hadn't been watching closely. In fact, many people I knew didn't consider me overweight, but I knew I was, and I knew it wasn't getting any better. By spring 2021, I was in the worst shape of my life.
When I went to my provider, they said I needed to work out at least 3-4 times a week, for an hour each time. To many, that might seem like a more complex challenge than diet, but to me, this was the more straightforward part. My provider said walking was good, but I needed to step it up. No more 10-15 minute walks. They all needed to be a minimum of 30 minutes. I also needed to add on resistance. This meant lifting weights, which I hadn't done in a while. The good news is I had the tools and the talent to do this.
I already had a bench and weights at home and decided to use those. Leslie, my workout queen, showed me some routines to help build my muscles. I did this one workout routine I nicknamed The Gauntlet (inspired by the name of the river rapids from The River Wild).
For this routine, I did a set of 10 reps of tricep presses, bicep lifts, and shoulder extensions. This was after doing 3 sets of 10 reps on bench presses and leg extensions. My weight was light, but I wasn't trying to become Arnold. I just needed the resistance my provider wanted me to do.
On top of the weight lifting, I was now putting a plan of action into effect for my walking exercise. I was going to close the rings on my smartwatch daily.
The Apple smartwatch has an activity tracker that measures how many calories you burn doing movement throughout the day, along with a minimum 30-minute workout and standing at least 12 times a day. This is a nice feature, but I have mentioned that I HATED this watch. I only bought it to have one like others because I never really wanted to use the activity app. In fact, since purchasing the watch in August 2018, through March 31, 2021, I had successfully closed all of my circles for an entire week only twice. There were sporadic days where I completed my rings entirely for all three activities, but many times I did not, especially the movement ring. Movement drove me nuts! I needed to burn 910 calories daily to close the circle for my height and build. That was maddening to look at. I would go outside and walk for 30 minutes at least, and that blasted movement ring would be half closed. So infuriating.
On top of the movement ring I loathed, I got tired of my watch reminding me to stand. It's time to stand up! No, it's not! I'm using the bathroom, you stupid watch!
I had legit arguments with this watch, sometimes where people could see me. I got some looks and knew it was time to stop doing that.
But in March 2021, my smartwatch was my new friend. I knew this device was the best way to help motivate me to lose weight and improve my activity. So, I deduced, based on what my provider said, that if I strive to do at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, this would help with my weight, my sugars, and my well-being. If I had to do 1 hour 3-4 times a week, doing 30 minutes 7 days a week would work. I planned to walk at least 30 minutes daily, no matter how much I had worked that day. For instance, while working with students at the hospital that summer, I did an hour of workout walking all over the hospital to check on them. Nurses walk a lot when we work, but it adds up less to the movement than you might think. Sure, you get a bunch of steps, but sometimes the movement ring just wasn't closing enough. Remember, 910 calories minimum had to be burned. So, regardless of the amount of time I walked at work, I chose to still do a 30-minute workout afterward of walking.
My primary goal with the watch was to close my circles daily for one year. I wanted to show that for 365 days straight, I was closing all of my rings. I knew if I did this, coupled with my diet changes, I would lose weight, get my sugars under control, and feel a lot better. That was the goal, and I stuck to it from April 4, 2021, until April 3, 2022. We'll talk more about that later.
But you may ask, what does this have to do with running? All I have talked about since opening with how much I loved running is a weight lifting and walking exercises.
In May of 2021, we had a church youth retreat at our home, cooking out hamburgers and enjoying some post-COVID festivities. This event was the first time we held such a thing since the fall of 2017 due to weather and COVID-related issues. During that event, however, we played kickball. Leslie and I joined in to have a little fun, and I was having a blast playing something I probably hadn't done since middle school.
Amid that fun, though, I noticed one thing. I was running around and felt great! My legs felt good. I was breathing easily. I felt wonderful.
It got me thinking, could I run 5Ks again?
So, after that event, I started training to run a 5K. My goal was to run in America's 5K in Anderson. This 5K was the Race the Rainbow 5K in March, which I had last run in 2019. In fact, that race was the final one I ran in ever. The race administrators changed the timeframe of the race to summer and the July 4th celebrations. I was stoked! I was going to run another race again, and it was the one I had done before when I believed my running days were over.
I believed for this race, I had nothing to lose. I would do what I had always done-go run and do the best I can.
I trained for several weeks, running a few times a week but trying not to overdo it. I didn't want to run like I had in my thirties because I was getting back into this. So, much of my mileage was short, typically going between 1 to 2 miles. I could do whatever I needed during a race for the last mile. I ran with a group once in June that year in downtown Anderson, where the race would be held, and did a 3-mile run that evening. It was delightful. I ran with a guy, and we talked the whole way, enjoying the run and did the 3 miles in 30 minutes. That was my goal, and I was so happy about it.
When the day of the 5K came, I couldn't believe how fast everyone else was, and I thought I was really moving too. In fact, because I was going so quickly, I pulled a muscle in my calf before I reached half a mile out. I was limping along a little bit but still able to maintain much of the speed I was at for the race. I enjoyed this as much as I had before 2019, and I even had a picture illustrating how well I was doing.
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