Treadmill run

Here's a first: Ran on the treadmill today.

On a Friday evening, all the wild ones in my complex are out being wild -- so there was space on the treadmills for me.

Last time I did the treadmill was late October, and I walked it -- fast -- at full incline in order to get my heart rate up.

Running on it instead was interesting.

Here's what I learned:

1) I can't trust technology. Either my friend's Garmin is off or the Procor treadmill is. Because, in an hour, the treadmill said I ran only 4.5 miles. Usually, in 65 minutes, I do six miles, according to the Garmin measurement -- six laps of .88 miles and two laps of .38 of a mile. I felt like I was working much harder on the treadmill when I set my mileage to anything over 5mph.

2) The treadmill was harder on my knees.

3) Even though I'm happy with my current chest-binding system, it has not eliminated visible bounce, even though it has eliminated bouncing that causes pain. I could tell this from the reflecting window helpfully right in front of the treadmill.

4) After that oh-so-pleasant discovery, I then happily realized I didn't need to wear my glasses on the treadmill. There's a helpful little ledge where they can go. I didn't have to keep pushing them up. Or getting too good a view of myself.

5) My heart rate stays in the 150s when I'm running.

6) It took three minutes to lower the rate from 158 to 130, which doesn't seem too good. At the same time, I don't even want to think about what that would've been a year ago -- or, worse, two years ago.

7) With the treadmill forcing me to keep going, music became less important. When I'm on my own, something aggressive and bass-dominant really helps. On the treadmill, I could listen to mellower stuff and it didn't seem to slow me down.

Instead of bad food, I'm into ...

1) Shoes. The higher the better. Now that I can walk in them, of course I'm wearing them. And, paradoxically, they seem to protect my nails better than the flat "Stacey-and-Clinton-would-hate-those-mom" earth shoes.

2) Tea. I'm always testing out the different kinds of green and white and oolong teas.

3) Salt. Paul says, "Would you like some food with that salt?" I'd be surprised if I'm getting anywhere near the Standard American Diet's level of sodium, though -- since most dietary salt comes from processed foods.

4) Garlic. This also isn't a hit with Paul. He doesn't like eating it, and he bellyaches about kissing me after I've eaten it. The kids have better taste. Unless it's in guacamole or hummus, though, Paul doesn't necessarily recognize it himself.

5) Makeup. I went for years without wearing anything but sunscreen and the occasional lipstick. I still don't wear a lot of makeup, but I've added liner and the occasional mascara. When I was heavy, eye makeup just made my eyes look even smaller.

20 fast minutes

I tend to prefer to slog out slow miles. Today, just for kicks, I ran fast (for me, of course!) -- partially because of time pressure, partially just to see if I could do it. It was different and probably a good thing to do sometimes. I might slog out some slow miles tonight, though.

Back running

There's a mild bug going around a bit, and I've gotten it.

I ran 60 minutes today anyway after resting yesterday and only doing 30 minutes on Monday; it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't a great run.

I'm getting more adventurous with my route. I've been exploring the neighborhoods around me more on my runs. Before, I'd only want to run in places I knew intimately. (And, no, I'm not taking any kind of risk here -- my neighborhood is new and sparkly. With security guards everywhere.)

This last year

A friend of mine made a comment yesterday about "how much you've accomplished in the past year."

I tend to forget. (Plus, I'm not sure losing weight is much of an accomplishment in a larger sense. It's getting where I should've been all along.)

To me, the big change was the year before, when I first started the plan.

There's something odd that happened as soon as I gave up sugar, wheat and flour. I immediately felt so much better. And I'm not talking simply about my physical health. Food and weight were no longer such big issues for me; I wasn't worried about my weight, even though I was still fat. I was on a path where I wouldn't be anymore.

The first 50 pounds were the big ones for me. These last nearly 40, however, have been the ones that other people notice more, even though they seem anticlimactic to me. And, of course, I lose so slowly that I tend to forget I'm losing at all -- until I look back on what I weighed a few months ago.

My current music

Here's what I've been listening to lately.

Old stuff: "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" and "Battleship Chains" by Georgia Satellites.

"Guitar Town" by Steve Earle.

Once again, I find I get into music I was into when I was last about this weight. All these songs are good for running, too. At least at my pace.

I'm also hoping to bring the kids to see Steve Earle on Wednesday, but I've gotten myself nice and overscheduled, per usual. I have to see if a friend who is coming to visit is up for it or not.

And, thanks to getting into Steve Earle, who has an album of Townes Van Zandt covers coming out tomorrow, I have found a wonderful new "Kathleen" song. Van Zandt has one, which isn't great -- but through looking for it on YouTube, I found Josh Ritter's.

There aren't many Kathleen songs, and the ones that exist are invariably making obnoxious references to Catholicism (see Randy Newman's, which I unfortunately discovered as a teenager when my boss would sing it to me). Ritter's is sweet and folky. And it makes an allusion to the classic Irish song "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen."

I hadn't heard of Ritter, but he's my new Ryan Adams.

30 minutes

I was going to do some more mini book reviews, but I made the right choice and ran instead.

It was a fairly fast 30 minutes.

I got out the door late, but the weather was wonderful. I wished I had more time, but this is a busy kid day.

One thing: I'm a bit sore from Saturday -- that hasn't happened much before. I suppose when I don't get my runs in during the week, the long run is that much harder.