The BioMethod Health and Fitness

Yesterday (Sunday) was my first training run, this is the first step in preparation for the P.F. Chang’s Half Marathon. I woke up a little early for a Sunday, 6am, and prepared myself for the day. It all starts with a good breakfast or something resembling it giant cup of coffee.

I started with coffee but always worry about being dehydrated or overdoing it. I hate getting that over-caffeinated twitchy dizzy feeling which wouldn’t work well for a run and could result in a face-plant on the treadmill (ouch).  I had about a cup and a half then followed it with two eight ounce glasses of water. For breakfast I had a whole banana, a piece of whole wheat toast and daily a multi-vitamin.

The Gym

Arrived at the gym with Wendy and our two girls and walked in feeling new. Not only am I totally new but its obvious because I have a temporary ID card that says so. To make it worse, Wendy is a one year veteran and is greeted with “how are you” and “nice to see you again”. I am greeted with a sympathetic look and “new here huh?, well welcome” in a partly childish tone as if the woman was speaking to a two year old that’s lost in the mall. Actually, she was very nice and I may me embellishing.

The Workout

Following Wendy’s advice, I hit the weights first. According to her this will burn more fat if I lift and then run afterwards vs. running then hitting the weights. I don’t understand the details behind the order of operation but at some point I will get the information and share.

My tendency when I walk into a gym is to go all-out and practically kill myself. I think it might be my way of trying to show everyone how strong or in-shape I am (as if they cared). Then for the next week I cant walk or move which results in enough laying around and procrastinating that I end up never going back. So, I have to remind myself to take it super easy on my first day. I worked my legs a little and did some back exercises but tried to stick with really light weights. Any pain and I stopped so as to avoid the “no-pain no-gain” trap which actually results in the “consume massive ibuprofen due to the pain and never come back” trap.

The Run

After the brief lifting session it was time to face the run and unlike the lifting equipment the treadmill is easy to operate. My run was scheduled for 2 miles, per my training schedule from runner’s world. I started my run at 4.5 mph which is like a 13 min mile or close to it. Then I gradually worked my way to 5.5 and stayed there most of the time. I did push it to 6 mph (10 min mile) but only stayed there for about 4 minutes. At around 1.5 miles my left knee started to hurt and feel stiff. This was during my 6 mph pace and this knee situation caused me to drop back to 5.5 mph.

Once I slowed down the pain lessened but then I started getting a new pain in my right rib. Once one body part stopped hurting then another started up shortly after.  The first 3/4 mile was relatively painless and easy but the last 1.25 miles were a combination of pain and shortness of breath.

Post Workout

After working out I stretched. This was also painful as my muscles were seizing up rather quickly as is on-strike. Not only that but I despise stretching anyway because it provides a unique sort of pain that doesn’t suite me.  Its an achy stinging sensation combined with a constant uncomfortable feeling and a loud warning in the back of my mind that asks “what the heck are we doing, we shouldn’t do this”.

Although the whole ordeal was tougher than I imagined it did finally end. Although I still felt out of place among the gym regulars I was happy to be done and proud of my first days work. Tomorrow I will find out if I pushed myself to hard. I am hopeful that I can walk around the office tomorrow without hobbling.