Aug 04 2008
Day 44
Ouch!
First, an update on the run last night. I have never felt so alive and close to death at the same time. I picked a mile along an old disused railway track in the countryside to run down. I figured I could run a mile in one direction and the same back again.
As planned I chose to run and not jog. I didn’t sprint but had a pace faster than I had ever run before. After about 400 metres I could feel my lungs wanting to explode. I kept on going until I could run no more and then walked until my lungs stopped hurting. I would estimate I made this pattern of running and walking about 8 times. I suppose it is a bit like interval training but with the end goal of this being to turn the intervals into one big long run when I am fit enough. My legs also hurt and when I got home I could see my heart wanting to jump out of my chest. I guess that I am not a natural runner – but this is no excuse not to run.
I have never felt so alive. I was experiencing extreme physical sensations that I don’t get through my other exercises. I think it was pain and discomfort. I had no choice but to push my body to its physical limits as my body couldn’t cope with running continuously. These are sensations of exhaustion that I haven’t had since being a teenager.
Today I ache. My thighs and adductors hurt. This is DOMS at its best.
I will persevere with the running and will run 3 times per week until I can run the 2 miles continually. I guess my monthly mileage for the shredder challenge will be minimal but I will still participate.
I managed to do 15 minutes on the Concept 2 rowing machine this morning and covered 3170 metres but this was probably as much as I was going to be physically capable of today.
After lunch I was overcome with tiredness and went to bed. I could feel my legs ache and I slept for 2.5 hours. I don’t know if this was ‘overtraining’ showing its head. I was going to do some resistance exercise today but I think it is best to leave it until tomorrow. I will still do my abdominal training though and I am now on 16 reps per exercise for 6 exercises.
Hi there! Good job pushing yourself on your runs. It is indeed such an unusual feeling to both feel alive and near collapse when doing hard intervals. Also, good progress on your Shredding!