I am a Runner Again!

I finally got my custom orthotics this week, and I hope this will be the answer to my running problems!

The guy who made them told me to walk on them a few days, and wait until Saturday (today) to run, or else I would be very angry with him. I didn't want to be mad, because he was a very nice man who listened patiently while I told him about all the irregularities of my feet. He built these corrective thingies accordingly, and I am glad to finally have them!

And the weather was perfect! Upper 60s. I decided to be conservative, and did a 1-mile run/walk, to see how it would go. I ran 0.2, and walked 0.1, for a total of one whole mile. Whoopee! I did the running portions on the fast side, so that I wouldn't feel like a total lazybones. I got fairly out of breath.

I am a beginning runner again (one who has run 25 marathons in the last 3 years!) ~ I'm going to build my distance from the ground up, as if I were a beginner.

I forgot how great it feels! I have been feeling frumpy and fat lately. I gained weight while I was on crutches.

I have been thinking about this weight gain, trying to decide what to do about it. I am usually pretty casual about it when I have to lose a few pounds, and have managed to stay a certain weight for a long time ~ on the upper edge of normal for my height. But now, after the injury, I am over the "normal" threshold, so I'm going to have to do something that goes against everything I believe in ~ I'm going to have to weigh and measure my food. Some people call it a "diet."

I really like the SuperFoodsRx books, and wanted to try their diet plan. So I sat down with the book and tried to make sense of it. I worked at it for several hours, and found it to be very confusing. I don't want that kind of frustration if I'm trying to lose weight, so I decided to go with something I know.

Back in the 80's, Weight Watchers used to use the "exchange" plan (similar to the diet used by diabetics). It is very sensible and easy to follow, and it worked for me back then. When I went back in the 90's for a "tune up," they had switched to the Points system. I never could get used to that. For some reason the idea of a "point" is too abstract for me, but I can easily grasp an "exchange" of a given category of food. I can't go back to Weight Watchers, then, but I don't want to pay someone to lose weight anyway!

So I dug up all the information I need. I found lots of information on the internet, and the old-time Weight Watchers cookbooks are available used for just pennies. I'm going to start Monday. (Weekends are not good for starting something like this, and besides, I have food in the kitchen I need to eat up, so it won't be there to tempt me.) I'm kind of looking forward to it!

Especially since I'm running again.