Rusty's Blog

This past winter, I’ve dealt with an arm that wouldn’t function properly, and a back that got sore shortly after I had to chase down one of my dogs. For about a month and a half, getting out of bed in the morning has involved rolling over on my side, and pushing myself up.

“Oh, that’s all part of aging.” I can hear some people saying. And while those are some things that do happen as on gets older, it’s not strictly aging as I see it. A little over 8 years ago I made a commitment to loose weight. And I went from over 250 lb, down to 180 lb and possibly lower. I did so through a regime of walking 4 times a week and taing an over the counter ephedrin supplement. One of the reasons I chose to loose the weight was that two uncles and an aunt on my dad’s side, all suffered from and may be considered to have died from, the side effects of type II diabetes. I was hoping to avoid that.It didn’t quite work out that way. After I lost the weight, I noticed some vision problems, and knowing that it had been several years since I had last had a physical, I made an appointment to see a doctor, and one of the outcomes of that visit was a diagnosis of diabetes. Along the way I also was diagnosed with heart problems, and elevated (if not high) blood preasure.

Since I was diagnosed with Diabetes, my weight has gone up again. I’m up over 220 now, and that is where I consider the source of my pains and displeasures of late to be. I would love to say that wasn’t the case, but I’m a bit more realistic than that.

While there is not a defined link between Ephedra and heart problems, as was the case with PhenPhen, there is enough of a correlation that even though it is now legal to be sold over the counter, I won’t even consider it today. Especially as I have had a reduced function in my heart.

I’ve tried to get back into the walking, without much in the way of a positive outcome. I have to admit that I’ve usually thought of it as a way of loosing weight though, not as a way of just getting into better shape. The reality is that it is a great way to get into shape. And I encourage anyone who is concerned about their lifestyle to start walking. You’ll find it to be a great way to find out what’s going on in your neighborhood, what’s happening at the mall, or wherever you choose to walk. The reality is that it’s one of the few aerobic exercise routines that you can do pretty much any time of the year, in almost any weather. I’d advocate not walking during huricaine and blizard events, but you get the idea.

A week or so ago, one of the people I follow through one of the RSS feeds I monitor, anounced that he had just met his goal of 100 kg. For those of us in the US with the unfortunate side effect of not using the global standard metric measurement system, that turns into 220 lb. He has just started going to the gym, but had already gone from 110 kg to 100 kg following the c25k program. For a more detailed explanation of c25k, go to http://www.c25k.com and look into the program. As an overview the idea is to go from being a couch potato to being able to run 5 kilometers. (About 3.1 miles.) The general principle is very much like what I was doing when I was walking, though there are differences.

The process I used for walking was to break my routine up across a week, with each week being a little bit more strenuous. My work schedule at the time was 8 am to 6 pm on Wed, Thur, Fri and Sat. I would ride the bus in to work, then ride out to a local shopping mall after work, and walk, followed by going home. I started on New Years Eve the year after my mom died, and because I was very much out of shape, that day I walked around the mall once on one floor. It turns out the distance is about .4 miles. (.64 km.) The next day I walked around each floor once, and did that for the next two days, and the first day of the following week. The second day of that week I added a second trip around the first floor, going in the opposite direction. The third day of that week I went up to 4 trips around, then back to 3 on the final day. Three trips around the first day of the third week, a fourth on the second, a fifth on the third, then back to 4 on the fourth. And so on. Ever week on Wednesday I would start with the number of trips around that I had done the Saturday before, then add one on Thursday, another on Friday, then back down a lap on Saturday. This continued until I was doing 10 laps around, or 5 turns per floor. At that point I switched to 10 laps on Wed and Saturday, and 12 laps on Thursday and Friday, and stayed there for a while. That’s about 4 miles on Wed and Saturday, and almost 5 on Thursday and Friday. I could have added more, at least on Wed through Friday, but the mall closed at 7 on Saturdays then, and I was walking around an empty mall by the time I was done on Saturday. Which gets a bit old.

Along with the Ephedra, I lost 70 lb. to get some perspective on that, the largest bag of dog food I can get at the grocery store I shop at is 17 lb. I lost the equivalent of more than 4 bags of dog food. I also ended up having to spend entirely too much money on new clothing that  now doesn’t fit.

But that’s not why I am starting a workout regime at this time. Yes, I do weigh more than I want to. By a lot larger margine than I like. However my real concern right now is that through all the walking, and in the years since then, I’ve never regained my ability to run or jog.

Over the years I’ve ridden public transit from time to time, as noted by how I got to and from work above. Oddly enough, I’ve noticed that the areas I have lived in have always had a mixed reputation for having usable bus schedules. Shortly after I bought my first house, the bus route that I was riding which picked up litterally 3 blocks from work, moved 2 blocks over, to being 5 blocks from work. Where I live now has no Saturday/Sunday service, so while it pics up a block from work and drops off a block from home, I really can only ride it to and from work twice a week. (I work a different schedule now.) I’ve tried a few alternatives, but at best, I’m looking at an hour (or more) between rides that will take me home, so when I see a bus that I need to catch, it seems reasonable to me that I may have to move quickly to catch it.

Only, during all this time, I haven’t been able to. I get about half a block into chasing a bus, and I’m winded. Note that reduced functionality of my heart. It has had a lot to do with that. As has my excess weight at other times. I want to change that. So now I’m following the c25k program. I strongly suspect that I will make some changes to it for my own benifit. Specifically if I see myself not progressing as I would like, I may double up on some weeks.

The c25k program starts out as a 9 week program. You start by walking 5 min to limber up a bit, then jog a minute, and walk a minute and a half, alternating that for 20 min. You do this three times the first week. Preferably Mon, Wed, Fri, to give your body a  day to recover between exertions. That said, if week 2 ends up being too much preasure on Monday, I’ll happily revert to repeating week 1. What happens in Week 2 is a reversal in the times for jogging and wallking after the 5 min warm up walk.

My real goal is not to be able to compete in a 5 km race. In fact I have to admit that I’ve already seen some of the benifits this first week.

Remember how I described how I have been getting up in the morning? Well for the first time in well over a month, when I got up today, I pretty much just sat up. No rolling over on my side, and looking for purchase to push my way out of bed.

It’s nice to be able to get up and go.