Friday, May 18, 2007

Success is a motivator

21 pounds down.
Running 3 miles a day, every other day.
Feeling better than I have in a year.

There's a sense of accomplishment there, but I have to weigh it against knowing how much more I have ahead of me. To just return to the level of fitness I had will take many more months. But there are no mysteries on the road there; I have the map, I have driven the course before, and I've put in solid time on it and know what's what.

And I find myself itching for a bigger push.

I'm in a dangerous spot with my running fitness, where I feel more fit than I am. I can and should add more miles, but not yet. I can and should work on running faster, but not yet. It's just out of reach. Two weeks more, or so, and I'll be up for that.

In the meantime, I should do what I keep saying I'll do, and that's start on some bodyweight exercises. I hate going to the gym at work, and don't always have time to anyway. But there's always time to add some bodyweight exercises. The main concern people have with bodyweight routines is that you can't push yourself to your limits -- however, being untrained this is not a big concern to me. My secret bodyweight goal? To be able to do a solid set of pullups/chinups. From childhood that's always been something I could never do, so in my mind it's as far away and impossible as running a marathon.