Sluggish

I had a terrible night of sleep last night. I couldn't stay asleep: I had to go to the bathroom; my legs were too warm; my legs were too cold; my ears were itchy. I don't know what was going on. So, when my alarm rang at 5:37am, ten minutes earlier than what I usually set it for (I'm trying to get up earlier so that I have more time to run and exercise before work), it wasn't painful--I was already almost awake.

I popped in my contacts, changed out of my pajamas and into my exercise clothes, put on my shoes, stretched, and headed out the door for my morning run. I start almost impossibly slowly, just barely jogging faster than a walk. I think of it as a warm-up. But, I never really get much faster.

I timed myself this morning, tracking how long I ran at a time and the total amount of time I was jogging/walking. My first spurt of running lasted for four minutes and 40 seconds, an improvement from when I first started but a far cry from being able to run for three hours straight. And, from there, the amount of running time progressively decreased.

My legs started feeling exhausted. I could barely lift them. Even my arms became tired. My swing was so lazy, and for a few strides my arms just hung at my sides. I was getting tired and sloppy. My muscles aren't strong enough and I need to figure out how to build them up. But, for about two blocks of flat sidewalk towards the end of my outing, I ran quickly with my heels kicking up towards my butt and my arm swinging like a pro. And, it felt good, better than the slow jog. If only I could keep it up. But, I'm going to progress into it. The speed variation is apparently supposed to be good for me because it works out different muscle groups.

I got back to my house and tried to do my usual after-jog routine of free weights, squats, lunges, and ab work. I could barely do any of them. My body was just tired. I was tired. I quit after a few squats and bicep curls.

I weighed myself too. I've gained two pounds from my lightest weigh-in just last week. It was disappointing but I know I've been eating more junk over the last several days and that I haven't been running as often over the last two or three weeks. Jo tried to reassure me that I was just building muscle.