A Breakthrough!

I'm proud to announce that I ran One Mile today! Yes, one whole mile.

I've been struggling with back/leg pain since June, and unlike my brother, I have decided to wait until things feel good before I run. The leg pain, experienced mostly as a throbbing sensation in the right glut, or an occassional shooting pain in the knee/shin area of the right leg, has mostly subsided and I spend most of my day out of pain. However, it is still there. Despite the occasional pain, I decided to try a run today. I made the rule that if it hurt I would stop. Turning on the treadmill, I walked for a minute, then slowly increased my speed to a 9 minute mile, and ultimately an 8 minute mile. There were a few moments of leg pain, but if I clenched my abs it would immediately go away. Since it did go away, I decided it was ok. I finished the mile and was not in pain. This means a few things.
1) I might actually be able to start running again.
2) My body is slowly fixing itself
3) I need to do more ab work.

All very good things. I couldn't be happier to be back on the mill again. I'll take it very easy getting back into things here, as I'm still not completely in the clear. However, there's always a first step.

In other news, I've begun taking a weightlifting class and I'm really enjoying it. I've taken the class a few times before. Once in 1992, and once in 2005. So, it's been awhile since I've lifted regularly, and today's military press with 10 pound weights tells me that I have a lot of work to do. Holy Shit! Isn't picking up my laptop and the occasional 12 ounce curl enough to keep one in shape? But I'm now forced to do some cross-training. Something I've always been reluctant to do, as I'm very busy and I was already spending enough time with running, to make weightlifting out of the question.

Distance: 1 mile

Time: 10 minutes

Overall impression: Free at Last! Free at Last! Thank God Almighty, I'm Free at Last! (FAL! FAL! TGA, IFAL!)