{"id":87,"date":"2005-11-24T02:37:34","date_gmt":"2005-11-23T21:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/?p=87"},"modified":"2024-11-29T17:32:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-29T12:32:39","slug":"one-year-of-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/2005\/11\/one-year-of-running\/","title":{"rendered":"One Year of Running!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I was on a cruise off the coast of Brazil in November 2004, and the boat had a treadmill. Although I had never gone on a treadmill before, I gave it a whirl. I started out slow, walking for quite some time, and started running at a slow pace. After less than 2 minutes, my heart was pounding, my lungs were begging for air, and my legs were sore. Little did I know that this excruciating experience was the beginning one of my most enjoyable pasttimes – running.<\/p>\n

My apartment in Brazil resides 0n a lake whose circumference is 7500 meters or 4.67 miles. Two days ago, for the first time, I was able to run the entire circumference of the lake without stopping. Previously, I had gone the distance but I had always had a need to slow down and walk. This was the first time, I ran the lake. Afterwards, I walked for another 500 meters, making it a total of 8000 meters of exercise. One of my personal goals is to be able to run a 10K without stopping.<\/p>\n

I feel great. I remember weighing myself in October 2004, and I weighed 164 pounds, which is the heaviest I have ever been in my life. At this point, I weigh 142 pounds, and it feels fantastic not carrying around the extra weight. I’ve come a long way. I smoked for a good part of my life. From about 17 years old to I was around 40 when I finally kicked the habit thanks to Xyban\/Wellbutrin. I’ve also done my share of recreational drugs, and been on a few drinking binges. I am just amazed how God has given me a body that can recover the abuse I have given it.<\/p>\n

I have learned in my year of running, that it is not an easy thing. After a few months, I had shin splints that hurt considerably when I ran. I had to work though that. Next came the stomach cramps. And man, they were bad. But eventually you work through that also. I also tore a tendon in my foot while running, which put me out of action for 3 weeks. But it has been so worth it.<\/p>\n

They say that when your body is working hard the brain releases a chemical into your brain that soothes it. Whether you call it the “‘runner’s high”or what, I know that I am addicted to it. I think better, slower to anger, and I just feel happy. I also organize my day when I am running so I am more productive.<\/p>\n

My body continues to change as I keep running. One thing about running is that everything needs to be in concert for a good run. It is almost a teamwork between your heart, head, lungs, stomach, and legs. When any one part breaks down, the run breaks down. At this point, I am learning to control my heart better. It is more difficult than it sounds, but once you start running at a good clip, it is very hard to run at a slower pace. But this simple act, allows you to learn how to control your heart rate. I am practicing this with good results.<\/p>\n

In Rio, it is very easy to run. The weather is usually always ‘shorts’ weather, and I have a beautiful well-marked lake to run around. In Myrtle Beach, I have modified one of the bedrooms into a work out room. There is a surround sound system, with television mounted high. And of course a weight set and the treadmill. It’s been a great investment.<\/p>\n

So this month, I celebrate one year of running. I am 46 years old, and I am in the best shape of my life. I can’t wait to see what next year brings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was on a cruise off the coast of Brazil in November 2004, and the boat had a treadmill. Although I had never gone on a treadmill before, I gave it a whirl. I started out slow, walking for quite some time, and started running at a slow pace. After less than 2 minutes, my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5291,"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/5291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chengrob.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}