Greetings, one and all. Just a quick post to say hello. Hope everyone is having a good summer so far. The news has been almost uniformly awful :-/, so I'll avoid talking about it here.
Instead, I'll focus on something positive: I'm finally able to start running again, at long last. Woo hoo! It had been 14 months, between a lingering issue with my hamstring last spring/summer, followed by my surgery and then a standard-issue New England winter.
I was able to start again in June, and got two weeks in, once again using the Couch to 5K (C25K) app I used to get started a few years ago. I was finishing the final run of the second week, and feeling good... only to have my 18 month old running shoes fall apart as I was finishing a run. Specifically, the heel came off my left shoe mid-stride.
Luckily I escaped with a sore left knee, which healed quite nicely during the time it took to order new running shoes online and wait for their arrival. (I have an uncommon shoe size, so even specialty running stores typically don't carry anything that fits.)
Anyway, they finally arrived a few weeks ago, so I was able to start anew. Since I'm starting up again after a long layoff, I decided to repeat the first two weeks, lest my penchant for injuring myself kick in yet again.
I completed the first run of week 3 this morning before work, and am just now beginning to feel my stamina returning. As I mentioned in previous posts, I put on weight post-surgery. I was concerned I would have a hard time losing it, given how high my testosterone was pre-surgery, even after taking Spironolactone for years.
My doctor, who is also a runner, assured me that my body would remember once I started exercising regularly again as my daily dilating schedule became more manageable. And... she was right. :c) I've put a nice dent into the amount I need to lose in a short period of time. I'm not really seeing the results yet (although my stylist, who saw me for the first time in six weeks last Friday, immediately commented on it as I walked in), but I'm beginning to feel it. For now, that's plenty.
I have a long way to go, but I feel a lot better knowing that I'll get back to my regular weight by sticking to my normal workout routine. It will take patience and a lot of hard work... but so did my transition. I did that; I can do this. In fact, I can do pretty much anything I put my mind to, I now realize. :c)
OK, off to cook dinner here, then work on my *other* big project. More on that soon... promise. :D Have a good week, everyone!
***
Since I'm out pounding the pavement again, what better band to end this post with than... Pavement? Check out Stephen Malkmus absolutely shredding during his guitar solo on "Summer Babe (Winter Version)", one of my faves of theirs.
I was going to post a clip of them performing "Cut Your Hair," probably their best-known song... but then I remembered Wilco had covered it a few years ago during one of their Solid Sound festivals, held in North Adams MA. They devoted an entire show to cover versions, starting with a killer version of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town," followed by "Cut Your Hair." Speaking of shredding, Nels Cline absolutely tears the place down here. Enjoy!
Finally, a great song from the first of two masterpieces Stevie Wonder released in 1972, Music of my Mind - "Keep On Running":
This is the album that contains "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)", my favorite Stevie song:
Hopefully that's enough tune-age to hold everyone over until my next post. Enjoy!
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