The beginning of this thing

So  I made this thing as a way to try and entice myself to get back into both writing and running.

The last 15 months or so I got away from the whole running thing in an attempt to gain more muscle and strength. That definitely happened -- I'm stronger than I've ever been. But along the way, I also added more fat than I want.

So I'm doing to try and do something that's probably impossible: I want to maintain my strength but also cut some of this fat and get my endurance back.

A couple years ago I could run pretty far. My furthest was 11 miles. The furthest competition run I did was 5 miles. Now, I want to do a 15K with my sister in seven months. I think it's doable, I just have to cut back on the amount of weight I lift and get more serious about going outside and putting the work in. That's not easy now because it's winter here and I hate cold.

I did a 3.35 mile run tonight on the treadmill. My pace was 9:11 and I'm fairly happy with that consider I haven't run consistently since September haha. Part of my problem is mental: I don't want to lose the mass I've gained and look like this skinny little dudes who can run forever but can't lift to save their lives. And that's the issue, because with my body and my genes, I gain weight REALLY easily. So, while I've added muscle and strength, I've also added fat. So that's what I'm trying to lose.

We'll see how well this goes. I've had problems with my knees and last year I started getting bad stomach aches after running. So, if my body cooperates we'll be all good. If not, I don't know. I guess it's back to the cardio machines and slowly gaining weight.

But, I'll stay positive and keep after it. I want to get outside tomorrow. The new gym my bro and I just joined is in a better area for getting back into this. There aren't any huge hills I'll have to run up right away. I don't care who you care, when you try and get your endurance back up and immediately have to climb, that doesn't really do anything but wind you. At least that's what it did to me.

Until next time.