Limbs, Lungs, and Laughs

I had a good trail jog today. As I was jogging I was thinking about how I was feeling. I want some way to be able to document my physical and mental condition during my jogs. So I came up with the three L's:

Limbs, Lungs, and Laughs.

The first two should be pretty obvious. Limbs describes how my arms and legs (and feet, etc.) feel before, during, and after my jog. Lungs describes my cardio condition. Can you guess what Laughs is? That is the only L-word I could come up with to describe my mental state! It's my ability to keep a sense of humor through all of this; it's my ability to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. . I know, kinda corny, but it will have to do until I can come up with something better. So here's my first Limbs, Lungs, and Laughs report.

I ran about 3 miles along the Northshore Trail this morning (pic below). The temperature was much cooler than usual, around 80 degrees. Generally speaking, I felt very tired this morning. I didn't sleep well last night, not for any particular reason. Anyway, on to the report.

Along the Northshore Trail

Limbs: My legs felt sluggish and tired today. I didn't jog yesterday because it didn't work out from a schedule stand point. So my legs were rested, but still tired. I think it will take some time to build up my endurance. Patience, patience, patience. I am also still struggling with an injury to my left calf muscle. I hurt it about six weeks ago. I took a couple of weeks off so that it could heal, then started some easy mountain biking to start to work it a bit. I can say it feels better than it did, but it hasn't fully healed yet. Once I warm up it doesn't really hurt when I jog, but I can still feel it--more of a stiff feeling than pain. So I am taking it easy on the trails so I don't strain it further.

Lungs: My lungs are definitely improving. When I first quit smoking I couldn't jog 10 minutes without coughing up a lung. Now I still cough some, but I can actually breath and I am no longer spitting up the crap that used to come out of my lungs (sorry for the visual). I know I have a long way to go to build up my cardio endurance, but I am confident this will improve over time.

Laughs: As for my mental side, again today I am really tired. I didn't really want to go out for my jog today. I would have much preferred to have taken the time for a little nap. But that isn't going to get me anywhere. So I hit the trails. Once I actually got out there, I really started enjoying it. I was glad I decided to jog. With that said, I still need to get caught up on my sleep. Will go to bed early tonight.

One more comment on feeling tired. I think the tiredness could also have to do with the rate at which I am losing weight. I lost 4 lbs. in my first week, which most people would be happy with. However, I don't think it is a good thing to continue to lose at that rate (remind me about that comment later when I am complaining about hitting a weight loss plateau!). I mentioned previously that I had signed up for Weight Watchers and that I was following the program very closely. However, I am sticking within my assigned points. I am not eating the points I earn from exercise. So starting today I am going to start eating my exercise points also. I think this will give my body more fuel and slow my weight loss (2 lbs per week would be good). Hopefully, along with a good night's sleep, increasing my calorie intake will help boost my energy.

If you have any suggestions on how to help my calf muscle recover, please post a comment. Appreciated!