How I Quit Smoking

Quitting smoking is easy—I’ve done it dozens of times! At least, that is what I used to tell people to make light of each failed attempt. In reality, quitting smoking is one of the most difficult things that I have done in my life, and also one of the most rewarding.

I started smoking in about grade 7 or 8. The other kids I hung out with all smoked and it was the “cool” thing to do. My parents weren’t smokers, so smoking wasn’t a bad habit I picked up from them. It was peer pressure and my inability to stand on my own two feet that was my downfall.

Hydration Advice

I need some advice from the runners out there. I am trying to learn about proper hydration both on and off the trail. I am having some early success with my experimentation, but would love some feedback from others to help steer me in the right direction. I will outline specifically what I am looking for below. But for now, here’s where I am at so far.

I’ve learned from the comments on previous posts that hydration isn’t limited to something you do will running, but instead, is something you do all day, every day. So I’ve increased my water intake throughout the day, and that is working well. However, I am still struggling with how much (and what) to drink while running. I realized that hydration isn’t an exact science and that the combinations of people and running situations vary infinitely. However, I do think that by tracking my hydration I can learn about what works for me and use that information to improve.

Hot Ride

No, I'm not talking about a cool car... I am referring to the mountain bike ride I just finished! I rode with John again today. We started at Murrell Park and headed east for about a mile and a half. Then circled back to the MADD shelter. We rode almost 6 miles over an hour and change. It was hot... about 90 degrees. We went a little further than we did last time. I plan to continue to mountain bike as my cross-training activity.

Here's a map of our ride today.

Week 2: Losing Weight Too Quickly

You probably don't hear too many people complain about losing weight too fast. However, when I weighted in this morning with the online version of Weight Watchers, the system yelled at me:

You’re probably excited to be losing weight, but you’re losing faster than is recommended. Although it’s normal to lose over 2 lbs in 1 week, if you lose more than an average of 2 lbs per week over a 4-week period, this could pose health risks, such as heart irregularities, anemia or loss of muscle mass. Please slow your weight loss; your doctor can help you do this if you’re not sure how.

The Long Run

Today was my first long run in my training plan. Each week I will increase the long runs (jogs), with a few rest weeks (reduced mileage) mixed in. I was scheduled to jog four miles today (I know... for most of you reading this, four miles is your warm-up!). I picked an out and back part of the course that I know well and is more challenging than some of the other areas of the Northshore Trail. When I reached the 1.5 mile mark my calf muscle was hurting again, so I stopped for a bit to gently stretch it out. After about five minutes I resumed my jog. When I arrived at the two mile mark, where I was planning to turn around, I felt so good that I decided to keep going! I jogged for about another half mile, to just over 2.5 miles and then turned around at a small bridge (picture below).

During my jog back I was full of energy and loving every moment. I even started whistling an old classical tune I used to play on the panio when I was young. I saw a squirrel look over me as if I was a nut case (but then they probably look at everything as a nut). The jog back to the MADD shelter seemed almost effortless. I felt really good.