Slow progress

I'm not sure you can call it progress.  Here I am 11 days later and my weight is pretty much the same.  Okay, strike that 'pretty much,' it IS the same.  I'm a little surprised by the plateau, and by just the slower progress than last time around.  

But, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised really.  I went through and updated my exercise.lbl.gov stats (where you walk/run/bike across the country virtually) off my recorded workouts on my phone apps, and it was really pretty striking the difference in exercise after my first surgery and now.  Back then, I was commuting to work, and my work was a mile away from the light rail station, my home is 3 miles from it, and because of the wonkiness of my work schedule often it made more sense to walk those segments than to wait for a bus. So, back then, it was not uncommon for me to get in 4-5 miles of walking in in a day's time.  Today, I'm making a decent effort to get out and exercise more, trying to work in a good walk during lunch break or something like that.  That said, right now I'm averaging a mile a day instead of the 3 miles a day I averaged in November.  I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.

The other thing that I am finding is that I can eat more today than I could after that surgery.  It's still not nearly as much as I could before surgery, and that is a good thing.  

I do know a plateau is not uncommon.  But usually that just means it is time to change things up.

One decision I made is, I want to participate in some runs this year, get back to being able to run longer distance.  Last year, I actually did three, though I walked all of two of them and a portion of the third.  

So, this year, I've set a goal to comletely run six races.  I'm starting with the Spring Fever 5k in Golden on March 23.  The timing is perfect for doing a 9 week Couch to 5K training program.  Then there is the Cherry Creek Sneak at the end of April, I'm thinking of doing the 5 mile option this time, then the 10K Boulder Bolder on Memorial Day.  10K may be as long as I go, I just know that the time commitment for doing something longer like a half marathon may be more than I can do with work and school also demanding a lot of my attention, not to mention family.  But maybe after Boulder, I can revisit that thought.

Training officially begins in one week.