I start out walking back to the workout facility at my workplace listening to Chariots of Fire. It makes me feel all good and inspired and it's easier to get on the boring old treadmill. I've been nursing some calf pain on my right leg so I took extra care to stretch well, and I frontloaded water because of my workplace's stupid no water around electronics rule and I felt good. I decided to try something different today which was instead of Couch to 5K wk3day1 I just wanted to see how long I could go. Essentially, I did my End is Near Zombie Fleeing Badass Test 3 times today, first for 5:09, then 3:58, then 3:36. Not too shabby for a fatty fatty boombalatty.

However, when I got back to my desk I googled about my calf pain and frak if I don't have exactly what sounds like shin splints. Recommendation? Stop running. Sheeeeeyit. I just got started! (Pardon the whiny tone, but it's hard enough to motivate my fat ass to a point where I WANT to run and now that I'm there, I don't want to NOT run.)

I have a few options. I'm going to check our local Good Feets or Running Start store to see if they do gait analysis and see if a different pair of shoes is in the cards for me. If they don't do gait analysis, I'm going to check w/ my doctor for a physical therapy referral to see if they do it and if I can get some hip/leg strengthening exercises specific to me. I'm dealing with a pretty devastating foot injury from 10 years ago that landed me w/ more hardware in my foot than your average kitchen cabinetry and I can't help but wonder if I'm babying it out of long learned habit that I need to unlearn. But I'm determined that if an amputee can be a runner with the proper equipment, so can I w/ my screws and plates, as long as I have the right equipment/attitude/stretches. I will not let this stop me. I am sick of being overweight. I am sick of being out of breath. I am sick of not keeping up with my kids. I know there are other things I can do to lose weight, but there's something about running that makes me feel badass in a way that aerobics or weightlifting never has. And honestly, the weight loss has been replaced as the point of my wanting to be a runner. I want to enter races, push my endurance, prove to myself that I CAN DO THIS and that my brain can just STFU with its can't this and limits that and blah blah fatcakes.

So I ran today. I pushed myself beyond what my brain said was possible. And now I may have to take it easy. My brain, smug little bastard, says it's just been proven right about limits. I take offense to that. Challenge recognized, Brain. You won't win.