This post previously appeared in a blog I started in 2012.
I kept it from August to October 2012 at the site healthyadventist.wordpress.com. Many of the resolutions I made then, I didn't keep, hence my being here today, trying again. But they say failure is just another opportunity to start again. So I want to add these to my journal in an attempt at full disclosure, as a way to keep myself honest, remind myself of my motivations and motivate myself with my accomplishments.
So, I'll copy the postings in one long article for my own records but I also hope it gives you a better idea of who I am and some of the struggles I have been having and some of the solutions I have tried.
Becoming health-conscious. Originally posted August 18, 2012
Greetings! Thanks for sticking around to read my post. I am a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, trying to live a healthy life, making choices according to how I think God wants for me to live optimally. I will try to explore what I think that really means and explain the basis for my beliefs… later.
For now, I just want to share that I’ve been a Christian for many years but am just getting to a deep understanding of how my everyday acts… including sleep, exercise and food… impact my relationship with God and with others.
Since I started learning more about that, I’ve been trying to eat healthier meals, get more exercise and get more rest. I hope to chronicle some of those experiences through this blog and hopefully give you some insight on making healthier choices for yourself.
My exercise of choice right now is running. As a child, I had a heart murmur which rendered me unable to participate in competitive sports. As an adult, I have recently returned to the world of running. I did my first 5K in June this year – the inaugural NY Giants run at the Stadium. I ran 11:39 per mile and I was so happy with myself. After all, with your first race, whatever your time, it’s your Personal Record (PR). You just need to keep improving so each time you compete, you can set a new PR.
Since then, I’ve been training for a half marathon, signing up to compete in shorter races and following a Beginner’s Half-marathon training plan I found in the Runner’s World book. I’m also using Runkeeper app to record my training and feeling psyched when I get those emails that let me know I’ve achieved a new record. Exercise is fun!
There’s a new book that I want to read but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, who credits his vegan diet to fueling him for the marathon. For 3 weeks, I did the almost-vegan diet and loved it… felt energized by it… almost got to the point where I was writing sonnets about it… then I fell back into carnivore-land. I’m SO ready to be vegetarian again.
Maybe we can strengthen each other. Vegetarians unite!
Health Updates posted August 29, 2012
I started running again a few weeks ago. It’s hard to say “again” because I never really stopped thinking I was running but I wasn’t doing it. All these years I wasn’t running, I was thinking about running. But there is a big difference between running and thoughts of running. Like right now, it feels like ice-cubes or hot coals are in my shins. (more on that later) Those feelings are conveniently omitted from the virtual running I used to do in my dreams.
But a few weeks ago, with some unscheduled time off work and lots of energy from the warm summer sun, I resumed running and decided I was going to train for a marathon of some sorts.
In June, I ran my first 5K, ever! The best part of running your first event is, no matter what your time, it’s a Personal Record (PR) and mine was pretty solid. I averaged a little over 11 minutes per mile. Considering this was in the hot morning sun on a solid asphalt course at MetLife Stadium, I was so proud of myself for having just finished. That pride was enough to keep me buzzed for a few days until the momentum waned and I was finding reasons to run shorter and shorter distances instead of increasing my miles.
Fast forward to today. I have an event in two days. Four miles. No big deal. But this evening, I found myself at 110 St on the Central Park Loop, huffing and puffing to run over the hill.
And my diet which has been in a state of flux, varying from my very successful “almost-vegan” in July back to the traditional “comfort” foods after runs, is one of the things I can change now as I work on getting better… getting better on the road, getting stronger muscles for when I start biking again, soon, getting better brain power for those exams I have coming up, better energy and vibe for all my social connections.
I know that Vegan is the way to go. And I am pretty awesome at making delicious and interesting vegetable dishes. Inertia is my biggest setback. But must do better tomorrow than I did today.
So, here I am, feet up, tired from the 3.6 miles I ran this evening, a straight run for the last 1.5 miles because the only time my shins didn’t hurt was when I was running. Not even a walk would calm these babies down. Trying to get to bed for a good rest in preparation for all the healthy decisions I can make tomorrow if I am fully energized and well rested.
Until then, Happy trails.
New Personal Record: 4 in 44:44 Posted August 31, 2012
Ran the NFL Back to Football run in Central Park this evening. 4 miles in 44:44. Pace of 11:11 per mile, I really like the numbers. Set a new personal record for myself tonight and feel so proud! And when I consider how the event started. Being a bit of an overachiever, I tried to do so much this evening which resulted in me being late getting to the event. I had to run to try to find the event, nestled in Central Park and since I had no time to spare, I started my race early, running about a mile and a half to get to the start line.
And I’m feeling the positive effects of not having eaten any meat in the past two days. Almost-vegan day two is being called a success.
Next event on the horizon is a mountain climb this weekend. Be blessed!
Exercise Updates Posted October 8, 2012
So it’s been a month since my last post and I am ok with that. Because in the last month, I’ve been busy! Not posting because I didn’t have anything to post would have been a terrible excuse. Not posting because I’ve been so active that when I sit, I’m too tired to write. That’s ok in my book.
I know you’re asking yourself what has been keeping me so busy. I’ll share. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do:
8/30 – 4 mile training run along Henry Hudson Park
9/2 – I climbed Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, VA – 10 mile circular mountain hike/rock scramble covering about 2,000 ft of elevation in 8 hrs. Read thisrecap of someone else’s experience that I kinda wish I had read before I started the trek. I still would’ve done the climb but maybe been a little more prepared for it. My hiking buddies were Keiva, Kyla, Kerice and Tanya.
9/6 – 2 mile training run
9/8 – 2 mile training run
9/9 – Ran the Bronx 10 mile race with New York Road Runners. Average pace of 11.5 minutes per mile (It was a really hot and exhausting race)
9/13 – 2.12 mile run
9/15 – 6 mile power walk with Kerice. 15,524 steps.
9/16 – 2.1 mile run in the a.m. 4.5 mile power walk in the p.m. with Kerice.
9/22 Rode 30 miles from Manhattan to Westchester on my new road bike.
9/23 Marched in the Harlem Health Initiative parade – walked about 3.5 miles, ran the last half a mile with one of the kids.
9/24 – 10.25 mile hike on Henry Hudson Parkway – 138 Street to Battery Park City with Kerice.
9/25 – Biked 6.41 miles from the Bronx to Harlem. Kinda scary to ride on the roads at night, too much traffic. I’ll save my road biking for less busy roads.
9/26 ran 1.6 miles. Joint pains. Walked 1.11 miles.
9/30 Ran 3.26 miles.
10/4 Ran/walked 2.48 miles.
10/7 Ran the NYRR Staten Island half-marathon. 13.1 miles. Not adequate preparation. Those last 3 miles were brutal. Average pace of 12 mins per mile for the event, even though I ran the first few miles with an under 10 min per mile. I wanted to set a Personal best but the hills on those last 3 miles got me. And, I shouldn’t have been running because I’m fighting a bad cold and cough but I thought exercise would be a better remedy than rest. shows where my mind is. I’m just glad I finished. it’s my first half-marathon. The longest event I’ve done so far so whatever my time, it’s still a personal best. My Runkeeper tracker says so
Now today, rest!
Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff posted October 28, 2012
I just ran the last 5 miles of the ING NYC marathon this morning. NYRR arranged a 5 miler which covers the last few miles of next Sunday’s marathon. So I crossed the marathon finish without having run most of those 26 miles. But whatever distance you run, it’s a “marathon” in itself, because you’re always pushing, always trying to go some distance, competing against your former self, trying to be better and stronger than you’ve every been before.
It’s taking a long time for me to get into form because my running is not as consistent as it should be. The mental preparation is just as important as anything else you do. It’s not easy to create room in your life to run everyday or every other day, when you’re running for an hour or so each time. To find that perfect marriage where the right time of day, the right energy level and the right venue coexist happily. So it takes some getting used to and as with any other routine, when you move away from it, sometimes, it’s the hardest thing to get back on the path.
So the last few weeks, I’ve only logged a few running miles here and there. I’ve been biking. Did the Tour-de-Bronx 40 mile spin from Yankee Stadium, to City Island, Orchard Beach, SUNY Maritime, Wakefield and ending at the Bronx Botanical Gardens. I felt great when I was done. I’ve been trying to prepare more of my meals at home so I can cut down on salt and fat and unnecessary preservatives. That’s going well. The number of times Trader Joe’s appears on my checking account statement is increasing exponentially every week, it seems. But I am feeling better.
So this is a recap of my events in the past 3 weeks:
10/14. Bike 40 miles. 3:20. 3 rest stops.
10/14 Walked 4.52 miles 1:17:21
10/17 Ran 2 miles 22:12
10/21 Ran 3.32 miles 40:22
10/23 Ran 2.06 miles 21:35
10/27 Ran 1.49 miles 16:05
10/28 Ran 5.27 miles 58:34 (unofficial time)
I am going to start posting some food pics soon. The stir fries have been going great, I almost always forgot to take a pic before I start chowing down.
Happy Trails!
I kept it from August to October 2012 at the site healthyadventist.wordpress.com. Many of the resolutions I made then, I didn't keep, hence my being here today, trying again. But they say failure is just another opportunity to start again. So I want to add these to my journal in an attempt at full disclosure, as a way to keep myself honest, remind myself of my motivations and motivate myself with my accomplishments.
So, I'll copy the postings in one long article for my own records but I also hope it gives you a better idea of who I am and some of the struggles I have been having and some of the solutions I have tried.
Becoming health-conscious. Originally posted August 18, 2012
Greetings! Thanks for sticking around to read my post. I am a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, trying to live a healthy life, making choices according to how I think God wants for me to live optimally. I will try to explore what I think that really means and explain the basis for my beliefs… later.
For now, I just want to share that I’ve been a Christian for many years but am just getting to a deep understanding of how my everyday acts… including sleep, exercise and food… impact my relationship with God and with others.
Since I started learning more about that, I’ve been trying to eat healthier meals, get more exercise and get more rest. I hope to chronicle some of those experiences through this blog and hopefully give you some insight on making healthier choices for yourself.
My exercise of choice right now is running. As a child, I had a heart murmur which rendered me unable to participate in competitive sports. As an adult, I have recently returned to the world of running. I did my first 5K in June this year – the inaugural NY Giants run at the Stadium. I ran 11:39 per mile and I was so happy with myself. After all, with your first race, whatever your time, it’s your Personal Record (PR). You just need to keep improving so each time you compete, you can set a new PR.
Since then, I’ve been training for a half marathon, signing up to compete in shorter races and following a Beginner’s Half-marathon training plan I found in the Runner’s World book. I’m also using Runkeeper app to record my training and feeling psyched when I get those emails that let me know I’ve achieved a new record. Exercise is fun!
There’s a new book that I want to read but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, who credits his vegan diet to fueling him for the marathon. For 3 weeks, I did the almost-vegan diet and loved it… felt energized by it… almost got to the point where I was writing sonnets about it… then I fell back into carnivore-land. I’m SO ready to be vegetarian again.
Maybe we can strengthen each other. Vegetarians unite!
Health Updates posted August 29, 2012
I started running again a few weeks ago. It’s hard to say “again” because I never really stopped thinking I was running but I wasn’t doing it. All these years I wasn’t running, I was thinking about running. But there is a big difference between running and thoughts of running. Like right now, it feels like ice-cubes or hot coals are in my shins. (more on that later) Those feelings are conveniently omitted from the virtual running I used to do in my dreams.
But a few weeks ago, with some unscheduled time off work and lots of energy from the warm summer sun, I resumed running and decided I was going to train for a marathon of some sorts.
In June, I ran my first 5K, ever! The best part of running your first event is, no matter what your time, it’s a Personal Record (PR) and mine was pretty solid. I averaged a little over 11 minutes per mile. Considering this was in the hot morning sun on a solid asphalt course at MetLife Stadium, I was so proud of myself for having just finished. That pride was enough to keep me buzzed for a few days until the momentum waned and I was finding reasons to run shorter and shorter distances instead of increasing my miles.
Fast forward to today. I have an event in two days. Four miles. No big deal. But this evening, I found myself at 110 St on the Central Park Loop, huffing and puffing to run over the hill.
And my diet which has been in a state of flux, varying from my very successful “almost-vegan” in July back to the traditional “comfort” foods after runs, is one of the things I can change now as I work on getting better… getting better on the road, getting stronger muscles for when I start biking again, soon, getting better brain power for those exams I have coming up, better energy and vibe for all my social connections.
I know that Vegan is the way to go. And I am pretty awesome at making delicious and interesting vegetable dishes. Inertia is my biggest setback. But must do better tomorrow than I did today.
So, here I am, feet up, tired from the 3.6 miles I ran this evening, a straight run for the last 1.5 miles because the only time my shins didn’t hurt was when I was running. Not even a walk would calm these babies down. Trying to get to bed for a good rest in preparation for all the healthy decisions I can make tomorrow if I am fully energized and well rested.
Until then, Happy trails.
New Personal Record: 4 in 44:44 Posted August 31, 2012
Ran the NFL Back to Football run in Central Park this evening. 4 miles in 44:44. Pace of 11:11 per mile, I really like the numbers. Set a new personal record for myself tonight and feel so proud! And when I consider how the event started. Being a bit of an overachiever, I tried to do so much this evening which resulted in me being late getting to the event. I had to run to try to find the event, nestled in Central Park and since I had no time to spare, I started my race early, running about a mile and a half to get to the start line.
And I’m feeling the positive effects of not having eaten any meat in the past two days. Almost-vegan day two is being called a success.
Next event on the horizon is a mountain climb this weekend. Be blessed!
Exercise Updates Posted October 8, 2012
So it’s been a month since my last post and I am ok with that. Because in the last month, I’ve been busy! Not posting because I didn’t have anything to post would have been a terrible excuse. Not posting because I’ve been so active that when I sit, I’m too tired to write. That’s ok in my book.
I know you’re asking yourself what has been keeping me so busy. I’ll share. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do:
8/30 – 4 mile training run along Henry Hudson Park
9/2 – I climbed Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, VA – 10 mile circular mountain hike/rock scramble covering about 2,000 ft of elevation in 8 hrs. Read thisrecap of someone else’s experience that I kinda wish I had read before I started the trek. I still would’ve done the climb but maybe been a little more prepared for it. My hiking buddies were Keiva, Kyla, Kerice and Tanya.
9/6 – 2 mile training run
9/8 – 2 mile training run
9/9 – Ran the Bronx 10 mile race with New York Road Runners. Average pace of 11.5 minutes per mile (It was a really hot and exhausting race)
9/13 – 2.12 mile run
9/15 – 6 mile power walk with Kerice. 15,524 steps.
9/16 – 2.1 mile run in the a.m. 4.5 mile power walk in the p.m. with Kerice.
9/22 Rode 30 miles from Manhattan to Westchester on my new road bike.
9/23 Marched in the Harlem Health Initiative parade – walked about 3.5 miles, ran the last half a mile with one of the kids.
9/24 – 10.25 mile hike on Henry Hudson Parkway – 138 Street to Battery Park City with Kerice.
9/25 – Biked 6.41 miles from the Bronx to Harlem. Kinda scary to ride on the roads at night, too much traffic. I’ll save my road biking for less busy roads.
9/26 ran 1.6 miles. Joint pains. Walked 1.11 miles.
9/30 Ran 3.26 miles.
10/4 Ran/walked 2.48 miles.
10/7 Ran the NYRR Staten Island half-marathon. 13.1 miles. Not adequate preparation. Those last 3 miles were brutal. Average pace of 12 mins per mile for the event, even though I ran the first few miles with an under 10 min per mile. I wanted to set a Personal best but the hills on those last 3 miles got me. And, I shouldn’t have been running because I’m fighting a bad cold and cough but I thought exercise would be a better remedy than rest. shows where my mind is. I’m just glad I finished. it’s my first half-marathon. The longest event I’ve done so far so whatever my time, it’s still a personal best. My Runkeeper tracker says so
Now today, rest!
Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff posted October 28, 2012
I just ran the last 5 miles of the ING NYC marathon this morning. NYRR arranged a 5 miler which covers the last few miles of next Sunday’s marathon. So I crossed the marathon finish without having run most of those 26 miles. But whatever distance you run, it’s a “marathon” in itself, because you’re always pushing, always trying to go some distance, competing against your former self, trying to be better and stronger than you’ve every been before.
It’s taking a long time for me to get into form because my running is not as consistent as it should be. The mental preparation is just as important as anything else you do. It’s not easy to create room in your life to run everyday or every other day, when you’re running for an hour or so each time. To find that perfect marriage where the right time of day, the right energy level and the right venue coexist happily. So it takes some getting used to and as with any other routine, when you move away from it, sometimes, it’s the hardest thing to get back on the path.
So the last few weeks, I’ve only logged a few running miles here and there. I’ve been biking. Did the Tour-de-Bronx 40 mile spin from Yankee Stadium, to City Island, Orchard Beach, SUNY Maritime, Wakefield and ending at the Bronx Botanical Gardens. I felt great when I was done. I’ve been trying to prepare more of my meals at home so I can cut down on salt and fat and unnecessary preservatives. That’s going well. The number of times Trader Joe’s appears on my checking account statement is increasing exponentially every week, it seems. But I am feeling better.
So this is a recap of my events in the past 3 weeks:
10/14. Bike 40 miles. 3:20. 3 rest stops.
10/14 Walked 4.52 miles 1:17:21
10/17 Ran 2 miles 22:12
10/21 Ran 3.32 miles 40:22
10/23 Ran 2.06 miles 21:35
10/27 Ran 1.49 miles 16:05
10/28 Ran 5.27 miles 58:34 (unofficial time)
I am going to start posting some food pics soon. The stir fries have been going great, I almost always forgot to take a pic before I start chowing down.
Happy Trails!
RSS Feed