Deterioration of Body or Mind.

We have had some glorious weather here the last week. Over the holiday and for the first few days of the new year it was cold. Well, crisp, really. Low 30s, sunny, even high 20s in the early morning when I went to work. But then the last two days it's been 40s in the morning and 60s in the afternoon. Skies that high pale blue, and a gently gusty wind. Gorgeous. So yesterday after work, I went running.

I've been running a lot less in the colder months. I don't like to try to run bundled up. So I've been walking. And I've been walking a lot. In December, I walked 88.9 miles (for you metric readers, that's about 143km). I walk at about a 3.5 mph pace (5.6 kph). It's a good clip. So, most days I walk for about an hour after work, and I averaged just south of 3 miles per day. It gets my heart rate up, but not a great deal. I get damp, but I don't really sweat. It's a basic light workout.

All the research suggests that a half hour a day or more of brisk walking is strongly associated improved cardiovascular outcomes in diverse types of cohorts[1,2]. And of course, it addresses my primary concern, diabetes[3]. I'm not going to provide a big long list of references, though. At this point, if you don't think exercise is good for people, there's no helping you.

But I hadn't run in more than a month, and in November and October I had only run a little. September was the last month that I put in any real distance. But I've been doing things that I figured were keeping my fitness at least reasonably consistent. I wasn't expecting to improve doing what I was doing, but I figured I'd be holding steady. Hmmm... the evidence is inconclusive.

I ran, and I was able to go a full mile and a half prior to taking a walk break. Which is good, for me. My best is 3.1 miles, but I wasn't aiming for that yesterday, and I wasn't expecting to be able to do that. I put no expectations at all on my performance. I was in fact able to do five miles total in a shade under 56 minutes. I did consecutive 10 minute miles to start, and finished averaging 11:05 minutes/mile. Which is right about how I've been even at my peak, mid September.

But today, I am broken-quality sore. Thighs, back, shoulders, even my abs. But that's wonderful, of course. I need to be sore. That's how I know I'm improving. My question is: was I this sore, regularly, before? I seem to remember feeling pretty sore a lot, but I can't remember if it felt this bad. I can't tell if it is my body, or my memory, or both, which have deteriorated since I was last running regularly.

I'm seeing my physician again on Monday. It's been about six months, and I want to get an update on my lipid panel and A1c. I feel like I've been doing really well. I hope the reality matches my intuition. Since I was last at the doc's I've lost about 17 pounds, and I've been eating healthy and continuing to exercise. I hope I have something to show for it when I get my blood-work.

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1)Walking Compared with Vigorous Exercise for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Women JoAnn E. Manson, M.D., Dr.P.H., Philip Greenland, M.D., Andrea Z. LaCroix, Ph.D., Marcia L. Stefanick, Ph.D., Charles P. Mouton, M.D., Albert Oberman, M.D., M.P.H., Michael G. Perri, Ph.D., David S. Sheps, M.D., Mary B. Pettinger, M.S., and David S. Siscovick, M.D., M.P.H. N Engl J Med 2002; 347:716-725

2)Evidence Based Physical Activity for School-age Youth William B. Strong MD , Robert M. Malina PhD, Cameron J.R. Blimkie PhD, Stephen R. Daniels MD, PhD, Rodney K. Dishman PhD, Bernard Gutin PhD, Albert C. Hergenroeder MD, Aviva Must PhD, Patricia A. Nixon PhD, James M. Pivarnik PhD, Thomas Rowland MD, Stewart Trost PhD, François Trudeau PhD The Journal of Pediatrics, June 2005, Pages 732-737

3)Intensity and Amount of Physical Activity in Relation to Insulin Sensitivity
The Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis, PhD; Ralph D'Agostino, Jr, PhD; Andrew J. Karter, PhD; Steven M. Haffner, MD, MPH; Marian J. Rewers, MD, PhD; Mohammed Saad, MD; JAMA. 1998;279(9):669-674