What am I blogging?

This is the question that is on my mind as I type... what exactly am I going to write every day for the next few months?  What information is going to be useful to me three weeks or three months from now (or next year for that matter)?  And how do I format that information?  Of course the main thing I need to capture is my exercise activities.  I should also document what I'm eating.  Maybe how I'm sleeping?  Mood?  Weather?  Clothing?

It can all seem too much.  If I think about it too much I'll never actually get started.  And I need to get started blogging because I can tell this is something I'm not comfortable with, and unless I push myself I won't do it.  So here it goes...

Exercise
Today I ran 50 minutes on the treadmill at the community center.  There are 5 treadmills there.  Most of them have 30 minute limits programmed but there are two that allow longer work outs.  Lucky me I was able to get the one with the 60 minute limit and there was no one waiting for me to get off after 30 minutes (the center's rule is to limit yourself to 30 minutes if someone's waiting).  There were two college basketball games on the TVs.  It was 4:15 pm and I was feeling good after a one hour nap I'd taken at 1:30 (or so).

My plan was to run 60 minutes using the "Hill" program.  I set it to level 10 (out of 20), speed 6.5 mph and put my weight in as 190.  I'd done the same settings a few days ago and could only run 45 minutes.  This time I lasted 50 minutes (5.45 miles) which is an improvement.  My legs felt pretty good but I "bonked" (meaning I ran out of fuel).

Food (AKA "Fuel")
I was bad today.  I only had a banana and a handful of dry cereal for breakfast.  Then for lunch I had some leftover shrimp and vegetable curry that Handan had made last night.  I don't think that was really sufficient for fueling my run.  I'm going to try and be more diligent about eating a good breakfast.

Tomorrow I'm going for Dim Sum with my brother and his wife and a friend of Handan's.  Hopefully I can find something to eat that isn't too unhealthy.  Alaric (my brother) is watching his diet too, so I'm sure he can help guide me.  The weather is supposed to be nicer (high 50s) so maybe I'll try an outdoor run tomorrow afternoon. We'll see.

To-Do
Right now I'm not following any of the training plans I mentioned in my previous post.  Tops on my "to-do" list is to sit down with a calendar and count the weeks backwards from October 30th and figure out when I'll start the program in earnest.  Secondly I need to start outfitting myself with a few essentials.  I have running shoes and a water belt, but I'll probably want to get a few new pairs of shoes (professionally chosen at one of those stores that analyzes my running style... there's one in Fairfax on Rt 7) and maybe a new belt with more capacity (my current one only holds 2 bottles).  Finally I've been meaning to buy some kind of ID tag that I can take on my runs with emergency contact information.  My generous parents have offered to buy this last item for me. :-)

Health
I just remembered that I need to include a "Health" section.  At least, I need to include one when there's something to talk about, and today there is.  Last Tues. I went to see a podiatrist about a plantar wart on my left foot.  It's been there for many months and thankfully it doesn't bother me.  But as I understand it these things can spread and I'd hate to get close to the marathon only to find new warts that do bother me.  The podiatrist dropped some acid (ha) on the wart and now I have some other liquid that I'm supposed to put on it twice a day.  And then I go back in a few weeks for more treatment.  And meanwhile I'm supposed to scrape away the dead skin.  Hopefully it will not bother me as the skin and wart are eroded away.  So far so good (knock wood).