Moving on from Boston

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon, I am not feeling my best. My resting heart rate is elevated at 58 (usually 48 to 50), and I have a bit of a cough and a sore throat. But no big deal. I've been back on the rowing machine the last three days (5000 meter every morning in about 23 minutes, HR just over 130) and the worst of the pain and stiffness in the legs are gone. Not planning to run until May 5th, which is going to be difficult. I have pulled a calf muscles at least 3 times in the past in the immediate post-marathon time-frame and if I went out for even a slow 5-mile jog this weekend, I'd probably be limping back. So none of that.

Instead, I'll be upping the distances on the C-2 and start to mix in some weights, core exercises and stretch bands this weekend. Now that I am not training for a marathon (comforting thought of the day!) I have no excuse not to lose some weight. So for the next few months, I will be making yet another attempt (this is getting old, I know) at finding my lost abs. Quite frankly, I'm not betting on it. Their reappearance is about as likely as finding Jimmy Hoffa alive. But we'll see.

Talking of weight, when I got on the scale on Tuesday, the day after the marathon, I had ballooned to 167 lbs; apparently this is not unusual as the body retains a lot of fluids to cope with the self-inflicted damage. By yesterday, I was back to a more respectable 162. The mid to low 150's would be closer to my ideal BMI, so that will be the goal by summer's end.

Running is not completely out of the picture: Kathleen and I have signed up for the Summer Kick-Off 5K at Clear Creek High School on May 9. I won't be doing a whole lot of running until then, but a 5K would be a good way to ease back into it.