That’s how I feel today. I’ve got nothing. Oh, the run in the light shower was excellent. And my stretch afterward actually felt productive. I’m not feeling it today. Not sure what’s up. It’s not anything awful. I’m just blah.

I have to admit, my body did wake up achy and stiff. The run and the stretch seems to have cleared that up. So, I’m not sure what’s going on. Best to probably go with it. Asking why isn’t an effective problem-solving action. In fact, it creates more problems than it solves. Best to go with asking what is wrong. And what’s wrong is I’m feeling blah. I’ll go with that.

Back in 2012 or 2013, I decided to switch from bicycling to running. I remember my first effort at, well, let’s call it jogging instead of running. If I managed a mile in 20 minutes, I would consider myself lucky. It was an embarrassing affair, to say the least. I would plod along at a jog slower than I could walk. Well, that’s how it felt. At over 250 lbs and decidedly out of shape I was lucky to not have a coronary.

One of the things I adopted early on was measuring my heart rate. The miracle of modern technology allowed me to pace myself. My first heart rate monitor was a Runtasic device that seemed to fail after about 20 minutes, reading my heart rate in half the actual amount. Next came a Fitbit. It worked better than the Runtastic’s device. Unfortunately, it didn’t work with the Runtastic app. And I found the Fitbit app less than adequate. It’s map function, and ability to post to social media was both cumbersome and less than visually appealing.

I now own an Apple Watch. It works with the Runtasic app in ways that I couldn’t have imagined. The watch itself can control the app. So, now I can put my phone in a baggie on rainy days and start and stop Runtastic just with the watch.

Anyway, let me get back to the point I wanted to make. I set goals for myself when I started running. There were two things I wanted to accomplish. One, I wanted to lose weight. In my wildest dreams , I wanted to get back under 200 lbs. However, I thought that a bit extreme. So I set my sights on 220 lbs. I am currently fluctuating between 215 to 218. Late last fall, before the onset of the holiday seasons I managed to get down to 209 lbs.

As to pace; I set a goal of being able to run a sub-10-minute mile pace. I have done that on several occasions. It is yet to be consistent, but I’m getting there. Here is where the heart rate comes into play. Before I monitored my heart rate, I would push myself as hard as I could. I would be physically exhausted, and I couldn’t bring myself to exercise for several days. The Runtastic app educated me on the proper heart rate I should be maintaining while exercising. As a result, I started to ignore my pace and stick to the heart rate.

Today I am happy to say I have been able to keep myself from going over 160 beats per minute while running a sub-10-minute mile. As noted above, my weight has gone up due to the winter/holiday season. However, I’ve worked on setting up a simple gym of a treadmill and my bike downstairs and invested in winter running gear. My hope is not to lose any gains in both weight loss and running pace I make this summer. Indeed, I’ve set myself two new goals; to get below 200 lbs and to run a sub 9 minute mile. All while monitoring my heart rate.

I’m going to brave the thunderstorm that is threatening outside.

Actually, it went away. By the time I hit the 3 mile mark of my run the sun started showing through and the temperature started moving up. I ended up taking off my rain poncho and carrying it for my walk.

That’s right. I only ran for 3 miles and then walked the remaining distance home. After two days of 44 minute runs I took a break.

I’m going running in the rain. What a glorious feeling – running in the rain.

Actually, it’s already simmering down to a light sprinkle. It’s the temperature that’s a bit disconcerting. But only a bit. I’ve got the gear to deal with it. See you on the other side.