It seems that taking the week of was contagious. I planned on running last week, it was a series of easy excuses that got in the way. Monday was a long day of meetings and Bill asked me to bake some cookies for Tuesday, so I went home instead of running. Then Tuesday was more meetings and it was nice out so I went home to run and then didn't. Wednesday was the day Mom arrived for the weekend, so of course I couldn't stay late at work. Thursday was the holiday, can't run on a holiday.
Friday, I finally made it. Mom's dog Molly is a Brittany Spaniel who never leaves a fenced yard or the house without a leash. She would run forever if she got the chance. SO I decided to take her for a walk. We jogged two of the normal miles. She really enjoyed running with the other dogs.
Saturday was a day off and Sunday, just didn't happen. Monday finally got me back into the gym. I did my AF PT circuit training. The run went okay, I stayed at 4.5 on the treadmill for all of my quarter miles. Even at the end - when I shouldn't have. Yep, the knee again. Looks like I will be using the eliptical or bike for a while. Nah! It will be okay in a couple of days.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Every Other Day
This was a good week. I think my progress has been moving along pretty well. My main goal now is to stay motivated through the winter and as long as I continue to lose weight that shouldn't be a problem. I spent this last week figuring out new ways to get my miles in when it is cold. In the last post I told you about the Air Force PT work out 1/4 mile runs with circuit training breaks - I did that Tuesday (3 miles) and Thursday (3.5 miles) at the office fitness room on the tredmill, which is good because that gives me speed references for the future. There isn't much speed so don't laugh at my numbers, they are faster than I can maintain when I am walking.
Tuesday I had on some walking shoes that I will not use for running again. I started running at 4.3 then slowed to 4.0 but by the third mile my knee was hurting, I think because the shoes were not right, so I slowed down and walked half of the last mile.
Thursday I wore my road shoes and felt much better. I stayed at 4.3 for most of the first 2 miles and then slowed to 4.0 for the 3rd. I got back on the tredmill to try using the Podrunner music for a little. I spent about 1/4 mile trying to get the rythem - and didn't, so I was running along at 3.8 (slow I know, but it was the 4th mile) and realized I felt fine so I ran on - ended up doing a half mile. I am very proud of that one, I ran every bit of 3.5 miles.
Saturday I waited until it warmed up in the afternoon and hit the Hayfields. I ran the usual route until the last field and there I started circling to get more distance. These fields are harder to run continuously because of the hills, but I did a pretty good job of it, especially toward the end. That makes me pretty happy too, being able to run at the end makes me think I am not working too hard at the beginning. Though if this was a real race I would probably be in trouble since I have no idea what my pace is to make sure I finish strong.
I am doing pretty good running every other day. I already know that if I take off 3 days my recovery will be painful. Taking 2 days off is available if the weather is messy, but every other day is turning out pretty comfortable.
I like the PT plan that I am using. I can always speed up the 1/4 miles or run 1/2 miles and I can use the weight machine to mix up the circuit training just to be creative. I am enjoying this because the progress is continuing and my expectations are staying within reason. Now the big test - here comes Thankgiving!
I wish you all a good holiday. Will you run after the feast?
Tuesday I had on some walking shoes that I will not use for running again. I started running at 4.3 then slowed to 4.0 but by the third mile my knee was hurting, I think because the shoes were not right, so I slowed down and walked half of the last mile.
Thursday I wore my road shoes and felt much better. I stayed at 4.3 for most of the first 2 miles and then slowed to 4.0 for the 3rd. I got back on the tredmill to try using the Podrunner music for a little. I spent about 1/4 mile trying to get the rythem - and didn't, so I was running along at 3.8 (slow I know, but it was the 4th mile) and realized I felt fine so I ran on - ended up doing a half mile. I am very proud of that one, I ran every bit of 3.5 miles.
Saturday I waited until it warmed up in the afternoon and hit the Hayfields. I ran the usual route until the last field and there I started circling to get more distance. These fields are harder to run continuously because of the hills, but I did a pretty good job of it, especially toward the end. That makes me pretty happy too, being able to run at the end makes me think I am not working too hard at the beginning. Though if this was a real race I would probably be in trouble since I have no idea what my pace is to make sure I finish strong.
I am doing pretty good running every other day. I already know that if I take off 3 days my recovery will be painful. Taking 2 days off is available if the weather is messy, but every other day is turning out pretty comfortable.
I like the PT plan that I am using. I can always speed up the 1/4 miles or run 1/2 miles and I can use the weight machine to mix up the circuit training just to be creative. I am enjoying this because the progress is continuing and my expectations are staying within reason. Now the big test - here comes Thankgiving!
I wish you all a good holiday. Will you run after the feast?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The Next Step
In case you were wondering I am still out here. After the Pumpkin Run I got busy and procrastinated some runs, but I really missed them. I have been working on my next plan for Progress. I completed the goal of finishing a 5k in under 40 minutes. Now I want to finish another one with more running than walking and continue the weight loss.
I also had my follow up doctor's appointment that week.
Great news - I am healthy! After 7 weeks since the previous appointment my iron is back into the appropriate range, my cholesterol is 154 (scale is 100-199), just about everything on the blood test was mid-range like that, and I lost 9 more pounds.
The doctor's words were "amazing improvements". My words were "I'm going to keep doing what I have been doing!". I credit lots of exercise and generally less food.
I bought Jeff Galloway's books on running from Overstock. I got the Book on Running, the 5k/10k, and the Half Marathon books. Probably overkill, but the "O" had a good price on them. Galloway promotes long and slow training with plenty of walk breaks, even during the races to help people run further faster. I am trying to incorporate that idea into my plan, but it is hard. Almost as hard as beginning to run, but funny too... "I can't go that slow on purpose" is what I hear myself saying sometimes. I have been walking a lot during my runs, but mostly because my heart rate is getting high and I want to slow it down. This plan for walk breaks is designed to keep that from happening in the first place while giving the legs a bit of a rest for a few seconds.We will see how it goes. I expect good things.
I am also incorporating some Air Force PT into my world. Back in my military days ('84 to '94) the Air Force never had PT so I don't know what is happening out there, but they have a pretty good program put together. Maybe it is just for the Fat Club, so it fits me fine. Anyway, the plan is a 3 mile run broken up into 1/4 mile parts. Between each 1/4 mile run you do 30 seconds of jumping jacks, crunches, pushups, or different types of lifting using resistance bands. I did that today... it is a workout that really has potential especially since the 1/4 mile times should start to come down after a while. I am modifying some of the exercises though. It takes too long to get on the floor for crunches and pushups on my knees seem really stupid (what a way to do some damage!) and I can't do them the other way.
One of my goals is to learn about pace, so I have a bunch of podrunner files on my mp3 player that encourage me to run to the beat. Last week the only run I did was at 130 bpm (beats per minute) it took me 50 minutes to do my normal 3 mile run. That beat is kind of slow, but I am trying to learn.
I think I covered it all - I am healthy, motivated to continue, and doing it because I can!
I also had my follow up doctor's appointment that week.
Great news - I am healthy! After 7 weeks since the previous appointment my iron is back into the appropriate range, my cholesterol is 154 (scale is 100-199), just about everything on the blood test was mid-range like that, and I lost 9 more pounds.
The doctor's words were "amazing improvements". My words were "I'm going to keep doing what I have been doing!". I credit lots of exercise and generally less food.
I bought Jeff Galloway's books on running from Overstock. I got the Book on Running, the 5k/10k, and the Half Marathon books. Probably overkill, but the "O" had a good price on them. Galloway promotes long and slow training with plenty of walk breaks, even during the races to help people run further faster. I am trying to incorporate that idea into my plan, but it is hard. Almost as hard as beginning to run, but funny too... "I can't go that slow on purpose" is what I hear myself saying sometimes. I have been walking a lot during my runs, but mostly because my heart rate is getting high and I want to slow it down. This plan for walk breaks is designed to keep that from happening in the first place while giving the legs a bit of a rest for a few seconds.We will see how it goes. I expect good things.
I am also incorporating some Air Force PT into my world. Back in my military days ('84 to '94) the Air Force never had PT so I don't know what is happening out there, but they have a pretty good program put together. Maybe it is just for the Fat Club, so it fits me fine. Anyway, the plan is a 3 mile run broken up into 1/4 mile parts. Between each 1/4 mile run you do 30 seconds of jumping jacks, crunches, pushups, or different types of lifting using resistance bands. I did that today... it is a workout that really has potential especially since the 1/4 mile times should start to come down after a while. I am modifying some of the exercises though. It takes too long to get on the floor for crunches and pushups on my knees seem really stupid (what a way to do some damage!) and I can't do them the other way.
One of my goals is to learn about pace, so I have a bunch of podrunner files on my mp3 player that encourage me to run to the beat. Last week the only run I did was at 130 bpm (beats per minute) it took me 50 minutes to do my normal 3 mile run. That beat is kind of slow, but I am trying to learn.
I think I covered it all - I am healthy, motivated to continue, and doing it because I can!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
THE Pumpkin Run Results
Well, it is done. Today was the Pipestem Pumpkin Run, it was a beautiful day for running. Just cool enough for the weather to not play a factor in slowing me down and warm enough to allow shorts and a tech shirt.
I heard that the pre-registrations for both the 5k run / walk and 10k were down this year, but it looked like about the normal number of people were there, maybe 75, I will find out when they send me the results letter.
My friend MP and his Dad were there. MP ran the Marine Corps Marathon last week so he was just running this 5k to support his Dad. I didn't try to keep up with them, I just did my best to try and not lose them completely. That worked for most of the race.
The race started with me having a goal of completing the race in 40 minutes or less. If you recall on the test run that I did out here a few weeks ago I finished in 47 minutes. I hoped that all the work I had done since then and some comptetion to run against would help me meet that goal.
Since I haven't worked on pacing, just worried about finishing, I was probably a little fast at the beginning, but settled down pretty quick. I followed my plan to run to the bottom of the first hill and walk up the next. I ran across the top and down the next hill and then started walking as quickly as I could until I felt better to run some more again.
There were a couple of goals that developed as I ran/walked. The first was that I make it to the turn around before the 10k runners caught up with me. Made it! The second was that I make it to the water station before they caught me. Did that too! They weren't far behind though.
I had always planned to run most of the last leg. That worked out too... I rounded the corner with 4 minutes to finish the last 3/10ths or so. I jogged to one of the course marker pumpkins, walked for about 20 seconds and then asked myself why - and started jogging again, then the last 1/10th pumpkin came up and I started Running. I could see the clock said 39 minutes and I really pushed myself to the finish line.
39 minutes and 26 seconds (unofficially)
That was good for first place in my age group. There were two of us, but I beat her!
So I said I would post a picture, I really should stay out of the sun for pictures.
I still have a lot of weight to lose - another 50 pounds gone would make me unrecognizable - but I am getting there. The comparison picture is in the August 2007 file.
Thanks for all the support, next stop is ... not definate yet, but there are several options available.
I will be adding another mile to my training route. I plan on doing that every month. October was 3 miles, November is 4 miles and so on. Along with that - all of the miles need to be completed within 1 hour. Until that becomes unreasonable anyway.
What that means is I will have to start working on pace and speed. The dogs will like that part.
I heard that the pre-registrations for both the 5k run / walk and 10k were down this year, but it looked like about the normal number of people were there, maybe 75, I will find out when they send me the results letter.
My friend MP and his Dad were there. MP ran the Marine Corps Marathon last week so he was just running this 5k to support his Dad. I didn't try to keep up with them, I just did my best to try and not lose them completely. That worked for most of the race.
The race started with me having a goal of completing the race in 40 minutes or less. If you recall on the test run that I did out here a few weeks ago I finished in 47 minutes. I hoped that all the work I had done since then and some comptetion to run against would help me meet that goal.
Since I haven't worked on pacing, just worried about finishing, I was probably a little fast at the beginning, but settled down pretty quick. I followed my plan to run to the bottom of the first hill and walk up the next. I ran across the top and down the next hill and then started walking as quickly as I could until I felt better to run some more again.
There were a couple of goals that developed as I ran/walked. The first was that I make it to the turn around before the 10k runners caught up with me. Made it! The second was that I make it to the water station before they caught me. Did that too! They weren't far behind though.
I had always planned to run most of the last leg. That worked out too... I rounded the corner with 4 minutes to finish the last 3/10ths or so. I jogged to one of the course marker pumpkins, walked for about 20 seconds and then asked myself why - and started jogging again, then the last 1/10th pumpkin came up and I started Running. I could see the clock said 39 minutes and I really pushed myself to the finish line.
39 minutes and 26 seconds (unofficially)That was good for first place in my age group. There were two of us, but I beat her!
So I said I would post a picture, I really should stay out of the sun for pictures.
I still have a lot of weight to lose - another 50 pounds gone would make me unrecognizable - but I am getting there. The comparison picture is in the August 2007 file.
Thanks for all the support, next stop is ... not definate yet, but there are several options available.
I will be adding another mile to my training route. I plan on doing that every month. October was 3 miles, November is 4 miles and so on. Along with that - all of the miles need to be completed within 1 hour. Until that becomes unreasonable anyway.
What that means is I will have to start working on pace and speed. The dogs will like that part.
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