Last week, the most I had ever run at one time (since 2001, that is) was 30 minutes. This week, I ran 3 miles Monday, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Friday, and 5 miles Saturday. The 3 mile run I can do in just shy of 30 minutes, and the 5 mile run was about 53 minutes long. For the math challenged among you, that's way more than the 30 minutes I ran last week.
The remarkable thing about this weeks running is that going up to 5 miles was not really a whole lot harder than running 3 miles. The jump between 3 miles and 5 miles was nowhere near as difficult as the jump from 3 minutes to 5 minutes. It's really enlightening to look back and see that there was this definite "wall" separating us from our goal, and that it really took perseverance and tenacity and all that stuff to break through the wall. Now that we've broken through, I feel like this week more than any other before really shows me what I've accomplished.
Since I can do 3 miles in just under 30 minutes, all I have to do is squeeze an extra .11 miles in there and I've beaten my 5k goal. I'll just need to find a race to go to sometime in the next couple of weeks to make it official, at which point I can set my sights on the 10k.
For what it's worth, my spreadsheet gives me weekly averages as well:
Average weight: 205.7
Average systolic pressure: 138.4
Average diastolic pressure: 90.2
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Week 15, Day 7
Today's weight: 205.4
Today's blood pressure: 146/88
Today's food: cornbread, grapes, turkey terazinni, panko encrusted tilapia filets (aka fish sticks), side pasta, peanuts, can of root beer
Today's exercise: day of rest
Today's blood pressure: 146/88
Today's food: cornbread, grapes, turkey terazinni, panko encrusted tilapia filets (aka fish sticks), side pasta, peanuts, can of root beer
Today's exercise: day of rest
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Week 15, Day 6
Today's weight: 205.4
Today's blood pressure: 133/89
Today's food: cornbread, banana, m&ms, hamburger, potato salad, potato chips, baked beans, hamburger
Today's exercise: run 5 miles; 30 pushups
Today's blood pressure: 133/89
Today's food: cornbread, banana, m&ms, hamburger, potato salad, potato chips, baked beans, hamburger
Today's exercise: run 5 miles; 30 pushups
Friday, February 15, 2008
Week 15, Day 5
Today's weight: 208.2
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: slice bread, yogurt, orange, necco candy hearts, 1 red potato from leftover pot roast, left over 1/4 rack of ribs, 4 slices bacon, 3 eggs, cornbread
Today's exercise: run 3 miles; 30 pushups
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: slice bread, yogurt, orange, necco candy hearts, 1 red potato from leftover pot roast, left over 1/4 rack of ribs, 4 slices bacon, 3 eggs, cornbread
Today's exercise: run 3 miles; 30 pushups
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Week 15, Day 4
Today's weight: 205.4
Today's blood pressure: 137/90
Today's food: 2 cookies, yogurt, half order of fries and half chicken sandwich, banana, dinner at BJs (onion strings, clam chowder, baked potato, roast chicken, ribs), peanuts
Today's exercise: day off
Today's blood pressure: 137/90
Today's food: 2 cookies, yogurt, half order of fries and half chicken sandwich, banana, dinner at BJs (onion strings, clam chowder, baked potato, roast chicken, ribs), peanuts
Today's exercise: day off
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Week 15, Day 3
Today's weight: 204.8
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: 2 cookies, yogurt, orange, lean pocket, steak, hash browns, cookie, another cookie, many more cookies
Today's exercise: 4 miles, including two 5-minute fast spurts; 30 pushups
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: 2 cookies, yogurt, orange, lean pocket, steak, hash browns, cookie, another cookie, many more cookies
Today's exercise: 4 miles, including two 5-minute fast spurts; 30 pushups
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Week 15, Day 2
Today's weight: 204.8
Today's blood pressure: 139/93
Today's food: cookie, yogurt, cookie, chips and salsa, ribeye steak, apple, cookie, spaghetti, many more cookies
Today's exercise: day off
Today's blood pressure: 139/93
Today's food: cookie, yogurt, cookie, chips and salsa, ribeye steak, apple, cookie, spaghetti, many more cookies
Today's exercise: day off
Monday, February 11, 2008
Week 15, Day 1
Today's weight: 206
Today's blood pressure: 137/91
Today's food: can of pepsi, slice of bread, 3 cookies, teriyaki pork loin, creamy mushroom noodles, 1/2 slice bread, many more cookies (lost count)
Today's exercise: 3 miles, followed by (run balls out for twenty seconds) x5
Today's blood pressure: 137/91
Today's food: can of pepsi, slice of bread, 3 cookies, teriyaki pork loin, creamy mushroom noodles, 1/2 slice bread, many more cookies (lost count)
Today's exercise: 3 miles, followed by (run balls out for twenty seconds) x5
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Week 14 Wrapup
So, this week, I succeeded in finally being able to run 30 minutes without stopping, not once, but all four scheduled times. This means I have officially accomplished my original goal. I win. I have defeated the running schedule. It's only four weeks behind what the original schedule had planned, and six weeks longer than I had even planned to be on the program, but I defeated it all the same.
At this point, I will keep running to try to defeat the 5k and the 10k. I will also sometime in the next few weeks make an appointment with the Dr. to check everything out again, since that was the whole point of starting to run in the first place.
I also added 30 pushups to my routine each day that I run. I never would think of doing pushups if I had to fit them in before bed or after I wake up or something. But, after I run, I'm already sweaty and tired, and an extra 30 pushups isn't going to hurt anything, right? We'll see how long that lasts...
At this point, I will keep running to try to defeat the 5k and the 10k. I will also sometime in the next few weeks make an appointment with the Dr. to check everything out again, since that was the whole point of starting to run in the first place.
I also added 30 pushups to my routine each day that I run. I never would think of doing pushups if I had to fit them in before bed or after I wake up or something. But, after I run, I'm already sweaty and tired, and an extra 30 pushups isn't going to hurt anything, right? We'll see how long that lasts...
Week 14, Day 7
Today's weight: 208
Today's blood pressure: 124/82
Today's food: biscuits and gravy, 3 1/2 chicken nuggets, tang, 1/2 slice bread
Today's exercise: day of rest
Today's blood pressure: 124/82
Today's food: biscuits and gravy, 3 1/2 chicken nuggets, tang, 1/2 slice bread
Today's exercise: day of rest
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Week 14, Day 6
Today's weight: 209.4
Today's blood pressure: 130/85
Today's food: a large amount of food at the renaissance fair (including sausage, smoothie, scotch egg, shrimp, fries, pretzel), snickers, leftover salmon
Today's exercise: run half an hour, 30 pushups
Today's blood pressure: 130/85
Today's food: a large amount of food at the renaissance fair (including sausage, smoothie, scotch egg, shrimp, fries, pretzel), snickers, leftover salmon
Today's exercise: run half an hour, 30 pushups
Friday, February 8, 2008
Week 14, Day 5
Today's weight: 208
Today's blood pressure: 117/80
Today's food: wendy's fish sandwich, fries, hershey bar, furr's (large quantity of mediocre food), snickers, popcorn
Today's exercise: run half an hour, 30 pushups
Today's blood pressure: 117/80
Today's food: wendy's fish sandwich, fries, hershey bar, furr's (large quantity of mediocre food), snickers, popcorn
Today's exercise: run half an hour, 30 pushups
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Week 14, Day 4
Today's weight: 206.4
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: 1/2 hot dog, spaghetti, peanuts, hot tamales, popcorn
Today's exercise: day off
Today's blood pressure: forgot
Today's food: 1/2 hot dog, spaghetti, peanuts, hot tamales, popcorn
Today's exercise: day off
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Week 14, Day 3
Today's weight: 207.6
Today's blood pressure: 128/85
Today's food: wendy's single, chili, orange, 2 slices bread, grilled chicken, peanuts
Today's exercise: run half an hour, 30 pushups
Today's blood pressure: 128/85
Today's food: wendy's single, chili, orange, 2 slices bread, grilled chicken, peanuts
Today's exercise: run half an hour, 30 pushups
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Week 14, Day 2
Today's weight: 206
Today's blood pressure: 126/86
Today's food: pork curry, 4 chicken nuggets, pot roast, 4 slices of bread, bologna sandwich, hot tamales
Today's exercise: day off
Today's blood pressure: 126/86
Today's food: pork curry, 4 chicken nuggets, pot roast, 4 slices of bread, bologna sandwich, hot tamales
Today's exercise: day off
Monday, February 4, 2008
Week 14, Day 1
Today's weight: 207.8
Today's blood pressure: 122/86
Today's food: yogurt, orange, 1/2 tamale, teriyaki grilled salmon and rice, grilled peppers, hot chocolate
Today's exercise: run half an hour, 30 pushups
Today's blood pressure: 122/86
Today's food: yogurt, orange, 1/2 tamale, teriyaki grilled salmon and rice, grilled peppers, hot chocolate
Today's exercise: run half an hour, 30 pushups
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Week 13 Wrapup
This week was 2 laps of 14 minutes a piece, separated by 1 minute of walking. Everything went fine. Barring some unforeseen difficulty, next week I will finally be able to run 30 minutes uninterrupted.
I've made a couple of short term goals for after that. Before I give up on running, I'd like to be able to have something to show for my efforts, so I've resolved to run a 5k in less than half an hour, and a 10k in less than an hour. I ran a 5k and a 10k when I last ran a few years ago. I can't remember the times, but I think the 5k was around 33:00 and the 10k was around 1:10 (edit: actual 2001 10k results 1:09:38). Those aren't good times. 30:00 and 1:00:00 aren't good times either, like they won't win any medals. But, those times are probably better than those likely to be achieved by the rube who hasn't trained but is in okay shape and feels like a race would be fun. That's all I can hope for: feeling slightly superior to a small segment of the race entrants.
To achieve this goal, I have to pick a couple of races, and make sure I can work up to being able to finish 10k (6.2 miles) in a pace of less than about 9:40 per mile. The 5k should be easy, as I'll be running almost 5k next week, and I had one day this week where I finished both laps in under a 10:00/mile pace. A couple of more weeks to speed it up should be enough to beat the 5k. The 10k will be a little harder, because as the math-inclined among you have already noticed, it's twice as long. I figure it'll be at least another 6 weeks before I can get to that.
Finding a race to run is a bit of a challenge as well. I'm assuming I'd be ready for a 10k in the end of March or beginning of April. However, I discovered that there are not a lot of races scheduled in Arizona between April and October for some reason. There are a couple of 10k races up in the mountains, but one of them's too far, and the other one literally runs straight up the mountain. There's one in Phoenix April 12th that I'd probably have to do, and a slightly hilly one in Tucson on May 4th I could use as a backup if I fail the Phoenix one.
If anyone's interested in the output of my Forerunner, I've been meaning to attach an example of what kinds of things it does. Here's a screenshot of the totals screen for Friday's run:
It breaks the run down by lap (including 1/2 mile warmup run to the park, stretching, the actual scheduled run, and the walk home), as well as showing total time, pace, calories, etc.
I've also attached the .kmz file that it exports to show in Google Earth. This part's pretty cool to see the run overlaid on the aerial photography. Every point on the map also shows the elapsed lap time, speed, pace, elevation, and such for that point if you click on it.
Also attached is the actual .tcx file for opening in Garmin Training Center if anyone's so inclined.
I've made a couple of short term goals for after that. Before I give up on running, I'd like to be able to have something to show for my efforts, so I've resolved to run a 5k in less than half an hour, and a 10k in less than an hour. I ran a 5k and a 10k when I last ran a few years ago. I can't remember the times, but I think the 5k was around 33:00 and the 10k was around 1:10 (edit: actual 2001 10k results 1:09:38). Those aren't good times. 30:00 and 1:00:00 aren't good times either, like they won't win any medals. But, those times are probably better than those likely to be achieved by the rube who hasn't trained but is in okay shape and feels like a race would be fun. That's all I can hope for: feeling slightly superior to a small segment of the race entrants.
To achieve this goal, I have to pick a couple of races, and make sure I can work up to being able to finish 10k (6.2 miles) in a pace of less than about 9:40 per mile. The 5k should be easy, as I'll be running almost 5k next week, and I had one day this week where I finished both laps in under a 10:00/mile pace. A couple of more weeks to speed it up should be enough to beat the 5k. The 10k will be a little harder, because as the math-inclined among you have already noticed, it's twice as long. I figure it'll be at least another 6 weeks before I can get to that.
Finding a race to run is a bit of a challenge as well. I'm assuming I'd be ready for a 10k in the end of March or beginning of April. However, I discovered that there are not a lot of races scheduled in Arizona between April and October for some reason. There are a couple of 10k races up in the mountains, but one of them's too far, and the other one literally runs straight up the mountain. There's one in Phoenix April 12th that I'd probably have to do, and a slightly hilly one in Tucson on May 4th I could use as a backup if I fail the Phoenix one.
If anyone's interested in the output of my Forerunner, I've been meaning to attach an example of what kinds of things it does. Here's a screenshot of the totals screen for Friday's run:
It breaks the run down by lap (including 1/2 mile warmup run to the park, stretching, the actual scheduled run, and the walk home), as well as showing total time, pace, calories, etc.
I've also attached the .kmz file that it exports to show in Google Earth. This part's pretty cool to see the run overlaid on the aerial photography. Every point on the map also shows the elapsed lap time, speed, pace, elevation, and such for that point if you click on it.
Also attached is the actual .tcx file for opening in Garmin Training Center if anyone's so inclined.
Week 13, Day 7
Today's weight: 208.4
Today's blood pressure: 135/89
Today's food: three tamales, chips and queso dip, bread, scrambled eggs, leftover fish sticks
Today's exercise: day of rest
Today's blood pressure: 135/89
Today's food: three tamales, chips and queso dip, bread, scrambled eggs, leftover fish sticks
Today's exercise: day of rest
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Week 13, Day 6
Today's weight: 209.8
Today's blood pressure: 125/82
Today's food: slice of bread, can of pepsi, orange, bacon/bologna sandwich, in-n-out burger, hawaiian blizzard, popcorn
Today's exercise: (run 14 minutes, walk 1) X2
Today's blood pressure: 125/82
Today's food: slice of bread, can of pepsi, orange, bacon/bologna sandwich, in-n-out burger, hawaiian blizzard, popcorn
Today's exercise: (run 14 minutes, walk 1) X2
Friday, February 1, 2008
Week 13, Day 5
Today's weight: 209.4
Today's blood pressure: 155/93
Today's food: biscuit, yogurt, 3 tamales, pot roast and potatoes
Today's exercise: (run 14 minutes, walk 1) X2
Today's blood pressure: 155/93
Today's food: biscuit, yogurt, 3 tamales, pot roast and potatoes
Today's exercise: (run 14 minutes, walk 1) X2
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