Week 7 - Day 3

Back from another run. Slight improvements even since Tuesday night, but I have to say tonight seemed harder. Felt there was a lack of strength and energy. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised since the last run was the first after a week off, so the body was nicely rested. Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 2.36 mi
Total Time: 30:00
Avg Pace: 12:44/mi
Heart Rate: 141 bpm

Saturday will be walk 1 / run 1, but for 45 minutes. I should also pay more attention to the schedule as Sunday's lately are supposed to be a 20 minute run instead of 30. Oops!

Week 7 - Day 2

WOW I did it! My first of run 1 / walk 1 ... and check out the pace! That has to be my best pace yet!

Total Distance: 2.31 mi
Total Time: 30:00
Avg Pace: 12:58/mi
Heart Rate: 147 bpm

Bring on Thursday!

Running Changes Everything - Part 1

Once I started training for this coming event in January, it wasn't too far in that I realized other things in my life would have to change in order to succeed. More was necessary than just the physical exercise to get me across the finish line.

The biggest thing to swallow wasn't even the running itself, it was the necessary change in diet. You can't start running and expect to get good results from the junk that you're consuming right? So I started making changes ...

My guideline is pretty straightforward. Don't consume what you know is bad for you. Cut out what isn't necessary. Consume more of what you know is good, and in a balanced fashion. It's amazing what a simple principle can accomplish. For starters I just cut out extra calories. I'm just drinking water mostly these days. Skim milk is still on the menu. Juice and pop though I've pretty much cut out all together, they might be a treat on the weekend if I'm lucky. No eating after 7:00pm. Make sure to have a good breakfast in the morning. My fast food joints of choice are pretty much history. I really hope the Wendy's down the road from work doesn't close because of me, I'd feel bad! As for the other places like Kelsey's, Boston Pizza, Swiss Chalet, and Subway, I've just been more intelligent about what I'm picking from the menu. No more Chocolate Eruption Cheese Cake for me, not regularly anyway! It's all about moderation. I think our western society has seriously forgotten what that means.

Well it's been 6 weeks now since the change in eating habits. The results so far? Well when I first started walking around the first week of April, I weighed 194lbs. Today I'm happy to say that's down to a cool 178lbs and counting! That's 16lbs in 6 weeks!! I'm pretty sure there is at least another 10lbs clinging around that I could shed in the next 6 weeks! I'm not missing the old eating habits all that much either, and I can still treat myself from time to time without feeling I'm depriving myself and that's great!

I'll continue with Part 2 another day. Tomorrow is walk 1 / run 1, once again a new challenge. Remember ... running changes everything!

Week 7 - Day 1 ... I'm Back!

For those that you have noticed recently ... this is my first post in a week. I made a really hard decision a week ago today to take a relatively short break from running to give the lower legs some needed rest and re-cooperation. I have to say making the choice to do so was really stressing me out in a big way. Looking back now I'm glad I did it, and I hope it has paid off.

So I'm just back from my last walk 1 / run 2 and it felt pretty good. The discomfort I had been feeling the last week of running has subsided significantly ... for now anyway. After the 30 minutes I felt like I could have gone for another 15. Also, 10 minutes in my Garmin died so I have no stats to post. Looks like the battery hadn't been fully charged, but I'll be more prepared for Tuesday. I didn't have a watch on either, so I did my best to approximate the walk 1 / run 2 based on the course I usually run. A new challenge coming on Tuesday ... walk 1 / run 1.

=)

Going to post again tomorrow, just on a few other things I want to share. Stay tuned!

Week 6 - Day 4

Today's run was pretty good. Lower legs muscles are sore even though I haven't been out since Thursday evening. It would be great by the time a running day came around that the legs would feel rested. Unfortunately they don't, and I'm wondering if it's always just going to be this way. I can always dream! The sleep schedule seems to have been thrown off lately, and I've noticed now that's affected my eating a bit, so this could all be contributing to what I see as a slow recovery from the previous run. Who knows. Here are today's stats:

Total Distance: 3.32 mi
Total Time: 45:00
Avg Pace: 13:32 /mi
Heart Rate: 140 bpm

I made a comment in a previous post about reaching 12:50 /mi by Sunday before I move on to run 1 / walk one. I'm thinking that might have been a bit ambitious. I guess we'll see for tomorrow's run.

Week 6 - Day 3

Once I got out for my run 1 / walk 2 this evening, I just felt I needed to back off on the pace. The legs were feeling uncomfortable right away compared to the last several starts. The last two nights I didn't sleep so well either, so that likely could have contributed to the discomfort as the body wasn't fully rested (nor is it now). After this post, I'm looking forward to putting a bit of ice on them before hitting the sack! Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 2.16 mi
Total Time: 30:00
Avg Pace: 13:56 /mi
Heart Rate: 132 bpm

The pace is near what I accomplished with run 1 / walk 3, but that's OK with me. Saturday can be a day to push a bit harder again. Looking forward to the long weekend as well, Monday is a holiday!

Week 6 - Day 2 ... It's Wet Out There!

Did I ever pick a bad time to run today. I was out there for about 12 minutes and the rain started to come down. Well what do you do when this happens? You don't have much of a choice other than keep running! As you can see the results are good, but thought I would have hit just under the 13:00 mark. I don't see why an improvement to 12:50 by this coming Sunday couldn't happen?

Total Distance: 2.28 mi
Total Time: 30:00
Avg Pace: 13:04 /mi
Heart Rate: 146 bpm

The heart rate is back up. I also have to say the breathing got a fair bit harder than I would have liked. I got wheezy. My lung capacity felt like it was cut in half ... sorta like breathing from 1L pop bottles instead of 2L. It's like you know the capacity is there, it just isn't being used to its full potential. Your body is screaming for more oxygen, but you can't get enough in. It's harder to breath out than it is to breath in. There is no way I could have a normal conversation while running, my lungs are working too hard!

The concern here comes from the fact that I'm asthmatic. I'm really starting to test the waters now with the change to run 1 / walk 2. Each 2 minute walk break didn't seem to be quite enough time to catch my breath. Being asthmatic is no reason to quit or say "I can't do this" either, the key is just to make sure my asthma symptoms are under control. So is it under control? I'm not sure to be honest. I did take a puff or two on the run and it helped a bit, but not as much as I expected. I've never pushed myself this hard before ... or it has just been a very long time. A visit to the family doctor might be a good idea though ... sorta let him in on what I've been up to, HAHA. Maybe he'll have some suggestions.

Thursday here we come!

Week 6 - Day 1

Hard to believe today is the start of week six! Looking back now you can certainly see progress which is cool.

I've been feeling soreness in the lower legs since I was out yesterday. Thinking that giving the ice pack the go again today would have been beneficial, but I didn't bother. Just to make things clear that I'm not complaining here, I'm just keep track of how the body's feeling from all this punishment I'm putting on it! Here are the results:

Total Distance: 2.18 mi
Total Time: 30:00
Avg Pace: 13:46 /mi
Heart Rate: 129 bpm

Small improvements again wish is great! I have to say the legs are bothering me even more now than before the run. Shouldn't a day be enough time to feel "recovered" from the last run? Sure hope I'm feeling stronger by Tuesday night, after all I'm moving to run 1 / walk 2!

Week 5 - Day 4

Tonight I got out for my 45 minutes of run 1 / walk 3. It was much cooler out today, so after the first 15 minutes I made a quick pit stop for some warmer clothes. I managed to improve on the pace a bit again, but when I got to the last 8 minutes or so I was starting to feel like I had run out of gas.

Total Distance: 3.23 mi
Total Time: 45:00
Avg Pace: 13:57 /mi
Heart Rate: 135 bpm

Tomorrow will be the last run 1 / walk 3. Tuesday I will move on to run 1 / walk 2. I'm getting nervous thinking about it already.

Week 5 - Day 3

Tonight felt like a good run / walk. Tightness in the lower legs, specifically the shins was far less ... so almost getting close to enjoyable now. Maybe the ice after the last time out did the trick.

Total Distance: 2.12 mi
Total Time: 30:00
Avg Pace: 14:08 /mi
Heart Rate: 130 bpm

As you can see my distance was farther, my pace was faster, and my heart rate was a little lower than Tuesday. My breathing was better. I've improved from Sunday which was on flatter terrain. The body is adjusting.

Progress! YEAH!!

Week 5 - Day 2

Went out late again for my run tonight. It's just cooler outside and the roads are less busy. I'm noticing more now after my run in Guelph that the roads and trails around my house in Oshawa aren't so flat. It shows in my results for today, but not a big difference.

Total Distance: 2.06 mi
Total Time: 30:00
Avg Pace: 14:36 /mi
Heart Rate: 132 bpm

Sure did feel tightness in the lower legs again tonight though. Mostly in the shin area, especially the left shin. I even thought I'd put them on ice for a little while after I got home, surely it couldn't hurt. I also realized after looking at the training schedule that I moved to run 1 / walk 3 a day early. Call me a keener.

Week 5 - Day 1

Instead of traveling back to Oshawa last night, I ended up going to Guelph to visit a bunch of friends. Again, things have been changed up a bit for running conditions. Today the goal was to move from run 1 / walk 4 to run 1 / walk 3. I went out later in the evening around 10:30pm and did most of the running along Gordon Street (old Highway 6). The big difference here is the roads are very flat, and I think it shows here in the following stats:

Total Distance: 2.12 mi
Total Time: 30:00
Avg Pace: 14:10 /mi
Heart Rate: 137 bpm

That's a fair amount of improvement in my eyes. Knocked over a minute off my pace! Goes to show what inclines can do to your stamina. My breathing was much improved in this run. There is still some tightness in the legs, but I suspect going by previous runs it will slowly diminish (so I hope). I was quite happy with the run tonight!

Week 4 - Day 4

Today's run got changed up from the norm. I've been out of town since last night visiting my sister Sherri and nephew Jonah here in Cambridge, so I ran in some unfamiliar territory. On top of that, my run 1 / walk 4 was over a 45 minute period. In this area of Cambridge, there aren't very many flat roads so that made things a little more challenging. I ended up doing laps around Sterling McGregor Crescent. More hills and slopes than I would have liked, but managed anyway. Here are the stats:

Total Distance: 2.90 mi
Total Time: 45:00
Avg Pace: 15:30 /mi
Heart Rate: 139 bpm

While I was running, Sherri and Jonah went to the play ground on the same road and waited for me to finish and meet up with them. Tracy and Miles went along with them too. Anyway, today's run was pretty good. I found the breathing a little more challenging. The tightness in the legs wasn't to bad which was a bonus.

Tomorrow is back to 30 minutes, but it will be run 1 / walk 3.

Week 4 - Day 3 ... Survivor Guy

Started today with a 5 minute warm-up on a stationary bike and then spent some time stretching. Once I was outside the iPod started pumping some beats from PODRUNNER podcast. The first 20 minutes felt better than Tuesday, but was feeling pretty tight again by then in the lower legs. Rather than give up there, I compromised by taking a 5 minute break and did some minor stretching to loosen up. This seemed to make all the difference and was able then to finish the last 10 minutes. Not only that, I added an extra 1.5 minutes of running on the end which wasn't included in the following stats:

Total Distance: 1.93 mi
Total Time: 30:00
Avg Pace: 15:32 /mi
Heart Rate: 134 bpm

Today, you can call me SURVIVOR GUY.

=D

Week 4 - Day 2

Today the running started. The soreness I was feeling in my lower left leg yesterday is now gone, so that was a relief.

I managed to do 4 sets of run for 1, walk for 4 (not including the last walk for 4). After the 4th set of run for 1, the lower legs were massively tight and cramped, and I was starting to feel pain toward the base of my lower right leg at the back. I had to stop. There was no other option. If I had pushed any further, I am almost certain I would have sustained an injury. Once I had stopped, I noticed it was virtually impossible to raise my toes and try and point them towards the sky. That's just how tight the shins were. So instead of being out there for 30 minutes, it was more like 16.

Total Distance: 1.05 mi
Total Time: 16:06
Avg Pace: 15:18 /mi
Heart Rate: 136 bpm

Disappointed? Yeah I am. I still think my attitude is in the right place though ... I want this to work. I want this to happen.

After getting home, I hopped on the web looking for more information about stretching pertaining to running. I learned I need to be stretching ALL of the right muscles used when running, not just a few of them. They would be as follows:

1) Calves
2) Hamstrings
3) Quadriceps
4) Groin
5) Hip Flexors

I was really only stretching calves and quadriceps up until now. Also the information stated that running creates a slight muscular imbalance in the legs as the hamstring and calf muscles develop at a faster rate than the quadriceps and shins. The solution?

WEIGHT TRAINING HELPS ADDRESS THE IMBALANCE

I alluded to doing strength training back in early April, but I have yet to do any thus far. It seems to be a necessity at this point. I'm seriously out of shape and that's a reality. It can be fixed though. I really am starting out from scratch here. It has been years since I did any type of physical activity on a regular basis.

As for Thursday's run ... I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I should do. At a minimum I should at least walk like I've done up until now. Shouldn't I be able to walk at a fast pace without discomfort first before moving on to running? I'm just not sure ... but I want to keep moving ahead. I have a goal I intend to achieve.

Suggestions?

ps. Thanks John and Glenn for your recent tips and encouragement. It is most appreciated.