Easy Tuesday

Trying to stick to my plan.  3 days a week.

Easy Medium run on Tuesday, these will get longer over time.

Speed work on Thursday.

Long slow run on Saturday.   

Over time I will increase the distance on both my Easy medium run and long slow run.   If all goes well with strength training, weight loss and speed work my speed on my easy days will get faster.   I run by effort and not by trying to meet a specific pace.  Thus improvements in fitness should make an easy effort faster.

I'm not sure the accuracy but my fitbit is tracking my heart rate between 140 and 150 for my easy runs, however it also is mostly in that range for my sprints as well.  I don't know if that means I should be pushing for a longer time during my sprints or if oxygen and my life of asthma is my limiting factor.

I think this week I will try some hill repeats.  I keep hearing that it's a good idea.   There's a hill not too far from my house, it's not insurmountable and I ran through it on my long run last weekend.  I'll warm up on my way over then run up the hill and walk back down a few times.  The hardest part for me is patience.  I love that my distance is returning, but I have wanted to add some speed my entire life and I have a LONG way to go.  Speedwork and adding strength can only help though.

1.45 mi Run with MapMyRun

Duration: 16:15

Pace: 11.13 min/mi

I couldn't find a pace this morning.  I had to work to keep myself in check.  I kept finding myself starting to have a hard time breathing and reminding myself to slow down and take it easy.   Looking at my pace clearly that was an issue, I was all over the place.  Positive thought though,  I was able to run the whole thing without walking. 

Strength training Monday

Strength training Monday is here.   Well, kind of.  I'm not sure what to do for strength training yet.   I don't have a program that I've found that appears to be more than just a few strength training exercises that runners should do.   It would be nice to show some kind of progression, do X sets of these 5 exercises for a month then move on to this next set of exercises.

I also don't have a method for tracking my strength training that I'm excited about.   I've been reading a lot about Bullet Journals, and there are some nice views that I like for running, but I haven't found one for strength training.   The ones there only seem to support a few exercises and strength training probably doesn't fit into the same kind of mold that running does for bullet journal tracking.  I'm still digging to see if I can find the output of some application or some bullet journal example that will let me track things the way I want.  If not I'll try to make up my own.

One leg bridge.  I did 2 sets of 6 with each leg.   There were pops and snaps in my hips when I did these, this is the first time I've ever done them.

I did two sets of pushups, 10 the first time, then 13 the 2nd.  I wasn't pushing myself to my limit my shoulder is popping and snapping with every movement.

I used Green therabands and did the following:
2 sets of rows, 20 reps each.
2 sets of upright rows 10 reps each, my shoulder is popping with ever movement.
2 sets of inner rotator cuff 15 reps
2 sets of outer rotator cuff 15 reps.

1 legged squat 6 on each leg, only one set.  this was harder than I expected and I'm not sure I got through a full range of motion.

I also did a plank to see how long I could hold it before my shoulder hurt enough that I had to stop.  I made it 45 seconds.

I did all of these and did some strength training but I don't feel like I pushed myself hard enough.  And I'm not sure what I should do next.

Long run Saturday

3.32 mi Run with MapMyRun

Duration: 42:12

Pace: 12:43 min/mi

I tried my long slow run with consistency.  That was my goal.  Slow and consistent.  I made it about 22 minutes without having to walk.  As soon as I had to break for a walk though I was done.  I couldn't retain my running pace.  

After my run my legs were jello.  I tried to stretch and hop around a little but it didn't help much.  I also chased after a ball my son threw to me at the park.  I realized that I could barely shuffle.   3.32 miles in 42.12.   This is not the speed with which I want to enter a 5K.  I definitely have some improvements to do before I feel confident about even entering a 5K.   However,  this is the first run I've had that was over 5K.   I expect that my time for this distance will get a better the more I am running.  

One problem I have is sleep.  I don't know how to get more of it.  My goal is 7 hours of sleep each night, but I'm between 5:30 and 6:30 most of the time.   The less I have the more it affects me.  I will go through 2 or 3 days sometimes feeling like a zombie.   And even though I'm in bed by 10PM I lay there awake until after midnight.

4 Minute Mile

I have a long history of loving running movies.

Run Fat Boy Run,  Across the Tracks, Prefontaine, Without Limits, and Chariots of Fire

I was not a big fan of 4 Minute Mile.   I love the idea that the movie tried to portray, that running is its own end.  And that even though he lost his big race in the end he hit his goal.

My problem with the movie is in so many other part that didn't work for me.  The tired old track coach who is an expert and still spends every day watching track practice.   He is clearly a drunk who smokes and can barely move.   How is he so fit when they show him getting out of bed.  Clearly there is some failure from his past that has driven him to drink.  There is also some clear physical pain caused by something.   And his son probably has something to do with it, but nothing with it is ever explained.

The main character is clearly running to get away from something, but is stuck under his brothers control.   It is not clear why he has never tried to get away.  Stay with someone else?  Refuse his brother?  Even in the end, with his brother that he clearly doesn't love, after he has shot the new father figure in his life, he still goes to prison to visit his brother.  

I am not adding 4 Minute mile to my list that I'll watch again.

Intervals Thursday

1.47 mi Run with MapMyRun

Duration: 16:32

Pace: 11:12 min/mi

I overslept a little this morning.  My 5:45 alarm wasn't enough.  I've had too many days of not getting enough sleep.   I need a good night to help me catch up.

I rolled out of bed about 6:10 and was out the door.  

My running felt exhausted. I jogged a few blocks to warm up then ran a hard block followed by a few blocks of slower jogging.  My sprints winded me enough that I had to walk.  I tried to keep my walk breaks to as short as possible and get back to slow running as soon as possible.

I was really excited at the end to see my pace of 11:12 min/mi.  And looking at my sprint speed I was at about the 8 minute pace for each interval.   

Today I watched the movie "4 minute mile".  I'm always looking for inspiration.  I love running movies and books.   Even images of the "rave run" in Runners World will sometimes be inspiring to me.   

There was a line in the movie that jumped out at me.

"Patience.  It takes a lot of it to be a runner."

Yoga

I was very sore today.  My legs ached. 

I decided that I needed some stretching so I did the Yoga Fix from the 21 Day Fix program.  

My legs were very wobbly.  I forgot how much strength it took to do some of the early moves in this program.   I pushed through them though.  I need to build more strength in my legs than I can get from just running.   

The stretches were very appreciated.  I hope that they help my recovery between runs.   

Easy run Tuesday

1.78 mi Run with MapMyRun

Duration: 21:30

Pace: 12.1 min/mi

At the moment with only 3 days a week that I'm running I plan to have Tuesday be the day that I try to sustain my running for the entire time.   Thursday I will try to do some kind of speed work, most likely fartlek until I can get longer distances and then I'll start some kind of interval training on the high school track.   Then either Saturday or Sunday I will walk/run without shame and extend my distance most every week.  

I ran very consistently today starting near 13 minute pace and ending closer to 11:30 pace.   I ran without walk breaks.

It wasn't easy.  My breathing was ok, but I have a pain in my right hip.  Its there pretty much all day every day.  I don't know if it's from the way I cross my legs when I'm sitting or if its from having to drive as much as I do while my knees push out to the sides.  Either way I think some strength training and stretching will be good.   

I did get my Theraband out today and work on some arm exercises.   I have found several places that look like they share good core workouts and hip strengthening workouts.   In the past i've never spent the time to focus on strengthening my body with the purpose of running.   I have specific running goals though so I need to get started on doing that now.   I'm sure that some more strength will help with my times.      

Why can't I do anything on non-running days?

There's something about days that I run.  I get up and get out the door, usually before anyone else in the house is up.   However, the days that I don't run I don't sleep well.  I don't wake up well.  I am drained of energy.   Caffeine doesn't help.

Those days I dread.   It's not that I feel super energetic during the day after I run, but on the days I don't run I'm a zombie.

Easter Sunday, I slept less than 6 hours last night.   I planned to get up early and do 21 day fix yoga this morning.  Instead of waking up at 6:30 I woke up at 7:30 with less than 6 hours of sleep.   Its not that I didn't go to bed. I was in bed at 10PM on Saturday night.  I just couldn't sleep.  My back hurt, my arms hurt, my legs hurt.   Sleep just didn't come to me.  As it often doesn't.

Instead of getting to do yoga today, I didn't get to do anything.   I was extremely grateful for a 5 minute nap during Easter that I was able to get.  It helped me feel very rejuvenated.  

Unfortunately it is again bed time and the day that I didn't run, I didn't get even to spend time stretching more than a minute here and there.

Week 1 is in the books and I have no idea how it went, my running was a success, my eating was not.  I'm going to guess that my bad eating outdid my good running.   I have to find a way to put it all together.  Right now I just have aches everywhere and cravings for food that makes me fat.

Is this a tempo run?

1.61 mi Run with MapMyRun

Duration: 19:05

Pace: 11.8 min/mi

My pace appears to have been between 10:30 and 11:30 per mile.   

I had 3 walk breaks.  I did great running for about 7 minutes straight at that pace before my walk break.  However it kicked my butt.  I wasn't able to run longer than 2 minutes after that first walk break.   My overall pace was faster, but I felt awful.

My 2 year old plantar fasciitis is starting to flare back up.  It's not really bad, but I can feel the tightening in my right heel.   I'm already working on trying ti stretch extra and so what I can to try and prevent it from flaring up.  

Today was the 3rd day in a row that I ended up eating out.  I felt bad about it, but enjoyed the food.  I had Buffalo Wild Wings which is one of my more guilty pleasures.   I did end up with over 16,000 steps today though.  

First 2 mile run of the year

2.01 mi Run with MapMyRun

Duration: 24:31

Pace: 12.2 min/mi

I know I'm supposed to limit my extra mileage to only 10% increase per week.   I just ran my first 1.7 miler and now I'm increasing again.   It was more of a coincidence than a plan.  

I need to learn how to share more.   I don't pay for the premium of Map My Run.  Maybe if I get the point that I run better I'll do that.  At the moment I'm limited to breakdown information on splits with 1 mile being the smallest number that it tracks.   There's a really nice chart that shows me my pace over time I just wish I knew how to add it here in this post to share it.

The best I can describe my run was a fartlek.   My plan leaving the house this morning was for an out and back route where i would run a few blocks really slow and then run hard for a block.  I hoped to not walk at all again, but after the first couple of fartlek intervals I was winded and had to walk half a block.  I ended up with 4 or 5 walk breaks.  Map my run shows the peak of my hard running for a few seconds at about 8:07.   I ran 7 intervals and the final one peaked at 8:50. 

Importantly I was able to get 7 intervals.  I was also able to keep all 7 intervals at faster than my goal pace of 9 minute/mile. 

The not so good is that I still have no feel at all for pacing. 

My diet did mostly well today until dinner tonight.  I had to take my car to the shop to fix a tire and ate out.   I had breakfast for supper, which was pretty healthy, but I also drank some sugar infused coffee that was really tasty.

Ran 1.7 miles

1.7 mi Run with MapMyRun

Duration: 18:32

Pace: 10.9 min/mi

I've been running once or twice a week now for a few weeks.  I still can only run 3 blocks or so before a walk break.  Today was the first day that it was nice enough to run in shorts and a t-shirt instead of long pants and wearing a jacket.

I'm on my way to the 10 mile run/walk goal.   Next step on the way is to get to 3 miles of run/walk, then to work harder on increasing my run time and cutting down my walk time. 
#fitnessstruggle

Run

1.7 mi Run with MapMyRun

Duration: 18:32

Pace: 10.9 min/mi

I've been running once or twice a week now for a few weeks.  I still can only run 3 blocks or so before a walk break.  Today was the first day that it was nice enough to run in shorts and a t-shirt instead of long pants and wearing a jacket.

I'm on my way to the 10 mile run/walk goal.   Next step on the way is to get to 3 miles of run/walk, then to work harder on increasing my run time and cutting down my walk time. 
#fitnessstruggle

A start to a fitness log

I know, sure there are ten thousand fitness blogs out there.   I don't know how closely this will be to any of theirs.   I just need an outlet to post my thoughts and progress.   I need some place to write.

I'm not selling anything.  If you find something that I use useful and use it yourself great, I don't have an affiliation with anything.  I'm only posting for me.

The problem is real.   I've gained weight and am back to as heavy as I have ever been.  It's depressing.   My wife is super supportive and is helping me to get back on track.   We are going to be following the 21 day fix food program from Beachbody.   We bought this a  few years ago and I had success with it once before.

Backstory.  I've been an on again off again jogger.   For me 10 minute miles are fast.   My whole life I've followed  a walk/run philosophy where I at least try to run more minutes than I walk.   I've never had great endurance.  I finished a marathon once, but never ran for more than 4 minutes at a time.   I may have one time run two miles straight without walking.

I've never been a physically fit guy.  I've always been bigger.  When I was young I had asthma and could not do anything without having an attack.  I probably let it be a crutch and let it hold me back.  I definitely did not develop strength or speed during my youth.

Excuses are done.  Now I'm just a 40 year old man who overeats and doesn't get enough physical activity.  I'm not trying to regain my glory days from high school when I was an athlete, I was never that guy.   I'm going to try to become that guy for the first time in my life.

The catalyst is probably a picture I saw of myself taken today.   I look aweful.  I stepped on the scale and I'm 250 lbs.   I know there are people who are heavier.  And when some look at me they probably think that it's not that bad.   It is though.  I've had a negative image of myself my entire life.  I've never felt that I looked good.

Goals: 210 lbs.  Able to run 5 miles straight.  Walk/run 10 miles.  Able to do 50 pushups straight.  Able to do 10 pullups.   Able to run 1 mile in <9 1="" goal.="" his="" is="" minutes.="" my="" nbsp="" p="" year="">
I will have a problem with this.  I know it.  I'm a very dedicated person, but I have a hard time going slow and staying in it for the long haul.   The struggle is real and I think I have picked goals that are hard and I will have to push myself to reach them.
#fitnessstruggle