Half mile, and I did it twice

Week 5, day 2 of the couch 2 5k. Two 8 minute runs with a 5 minute recovery walk in between. The course I ran was around Kendrick Lake, a nice little 1 mile path around the lake that has these posts every quarter mile, and I could guage by those I was doing more than a half mile on each of the 8 minute splits. According to my little GPS tracking thing I did 1.5 miles in the 21 minutes total, so with the walking and running that's about a 14 minute per mile pace.

My little armband tells me I've burned 2500 calories so far today. I know that's kind of the difficult thing right now is I'm staying very active. About every other day I'm doing my training runs, most days I'm either biking or walking several miles, and it appears I'm burning about 4000 calories a day. And yet my weight is hanging pretty much about the same spot.

Several years ago when I lost a bunch of weight on the Atkins diet, I got to about 300 pounds and just leveled out. I was working out at the gym like crazy and doing all sorts of stuff, and.... just kinda there. I'll admit that the current plateau makes me wonder if I'm back to that point, you know? It's like here I am again... and what do I do to start losing that weight again?

Okay, I know one thing I do... I've gotten a bit lax around my eating habits. Not real lax like constantly stuffing my face, and for the most part I'm choosing pretty good foods. But yeah, it's still a bit too easy to snack.

So I guess I know what the answer is to the question. With that little band around my stomach it was definitely easier to keep to that answer. Now though, I've got to get back at it.

The one thing I have going for me right now is knowing that not all that long ago I was doing it just fine without the lap band. I lost 20 pounds leading to the surgery. Granted, it's easier to lose 20 pounds at 372 than at sub-300, but still, I was able to do it then. Now it's just getting back into that mode again.

Couch 2 5k training update

Today was the start of week 5 in the training routine for the May 1 Cherry Creek Sneak 5k run.

I am quite happy to proclaim I am still alive and breathing. 

Week 5 starts out with a 5 minute warmup walk then has three splits of 5 minute runs separated by 3 minute walks with a cooldown 5 minute walk.  This routine will be repeated Wednesday and then Friday it jumps right into a straight 20 minute jog.  Yikes!

So far actually it's not been too bad.  Keep in mind you're reading from a guy who not all that long ago could not get himself to run through a heavy downpour to his car parked 50 feet from the store entrance but would have to simply walk and get that much more drenched.  So it's pretty exciting to be able to say I could run these 1/3 mile splits and to actually feel like I could keep going.  I can actually run around the "lake"at the park near my home.  I never used to think I'd see that day.

Friday of course is a different challenge.  20 minutes straight...  Good thing is that's not quite as intimidating as five minutes once seemed.  Even still, that's more than a mile of straight running (well, shuffle jogging anyway).  That's still intimidating.

Slow Starts

This afternoon I decided to ride my bike in to class tonight, a 10 mile ride but fairly easy as it is mostly on a bike path. My daughter was teasing me because I was taking a long time getting started. I didn't explain exactly why it was taking so long because, well.... she would have teased me even more.

On the left of this blog is a Map My Run widget that shows some of my recent runs/walks/rides. Way back when I found an application for my phone that would track my runs, and I could import that data into the Mapmyrun.com website, and once it's there it will automatically update on the blog. I had to pay for that application back a couple years ago, and now with my new phone, I now have a wide variety of similar applications that do most of the same thing. One of those is related to the mapmyrun site, which I appreciate because now I don't have to import. Only problem with that is, the app doesn't work real well at times.

So anyway, I've found 5 good applications so far, and I'm sure there are others, but these are probably the best known 5. (Note I said probably) The question is, which one is really the best. I'm sure you're asking, who really cares? I've found one I like, called Cardiotrainer, but I've had suggestions from some others about some to look into. So, for a week I'm doing a sort of trial: I've loaded all 5 apps onto my phone, and when I go out, I'm running all 5.

So before I head out, I have to make sure all 5 are tracking, so there's a bit of a routine involved. I launch all 5 applications and get them to the point of being ready to start, designating the kind of workout involved, etc. I make sure there's a lock on the GPS satellite and the programs recognize that. Then in order I start tracking with one app, wait 10 seconds, start the second, wait ten more, till all 5 are started, THEN get started. When I get done, I shut them off in the same order, 10 seconds between.

So yeah, if my daughter knew the reason it was taking so long to get started was I'm starting 5 different programs to all track the same workout, she'd probably be looking for ways to get me committed.

But, that's the geek in me I guess. I'm having fun with it, but looking forward to when it's all said and done and have gone back to just one program...

And by the way, the bike ride went pretty well. It was along the Platte River, and going upstream, but nice thing about the ride is there's not the huge hills. Having said that I will say that since I'm bike riding, climbing hills is much easier now... something about lugging 70-80 pounds less around probably has something to do with that eh? I think also the additional runnign and walking have me more fit, so I'm better equipped to handle the effort?

That said, my butt still hurts after going that far.

There's some before and after pictures a few posts before, taken right before surgery #2. I was right around 300 pounds at the time then, and I found myself curious as to whether it would fit now. It does, sortta, still too tight to wear in public, but anyway, it was from an MS-150 bike ride I went on about 12-13 years ago. I was able to ride about 135 of the miles over 2 days - the ride got cut short due to tornado warnings (though we won't tell anyone I'd already gotten on the sag wagon before that happened as the hills were killing me...) Anyway, at this moment I find myself wondering how I rode that far, even with a comfortable bike seat... did I mention my butt hurts?

And here I am planning on riding back. Am I nuts?

Week 3 Begins

Yesterday I started week 3 on the couch to 5K program. After a 5 minute warm up walk, it's 90 seconds walking, 90 seconds running, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, and then repeat the whole cycle again. I was a little intimidated by the 3 minutes running, which really speaks to how out of shape I was where I was a bit unsure whether I'd be able to run 3 minutes straight. Or shuffle/jog as it were.

It actually went pretty well, even the second stint of 3 minutes, though I do have to admit I was checking on how soon the 3 minutes was comeing up the second time around.

I guess there's two ways to look at it. One could be that I could think about how pathetic it is I'm nervous about being able to run for 3 minutes. Or I could remember the times where I'd come out of a store and it's pouring buckets of rain and I walk to my car because I just can't run. Looking at it in that perspective, I feel pretty good about it all, you know?

And if I want to be intimidated, next week goes to 5 minutes running, with only 2.5 minutes walking in between for 'recovery' time. At least I get two more runs like this one before then. Regardless, I'm committed now to the Cherry Creek Sneak on May 1, a 5K run. Entry fees are paid for Janiece and I. I can do the 5K no problem, in fact looking at the times I could walk most of it and still end up somewhere in the middle of the pack for times, but having said that I want to be where I can shuffle jog the whole thing. Yeah, maybe that's my new term now for jogging, at least where I'm concerned.... certainly can't call it a run jsut yet.