One Man's Journey: March 2013

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Quick Update

Okay, I've been to the gym twice this week and haven't posted about it yet, so I figured I'd better get that out of the way before I forget.

Monday morning I managed 3.77 miles in my hour, which comes out to a 15:54 pace.

Today I pushed 4.03 miles, which is a 14:53 pace. I'll admit, I threw in a few 6.0 mph jogging intervals...I just couldn't help myself as I've been feeling so good! I'm going to shoot for similar distances at least twice more this week.

Somewhere along the way, I'm looking forward to incorporating strength training again. I'm still a bit nervous about my low back and wand to add weights in slowly, though I am still hopeful that I might even get into P90X before the end of the year.

Goals are important, and so is flexibility. The key is to keep doing something.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Stay on target!

Back at it this morning with a nice brisk walk. I can definitely tell my legs are getting used to activity again, which is a good sign. I was also itching to up the speed to a moderate jog, but I'm wanting to hold back on that for a few more days at the very least, preferably a couple weeks or more. I'm feeling good, though. The only thing that would be better would be a treadmill in my apartment so I could come straight home after work and not have to deal with the 20 minutes or so of diverted driving. Oh well, I can't have everything in life.

Some numbers, if you care. I covered 3.62 miles in my hour, which comes out to a 16:34-mile. I'm anxious to see that number cut in half by sometime this summer.

What are your fitness goals? What will you do to ensure you achieve them?

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Keeping it going...

I hit the gym again this morning after work and had an easier time of it than yesterday. I'm still not where I'd like to be, but that will come with time. Having a goal in mind is helpful...that, and patience.

There is definitely some loosening of leg muscles, but my lower back was still stiff when I woke up this evening. Part of that could be from the bed I'm sleeping on while doing this overnight schedule, but I'm sure it also has to do with the muscles back there being weaker in general and that I'm starting to stress them a little bit.

Again for those of you who like numbers (I admit, I'm one of them), I did 3.60 miles in 60 minutes, which is a 16:40 pace. I don't expect it's going to improve all that much anytime soon, but I'll still post values as I have them.

What stops you from adding activity to your life? What can/do you do to overcome such obstacles?

Monday, March 18, 2013

Back to basics...

With low-back pain continuing to be a problem for me, I decided that I needed to step back from actual running and work on simply getting movement into my routine. So this morning I went to the gym and hit the treadmill for an hour. The first half hour especially I could feel my muscles were very tight, not the most pleasant of feelings and something I definitely need to change. I'm going to try to get in most days for the next several weeks and log some walking miles before attempting to work on the C25K program again.

I admit, it's somewhat frustrating, but I have to realize that I'm not 20 years old and I've abused my body for so long that it's going to take time to get it to respond the way I want it to. I also have to keep things in perspective: I am still able to move.

For you number jockeys, I did 3.52 miles, which comes out to a 17:02 pace.

How do you face setbacks and discouragement in your workout routines?

Thursday, March 7, 2013

C25K Week 1 Day 2

Well, I managed to get to the gym after work last night, and I'm glad I did. That's the funny thing about exercising. I complain about it even after I've gotten started, but by the time I've finished I'm singing its virtues. I'm a little stiff this morning, but that's to be expected as my body adjusts to things it hasn't had to do for a while.

I neglected to mention that my place of employment is using the month of March for a "Get Fit" challenge. That started on Monday. It's not as intense as some plans out there, but that's okay because the main goal is just to get everyone making smarter choices. It's a team-based effort, where each team member tracks certain things throughout the week to earn points. The points are totaled up and divided by the number of team members, then compared to the other teams. There's a weekly prize for the team with the highest number as well as a prize at the end of the month for the team that shows the most improvement.

The biggest goal I'm concerned about at the moment is my water intake, and so far this week I've done a good job with it. Tuesday and Wednesday were kinda rough as the caffeine and probably other toxins were being flushed out of my system en masse, but it should be easier from here on out.

Anyway, back to my run last night. Here are the numbers.

0.00-5.00 - 3.5 mph

5.00-6.00 - 5.0 mph

6.00-7.30 - 4.0 mph

7.30-8.30 - 5.0 mph

8.30-10.00 - 4.0 mph

10.00-11.00 - 5.0 mph

11.00-12.30 - 4.0 mph

12.30-13.30 - 5.0 mph

13.30-15.00 - 4.0 mph

15.00-16.00 - 5.0 mph

16.00-17.30 - 4.0 mph

17.30-18.30 - 5.0 mph

18.30-20.00 - 4.0 mph

20.00-21.00 - 5.0 mph

21.00-22.30 - 4.0 mph

22.30-23.30 - 5.0 mph

23.30-25.00 - 4.0 mph

25.00-30.00 - 3.5 mph

Total distance: 2.05 miles. Pace: 14:38.

During my next run this week I plan to up the speed for at least the last interval and see how that feels.

Mindless question for today: If you could be any animal, what would it be?

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Return to the C25K...Week 1 Day 1

Hello friends! I'm sorry I've been away for so long. My wife gave birth to our first child, a son, on November 27th, and adjusting to life with a newborn as well as coping with continued problems in the legs and back have been pretty convenient excuses to not be active. However, I know I've needed to get active again, so here I am. If for some reason I have to discontinue the C25K program, I will find something else to do rather than sit back and do nothing.

I hit the gym this morning at about 12:30 after leaving work at midnight. It's kinda nice to have the gym basically to myself, but at the same time I enjoy being able to look outside and see life happening during the day. The fitness center at work was supposed to open yesterday, but since it didn't, I'm glad I still have my gym membership (I was going to cancel on Saturday, but the fee for that is $60; since I only have two more months at $20/month, guess what choice I made). My understanding is that the fitness center at work is going to be in the basement of one of the buildings, so probably no windows at all, but it's free. I do know that they have the same model of treadmill as what I've been using, so I won't have to adjust to a different one.

And for you number crunchers, here are the stats: