I guess this would be week 2 of the program for me, since I had the accident in the middle of my week 2 and had to go off the program for two weeks, but today I actually managed a full 30 minutes of intervals - up from 18 the first two times I ran. Plus, many of the intervals were actually 90 seconds, instead of the 60 I had been doing. A few there in the middle I could only do 30-45 seconds each, but I pushed myself at the end to get another 90-second run in.
Still running brutally slow, and had to stop after 15 minutes of intervals because my side was splitting me in half. But overall, pretty proud of me.
Next run is Friday, then another on Monday to start week 3. Let's see if I can get 30 minutes of continuous 90-second intervals next time.
Also, side progress note: The clothes I'm wearing right now actually fit me better than they did when I bought them. This both excites and disturbs me - I'm excited that I have a whole new outfit at my disposal (and quite nice one at that), but disturbed that I once bought clothes that barely fit me.
total non-sequitor: can I just admit that I'm a bit annoyed that they call this "couch potato to 5k?" I work out CONSTANTLY, yet this has been a huge challenge for me. Can't they call it "first time runner's training" or something that doesn't make it seem like you just got up from eating a bag of Cheetos and decided to run one day?
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Workout progress/injuries
So far, since February, I've gotten from 210 to 185 - a total of 25 pounds gone. Good job me!
The challenge now is keeping the momentum going, especially since:
• the last two months have actually seen only a 1-pound loss, which suggests that even despite my extensive time on the elliptical I'm having a hard time keeping the momentum going;
• my recent injury from a car accident, combined with the trainer's increasing intensity, have made it hard to get into the gym as often as I'd like.
So, now, apparently, I have to Mix Up my workouts. The suggestion from the trainer is Incline Walking and Running. Right now running just isn't going to work, since I'm still recovering from the headaches and hip stuff - but I managed 20 minutes of pretty intense Incline Walking at the gym on Sunday along with another 20 minutes on the elliptical, and it was definitely doable. Tomorrow, I go back for more Incline Walking/Elliptical training, and then next week I start running again. In the meantime, I also have to start fitting yoga in - fixing up the yoga room helped, but the motivation's been tough to get going.
Here's to reaching 180!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Today's workout: recovering from injury
Today: 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 45ish minutes of a really hard strength workout invented by my evil trainer. Also did the same strength workout on Sunday, with much less success than I did today.
Friday, I got rear-ended in my friend Leah's Jeep coming back from picking up a new bed. Although I totally thought I was fine, as it turns out I have some weird thing with my neck that's causing a crazy headache that starts in the middle of my eyes and goes up over my head, down the right side and into my right shoulder. Not so fun.
Nevertheless, I was at the gym this morning, and on Sunday, working it out. Did take Monday and Tuesday off, and felt guilty the whole time. Really hoping I don't regret this.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Running day 2: man, that hurt
Today's run started with 30 minutes on the elliptical (damn them for playing a James McAvoy movie at the gym) followed by another 23 minutes of 60-second walk/run intervals. First 10-15 minutes were fine; by minute 22 (the last run) my sides had started buckling up.
It would be great if these numbers were a bit lower, but I'll take it. Also, this really is pretty impressive considering that technically, I've only been losing weight since February of this year, and I started at 210 in February.
The only thing I'm worried about now is plateauing - I want to keep the weight loss going. I'll figure it out somehow.
Next time, I'll likely do 15 on the elliptical, or potentially start off with walking again (I'm scheduling another run for Sunday). Can't say I'm disappointed with my progress, but it does look like this running thing will take a while to get into fully, and I don't want to stall my weight loss by moving into an activity that I have to take slowly.
Meanwhile, I did some quick measurement comparison at the gym.
Back in 9/07 (when I quit the gym for a while):
weight: 208
tricep: 13.5
chest: 42.5
waist: 38
abs: 42
hips: 43.75
thigh: 27.5
calf: 16.5
as of 7/25/08:
weight: 186 (-22lbs)
tricep: 13 (-.5 in)
chest: 40.5 (-2 in)
waist: 35 (-3 in)
abs: 39.5 (-2.5 in)
hips: 42 (-1.75 in)
thigh: 25.5 (-2 in)
calf: 16 (-.5 in)
It would be great if these numbers were a bit lower, but I'll take it. Also, this really is pretty impressive considering that technically, I've only been losing weight since February of this year, and I started at 210 in February.
The only thing I'm worried about now is plateauing - I want to keep the weight loss going. I'll figure it out somehow.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Today's workout
45 minutes on the elliptical, followed by about 20 minutes of intense stretching. I really needed the stretching; my hips especially have been mad as hell at me for the last couple of weeks.
I'm very glad that I didn't feel as sick/nasty this morning as I did yesterday, but yesterday's case of the nasties was an interesting experience. I just was tired everywhere in my body, and couldn't focus worth a darn. Looking at a few days of eating records, I'm realizing that I'm not feeding myself nearly enough during the day, which is resulting both in feeling really nasty/useless all day and gorging myself on whatever's available and convenient in the evenings. Today was the first day of planning out what to eat, and I think I'm doing all right so far. My cereal and blueberries for breakfast, a couple of fresh rolls and a small iced coffee for 1st lunch (at 11am), and brown rice with steamed spinach, olives, cashews and a bit of Bragg's Liquid Aminos for 2nd lunch (at 3, when I become STARVING). I feel much better today.
Either tonight or tomorrow, I go for my second running session. I'm thinking about five PM I'll think about it.
I'm very glad that I didn't feel as sick/nasty this morning as I did yesterday, but yesterday's case of the nasties was an interesting experience. I just was tired everywhere in my body, and couldn't focus worth a darn. Looking at a few days of eating records, I'm realizing that I'm not feeding myself nearly enough during the day, which is resulting both in feeling really nasty/useless all day and gorging myself on whatever's available and convenient in the evenings. Today was the first day of planning out what to eat, and I think I'm doing all right so far. My cereal and blueberries for breakfast, a couple of fresh rolls and a small iced coffee for 1st lunch (at 11am), and brown rice with steamed spinach, olives, cashews and a bit of Bragg's Liquid Aminos for 2nd lunch (at 3, when I become STARVING). I feel much better today.
Either tonight or tomorrow, I go for my second running session. I'm thinking about five PM I'll think about it.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Today's workout/progress
Today: 15 minutes of elliptical followed by 30 minutes of strength training and 15 minutes of stretching.
Normally, I flank my strength workouts with 15-minute jaunts on the elliptical, but last night's run has my legs and hips a bit tighter than normal, and I started feeling gentle pulls on my thighs as I did the first part of my strength workouts (front, side and back squats with a 4-kg medicine ball), so I felt it was probably best to rest and stretch after the workout.
All in all, though, it felt good - and my mood is much better now than it has been in the last couple of days. This, of course, indicates that I should work out more often, which is Fine by Me.
In terms of progress, I also weighed myself this afternoon - and I'm down to 186, from 189 last week. This is mostly water weight, I'm imagining, but still - that means that 185 is around the corner, which in turn means I'll be down 25 pounds total since the beginning of the year. Not too shabby!
Normally, I flank my strength workouts with 15-minute jaunts on the elliptical, but last night's run has my legs and hips a bit tighter than normal, and I started feeling gentle pulls on my thighs as I did the first part of my strength workouts (front, side and back squats with a 4-kg medicine ball), so I felt it was probably best to rest and stretch after the workout.
All in all, though, it felt good - and my mood is much better now than it has been in the last couple of days. This, of course, indicates that I should work out more often, which is Fine by Me.
In terms of progress, I also weighed myself this afternoon - and I'm down to 186, from 189 last week. This is mostly water weight, I'm imagining, but still - that means that 185 is around the corner, which in turn means I'll be down 25 pounds total since the beginning of the year. Not too shabby!
Couch Potato to 5K: Day 1
Last night was the start of my Couch Potato to 5k training program. I'm not a couch potato at this point by any means, but let me tell you - running's a whole different ballgame. There's another version (which I believe is the official version) here, but I'm doing the program I found on Marathon Training Schedule. It's a bit more doable, I find.
Day 1:
5 minutes brisk walk to start
25 minutes alternating running and walking (1-minute intervals)
10 minutes walking home from Shaw's (laden with vinegar because I'm making mustard and I forgot to get white wine vinegar)
Feeling pretty okay - the last 5-6 minutes of intervals were tough, but I got through them all right. Running for 60 seconds at a time is definitely doable, although 90 seconds would have been a bit too much. Also, it's important to bring water, and to run just around sunset or early in the morning; by the end of 20 minutes of intervals I was insanely thirsty and starting to get a bit weak.
Next week: bring intervals up to 30 minutes at a time, add one run to make 2 total sessions. See if I can bring intervals to 90 seconds-2 minutes at a time on second run.
One major stressor at the moment: I seem to have come down with a Sugar Issue the past couple of weeks. The caramels recently sent to me by a potential client, thankfully, are almost gone, but I can't have more than two of them without going into a sugar coma, and I also ate about a pint of Reese's Miniatures in three days last week. Have to get it under control STAT - it's so hard to get anything done with sugar in my system, and I don't want to derail my progress.
And now, I'm off to the gym for strength training and elliptical before I go see Mamma Mia.
Day 1:
5 minutes brisk walk to start
25 minutes alternating running and walking (1-minute intervals)
10 minutes walking home from Shaw's (laden with vinegar because I'm making mustard and I forgot to get white wine vinegar)
Feeling pretty okay - the last 5-6 minutes of intervals were tough, but I got through them all right. Running for 60 seconds at a time is definitely doable, although 90 seconds would have been a bit too much. Also, it's important to bring water, and to run just around sunset or early in the morning; by the end of 20 minutes of intervals I was insanely thirsty and starting to get a bit weak.
Next week: bring intervals up to 30 minutes at a time, add one run to make 2 total sessions. See if I can bring intervals to 90 seconds-2 minutes at a time on second run.
One major stressor at the moment: I seem to have come down with a Sugar Issue the past couple of weeks. The caramels recently sent to me by a potential client, thankfully, are almost gone, but I can't have more than two of them without going into a sugar coma, and I also ate about a pint of Reese's Miniatures in three days last week. Have to get it under control STAT - it's so hard to get anything done with sugar in my system, and I don't want to derail my progress.
And now, I'm off to the gym for strength training and elliptical before I go see Mamma Mia.
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