Running. Day 6 - Week 3/24

Today's run was supposed to be 20 minutes, with 5 minutes each of warm-up and cool-down.

I set out and my heart rate monitor was not registering quite right. And, after the warmup (and getting stopped a minute into the jog by a traffic light), I set off. The run felt pretty good at first.

About 6 minutes in, my calves started to feel pretty heavy. I kept going, and they didn't get better, but they didn't get any worse, either. At around the 18 minute mark, I realized that I'd picked a somewhat too-long route. So, I decided to add on an extra minute and a half to compensate for the pause at the traffic light, and eat up some of the extra distance.

The extension felt good enough that I just kept going, and increased my run-time to 25 minutes. At the end, my heart rate was holding at 166bpm.

So, I'm feeling pretty good after the last run of my third week.

Running. Day 4 - Week 3/24

Today's run was:

Warmup
Run 8 min
Walk 5 min
Run 8 min
Cooldown

I ran outside, and had a heart rate monitor with me. This time, my heart rate stayed between about 165 and 175 when I was jogging, so that seems much better. It also drops off really quickly during the cooldowns, so that's also a good sign.

The running has been mostly ok, though I'm unsure how well friday's 20 minute run will go. But, we'll see.

Current Weight: 186

Running. Day 2 - Week 3/24

Today was Day 1 of Week 5 of the couch-to-5k program. This week is interesting because each day is different.

Today was 5 min warm up, and then 3x(5 min jog + 3 minute run) with an extra 2 minutes of cool down at the end.

My dad came out, and the jog felt pretty good.

Current Weight: 183lbs

Running. Day 7 - Week 2/24

I missed my second workout this week, and decided to just continue on with the couch to 5-k program. So, today was the last day of Week 4.

My dad invited me along to the gym, so I did the workout on a treadmill. It was interesting to see both my speed and my heart-rate. There's still a lot of room for improvement.

I think that my jogging speed on the previous runs has been about 6-7 mph. And, I was surprised to see that my heart-rate was getting above 180 during the 5-min runs. So, my cardiovascular fitness really has some room to improve.

But, the run generally felt good, and after, I went up and lifted some weights.

Current Weight: 183

Running. Day 2 - Week 2/24

This was week 4 of the couch to 5k plan.

This week will be:
5 minute warmup

2x of
3 minute jog
90 second walk
5 minute jog
2.5 minute walk

And a 5 minute cooldown.

I was expecting tonight to be really unpleasant from the cold and the two days of rain. But, it actually went nicely. The cold felt good while I was jogging, and most of the water was off the ground. The increased time felt pretty easy, too. I think I'll try for a faster pace next time.

Current Weight: 186

Running. Day 6 - Week 1/24

I missed my run last night, so I went this morning. It's getting quite a bit easier. And, the podcast is still helping.

So, I've completed week 3 of the couch-to-5k program, and will go onto week 4 on sunday.

Current weight: 181.4

Running. Day 3 - Week 1/24

Tonight I continued my couch-to-5k program.

The routine was:
5 min warmup
90 second jog
90 second walk
3 min jog
3 min walk
90 second jog
90 second walk
3 min jog
3 min walk

I found a podcast that had all the timings in it. It was nice to not need to keep checking a watch.

Current Weight: 186.0

Running. Day 1 - Week 1/24

Alyssa convinced me to join her in the Illinois (Half) Marathon that's happening on May 1st.

I've got 24 weeks to get ready. It's a lot of time, but I really haven't been good about exercising this weekend.

So, tonight I did day 1, week 3 of the couch to 5k plan. It wasn't too bad, but I can definitely tell that I haven't been exercising much. Still, it's a start. Hopefully I'll be ready.