C25K

Now that my Achilles is back in mostly working order, I've begun running again.

I started with a couple of days on the treadmill at work, and while running felt really weird, I was able to do it ok. My right calf is still significantly weaker than my left, so everything feels off and I have to make sure I'm not overcompensating. Combine that with the weirdness of running n a treadmill and it just felt off.

On March 28, I did my first day of C25K, Week 1, Day 1. We ran on the track at The Lodge, so I don't have GPS data, but we did about 1.3 miles. I had to speed walk at least one of the running segments.

March 30th we went to Des Peres Park and ran Week 1, Day 2. Not counting Warmup and Cool Down, I got in 1.26 miles with a 14:37 minute/mile pace. This felt really good, with my fastest interval coming in at a 10:42 minute/mile, which is WAY too fast for me to run for any length of time.

Last night (April 1) I braved the wind and potential storms and went out to Des Peres Oark again. This time I knocked out 1.28 miles with a 14:28 minute/mile pace. My fastest interval was still too fast, at 10:51.

My goal is to work on getting my running intervals at 12-13 minutes/mile pace, and my walking intervals at a 14-15/minutes/mile pace. Also, I need to get my form a little better.

Tomorrow is Week 2, day 1... I transition from Run 60 seconds/walk 90 seconds 8 times to run 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes 6 times. I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to run it since we're going out of town.

Time to stop hovering.

I'm not committed right now. This is fairly obvious, since I'm not tracking every day, not using my spreadsheets, not blogging every day. I got into a rut where blogging was boring. Then I had my injury. Then the holidays.

Time for no more excuses. I've started a challenge on BGG to lose weight.

I'm going low-carb, but not Medifast.

Today, cheese omelet and bacon for breakfast. I'm going to go to Sam's and buy a ton of my protein shakes.

Dinner I'll do fish or chicken with some mushrooms or beans. Beans are going to be the most carby thing I eat on a day, and I really hope to keep my carbs well under 100g a day.

I can run! On the treadmill, and slowly, and I have to shift to walking, but I can do it. So it's time to start training for the 5k in 2 weeks. And the next 5k in 5 weeks. I expect to end up walking the majority of both of them, but we'll see!

I'm tracking, as of now. It's so easy not to track.

I should come up with some sort of internalized reward/punishment system for tracking or not. If I track all month of April, maybe I buy myself something big? As soon as I type that I realize that just tracking wouldn't be enough for me to justify a big purchase.

Anyway, blogging is a step. It gets me thinking about it.

One week in to my two month challenge

So, on February 24th I was at 286.1 lbs. A week later, and I'm at 278.3. I'm making strides int he right direction.

What's working so far: I'm drinking two high-protein, low carb shakes a day. That gets me 60g of protein for 320 calories.

I'm going to the gym multiple times a week to do cardio on the elliptical and my strengthening exercises to rebuild my muscle and flexibility after my surgery to repair my ruptured Achilles.

I'm limiting carbs reasonably most days.

That's basically it. Lots of protein, watch the bread, work out. I'm generally not that hungry. When I am, I eat something good for me. I keep expecting my weight to bounce back up, but so far it's pretty steady.

Eight pounds down, but it's the easy 8 pounds. 12 to go in 7 weeks. I think I can do it.