My Couch To 5K Pointers

I moved in out of the cold this week and started running on a treadmill for the first time. It felt kind of like starting over. I had gotten to a point where I was finishing 3.1 miles in 32 minutes pretty consistently. My run on Monday was 36 minutes and I only made 3.02 miles. I had set the machine for 35 minutes and it shut off on me with less than a tenth of a mile to go.... I figured it was a sign to stop for the day. I'll set the machine for 40 minutes today just to be on the safe side.

Since it feels like I am starting over I thought I would share the wisdom I have gleamed so far from learning to run.

I have not been using a Couch to 5K plan but here is what has worked for me. Most of this is common sense, but maybe it will help some of you who are just starting down this road.

1. Start walking for the first week or two. Work your way up to a couple of miles at a really good pace. Once your legs stop cramping and hurting, add a little run. But keep it short. No more than two minutes at a time to begin with. Even :30 seconds. This is not something your body is used to doing.

If you can only do 1 or two minutes of running out of your half hour walk that is fine.

As you feel more comfortable running start to add more running. Run for a minute or two, then walk for 5 or ten minutes then run again.

Using this method I have worked up to 20 minutes of running during a 32 minute outing.


2. Try to stretch the first run as long as you can. In the first two months I worked up to a 5 minute run then a two minute walk and another 2 minute run to complete the first mile of my course. After that I would alternate walking and running as I felt comfortable.

Now I am able to run an 8:30 minute mile for the first mile... and every once and awhile I can stretch that first run to 12 minutes.

If you have a few days rest try to really push the first run. That is how I eventually made my mile.


3. Get good shoes! You will save yourself a lot of pain and suffering.

Tony
11/7: 220.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
.6 lbs. to go

Achy Breaky Me

I thought all this working out was supposed to make me invincible to pain. After this weekend I am not convinced it is working.

I hurt!

Every muscle on, in and around my body aches.

The culprit? Yard work.

We finally had a nice day on Saturday. Sunny and rain free. It was a miracle and we took full advantage with an all out onslaught on the yard. Sunday was not nearly as nice but that didn't stop me for tackling the leftovers on the to do list.

Come Sunday night I was a goner...Or maybe that should read groaner. I am really surprised at how much I hurt. I expected the back ache, but the pain in my legs and and my arms came as a shock. I know I am using different muscles and all that but still I figured in the last 4 months that I had gotten in good enough shape to be able to do two days of yard work without passing out on the couch afterward. Guess this is just another sign of how far I have to go.

For all my complaining it was a pretty wonderful weekend. We let the girls run wild in the yard while we worked which turned Saturday into a wonderful family day.

I discovered another benefit of losing weight, you can where your wife's clothes. No not like that you perverts.

I have gotten rid of all my grubby work clothes so my wife handed me her work pants to try on since they are way to big for her after all the weight she has lost. And they fit. In fact, the are almost to big. My wardrobe has just doubled in size.

Ok, just kidding about the whole wardrobe thing...or am I.




I was contemplating skipping my run today due to aches and pain. But looking outside at another beautiful sunny day, I am thinking I might have to pop an Aleve and suck it up.
We don't have many of these days left.

Tony
10/22: 225.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
5.4 lbs. to go

Rake Image:© 1999-2007 Dries Buytaert

Ironman Anthony

A few months ago I mentioned that my friend Anthony had qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. The race was this weekend and it looks like Anthony did an amazing job. He finished the race in 877th place out 1700 competitors with a time of 11:15. That's 3 hours behind the race winner. I can't even imagine what it feels like to be moving for 11 hours straight. In total Anthony traveled more than 140 miles!

Congratulations Anthony I hope you are recovering on a tropical beach with a very cold Mai Tai. If anyone every deserved a relaxing vacation it's you!

I had my own race going this week. I joined a runners challenge over at the website Runner Plus. I am getting a lot more serious about this whole running thing.

The challenge was for runners who run between 10 and 20 miles a week. I logged 18.7 miles last week and missed winning the challenge by 3/10 of a mile. Just from that little bit of running my legs are really sore today. And it wasn't even all running, about half of it was fast walking.

I say again, I can't imagine what Anthony's legs must be feeling like this morning.

Sadly all that running was not enough to stave off the effects of all the food I ate this weekend. Which means a lot more running this week to try and get rid of the 2 pounds I gained while playing up north.

If any of you runners are looking for a place to log your miles, I am really digging this Runner Plus website. It's easy to use and very colorful. If you join be sure to stop by and become my friend. Right now I only have two... and 1 of them is the guy how started the site, so he doesn't really count.


Tony
10/15: 227.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
7.2 lbs. to go

My 5k Plan or How I Learned To Run 5,000 Miles

Wait a minute. 5K doesn't stand for 5,000 miles. Well then I can do this thing no problem.

Yup I'm joining the ranks of the 5k hopefuls.

Seems like everybody is jumping on the Couch to 5k bandwagon lately, including me. It's easy to see why. For those of us on a healthy lifestyle journey, being able to run 3.1 miles is a symbol that we are doing more than just losing weight. For me it will be proof that I have truly changed my life around.

I decided a while ago that one of my goals was going to be to run a 5k with my dad someday. I didn't make it public because I wasn't sure how realistic of a goal it was. Once I finally brought the idea up to my Dad it turns out he had been thinking the same thing. He asked me to run the Maple Lake St. Patrick's Day race with him. Maple Lake is a small little town in Western Minnesota where my parents have their retirement home. It's a enclave of Irish pride!

As I have said before, my dad is kind of an exercise nut. For some reason it is not a gene that I inherited from him. Although, looking at it now, I am starting to realize just how much of our bonding moments growing up centered around some kind of physical activity. My Dad and I have always enjoyed doing things together like snow skiing, water skiing, softball. Things I am glad we can share again and the kind of things I hope to share with my daughters.


I have decide to finally announce my 5k plans because something major happened yesterday.

I ran a mile... for the first time in my life!

Even in high school when they made us run a mile I had to walk at least a quarter of the way.

This is a major break through for me. And gives me hope that I may actually be able to do this. I ran the mile yesterday in just under 9 minutes. And I managed to finish my 3 mile outing in 32 minutes. Almost 5 minutes off my previous best time. Now my goal is to continue building up my stamina until I can run the whole 3 miles.

Until yesterday, I had very little faith that I would be able to work up to a three mile run by March. Now I know it will be a challenge, but one that I have at least even odds of being able to accomplish.


I have been thinking lately about why I decided to try this. I am doing it because I want to share the bonding experience with my Dad. I am doing it because I want him to be proud of me. I know he already is proud of me, but I want to prove to him that I can do this. And I am doing it for myself. To prove to me that I can do this. Here's hoping I am right.

Tony
10/9: 228.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
8.6 lbs. to go