(What is RSS?)Well, here it is, Sunday afternoon, and tomarrow starts the long, painful journey of running with my friend in a local marathon in December! Weighing in at 265 lbs, I need to trim quite a bit off of me to be able to get in shape enough to run 1 mile, yet alone finish a marathon. So, here we go, I will post my results as they go on..wish me luck
the texas chicken
And, I did great!
It was 3 miles, and I ran it at a pace that felt hard, but that I could keep up for the entire distance. I finished in about 39:35 (13:12 miles/min pace), which is the fastest I’ve ever run! I’m a little stiff and tired today, but no as bad as I thought I would be (we’ll see how I feel tomorrow, though).
I’ll spend the next few weeks building up distance, then I should be in good shape for my race in May. Maybe I won’t be last after all!
I can jog for 35 min at a stretch now! Every time I work out, I can feel the improvement in my muscular strength and my cardiovascular fitness. I have taken the plunge, and signed up to run a 3.5 mile race in May, to benefit a local hospital. Now, I’m so slow, that jogging for 35 min only gets me a little more than 2 miles. But hey, I’ve got 4 weeks to get my distance up. I can do it!!!!
I dreamt that I was running the Boston Marathon! Because I had paid an extra fee, I got to start right up front. It was hard going at first, because I was pushing a cart with my water and snacks. However, once I discovered that my fuel belt would easily hold a gallon jug of milk and a flashlight (part of the race was in the dark, and I needed the flashlight to find the course markers), my pace picked up considerably. An elite woman runner zoomed past me, and I said, “Hey! That was Grete Waitz!” At one point, I passed some pickup trucks carrying injured runners off the course, and I thought “why are they injured, this is easy!” Then even my shoes began to get in the way, so I removed them, and the last thing I remeber before the alarm went off was running barefoot effortlessly along, feeling so powerful, fast, and invincible…....
I can jog for 20 min at a stretch now (30min if I slow it WAAAYYY down). I’m absurdly slow: 15:00min/mile is about my limit right now (slower is better!). Still, I am assured by people in the know that as I continue, I will get fitter and faster. As I lose weight, too (I’ve dropped 11 pounds since beginning regular exercise), I’ll most certainly be able to go farther.
My knees and shins no longer hurt, and I feel stronger than I did when I started. Twice a week I run/jog, and twice a week I work out on the elliptical trainer. I’m hoping in a another couple of months to be fit enough to start training for a 5K!
I made the “mistake” of telling my coach at the company fitness center that I wanted to get fit enough to train for a 5K. A few days later, she e-mailed me an elaborate (ok, I exaggerate!) plan to get me fitter. Yikes! She certainly is optimistic about what I can do. Well, anything’s worth a try, I guess.
Last week I tried jogging 2min/walking 4min for 30 min, but my knees and shins began to hurt. I took it easy over the weekend and just walked, but when I tried jogging/walking today, my knees began to hurt again. It’s not the joint itself, but what feels like a little “muscle” to the inside and below my kneecap. So, I guess I’ll have to cut back on the jogging even further, or else just walk, for a while, until my joints strengthen.
And, I still weigh 236, but that means I didn’t gain over the holidays! That’s quite an achievement for me.
As I noted earlier, I participated in a 3-mile Fun Walk sponsored by my company. I did it, but had to really push myself to keep up with everyone (that peer pressure, you know, plus I’m just naturally a slow walker – and I hate to admit it, but I’m quite overweight, too). Still, if I can walk 5K, maybe I could train to run a 5K?? Well, maybe not. The first entry in Hal Higdon’s novice 5K training schedule is to run 1.5 miles. Uh, yeah, right.
So, here is my first micro-goal: Over the next 8-12 weeks, I will do a walk/jog program until I can jog for 30 min straight.
I hope that’s not too ambitious to start with.
Oh, yeah, and for the record my starting weight is 236lb. Ugh.
I just participated in my company’s annual Holiday Fun Run/Walk. I walked 3 miles; not bad for an out-of-shape blob! I got a free T-shirt, too!
