January 6, 2010

After on and off running/jogging, injuries, and blood pressure issues, I am ready to get serious, run and get in shape.

I was happy to have my husband with me at the gym last night. He finally signed up and what a difference it makes for me to have him in the room with me, doing his own thing. Competition has set in and we're laughing at each other's tires.

I was able to run for a straight 14 minutes on the treadmill so I feel that I am already on my way to achieving my goal of a solid 30 minutes.

Tonight we are going back to the gym to focus on muscle training. Should be good!

Just read about all these people running barefoot, so gave it a go. Started on the grass in the park, then moved to the pavement. Was hard work on the pavement, but the grass felt pretty refreshing, although wished I started in spring and not autumn.

This week I started jogging
Wednesday: (which is the day I strarted jogging): Jogged/Walked approx. 1.5 miles
Thursday: jogged (mostly) walked some for 15mins.
Friday: Jogged for 1 mile. (stopped 3-4 times for approx. 10 seconds each)
Saturday: Jogged for 15mins. (walked for 10-15 sec.)
Sunday: Jogged/walked for approx. 2 miles.
Monday: Walked for warmup & cooldown also walked uphill & jogged down + jogging on one of my routes approx. total=25mins.
Tuesday: Walked for warmup & cooldown jogged the rest. Trail was 2miles total. (the 2 miles includes warmup powerwalk & cooldown walk.)

Week Two Of Jogging.
Wednesday: warmup walk and overall walking + cooldown walk=10 minutes. Jogged for 15 minutes.
Thursday: Walked for ten minutes overall (including warmup, cooldown etc.) Jogged for 20 minutes.
Friday: 10-15mins Jogging and cooldown&warmup walk. Stopping periodicly. (around neighborhood)
Saturady: 25mins of jogging (on a bay trail) + cooldown&warmup walk. Stopping periodicly.
Sunday: 15-25mins Of Jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. Stopping periodicly. (around neighborhood)
Monday: 15-25mins Of Jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. Stopping periodicly. (around neighborhood)
Tuesday: 15-25mins of jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. Stopped 3 times.

Week Three of Jogging
Wednesday: 15-25mins of jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. Stopped once.
Thursday: 15-25mins of jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. No stopping at all
Friday: 15-25mins of jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. No stopping at all.
Saturday: 15-25mins of jogging + a little bit walking. Stopping some.
Sunday: 15-25mins of jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. No stopping at all.
Monday: 15-25mins of jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. No stopping at all.
Tuesday: 15-25mins of jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. No stopping at all.

Week Four of Jogging:
Wednesday: 15-25mins of jogging + cooldown&warmup walk. Stopping some.
Thursday: Nothing, Day Of rest.

Last night I went out for what can only be described
as an impromptu run. I have been exercising again recently, this time with
bodyweight circuit training. I have been doing my workout every other day,
each time aiming to increase reps for each exercise. This circuit I follow
is star jumps (jumping jacks), squats, lunges, press ups, crunches and squat
thrusts. I have been making progress. On the last session I managed over 600
exercises.

I have also been doing dumbbell curls on other days, sometimes both morning
and evening. I keep a pair of dumbbells under the bed so that they are
always easily to get hold of. I am currently using a 10kg dumbbell and
perform a few sets of 10 on each arm.

But, last night I fancied something different. I needed to get out of the
house fo a bit, so decided to go for a run. I planned it to be about 30
minutes jogging, following the route I used to do last year. However, half
way round, I decided to go a little further, so I ran up Vicerage Lane that
leads out of Great Baddow. I did not leave the house until about midnight
(computer problems kept me in) but this meant that the roads were very
quiet. In fact, I did not pass a single car all night on the back lanes.

Running along the country lane in the dark was a very strange experience. I
had been raining, but was still overcast, so very dark in some spots. At one
point I did stop and walk as I could not see anything. Then later, seconds
after thinking to myself "what would happen if I twisted my dodgy ankle out
here" I almost fell into a pot hole (more a river valley actually). But I
plodded on. I had no choice. My knowledge of the back roads is not too good
(although better after last night) so I was not entirely sure if I would be
able to circle around back home without running for miles and miles. I did

i have just started jogging
can someone suggest me some good procedures for effective jogging.
food and liquid diet which i have to take.
please advice me

Today I almost did not run home. I got changed into my tracksuit bottoms and t-shirt at work, and then hopped on the train. My wife called to say that we needed to do some shopping in Tesco, and that she could pick me up at the station. I agreed, but by the time we got to Tesco I was feeling really tired, and just did not fancy running at all. I wanted to just get in the car and curl up on the sofa.

I have finally increased my exercise. I have started what I am calling my credit crunch health and fitness plan. I am doing the following to save money and get fit at the same time:

1. In the morning, I buy a single bus ticket to the station, rather than a return.
2. I am no longer having my morning Medium Black Americano from Starbucks.
3. I am eating a smaller breakfast - usually sausage sandwich
4. I am running home from the railway station.

The goal I'm working on is to get my running time up to 6mph (able to keep up with Devon). Right now I'm running comfortable at 5.5mph. 4.1 miles is my longest run since I've started back up in Feb. I still want to loss 10 or 15 lbs to be healthy and to help with the running time. I have till mid-July to get my time up. I have been running 5 days a week, one day complete rest and one day doing something other than running. I have seem several results so far. My time has increased from 4.5mph and from running 1 mile w/o stopping. I've also lost 24 lbs. I'm loving it!

This evening I went for a run around the village. It was my first run since before Christmas, so I was not expecting to go far. I decided that I would do the short route, which usually takes about 15 minutes. But as I ran, I felt good. I actually felt fitter than I did the last time I ran. Obviously all my muscles were fresh, and I am about 7kg lighter. This must have helped a lot. I ended up running the "long" route, which is still only a few miles. It took me 29:26 minutes, which is a reasonable time for me.

Quick review of past times on this route (here's a map):

30 Dec 2007 - 32:03 minutes
11 Dec 2007 - 25:27 minutes
05 Dec 2007 - 27:40 minutes
24 Nov 2007 - 27:34 minutes

I went for a run this morning, I knew it would be hard. I spent Christmas pigging out and have done no exercise since Christmas Eve. I decided to run before eating, as I have read that running on an empty stomach can help to burn fat. Ni idea if this is true, but worth a try!

I started out slow, taking my longer route, and stayed slow, being force to walk at two points. My calves gave up on me first, as usual, so I really did not get an excellent cardio session. On the final stretch home I did force myself to increase the pace a little, so I was at least slightly out of breath when I finished. 32 minutes is a slow time for this route.

I decided to have a bath after, as my back has been aching recently, and I do feel more relaxed and loser now.