Severe weather warning!
I’ve been a bit under the weather the last few days but I’ve had to go into work as I’m teaching and unfortunately my classes are at rather asocial times (8am -9am) and (5pm – 9pm) so it’s too hard to arrange for a colleague to fill in.
I woke up this morning feeling pretty rotten but went into work, did my class, met up for a meeting with a colleague and then headed back home. I pretty much went straight to bed and had about 3 hours of sleep and woke up feeling pretty good.
My wife is still doing C25K and she had to do week 05 day 03 today which is the first 20 minute run. She wanted me to come along and I thought the exercise might make me feel better. We did a very nice 3 km loop around our local area and she did really well. This is the longest run she has ever done and she did it even though about a kilometer of it was uphill and rather tough. I felt really good afterwards as well which was an added bonus.
Tomorrow (Saturday) is a rest day for me and I have a long run scheduled for Sunday morning. Unfortunately we have a severe weather warning out for the weekend. According to the news of tv this evening we are about to have a once in 15 years storm hit us so my run may be rather damp or (worse case scenarios) delayed or treadmilled. We’ll see how it goes I guess.
Oh and good news! My daughter seems to be much much better so we’re hoping to get some sleep tonight! 
Good run, bad run, great pushups
I had a great little run yesterday evening. My wife has been doing C25K in the gym but has started doing her runs in the evening outside instead. This is because she has signed up to a fitness class through work and it’s on first thing in the morning (in her previous running time). This has been brilliant as I’ve been getting to run with my beloved wife and it has been really nice so far. Conditions were cold but perfect last night and we did a nice gentle 4 km walkrunwalkrunwalkrunwalk.
One of the very rewarding side effects of my decision to get fit and active has been seeing the effect I’ve had on people around me. Quite a few of my friends and family are now pursuing healthy activites and eating better and it’s really nice when they tell me that my progress has inspired them to take action.
So that was the good run.
I did another run today. I was aiming for about 10km but I ended up doing just over 11. Having said that there was a fair patch of walking in there as my daughter’s stomach bug (oh, did I fail to mention that my poor little monkey has been chucking like a banshee) hit me during my run. Let’s just say it was not my finest run and leave it there.
11 km in 1:14:37.
I also managed to do day 02 of week 03 of the 100 pushups program. I did 27,19,19,15 and 30 (25 required). That’s definitely the most pushups I’ve ever done in my life.
A visit to the treadmill
I had a lot on yesterday so I decided to go to the gym and run for 45 minutes on the treadmill after class instead of running outside. Unfortunately I had a lot of students asking questions and I didn’t manage to leave class quickly. (This is actually a good thing as students should be asking questions and often they don’t.)
Anyways, to get back on topic, I arrived at the gym a bit late and realised I wouldn’t have time for 45 minutes but I should be able to squeeze in 30 minutes.
So, in a fit of whimsy, I thought I would set the treadmill to do 5Ks in 30 minutes. When I finished C25K this was my combo of time and distance and oh boy was it tough at the time.
Today, my biggest struggle was with boredom. I was trying to watch something on my ipod but it’s a bit hard when you are running. After I had to catch my ipod for the third time I gave up and switched it to music. I’d forgotten that I’d downloaded some running podcasts to listen to but that’s ok as they will be there for tomorrow’s run.
I did the 5K very easily and my heart rate averaged in the 130s which is quite low when you consider it averaged in the 160s about two or so months ago. It’s amazing when you think that 5 months ago I could not and did not run. For anyone out there who thinks they can’t do it, I’m living proof that you can!
I really enjoy this whole getting fit business!
Couch to 5K Completed!
Yesterday, I completed the Couch to 5K program. I started the program in mid January and now, in Mid March, I can run 5 km in a row.
Along the way I’ve done the following:
- I ran at least 46.5 km. I didn’t start recording my distance until I got up to20 minute runs so I have actually run a little more.
- I got bronchitis and didn’t let it derail me! In many respects this was the biggest change for the improvement for me. In the past whenever I’ve gotten sick I’ve used it as an excuse to return to my old habits i.e. overindulging in comfort food, giving up on the gym etc. I’m very pleased that I did not give up on everything when it happened this time. I really think that having this blog helped me stay on track and focused.
- I’ve lost about 20 pounds.
- I’ve been called a bastard. (Sorry Marshie, couldn’t resist!)
- I’ve been called an inspiration.
- I posed with a lot of butter!
- I attracted a lot of strange people who are doing google searches for “naked fit men in the gym” with this post.
- I’ve entered my first 5K race. Less than 2 weeks to go!
- I’ve amazed myself and a few others I think. I never believed that I would be able to run and now I can.
I still find it really incredible how quickly our bodies can adapt to the various stresses we put upon them. I’ve learnt quite a bit about myself over the last few weeks and have a better appreciation of what I am capable of now.
I’d like to thank all of you who read my blog and have offered such great supportive comments and helpful bits of advice. I don’t think I could have done it without you. I’d especially like to thank my ever suffering wife who has had to put up with me being a bit obsessed and single minded about things lately. She has supported me in all my decisions and darling, if you read this, I love you.
Next week I start the One Hour Runner program!
A run in the Domain
I went for a run in the Auckland Domain earlier today.
The Auckland Domain is the oldest park in Auckland and is a great place to go for a lunchtime run. There are quite a few tree lined tracks that are ideal for running along. As an added bonus it is a two and a half minute walk from my workplace, which makes me wonder why I didn’t think about running there before.
You may recall that I had expressed some paranoia a few anxieties about going out and running outside with a partner. Turns out that it was a lot of fun. My running partner is from Hawaii and had a lot of interesting things to say about it. Running outside is nice and not nearly as boring as running on the treadmill.
We ran about 5.2 km in about 36 minutes which is slower than my treadmill pace but I noticed that it was a lot easier at that pace. I think I will try and go slightly faster for my next one but I was taking it easy today as it was my first outdoor run of this distance.
I used the Google Pedometer to work out how far we went:
It was good and I’m looking forward to my next run. Incidentally, that is week 8 day 3 of C25K completed.
Couch to 5K W08 D2
Running is tough. More so mentally than physically I think. I’ve noticed that if I spend the same amount of time on the elliptical crosstrainer then I burn almost as many calories but I feel fine afterwards. After my run I’m pretty buggered and take a good twenty minutes or so to start thinking like a normal human being again.
I have this problem in that I try to do too much. Take today’s run. My rational mind said you’ve already proven that you can do 5 km so take it easy and just build up a good base. Of course, super competitive inner Andrew takes over and says I WILL SET A NEW PR and sets the treadmill at a fast pace. Of course after about 18 minutes I felt absolutely buggered and had to slow down a lot for a while in the middle. I still managed to finish the 5 km and funnily enough I set exactly the same time as I did on Monday (29:36) which was really weird.
I bumped into one of my colleagues in the gym on Monday and yesterday he asked me if I would be keen to go running in the Domain one day.
I immediately thought OH MY GOD I’ll be too slow and am too fat and started to think how I could get out of it so I started to make an excuse, but then stopped and thought why not? So to cut a long story short we are going running on Friday and I reckon it should be fun. I want to transition to running more outside now that I am running longer distances so this should be a good start.
What will be my next goal?
Seeing as I ran 5K on Monday I have decided to treat this as my final week on C25K. On Friday I should finish the program so I need to decide what I will do next. One of the goals I have set myself is to do the Quarter marathon at the Auckland Marathon this year. The quarter is 10.2 km so I need to train myself up to run 10K. Fortunately this is in November so I have some time to get there but I think it would be good to start training for it early.
I find I tend to do well when I can follow a program so I’ve decided that I will follow another training program to get me to 10 km.
There seem to be two major programs recommended to take you to 10K (or one hour of running).
The first is Hal Higdon’s Spring Training. This takes 12 weeks to get you to 6 miles (approx 10K) but it involves running most days and that might be a bit awkward.
The second is Cool Running’s The One Hour Runner. This takes a minimum of ten weeks (depending on how you go you can add weeks in) and involves running 3 times a week.
I quite like the routine of running 3 times a week only so I’ve decided to go with that.
The One Hour Runner program is as follows:
Weeks 1 – 3: Right now you are running 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week. Your weekly commitment of time is 90 minutes. Continue doing this for three weeks.
Week 4: Run 30 minutes, 29 minutes, 35 minutes. Weekly total: 94 minutes
Week 5: Run 30 minutes, 32 minutes, 38 minutes Weekly total: 100 minutes
Week 6: Run 30 minutes, 33 minutes, 41 minutes Weekly total: 104 minutes
Week 7: Run 30 minutes, 34 minutes, 45 minutes Weekly total: 109 minutes
Week 8: Run 30 minutes, 36 minutes , 49 minute Weekly total: 115 minutes
Week 9: Run 30 minutes, 38 minutes, 54 minutes Weekly total: 122 minutes
Week 10: Run 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 60 minutes Weekly total: 130 minutes
So what I will do is finish C25K this week and then launch straight into OHR as the first 3 weeks of OHR are the same as the last week of C25K.
I’m also going to run all of the Run Auckland series races (circumstances permitting). These are 5K or 10K races so I will aim to run them on my 30 minute days as I’m planning on doing them as 5K races. Having said that I may do the last one as a 10K if I have managed to run 10 km by then. Of course, this all assumes that I enjoy the 1st 5K event which is about 3 weeks away
Boy, times have changed for me. A few months ago I would have said you were nuts if you told me I’d be pondering which running program to take.
“Gimme a HELL YEAH!”
Well, I gave out a loud and proud “Hell yeah!” today when I RAN 5KM!
This was a tough, tough run. I started off thinking it would be nice to run the full 5K today so I thought I would start out a little faster than normal and started off at 10.5kph. I kept this up till halfway and truth be told up until then it wasn’t too bad. However, the second half was really tough. I kept on thinking one more minute and by the time the last 5 minutes rolled up I had abandoned all pretensions of completing the 5K. I was thinking …today’s run is only supposed to be 28 minutes I’ll stop then… However, 28 minutes arrived and I had done 4.6 km so I thought…one more lap…I can do this. So I ran a bit more. And I made it. 5KM in 29:36.
C25K rocks!
C25K Week 07 Day 02
Today was my 3rd 25 minute run and Week 07 Day 02 of C25K. I work at a University and classes have started again so I’ve started to do my runs in the afternoon rather than the morning. I don’t know why but I’ve been itching to do my run all day. Luckily for me, I had a guest lecturer in today so all I had to do was introduce her. I then went to the gym to do my run. I’m lucky in that there is a gym on campus which is really convenient for me. It’s not fancy and it’s pretty grotty compared to some gyms truth be told but it’s cheap and convenient – two properties that are close to my heart.
Today’s run was mentally quite tough. I’ve been having visions of upping the pace and setting a new PR but instead I went slower than in my previous session as I felt that maybe I was trying to push things a bit too much. I listened to a great podcast (warning the link opens the podcast) by Steve Runner about doing the C25K program and one of the things he emphasises is that you should NOT try to do more than the program suggests. He says that this is the biggest mistake that newbies like myself make and it leads to injuries.
So I listened and backed off a tiny bit. I did 4.25 km in 25 minutes today which is still a little faster than the program suggests (4kms in 25 mins) but I think it’s a comfortable pace for me. I’ve been tracking my runs here if anyone is interested in having a look.
I’ve given up on the podcasts by Steve Ullrey now that I’m doing continuous runs rather than interval runs. Instead I’ve been listening to audio books on my ipod. Just to prove I’m a geek I’ve been listening to the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series. I think on Friday I will try going back to the podcasts as they provide quite a good beat for running. The book is great for my walks home but doesn’t have quite enough oomph! for my runs. When I get some time I’ll try and make myself a good running playlist. Anyone got any suggestions for great running songs?
Couch to 5K W07 D1
I completed Week 07 Day 01 today. This entailed a 5 minute warm up walk followed by a 25 minute run followed by a 5 minute cooldown walk. Astute observers may notice that this is the same as week 06 day 3. The difference is that you are supposed to kick up the pace a bit. The program calls for 3.6 km on w6d3 and 4km on w7d1.
I did 4.1 km in my last run which means I’ve been going a little faster than the program calls for. As such, I decided I would try running quite quickly and see if I could run 5K in 25 minutes! 
I worked it out and it meant that I would have to set my treadmill to 12 kph which is faster than my normal 10 kph. But nothing ventured nothing gained so I did it.
Five long minutes later I thought…let’s try 11 kph. One minute later I was down to my normal 10 kph. And ten minutes later I was down to 9.5 kph.
Needless to say I did not make 5K today. Having said that, I did achieve a personal best and end up with 4.3 kilometres run after 25 minutes. I’m happy with that and am fairly convinced that I could run 5k now if I had to.
Today’s run was tough but not nearly as tough as my last one and I went further so progress is being made.
Daily Mile
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RoadID
