Friday, September 17, 2010

Darn!

Hello Dear Reader,

My cold from a couple of weeks back has trailed off for the most part, but there's a slight (yet annoying) cough lingering. It's irritating enough to still take a bit of cough syrup every couple of days, right before bedtime. Last night was one of those nights, plus I stayed up several hours past my now normal bedtime of 9:30 pm on Tuesday. Having said all of that, I was super drained and sleepy! Last night, my head hit the feathers around 7:30 pm and I woke up SUPER refreshed this morning for my gym appointment with mad-dog trainer.

Time on the treadmill was set for 50 minutes. The aim was to warm up for about 3 minutes and see if I could get 7k (4.35 miles) for the remaining time. About 15 minutes into the run, I let my arms drop, hit the emergency stop button by accident, and reset my program. Dang! I didn't even know how many kilometers I ran. Mad-dog trainer gave me the side eye while resetting the time to 30 minutes. Within that time, I managed to get 4.3K.

So, let's do the math: 4.3K/30 minutes= 6.97 minutes per kilometers (6.97 x 1.6= 11.15 minute/mile). If I continued at that pace, it would have taken me (6.97 x 7K= ) about 48.79 minutes to run 7k. So, I would have been about 7 minutes short of my goal.

Hmm...with an 11.15 minute mile, that means that it would take me about 1hr and 9 minutes to complete a 10 k; 2 hr and 42 minutes to complete a half marathon (13.1 miles); and about 5 hr and 26 minutes to complete a marathon. (For the sake of my entire elementary school education, I hope my math is correct). I understand that this time may shift as I progress (I might run at a turtle's pace or that of a slow hare). At this point, I'm not preoccupied with time. I really just want to accomplish my distance goals, and in the end, (as mentioned in a previous post) cross the finish line before the sweeper bus gets me!

Following the run, I worked on my bu-bye arms. Using 2 3kg dumbbells, I did 3 sets of 12 bicep curls, and 3 sets of 12 (what I like to call) Sunday morning newspaper curls. Imagine opening up a newspaper...elbows down and to the side...make the motion you would to open a news paper...only with dumbbells. I also used two different machines to work on my triceps. Lastly, I worked out my triceps by sitting on the side of a step and lifting myself...3 sets of 15 reps.

After the workout routine was complete, mad-dog trainer weighed me and took my measurements. My weight has not changed, however, I've lost an inch or two here and there. A bit disappointed by these results, I must admit, but I've definitely improved in other ways: running longer and faster than I ever have, going to the gym just about 5 days a week for the past 5 weeks, more motivation to workout than ever, and a digestive system that could put a 20 year old's to shame (tmi?)! Also, I can definitely notice the increased definition in my legs and stomach. Mad-dog trainer told me not to fret or get discouraged, as it is not uncommon to not see drastic physical changes/weight loss for months. I'm holding her to her word! My primary goal, after all, is to run and complete a marathon by March 20th. Since I'm nowhere close to running 26.2 miles, I'll be "up in the gym, just workin' on my fitness" (Fergalicious) for the next 6 months!

I'm not going to push myself too hard, but I'd definitely like to hit the gym on Saturday morning to check out my 7k time. Hmm...can I fit 7k into a 50 minute run? I'll let you know tomorrow, for sure!

Until next time, one foot in front of the other. Keep it movin'!




Yours in (perseverance) training,

Dani

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