Workout Six Days Past Week Including Running and Jazzercise... Feeling Great!

For the first time I worked out everyday this past week except for Friday. I started Jazzercise a few weeks ago and love it! It is a good mix between runs to do something different. I wear a Garmin Forerunner 210 that uses a heart band to monitor the heart. This works great for running and I have used it for a few years now and love it! Using it for Jazzercise was not working too well as it only monitored my heart rate but not overall exercise.  So, this past week I purchased a foot pod for the Garmin. I have really enjoyed using it not only with my runs as it shows cadence and stride, but it is also working well for Jazzercise workouts too.

The above report is from a run I did today. It was very warm out for the run. I am closing in on the end of the Couch to 5K training. I am now doing a five minute walking warm up, running for about 20 minutes (varying each day), and then a five minute cool down. I have one more day for week 7 and then just three days left in the training finishing up with day three of week 3 hopefully next weekend.

Below is a Garmin Connect record from Jazzercise using the foot pod. It looks a little odd because it says distance is .75 miles and then average pace is 0.8. Not sure how accurate it is in terms of calories burned during training, but I like it better than having nothing at all.
I know that using the foot pod will work very well the next time I have to train indoors. Unless I was on equipment that could sync with the Garmin (such as the cycling bikes at the gym), there would be no record of distance, pace, etc. Now, I will be able to get that data even when training indoors without satellite. I am excited to give that a try too.

Overall, the running is still very enjoyable. I usually run with headphones listening to either new music, Royals games, or from my music library. I look forward to running and feel great following the run. During these longer runs, I do not always look forward to it in the middle of the run. I can hardly wait for it to end or sometimes question whether I will be able to finish the run. Those are the times that usually when I begin to question, I find that I am almost done and the timer goes off to stop.

The best part about running on a weekly basis is the joy that it brings our dog, Oliver, who gets excited when I begin to put on my running gear. Carrie tells me that while I am running he is running from the windows in the back to the door crying because he cannot wait for me to get back so we can go on a run. Truthfully, this is part of the drive for me to run multiple times each week. I love how excited Oliver gets for me to go running and then when we finally go walking following the run. I did try taking Oliver one or twice previously on the run and while he did well, it is now way too hot for him to go along with me. Today, I only took him on a short walk around the block as it was already warm by mid-morning.

The best part about running on a weekly basis is the joy it brings our dog Oliver.

I have not been doing great with eating although. I still eat basically what I want and continue to enjoy beers from time-to-time. That said, I have managed to lose about five pounds since I started this process. If I can keep up working out six days a week, I think I will continue to lose weight. I do eat alright through the week as Carrie is watching what she eats and that follows through to what I eat too. It simply has not been a focus or goal of my workout each week.

A few years ago, I was heavily into using MyFitnessPal which worked great! I used it religiously for three or four years. It worked well and I enjoyed it. Now, I only let it track my calories when synced with running. I am not using it to track calories consumed. Carrie is using this to track her calories and I know I have a number of friends currently using it too. It does a great job and I highly recommend the web site and/or app.

Until next time, happy training....

Week Four of C25K is Done and Ready for Week Five

Running continues. A few of the scheduled running days the past week or so I missed as busy with other things. Trying to get back on a regular routine this week. A great run this morning with beautiful weather and I felt overall pretty good throughout the run. I just finished week four of the Couch to 5K. I believe it said as I finished week 4.3 that I was half done.
I have noticed that during the walking piece of the program, my shins are hurting a lot. I plan on doing increased stretching before and after each workout. I usually spend about five minutes stretching legs, arms, and body. However, I think I need to spend more time as my shins really hurt toward the end of the route. They do not hurt much during the running segments though which seems odd.

My average pace is still not that fast, but I do have to take into account that the start and end of each run is a five minute warm-up or cool down. Plus the walking between each segments. I can see that my average page is gradually going down as I get farther in the program. Just a few short weeks ago I was averaging 15 minute a mile pace. Now, the last few have been in mid-fourteen min mile. So, I continue to improve as I get farther into the program.

The days I have scheduled to run continue to be Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. The difficult part are those times when in the evening on Tuesday or Thursday we have something else planned. A few times I have been able to get up early to run on those days, but usually bed feels too good and there is no desire to get out of the warm bed to go into the cool morning run. That I think will get better though as it continues to get warmer and if I have a need to run in the morning it will be a little easier to get up and do so.

The good news is that I am still enjoying running. Except for a few a aches and pains during or after a run, I feel good. I enjoy the whole process. I enjoy how good it makes me feel to know that I finished the run. I can also see that it is helping in my everyday mobility where I do not get "as winded" going up stairs or walking across the campus.

The best part is how excited my dog, Oliver, gets when he sees me putting on my running gear. He knows and he begins running around whimpering because he knows when I get home I will take him on a walk. As much as I feel motivated now to go out and run, I think a large part in doing so is knowing how excited he gets and how much he loves going on walks that helps to motivate me to continue this process.

My plans for when I finish this program? Well, I plan to run a 5K in September/October. Other than that, I just plan to keep running. I have a gym membership which I have not used in a few months by physically being in the building, but possibly after I finish this training program I will start frequenting the gym. I want to keep running throughout the years, so at some point I will need to be in the gym when I cannot run outside.

Until next time, have a great run!

First Week of Back into Exercise Done and Thinking of Future Runs

I ran three times this week. I was supposed to run today, but decided to move it to Tuesday instead. Celebrating Carries' birthday today with good brunch and then a movie. So, I decided to not get up early to run.

Last week when I started this process, I said I would run a different route. Well, for the most part I ran the same exact route I have been running the past three years. It is a habit and I like the route. So, instead of trying to change it up and run a new route each time I got out, I will likely stick with this same route.

My first run of this process. It went well. I felt good after wards. My legs were killing me the day after. It went very well though and I felt motivated to get out and run again to keep the process moving.
The second run also went well. I decided to take my dog Oliver with me. Thus, a slightly adjusted route. I ended up only taking Oliver about halfway as he went number two once which I was carrying with me like a respectable pet owner. So, I was doing the Couch to 5K with the leash in one hand and a bag of poop in the other. Oliver was starting to drag behind as I would run and I was headed back toward the house. I decided to go ahead and take Oliver home and I would continue on. Overall, he did very well. He was exhausted following the run. It was his first run of the season (or ever) too, so I know he will need to ease into the running too. Granted, I cannot take him on many runs as it continues to get hot. See how he does though.

Final run of the week was Thursday morning. We had plans that evening, so I got up early to go running. I did not take Oliver on this run. I really enjoyed getting up early and running. I need to do it more often as it really feels like it started the day right.

Other than not running today, it was a good start to the process. I will be out running again on Tuesday and look forward to progressing back to being able to run a solid 5K without stopping.

Start the Running Process Tomorrow and Get the Run Bug Again

Finally! It is happening! Finally, I am getting motivation to start running. Not remembering the last time I ran, I had to go look at my apps to see. The last time was July 2015. I ran for approximately three weeks and then stopped. Not feeling like running since that time. It is time again to start running. Finally!

Plan is to get back into running. Starting out slowly using the Couch to 5K app. My plan, is to be able to run the Bow Tie Run which will take place in the fall. Starting now, I should have more than enough time to prepare and be in running form for that event. The plan is to run Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday each week. The Couch to 5K is a eight week process. The focus for this eight week process is to simply be able to run again. Not lose weight, although, that will hopefully happen as part of the process, but to be able to run again. Not be winded walking up the stairs in our house, but be able to do things that I was doing back in 2012 when I was running regularly (see Running Posts from my Blog).

Remembering back to running regularly, I recall how good it felt. How good it felt to run outside listening to music and feeling as though I was being productive. The best part was after a run outside, my dog Oliver would be so excited because he knew that part of my cool down process was to take him on a walk. He would get so excited when I was putting on my shoes because he knew what it meant and that he would be going on a walk.

The worst part is that I have been paying a gym fee each month for the past year and not been to the gym once. Starting the running will at least make me feel like that payment each month is not going to waste. Plus, I will not have any excuse to not run as I always have the gym as a backup in case of weather.


The worst thing I think I did previously was that I ran the same exact route every time I ran. The above being the route that I ran each time. I d not think that I got bored of the route, but I did get lazy and simply did not feel like running. Gradually during the past few months I have been telling myself that I am going to get back into running again and that time is now.

I am looking forward to running again and looking forward to taking my dog on regular walks again too.

Week 1 Day 1 Begins

I was excited to start my workout. I had told myself that I would start January 2 and that's exactly what I did. I took a before picture which I hope will motivate myself. I remember how great it felt to lose all that weight (about 30 lbs) between March to September 2011. I still remember how many people told me I looked good. I felt good to and that's what is important. I felt so much better when I was exercising and losing weight.

When I started in March 2011, I was right at about 235 edging in on 240 which was the most I have ever weighed. Back in March, I decided it was time for a change. I knew I had problems when it was difficult to bend over to tie my shoes or get winded walking up a flight of stairs. I started running just for the exercise... I never thought I would actually enjoy running and doing 5K races. I ran in three 5K races in 2011 and I enjoyed each one. Each one helped to motivate me to the next one. Well, that is not exactly true as the last one (in September) I lost all motivation after running that race. I initially thought it would be only short-term and I would start running again. I quickly learned that my thought process had completely changed and that I did not care what I ate, drank, or the fact that I was not exercising at all. How quickly the pounds came back on and back on my belly.

To help to motivate, I decided I would post a front and side view picture. Ah yes, my belly is back and almost to the point where I can rest a can bottle on it. I can feel it when putting on shirts that were before previously fitting very nicely. I felt good and people were telling me I looked good.

While I do plan to post a blog update at least weekly, if not more often, I only plan on taking the set of pictures the second of each month. The next 5K I will be running in is tentatively set for April in Kansas City. Shayne and Autumn found the event and it sounds like it will be a fun one to run in. That leaves possibly three other events for me to race in and goals to train for during the next four months.

I hope everyone has a great 2012 and I look forward to posting my updates through the year on my progress. I hope that if I miss out on posting that you call me out on it and help to motivate me on this life changing routine.

If you have not used or heard of MyFitnessPal, I strongly encourage you to check it out. I can be found on the site where I keep track of what I eat and the exercise I complete by visiting http://www.myfitnesspal.com/havertyj. I would be happy to help motivate you on the site too.

Thank you!