It’s Going To Be One Of Those Days

Leave a comment
Today is going to be a lazy day after yesterday's intense workout.

I’m too sore to care…kitty gets a free pass today!

I woke up this morning to a cat in the sink. I left him there. Today is a lazy day.

Why? I’m soooo sore. Yesterday’s muscle workout and 5K training wiped me out.

Sure my workout with my trainer was hard, but I didn’t think anything of it. I started feeling sore about 4 hours after. What did she do to me?

I did 3 sets, all starting off with a very fast walk on the treadmill.

Since she learned I hate push-ups, for the last 4 sessions she’s included push-ups, in some form. However, yesterday I discovered an exercise I hate more than push-ups — the Jack Knife!  Wow those kicked my butt.

I thought my arms took the bulk of the punishment. Ha! Just a few hours later my legs, abs and lower back started feeling it — damn you Jack Knife!

About 5 hours after my muscle workout I started my 5K interval training. I ended up repeating my first long run (1 mile) since I thought the app malfunctioned by not tracking my distance. I ended up going over 1.5 miles.

After checking out my Easy 5K app, it turns out my iPhone was the culprit.  The app works perfectly fine. I upgraded my phone’s operating system a day before my first attempt at the long run. The upgrade shut down my GPS function. So the app couldn’t track my distance. Curse you upgrade!

After “fixing” my GPS, I happily started to run.

AAAUGH!!!! My iPhone's upgrade messed up my Easy 5K's GPS tracker. I ended up running close to 2 miles.

AAAUGH!!!! My iPhone’s upgrade messed up my Easy 5K’s GPS tracker. I ended up running close to 2 miles.

Roughly 40 minutes later I realized something was wrong…again. According to the app, I  ran zero miles. AAAUGH! GPS fail…again!

Turns out my iPhone settings didn’t save. Good grief! I started feeling like Charlie Brown and my iPhone was Lucy with that damn football.

I stopped after running close to 2 miles. I had a slight headache and my heart rate was too high. I made the mistake of waiting for the app to tell me to stop instead of listening to my body.

Won’t make that mistake again!

I walked across the street to Starbucks, ordered a green tea, sat down for about 20 minutes and began working on my phone.

Feeling better, I tested the GPS on the walked home and hit the shower.

With my GPS fixed, I plan to attempt my app’s long run training Wednesday afternoon. Should be a piece of cake.

Other than doing 30 minutes of yoga and getting my hair done, today’s gonna be a lazy day.

Kitty can stay in the sink as long as he wants.

 

Time For This Fat Girl To Start Running

1 Comment
interval training and weight loss

Yes, I’m interval training again. I may run as fast as a turtle, but dagnabit, I’m running!

I planned to do an easy 2-mile walk this morning. Instead, I ended up interval training.  After my 5K on Sunday and quick recovery on Monday, something inside of me decided that it’s time for this fat girl to start running.

Now the last time I tried interval training, back in February, I weighed about 280.  My doc suggested I lose another 50 lbs. before trying again. Well I’m 243 lbs. now. Not quite 50 lbs., but why not give it a try?

So I dusted off my 5K app and set out this morning.

App of Choice: Easy 5K with Jeff Galloway
Let me start by stating Easy 5K with Jeff Galloway is awesome.  I paid $3.99 for the app and it’s worth every penny.

For those who don’t know, Jeff Galloway’s an Olympian who created the run-walk-run technique for runners. The technique — essentially timed walk breaks between runs — helps to prevent injuries. Perfect for a newbie like me.

The app creates a specialized training program for you, based on the pace you want to meet. Then it provides you with a daily and weekly schedule for interval training.  You do 3 workouts a week for 8 weeks. Your distance increases with each workout. Today I ended up going slightly more than a mile.  That will increase to 1.25 miles on Thursday.

I love walking to music. I work harder with the right songs playing. The faster the beat, the quicker my pace and the better my time. The Easy 5K app actually changes the beat of your music to match your running/walking pace.  Very cool!

Another nice feature is Jeff Galloway…actually his voice. Galloway walks you through the interval training. He provides useful hints and encouragement, tells you when to walk or run, provides count downs, and lets you know how far you have to go.

Easy 5K is a great app for either someone getting off the couch for the first time or a power walker who wants to run their first 5K (like me).

Dot2Trot’s Run/Walk/Run Ratio
Since I’m new to running and still have a ton of weight to lose, I decided to go easy and choose a 15-minute mile pace.  I’ll stick with this for the full 8 weeks. At that point, depending on how I feel, I’ll increase the pace.

So my Run/Walk/Run ratio is: 15-minutes per mile/20-second run/45-second walk

The whole workout lasted 18 minutes: 3-minute warm-up, 12-minute intervals, 3-minute cool-down.

Afterwards I felt great.  I made sure to stretch before and after I started to avoid any problems.

I have tomorrow off, but pick up the interval training Thursday morning.

Related articles