Week 3, workout 1

Run did not go well today at all. I ran out of energy in about 10 minutes and wound up walking most of the distance.

I think this was partly due to muscle fatigue (yesterday was a day off, but I still walked to buy groceries etc.) and mainly due to not eating right. I'm trying to reduce consumption of refined carbs in favor of more veggies and whole foods, so I had a bowl of whole-grain cheerios and milk and a banana for breakfast (see, bananas are healthy food) ... then I got really hungry a couple hours later. So then for lunch I had a few corn tortillas with cheese and tomato sauce (didn't have salsa), and an egg. Oh, and I ate a few gummy bears that were left over from the New Year's party.

A few hours later, when I went out to run, I got what I'm pretty sure was a blood sugar dip.

What happened? I got whole grains, protein and veggies. But maybe not enough of them. I normally eat two eggs at a sitting; maybe I should have done that. Or maybe I ate too far in advance of the workout. I'm one of those natural grazer types: left to my own devices, I eat relatively small amounts every few hours. I kinda want to lose a little weight, but maybe I should worry about getting enough energy for working out first. In theory, if I'm fit and eating right, any weight my body doesn't need should go away by itself. Shouldn't it?

Tomorrow I'm going to do some more upper-body work. Hopefully I'll be ready to run a little further on Wednesday. I need to start adding more miles soon or I won't be ready for a marathon in 25 weeks. And at some point I need to work in some speed or I won't be hitting 9:00 miles by then. Maybe once I get used to the longer workouts, I can do the 3-milers as "intervals" or whatever they call them. Or I could haul my bicycle out and, y'know, ride to the park to do sprints instead of running all the way there. I suppose that might be a good idea, since driving there isn't an option.

Total time: 42:30 (minutes and seconds). I think the shoes have done close to 15 miles now. Hooray, I finished a half-marathon. And it only took me 2 weeks. Am I actually going to be running that distance (or more) in single sessions by March? I must be nuts.

Workout 1

Three days ago, I ran from my apartment to a local park and back. That was just under 3 miles total (1.4 or so there and back).

Time to park: 16:22 (that's minutes and seconds, not hours ;)
Time returning: 27:22 (includes stretching time, I forgot to stop counting there).

Two days ago, I was so sore it hurt to walk. Next time, I will warm up slower and remember to stretch at the end of the workout, not in the middle. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing: I'd read that one should stretch warm muscles, but when I tried, I found they were all wound up and twitchy and didn't want to stretch. Ow. Next time, cool down more first.

One day ago (yesterday), I was still somewhat sore and going down stairs was still painful. I decided: better not overdo it at the beginning. So I took another day off. I did walk half a mile to the store and carry 35 lbs of groceries home with me, but this is a usual activity since I don't own a car. I'd count it as crosstraining or "active recovery," not exercise.

I just realized I forgot to put my starting stats in the previous post, so here they are: I stand 5'5 1/2" (that's 65.5 inches) tall and currently weigh 140 lbs. I have not yet timed myself running a mile, but the last time I ran a timed mile, back in May, it was 11 minutes. I'd be surprised if my long-distance mile is better than 10:30 now, but it will improve. If I have the math right, to meet my marathon goal of less than 4 hours, I need to average 9-minute miles ... for all 26 of them.