2022 Fitness Adventure

[Blzer]

When I did my five-mile run on my neighborhood cement trail last Friday, I noted that one difficulty was that I couldn't ever figure out my pacing. When I'm on a track, I check my pacing after each lap and am able to maintain that level pretty well. I can also time it well with the music that I play on my phone, knowing where I "should be" at certain times.

Anyway, I mentioned this week that I would try running before school around 6:00 AM? Been doing that, and it's been a bit of a whirlwind and an adventure. For one, it's freezing. Near mid-30 degree weather. The last two mornings were low 40s, but still. My hands simply cannot take it. I ordered gloves and thankfully have been able to use them the last two days, though it seems a little weird to use. For another thing, sometimes others are on the track at this time. I'm besting them in terms of pace but they're taking the inside lane, so sometimes my run is taken aback by them.

That being said, this has been my three-mile week so far and I still have tomorrow morning to go, but here have been my times:

Monday - 17:43
Tuesday - 17:37
Wednesday - 17:46
Thursday - 17:29
Friday - 17:30

On Wednesday, not only did I feel significantly more tired, but I also wore pants and I don't think that much helped. This morning I had shorts and a wife beater, plus my running gloves. Cold as it was, that lighter wear really seemed to help me overall. What I really liked about my run this morning was that my slowest lap was 1:29.71, meaning I stayed under 1:30 in every lap (if you average 1:30 that'll be an 18-minute three-mile time).

My times are definitely improving. I wonder what it'll take for me to get an 18-minute 5k time, but I'm getting a little closer to that being a possibility. Maybe at some point in April!

I'll update my time on here tomorrow in an edit. I'm hoping to stay at or better than 17:40. EDIT: Got 17:30 today. I wore pants, accidentally actually (I wear them there to change into shorts, but forgot to bring shorts). It was a little rainy but not as cold as the other days, but man pants are definitely harder to run in. I felt myself needing to push a lot more today, perhaps because it was the fifth day of a lot of pushing before that. We'll see where I clock in with an early morning mile next Wednesday!

[pietasterp]

Those times are mind-boggling to me. I run a comfortable 10-minute mile on city streets, and have no intention of pushing beyond that anytime soon

[Blzer]

Friday time updated in above post. 17:30.

Quote: Originally Posted by pietasterp

Those times are mind-boggling to me. I run a comfortable 10-minute mile on city streets, and have no intention of pushing beyond that anytime soon

Haha well I guess I still have it in me from middle school and early high school. I tell you though, as I'm running I'm having a conversation with myself, like being a math guy I tell myself after three laps: "I'm only a quarter of the way through!" After one mile: "Two more miles to go!" Six laps in: "Damn, I'm only halfway done!" It's grueling. Not the running itself, but maintaining pace. I tell myself that I can't, but then I tell myself to just keep doing it. I don't feel great in that last half, but I feel so rewarded when I do finish. My first and last laps are always my fastest, currently sitting around 1:23 and 1:20 respectively.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to have a cheat meal and dessert with an extra large combo pizza and an Oreo milkshake.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blzer

Friday time updated in above post. 17:30. Haha well I guess I still have it in me from middle school and early high school. I tell you though, as I'm running I'm having a conversation with myself, like being a math guy I tell myself after three laps: "I'm only a quarter of the way through!" After one mile: "Two more miles to go!" Six laps in: "Damn, I'm only halfway done!" It's grueling. Not the running itself, but maintaining pace. I tell myself that I can't, but then I tell myself to just keep doing it. I don't feel great in that last half, but I feel so rewarded when I do finish. My first and last laps are always my fastest, currently sitting around 1:23 and 1:20 respectively.

I've never been a particularly good cardiovascular athlete, even back when I had infinite energy as a kid. A huge part of it is mental, as you note - when I played soccer, I could run seemingly forever without getting tired, but put me on a track and say "go", I will just quit after a 1/2 mile. One time, I was on a treadmill and happened to be watching a hockey game I was interested in, and I ended up running several miles over my intended target without even realizing it. That really drove home the extent to which the mind plays a role in things for me. The mental aspect of it is like 90% of it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Blzer

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to have a cheat meal and dessert with an extra large combo pizza and an Oreo milkshake.

Go on with you bad self; you deserve it.

[Blzer]

I had a successful week.

Monday (3 laps) - 3:37
Tuesday (2 laps) - 2:18
Wednesday (1 mile) - 4:58
Thursday (2 laps) - 2:15
Friday (5 miles) - 30:36

It's also kind of nice that I'm just feeling "stronger." I don't feel like my chest is about to cave in, and my knee isn't giving out as much after runs. I don't wake up the next day too sore to think I'll need to push through it, etc. I think my biggest hurdle this week were the cold mornings, always between 37-41 degrees. In some ways it could have helped just be less hot and dry, or perhaps acclimating me to new dynamic environment. That being said, running a mile in the cold is a bitch.

Next week is DST, and it'll be a weird test for myself in determining whether I can essentially run in the dark since I'll still have to run mornings. Strangely enough, earlier in the morning will likely be a few degrees warmer since my runs have been before sunrise anyway. Every little bit helps, so we'll see! I refuse to go on the track with like a headlamp, though. Anything that restricts my movements, distracts me, or puts on weight is a no-go. It takes me out of my element because I think about it too much, just like passing people on the outside or running in the other direction (which I admittedly should be doing for the five mile runs when nobody else is on the track).

[Blzer]

I had a good but interesting week, running three miles each day.

Monday - 17:08
Tuesday - 17:29
Wednesday - 17:13
Thursday - 17:22
Friday - 17:15

In previous weeks, I seemed to improve almost "by the day." This week was really staggering. Granted, on Tuesday it rained, which meant my shorts and shoes were getting soaked and heavy. I'll pass on that one, that's fine. Wednesday I had to pass some other runners by going into the second lane (including on turns), which could've added a few seconds easily. No excuses Thursday, I was simply tired and felt it early on. Friday I tried to pace myself more slowly on the first lap and maintain it, but somehow I unknowingly slow laps after that and make it harder to gain ground thereafter. Still saving my two best laps for last for the most part, and I had a good final lap of 1:19 this morning. At least Monday, Wednesday, and Friday gave me hope that if I go to running a 5k instead of three miles that I have a shot at breaking 18 minutes. We'll see two weeks from now whether I decide to go for that.

I've also been getting back into a bit of a pushups regimen again, but not quite to the heavy extent that I have done in the past. I've been doing it every morning and evening and not taking days off, but now I'm thinking I should take weekends off completely. I tweaked my back, not because of pushups but I feel it when doing them. I think my back could take a weekend here or there. Back injury aside, my question is should I take days off of my pushups workout? I'm not doing many, only 150 a day so far (they are done in sets that I could maybe show later). When I was in my groove I did nearly 400 a day without any rest days.

Thanks for reading!

[KSUowls]

I have been on the injured list the for most of the last month. I had to get a toe nail removed and then a callous removed a week later on the bottom of my foot. This was the first week that I've been able to wear a shoe without pain, so I did a couple of Zwift bike rides in nearly a month. I was pretty happy with both rides from a cardio standpoint. I've definitely lost a bit since I was sidelined, but I haven't completely regressed.

I'm hoping to restart T-25 Gamma on Monday though, and my

[bhurst99]

I've only done about 200 km of cycling outside this year. Weather has been simply horrible. We've had snow on the ground and roads almost all January, February into early March.

This weekend we're getting like a polar vortex so it's another lost weekend.

All I've been doing is treadmill and an old stationary bike. Very frustrating.