After another winter of inactivity, I’m back to doing the C25K program again. SIGH!!! At least this time, it’s been very easy so far. I’ve even skipped weeks and parts of weeks to advance to where I am now. I didn’t think I’d need to start this up again as I was up to 6 miles when I last ran in November. But 3+ months off set me back. I tried to go out for a quick 2 mile run and I was hit with a rude awakening. So rather than push it or get frustrated, I decided to go back and ease my way back in. I don’t think it’ll be too long before getting back to 3 miles.

I gained about 5-6 pounds back. Which believe it or not I’m thrilled with. That’s nothing compared to what I yo-yo’d with previous years. I’m still 34 pounds lighter than I was 3 years ago. 24 pounds lighter than I was 2 years ago. And 19 pounds lighter than I was a year ago. This year should be a piece of cake.

YoYo Graph!:

I didn’t really falter on my diet up until about a month ago. I was holding steady despite my physical inactivity. But sure enough I started to slip here and there. It’s amazing how easy it was to maintain, yet a few bad days stringed together threw me on a course that is hard now to correct. Luckily it didn’t get too bad. I’ve done worse…

I’m now deciding what a good goal is. Should I try to lose more weight, do more resistance training, both? Suddenly getting back to the most physically fit weight of my lifetime (“my playing days”) is very achievable.

After bailing 2.5 miles into the last attempt, I finally finished up the last C25K run this morning. I went 3 miles in 31 minutes (10:20) pace. As the trend, I did the first mile in 9 minutes, the second in 10:27, and the last mile in 11:15. Again that dreaded incline at the 1 mile mark (which is also at the 2.3 mile mark) was killer for both the second and third splits.

I also did some sprinting on Sunday. I’ve decided though, to hold off on the sprinting for now and go back to alternating days of distance running. I’ve seen no improvement in pace over the last 2 weeks. I’ve also stalled in weight loss. Granted I slipped up on the diet a little (a few barbecues and leftovers from them), but I didn’t foresee a standstill. I want to keep more active, continue to lose weight, and continue to improve cardio fitness. I haven’t been feeling the rubbery leg feeling I got in some of the earlier runs, so I don’t see the sprinting as essential as I thought it had been.

I’m going to try to crack open and dust off my P90X videos and pop them in every other day too (on off run days) and do their cardio, yoga, plyometrics, abs, and stretching. I think I can up my activity level at this point. I won’t know until I try if it’s all too much.

I’m not sure what’s the matter with me. Yesterday I woke up for my morning run, only to get up then go back to sleep (first time that’s happened). Today, after a much better night’s sleep, I hit the road again. Only this time, I didn’t finish the last C25K run (first time this year that’s happened too). I wasn’t into it from the start. Then I felt blisters starting to form on my feet. I tried to wear my new sneakers again, which were comfortable, but I think the socks were the culprit. I need to buy more of the blister preventing double layered socks. I did make it 2.5 miles in 25 minutes, but I had enough at that point. Again I ran the first mile in 9 minutes. I really hit a brick wall and started to slow down shortly after. Usually I make it further. The blisters and just an overall lack of desire made me cut this one short.

Possible reasons:
1) I don’t think I’ve been as good at staying hydrated the last week or so than I have been so far.
2) I’ve gotten ok sleep, but not as much as I had been before the last week.
3) I ate really spicy food a few times this week, which made my stomach feel weird during the run.

I’m going to correct all three of these (and wear better socks) then re-attempt the final run on Tuesday. Sunday is going to be another sprinting day.

It was extremely humid this morning. It must have rained shortly before I hit the streets, because they were still wet. I felt the humidity from the water evaporating from the ground for the entire jog. I think I sweat more today than I have so far the last 2 years jogging. That said, this morning’s jog was pretty good. I had the CardioTrainer app on again. This time I rebooted the phone and shut down all other running processes before starting it up. I’ve had trouble with its accuracy lately–especially the first few minutes. This time I think only first minute was a little off (there is no way I ran 290 yards in the 1st minute), but it fixed itself soon thereafter.

I ran the first mile again in about 9 minutes. I slowed down a little during the second mile, completing it in just over 10 minutes. The last mile was tougher, although don’t think I started to really slow down until the last half mile. I finished the last mile in 10:46. The average pace of it all was just 2 seconds over 10 minutes per mile for the 3+ miles. Not too shabby despite the humidity. Much better than the last run. I’d like my “last” C25K run to be done in under 30 minutes.

I was still a little sore from Sunday’s sprinting, but I don’t think it slowed be down. I didn’t get the rubbery leg feeling that I had been getting the last few runs. Hopefully with more weekend day sprinting, my leg strength, speed, and pace will all improve.

Besides the stomach virus setback that kept me off the road for 4 days, I’ve kept up running every other day throughout the C25K program. That cut the entire program short by a little more than a week.

My CardioTrainier app went haywire again this morning. So it might not be related to interference from Google Latitude, like I originally thought. I don’t know what it is.

I downloaded MyTracks from Google to see if it was more accurate than CardioTrainer. I gave it a test drive during my 5 minute walk warmup. I didn’t like the voice prompt as it was hard to understand the voice. Also, it gave the pace in miles per hour instead of minutes per mile (I could not do the math in my head that early in the morning). So a real test of this as a more accurate alternative to CardioTrainer will have to wait for another time.

Luckily I do know approximate quarter mile marks on the street/loop I run on. I brought a stopwatch too, anticipating hiccups with either CardioTrainer, MyTracks, or both.

Soooooooo. I ran the first mile in 9 minutes flat. Right after the mile mark there is a slight but long incline that’s about a quarter miles long. After the incline, I got tired and slowed down. Not so much my wind, but my legs. They got rubbery.

I decided to finish out the 3 miles instead of cutting the run at 30 minutes. I made it 3 miles in 32 minutes (10:40 pace). Bummer, but still better at this point to where I was last year.

This Sunday, I will break the every other day C25K routine in favor of getting to the track for sprinting and beginning an interval training program. I think this might help get back some strength in my legs and hopefully address my rubbery leg feeling.

I haven’t posted a weight update yet. I’ve been eating real well the last 2 months. I’ve been staying hydrated too. I haven’t restricted calories too much, although simply eating well takes care of getting the right amount of calories per day as I should be getting. According to the Wii Fit, which I’ve been using to keep track of my weight, I’ve lost 12 pounds since June 16. That’s over a pound and a half per week. I think that’s a healthy and steady number.

I still want to lose 25 more pounds (patience is a virtue). At this rate, I should reach my goal in 4 more months. The beauty is the more I become fit, the more I burn since the workouts are more efficient. Lets see where I am in December.

I finished day 2 of week 8 today. I’m really not sure of my pace as something tripped up the CardioTrainer app. At times it was reporting a pace that was much faster than I knew I was going. And I know for sure the distance was off too as I’m pretty familiar with the street I run around now. I estimate I went the 2.75 miles in the 28 minutes. If it was earlier on in the program this would have bothered me more. But I have a good sense where I stand so far. This little glitch solidified my desire to spend one day a week at the track to work on sprints and fast intervals. I might also dust off the P90X DVDs and do some of the plyometics, yoga, abs, and cardio. I’m thinking of reducing the distance runs to just 2 times a week. Then add sprinting once or twice a week, and P90X the other remaining days. Decisions, decisions.

I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday… The stomach virus was fully out of my system, and I didn’t eat anything the day before to repeat on me the entire jog. The first 28 minute run was good. I made it 2.94 miles in a little over 28 minutes (9:44 pace). I was pretty happy to get back to a sub 10 pace. 30 minutes won’t be too much of a challenge at all. I’ve decided to use one weekend day and start doing more sprinting/HIIT training. I want to work more on leg strength, speed, athleticism more now that I have a good stamina base. This means heading back to the track instead of the streets. More to come this weekend…