Wednesday, March 30, 2011

update on the new segment

Today is the 4th day of my new, higher-octane segment of the 5K journey.
Each morning I've been walking 12 minutes at 3.9/MPH and then doing 8 minutes at 5/MPH.
This makes for a tough 20 minutes for a guy like me. However, it has gone to the almost routine stage already.
The really tough part comes when I finish the workout and realize that at these times, I can't even get 1/2 way to the 5K. YIKES

The good news is I'm moving forward with each two week set. The other good news is that I'll only 2 months into this 12 month journey.

All in all, things are all good.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

two weeks into the new combo pack

OK, things are really starting to more forward.
After the shoe fiasco that set me back some weeks, I'm getting the very strong feeling I'm making real progress.
Yesterday (3/26/011), I completed my latest two week segment.
I walked 15 minutes at 3.7/MPH and shifted to running 5 mins at 5/MPH. With 14 sessions behind me, I can honestly say it is tough, but doable.

This morning, I started the next segment. 12 minutes at 3.9/MPH and 8 minutes at 5/MPH. Still just 20 minutes, but a fair amount tougher than yesterday. Good workout that feels good.

Monday, March 21, 2011

It was my shoes!

This is a mentally painful post that reflects the psychically painful situation with my left knee.
No doubt you remember that my journey came to a full stop back in mid-February. There was an, at the time, unexplained pain in my left knee that made just regular walking difficult.
I took two weeks off and then I restarted with two weeks of walking only. Thankfully, there was no new pain.

Last Friday, just to test a theory, I put on the same shoes I wore the morning of February 18th. By 10:00, my knee was throbbing. I was shocked in one way and pleased in another. The shock was due to the fact that I'm third generation shoe dog and I've never bought a pair of shoes that caused me a once of trouble. Turns out that streak is now over. While I had had those particular shoes for over a year, something has happened to them that throws my skeleton out of alignment and drives too much pressure to the knee area.

The pleasure comes two-fold. First, because my theory was correct and the shoes were the problem. Second, because there is nothing wrong with my body and my journey can move forward with confidence and renewed vigor.

All's well that ends well.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Day by day along the way

Well, it looks like the decision to rest for two weeks and then re-start on a walking only regimen is paying off nicely.

Not only am I a week into the re-start, but I am pain free. I'm also to the point where the 20 minutes at 3.7MPH is becoming a solid and comfortable way to start my day.

I'll be sticking with the two week walking re-start and see how things are going next Saturday.

This knee injury had me worried on several levels. Fortunately, I remembered that like is a marathon (no pun intended) and not a sprint. By regrouping and giving myself time to rest and heal, I'm now in a much better position to complete his journey.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

four days in and going strong

Ok, the restart of the journey is going very well.
Today is the fourth day back on the treadmill. I''m doing 20 minutes at 3.7/MPH which ends up being about 1.23 miles.
This is certainly well behind where I wanted to be accordingly to the original plan.
However, the injury to my knee really but a full stop to things. The two weeks with no exercise put me in a somewhat dark and difficult place about doubting if I could actually do all this.

These past few days have restored my faith, my focus, and my vigor. It is my plan to workout at this same pace through the end of next week (through 3/19/011) and then make a new plan for pushing things forward.

All in all, I feel great and I'm pain free.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Back on the work-out wagon

Well, the first day back actually feels really good.
The two weeks of layoff, while necessary due to injury, didn't seem to set me back too far.
This morning I walked for 20 minutes at 3.7/MPH on the treadmill here at home. The distance was over a mile, but not the 1.55 miles that was my initial distance.

I can feel the blood pumping through my left knee. I'm very aware of it and where the pain used to be. However, the is no pain this morning just some soreness. I'll be watching/feeling it very closely during the day to see if I can continue at this pace tomorrow.

Before I started today, I decided to listen to my iPod. As if I was in some cosmic "strength of youth" moment, the "shuffle" put of Merle Haggard, Bruce Springsteen (twice), and the Eagles. Exercise always makes me feel young, but there was something special about this workout.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Last day or rest

Well, today makes the last day of rest before I restart my training tomorrow. I'm still not sure what happened to my knee, but I'm sure resting was the right thing to do.

Yesterday was the first day that I had no pain at all and today everything feels as good as new (new as in almost 50!) and I'm excited about starting up tomorrow.