Week Eight, day two - first treadmill run

Even though the weather was ok today (clear, not too cold, dry), I decided to head to the gym and try a treadmill run. I was really curious about what kind of pace I run at, and exactly how far I actually go when I run for 28-ish minutes.

Here's what I did today:

lots of warmup walk - walked 10-ish mins to the gym, then walked another 5 mins or so on the treadmill
Ran about 25 minutes
slowed down to walk about 90 seconds
Ran again for another five minutes
Walked about 3 minutes
Ran 2 more minutes
Walked 1 minute
= 42 minutes total

It was weird. Being on a treadmill is as boring as I remember it to be, and I was really right in front of a mirror. Hello red face and sweaty chest and too-fat thighs! I will stare at you for 42 minutes. sounds great.

But I learned about my pace. I was right man, I am SLOW. I averaged 8.0 kph (5 mph). That means in 30 minutes of running, I only go four kilometers, not even close to five. That's why I stayed on the treadmill for 42 minutes, because I wanted to finish the 5k, dammit. and I did! I didn't quite get my goal of running 30 minutes without stopping, but I did actually run more than 30 minutes. I burned something like 350 calories, maybe a little more. can't quite remember.

I weighed myself, and I'm weighing in at an all-time high of 64.15 kilos (141.4 lbs). it makes sense, and it goes to prove that I don't exaggerate - when I say I've gained weight and clothes don't fit me anymore, that's because my body is used to being around 58-59 kilos (127-130 lbs).

It was good to be at the gym just to get used to being at the gym again, because I clearly need to do more than jog 3 times a week at 8.0 kph for 30 minutes if I want to actually shed weight. Today I didn't do anything else, but I did feel ok after the run was over, and I did like knowing my pace. I think it's probably about what I run in the "real world," it didn't feel too fast or too slow.

I also changed the settings on my app so that the voice will tell me when I have 5 minutes left - it kills me, I always want to check my time, and being on a treadmill made that SO easy today. it was also distracting to have my water so close by - when I go outside I don't bring water (and don't usually miss it), but having the water bottle right there made me want to drink all the time. maybe just because it's warmer in a gym?

I took the updated class schedule from my gym and I am going to try to do more spinning, pilates, and keep up with this running thing until I do actually run for 30 minutes without stopping. once I get that down, I'll work on actually being able to accomplish a REAL 5k, even if it means my version of a 5k takes 40 minutes. jeez I'm slow.