Showing posts with label treadmill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label treadmill. Show all posts

Friday, January 13, 2012

Week Eight, day three - treadmill

Another treadmill run today! Funny, my legs and feet always feel more sore after running on a treadmill then on the ground, but not sure if that's also because I'm running more now, so things hurt more. Anyway, here's what I did today:

5 min - walk
28 min - run (whooo!)
2:30 - walk
3 min - run
2 min - walk

And because I was on a treadmill, I have some more stats, that I'm sure anyone reading would be fascinated by (regarding speed).

First 14 minutes - ran at 8.8 kph
Next 9 minutes - ran at 8.2 kph
Final 5 minutes - ran at 7.8 kph
Extra 3 minutes at end - ran at 8.0

So that's an average pace of 8.2 kph (sorry americans, this is all going to remain mostly in metrics).

I completed 5 kilometers within 40 minutes, but at least seven of those minutes were walking (the five minute warmup plus the 2 1/2  min at the end.

My final stats were:

total distance - 5.3 km
total time - 43 min 47 seconds (including final "cool down" walk)
calories burned - 370
weight - 64.15 (141.4 lbs)

I did try, at first, to run 9.5 kph - there's no way I would have completed 28 minutes, or 14 minutes, at that speed. I could do it, but it was wearing me out too much. I was happy to see that I could run at 8.8 kph for the first half, but I think that the key to me actually finishing the 28 minutes without stopping was decreasing my speed halfway through. It really did make a difference. While I am running on a treadmill (it's still not super cold in Amsterdam yet, but winter is winter) I suppose I should make it a goal to eventually do the full thirty minutes at 9.0 kph. the metric/mile thing is messing me up whenever I google stuff about "typical 5k speeds," but I think I can aim safely for an 11-minute mile, which is uh... hmm, probably still too quick for my slow speed. because that would be about 35 minutes. well, eventually I'll try to get there.

The next time I run the goal is simple: FULL THIRTY MINUTES, non-stop. and dear god people, those last five minutes are hard. really hard. like I want to stop every second hard. I've changed the settings on my app to announce when I have 10 minutes left, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minutes, because really, once I have five minutes left the only thing I can think about is how many more seconds I have to keep running. remarkably, I have still not learned to enjoy running. being on a treadmill sucks, it takes what little fun I had when I ran (seeing a pretty city, enjoying being outside) and puts me about 5 inches away from looking at myself in a mirror while I run. I'm not very pretty while I'm running, but the only thing I have to look at is myself, and how progressively sweaty I get as I go on.

Ok, this was super long. and I know that the goal was a 5k/30 minutes by the end of 2011 but... well, if I can do it by the end of this weekend, that's enough for me. I still have enough to work with on my time!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

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.