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Running work out started great, end with some searching

Posted by Rick on January 30, 2009 with Comments Closed
in Exercise confessional, Fitness & Exercise, Weight Loss
as , ,

I did it. It was a real victory for me to do the speed work. What is speed work? It is a running work out where you go to the track, run 1 or 2 times around at a particular pace. Usually your 5k or 10k race pace. You do it like weight lifting, with reps. I did 6 reps at my 5k pace which was waaay faster than I imagined I could run. My new program calls for more of this type of training because I don’t want to spend all my time running. It is a more specific running program to take advantage of the limited time that I have. Many call these work outs, “quality runs”. In between each 5k pace lap I did push-ups, crunches, and lunges (oh lunges are evil but they are so good for you). It was a very taxing time.

You may be asking yourself, “So what does that picture have to do with this post?” Let me tell you. The track is a little over a mile away from my work. I ran there so when I was done I had a cool down run going back. After my run; I get to my office, gather my stuff, feel around in my pockets and, “Arrgghh, my keys, where I are my keys. I can’t find my keys.” Thus, I put this picture up. I lost my dang keys during my runs. It was 6 pm at this point, fog had rolled in really heavy and it was also dark now. I had to go back track my route with very tired legs to try and find my keys. I walked and walked and walked in dense fog with a flashlight keeping my eyes peeled for the keys. They turned up at the track where I was doing the crunches. Wow, so happy I found them.

As a side note, it was a personal victory for me also that I did not get angry and all pissed off that I had lost my keys. I stayed calm and collected and figured I just needed to back track to find them. This is huge for me. Normally I would have gotten really mad and maybe made an excuse to go eat bad bad yummies. In my mind though I thought I would go out to eat somewhere. My lovely and wonderful wife drove 20 minutes from home just to help me find the keys. I found them by the time she got there so she just drove me back to my work. She had already eaten so I put away the idea of going out to eat. Ended up eating 1 cup of egg beaters, 2 extra thin corn tortillas, 2 pieces of toast, 1 piece of light string cheese, and veggies. Very tasty I must say.

How an obese, over weight man started running

Posted by Rick on December 30, 2008 with Comments Closed
in Exercise confessional, Fitness & Exercise, Weight Loss
as , , ,

I hate running! I can’t breathe when I run! Running hurts! Running is just too boring! Running is just too darn hard! I can’t run fast nor far enough to start running!

Do these thoughts sound familiar? They sure do to me. These thoughts and more filled my mind as a fat guy who was just starting to get more activity into his life. So many people believe these things. It took me some time, but I was able to conquer all of these pessimistic thoughts.

I just started out slow and put no pressure on myself to go fast or far. My first run was for about 20 minutes. During that 20 minutes, I walked every 4 minutes for 60 seconds. That seemed to make it more manageable. As time passed and my physical and mental fitness improved, I was able to go further although not much faster. Running became a wonderful outlet for me to relieve stress and figure out my thoughts. It was a creative time for me.

I learned that I did not have to run fast to lose fat. I did not have to huff and puff my way through my run. I learned that running was only as boring as I made it out to be. I could run with my wife, or go to a trail, or even go house shopping while running; all of which made running more fun and enjoyable. Adding goals like races or special runs with my wife created an optimistic momentum for my running. That momentum ended up carrying me 50 miles at the White River 50 Mile Trail Run. I finished. Not once during that race did any of those previously mentioned pessimistic thoughts prevail.

Running (any vigorous activity actually) can really help you lose weight, feel better, live longer, be more creative, and take control of negative thinking. When you run, you have to learn to persevere when you feel tired. When this happens, you start to believe that YOU CAN PERSEVERE.

If you want to start running, run/walking, jogging (whatever name you want to give it), take a look at these valuable resources. These resources will also help those who already run.

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