My 7-Week Challenge
 

Starting today I am following this 5K Run - 7 Week Training Schedule:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/images/pdfs/fsm14_5K_run.pdf

Having come to lowcarb from the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, I didn't get the beginner's whoooosh weight loss that many experience. However, as I have a fairly haphazard relationship with the gym and a very sedentary job, I'm stepping up the regular exercise to try and speed things up and get into the 140s.

I'm running on a treadmill rather than outdoors as I find it easier to keep track of statistics on a machine, especially when the schedule calls for the run/walk exercise.

Day 1
Walk/Run 30 minutes
Level 5/20, Random setting, Speed 5 - 7



I managed 3 and a half kilometers in 30 mins + 5 mins cooldown. For this first week, the program says to run for 15 seconds and walk for 45 seconds but it was soon apparent this can't be done on a treadmill! Instead I ran for 1 - 2 minute bursts and made sure I did this for a quarter of the time (8 minutes in total out of the 30).

It was quite easy. The worst part was hauling myself out of bed to get to the gym!

See you tomorrow!

Day 2
Walk 30 minutes

Walking day today and did this outside as I had places to go. Will have to get myself a pedometer for these days so at least I have something to log :)

Day 3
Walk/Run 30 minutes
Level 5/20, Random setting, Speed 5 - 8

Similar to Monday even though I did the running bits at 1 speed higher. I climbed 49 meters though and I think that is more than Day 1. The random hill setting is well... random! :lol:

Oh and forgot to add... I'm 1.5 lbs down from Monday :hyper:

Day 4
Walk 30 minutes

Day 4 already, time is going so quick! Walk day today so I did it outdoors again. This time I used a pedometer but forgot to look at the number of steps after half an hour and I was out longer than that! Anyway, I did 4407 steps which I think is 3 or 4 km. I don't feel if I have done much today though, so when I have the time I might add some weights to my walking days - might as well give the arms some exercise other than carrying the shopping :)

Day 5
Rest

Not much more to say really :lol:

Day 6
Walk/Run 3 miles (4.8 km)
Level 5/20, Random setting, Speed 5 - 8.5

Did the 'walk for 3 mins, run for 1 min, walk for 4 mins, run for 2 mins...' thing again to make sure I ran for a quarter of the time, but because I didn't know how long it would take me to run/walk 3 miles I had to keep ahead of the game! Anyway, at 30mins I was at 2.95 km and completed the 4.8 km in 48.41 minutes:



I climbed 87 meters...


...and after cooldown:


Nearly a whole week done!

Day 7
Rest/Walk

Lovely walk in the countryside today, nothing strenuous and it's just as well as my legs are aching a little bit.

Not looking forward to tomorrow but as I've printed off the schedule and am ticking off the days, I have to go lol!

Day 8
Walk/Run 30 minutes
Level 5/20, Random setting, Speed 5 - 8

Well I seem to be getting slower. :blush: Although I climbed the same number of meters as last Wednesday:

I am exhausted for some reason. I wonder whether I should up my carbs a bit? It is also REALLY HOT in the gym and I don't think I'm drinking enough. Luckily there were some male dancers in the gym practising moves and I could see them in the mirror so it made the time pass a little quicker. :D

Day 9
Walk 30 minutes

I had planned to do my 30 minute walk on the treadmill with the pedometer so I could see how many steps I walked in a k or a mile or whatever. It was far too hot to be indoors though, so I shelved that idea for a cooler day and instead plotted my walk at http://www.walkjogrun.net/ to see how far I had gone.

I did just under a mile and a half in the 30 mins, but was out for a while longer.

Well, another day ticked off...



...and it is weigh day tomorrow. Gulp!

Day 10
Walk/Run 30 minutes
Level 5/20, Random setting, Speed 5 - 8.6

Another 1.5 lbs down :yay: Same as last week. I seem to stick all week and then lose it on Mon-Wed! The loss is excruciatingly slow compared to my first month but the exercise seems to have upped the weight loss from the second month by a half to a lb extra a week, so I'm not complaining. Maybe this will get even greater as I run more... or maybe it won't because I will be increasing muscle? Whatever, at least I should tone up. :)

Haven't been to the gym yet today so will update later.


-----------------------------------------------------

Well I did more in the the gym than planned! I did my walk/run thing for 11 minutes - 4 of which were running - and then realised I had no water. I didn't want to repeat Monday's probable dehydration, so paused the treadmill and went to fill my bottle.

When I came back the machine had stopped and lost my stats :eek: :(

I didn't know how far I had gone so I had little choice but to start again. Oh well, even after that I did better than Monday!

Day 11
Walk 30 minutes

I was out for longer than 30 mins again and did 5455 steps which I think is a couple of miles.



I really must start doing the walking on the treadmill ON TOP of my usual activity. Will start doing this next week.

Day 12
Rest

Another week nearly gone :exclm:

Day 13
Walk/Run 3.5 miles (5.6 km)
Level 5/20, Random setting, Speed 5.2 - 8.5

Well I mucked up today well and truly lol!

I had it in my head that I had to run 4.8 km (which was actually last Saturday's distance). I knew that it was 3+ miles but the treadmills only show ks and I don't know the conversion. I didn't realize until I was back from the gym and looked at the chart on my noticeboard. :o :mad:

So I did was short on my distance. :o

Anyway, at 30mins I was at 3.01 km and completed the 4.8 km in 48.55 minutes:


I climbed 77 meters (10 less than last week)...


...and after cooldown:


I am now wondering whether to repeat Week 2! I could do all the walking on the treadmill so I'm going uphill, introduce some weights on walkdays, and maybe start doing the longer Saturday distance on the flat rather than Level 5 hills. Sounds like a plan...

Day 14
Rest/Walk



The ticks are mounting up... Shame I'm repeating week 2 really!

Day 8 Mark 2
Walk/Run 30 minutes
Level 5/20, Random setting, Speed 5.5 - 8.5

Ran in 2 minute bursts today and at 30 minutes had done 3.2 km. It made a difference to the end total. I have realized just how important it is to make sure I have had my veggies before I go to the gym. If I don't, my legs feel like lead,

After cooldown I had done 3 and a half km:



...and I climbed 58 meters:


Tomorrow I start using the weights but I'm not sure what I'm doing. Will have to have a little look online for some pointers.