Merry Weekend, Everybody!

My girlfriend is visiting over the weekend, and since we haven’t seen each other in a very long time I imagine that I’ll be spending every available second with her.

I’ve already made sure to schedule in time half an hour on Saturday morning to run, but I’ll not be able to spare any more time than that, so: No blogging, no commenting and I’ll skip swimming on Sunday. After she leaves on Tuesday morning I’ll be back on the horse and so will write up W9D2 and W9D3 together on Tuesday evening, at which point I’ll also have to figure out exactly what happens after c25k…

…whatever it is, I know I’m going to keep on running.

Heartrate Hotel

I have always been aware that I probably have quite an unhealthy heart, my resting heart rate for about as long as I can remember has been around 74bpm. For reference (from here):

What most consider healthy for a man is between 60 and 75 beats per minute and for women it should be between 60 and 80 beats per minute.

Although I was just inside the healthy zone, other studies have suggested that heart rates above 70bpm in men lead to increased risks for various diseases. Just out of interest I have measured my heart rate a few times over the past couple of days, and…

57

Turns out I’ve become healthy and dropped all the way to below average! I remember seeing a documentary a while ago about a bunch of sedentary people who all trained together for the Boston marathon. The documentary is available legally and for free online here and actually makes for an enjoyable watch in a ‘tearjerky inspiring sort of way’, and also shows a bit about the science of what is happening to our bodies as we become more fit. The one thing that really struck me at the time was that all of the participants started out extremely, extremely out of shape, but after just two months of running a few times a week they all began to register as ‘above average’ to ’superior’ in tests of endurance and cardiovascular function, even if they were still significantly overweight.

They never mention exactly what training the participants in the program did, but I’d wager quite a lot of money that it wasn’t very different at all from the c25k program in the initial weeks. All of the marathon training programs I’ve found online, as well as all of the research I’ve read suggest that running 3-4 times a week and gradually building endurance is the best way to train, and this is precisely what c25k does for us.

So, this means that… Those of us in the process of finishing c25k should have undergone huge gains in fitness, which is a nice feeling. In all truth I don’t really feel too much different throughout the day unless I’m actually in the process of running. I guess I just don’t push myself very hard in front of the computer! but it’s still nice to have my heart rate there to remind me that there have actually been large, significant changes occur inside of my body!!

Just to put this into perspective: In just one hour in front of the computer my heart now needs 900 less beats than it did just eight weeks ago to keep me alive.

Wardrobe Wonder

So I have been thinking about this for a little while now but over the weekend plan on finally taking some action: I need some running clothes. There are three reasons I’m doing this now, firstly I have been having a bit of discomfort during running as I chafe a bit. AndrewE suggested in one of the comments that a running t-shirt would probably be more comfortable than the cotton t-shirts that I’m currently wearing. Secondly I’m aware that I am currently running in completely unsuitable clothes (slightly-below-knee length linen shorts, ten year old t-shirts, black cotton socks), and it would be, well, nice to actually look like a runner. Finally I read this post by Daisy over at IO Geek, where she discusses a rather inspiring sounding book called “No need for speed”, one of the quotes from the book is:

In fact, you should plan to invest a little in your early running wardrobe. In the long run [pun intended], it will be money well spent.”

And yeah, that seems reasonable, if I pick up some semi-decent running gear now it’ll probably do we well for a long time.

So what do I need? I reckon that a couple of t-shirts and a couple of pairs of shorts are enough. I already have a nice set of running shoes as recommended by the man in the running shop, and things like socks seem a bit gratuitous.

Why I Run

I’m storing this here for posterity, I’m still a new runner so my reasons for beginning are still pretty fresh in my mind. Here is “Why I Run” as told to the best of my shoddy, shoddy writing ability:

A couple of months ago now I was in a bookshop and, basically on a complete whim, picked up a copy of “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” by Haruki Murakami, this book is half autobiography, half book about running. Murakami describes why he runs, what he gets out of it, how it feels to succeed and fail and he does it without sounding preachy (“Hey you! Fatass! You should run every day or you’ll die of a heart attack”).

I never really had any interest in running. As a child I used to like cross country running at school, but I think that’s mainly because it was something other than being picked last at football. After all, why should somebody enjoy running for the sake of running? It hurts and gets you sweaty. Regardless, I flicked through a few pages and found the writing style engaging, so again, completely on a whim bought the book. After letting it sit on my table for a couple of weeks I finally started reading. The whole book was immediately interesting, but the idea of getting out of breath for enjoyment initially seemed pretty alien. However, by the end of the book, after we have followed the author all the way through the ups and downs of his training for the Boston marathon (his 24th marathon) I felt like I was beginning to understand why somebody might decide to push their body along a lonely, sweaty road. One paragraph in particular really stood out to me, so I’m going to quote it here. On the subject of what Murakami thinks about during runs:

But really as I run, I don’t think much of anything worth mentioning.

I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void

In another area of my life this is precisely the reason I enjoy drawing pictures, when I get into the ‘drawing’ mindset, my conscious brain takes to the background and for some time (often a surprisingly long time) I’m completely focused on drawing, or to put it another way, I feel like I’ve acquired a void. This short excerpt about non-thinking really stuck with me, and about a week later, after it had shoved its way back into my head about a dozen times I found myself looking at beginners advice on running websites, reading stories from newbie runners, learning about overpronation, wondering if fancy socks and pedometers were necessary and then, one Saturday I found myself in a running shop trying on shoes. Shortly after that, and before I expected it, I was suddenly staggering, puffing and wheezing my way down the pavement. I don’t recall ever saying to myself “I’m going to start running”, it just sort of, well, happened.

I can’t say yet that I’ve hit the point where my body can carry me around comfortably. Every run digs up a few different aches and pains that I’m not expecting. I do, however, feel myself getting fitter, faster and stronger, which for now keeps me going. What will I manage next? I’m still hoping that down one road I do stumble over the sense of zen-like calm that accidentally started me running.

Designing a Home Workout

For reference here is the upper body home workout I have decided to do three times per week, all exercises except for the pushups are done with a resistance band and are described on one of these three sites (1, 2, 3)

• Hundred Pushups.com Workout
• Diagonal Woodchops 2×16
• Triceps Extension 2×16
• Lateral Rows 2×16
• Biceps Curls 2×16
• Lat Pulls 2×16
• Rear Delt Fly 2×16
• Good Mornings 2×16

Where possible adjust the tension so that I’m as close as possible to failure by the last repetition.

First Post

Hi there, this is the first post on my new fitness log.

About six weeks ago I decided to finally do something about my weight, and so started with the Couch to 5k running program, eating a high protein diet, and stopped drinking alcohol. Since then my weight has dropped from 224lbs to 213.5lbs, and shows no sign of slowing down

Right now this site is (obviously) very empty and I don’t have too much time to work on it, but I’ll get there in the end…

TODO:

• Write my goals down in a post
• Weight graphs to sidebar
• Blogroll
• Nicer theme
• Categories