YardCrap Running

Garmin 220 watch

This watch is good.
It provides motivation and information which helps.

Right now my goal is repeated efforts at a modest heart rate.  I had thought maybe 130, but due to hills and my current physical condition, that was not possible.  Just walking up these hills drove the heart to work too hard.

140 seems more realistic for my situation even though that is high..  In time a better effort will produce similar heart rate results, or at least that is the goal.

Per the Garmin, here is my current out and back 3 mile course:

(click for large view)

By Fall I will go to my old 5 mile course which has a flat mile to stretch out on.

The elevation data varies day to day, but close enough.  They use a satellite and compare it to "on file" date by local survey.  Back in the woods, not sure there is a data bank.  Even the Google Earth data here is several years old.

This photo is heart rate and cadence.  The red is walking (hill) and the green is jogging.  I try to stay under 140 as to heart rate, hence the need to walk.



The encouraging thing after just 6 weeks is the heart beat now recovers some when effort is reduced.  At first, that was not the case.

Sitting on my ass

I am a little down as to not being able to do stuff since eye surgery.
I went ahead and did 2 easy miles on the treadmill today and will sneak and do that again tomorrow.   Then it is back for work on the other eye.
After another week off, I will be ready to crank back up with vengeance.

I'm glad I gave myself a year to get in shape.  Looks like I will need all of it.

Eye Surgery Over

Both my eyes have now had laser cataract surgery and I expect to get back to my schedule in 2 days.  I'll start with a couple days of 30 minutes easy on the treadmill.

I am eager and still motivated.
I have changed my diet some, but need to be more serious about it if I want to loose weight.  Last night I ordered new scales.  A DUKE study deduced that people who weigh and record it each day lost weight as opposed to those who did not.

If I am going to all that trouble, want to know that readings are accurate.  My scales are digital and 100% of digital scales are crap.  I bit the bullet and ordered some beam scales.
When they arrive, will start stats on weight.  Basically I have trimmed to under 200 pounds, but will need to be 170 by the end of the year.

That seems a reasonable goal if I start now.

May 2015 Results

May is in the books.  I was doing OK until having to quit for eye surgery.  I start back tomorrow with 2 mile easy treadmill runs then back out on the roads.
Most of May was 3 mile runs on my hills with walking as needed to keep my heart rate down.
I was seeing some improvement before I had to stop for a couple weeks.  Heart rate (AHR) equals to my effort which I tried to keep below 140.  Temperature plays a big part in it all.
Overall it was a good month, and I am eager to start up again. I know June will be hot, but I am encouraged and will endeavor to persevere.


DIST     TIME     PACE    AHR    ELEV  DATE
2.00     30:00     15:00     113      TM1    26/05
2.00     30:00     15:00     112      TM1    25/05
3.00     38:19     12:46    138       TM1   19/05
2.65     38:13     14:27     130        ?      18/05
3.11     42:59     13:50     129      261    16/05
3.13     39:01     12:29     140      237    15/05
3.00     38:52     13:03     131      TM1   14/05
3.13     40:23     12:54     131      284    13/05
3.00     39:33     13:03     141      TM1   12/05
3.10     48:29     15:39     113      250    11/05
3.14     40:36     12:57     130      306    10/05
3.13     41:17     13:12     127      221    09/05
3.10     42:46     13:48     134      248    08/05
3.15     43:30     13:49     128      237    06/05
2.02     39:40     19:36      96       158    05/05
3.09     40:29     13:07     130      242    04/05
3.06     42:25     13:53     138      265    03/05
3.07     41:22     13.20     155                02/05
3:07     43:53     14:17     140                01/05  

Long Run ??

I believe in long runs, just can't do them.

I set my clock for 7 and got up at 9.  I am not a morning person.  By then it was nearing 75.  I had hoped to double my 3 mile distance using my 6 mile course from the last decade.  The elevation is staggering here, but it is out and back (which means when you get half way you can't quit because you have to get home).

Here is the elevation chart:

I made it to the turn around, but my heart beat was so high, to keep it under 160, I basically had to walk the 3 miles home.  It took me 85 minutes.

 I looked back to when I was much younger, and see I used to do it in around 50 minutes.

I did make it.  Now I am drinking beer. You would think living on a large lake, I could find a flat course -- but nope.

June 2015 Results

June is in the books.  It was a hot month, had to get up early to survive.  I hate morning activities.

DIST    TIME    PACE    AHR      ELEV  DATE

3.00     36:58     12:15     137      1TM   06/01
3.00     36:41     12:15     135      1TM   06/02
3.09     39:16     12:42     144      210    06/03
3.09     40:46     13:11     139      233    06/04
2.00     27:03     13:30     124      1TM   06/05
3.17     40:51     12:54     134      232    06/06
3.20     41:36     12:59     129      ???    06/07
6.06     85:26     14:06     145      454    06/08
3.00     39:27     13:03     131      1TM   06/09
3.10     39:48     12:50     149       223    06/10
6.00     85:35     14:15     132       157    06/11
2.00     28:34     14:17     111       1TM    06/12
3.00     47:17     15:47     107       1TM   06/13
3.05     40:00   13:13       133       243    06/14
3:00     44:22   15:04       117       1TM   06/15
3.14     39:24   12:33       137       225    06/16
3.15     40:15   12:47       132       271    06/17
3.00     42:02     13:57       00       1TM   06/20
3.16     38:56     12:20     145       250    06/21
3.00     42:00     13:57     107       1TM   06/22
3.25     39:17     12:05     136       166    06/23
3.00     46:00     15:23     98         1TM   06/24
3.13     39:43     12:41     135       253    06/25
3.00     40:57     13:38     137       1TM   06/26
3.04     40:41     13:20     134       253    06/27
3.17     37:50     12:00     134       253    06/28
3.12     39:06     12:31     141       253    06/29
3.16     38:47     12:17     130       253    06/30

I think the most remarkable thing is that "I have endeavored in this".
June was a combination of road runs and treadmill runs.  I tried a 6 mile course a couple times, but am not ready for that yet.  Thrre miles of these hills is enough right now.

I am feeling some improvement as now when done, I am not feeling quite as close to death's door.

I Am Not Fat (anymore)

[QUOTE=Waldo;22275]I'm following this with keen interest.....
So...What's your plan on beer drinking?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Waldo;22360]You've got to lose weight, we both know that's the key...So how do you plan on doing that?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Waldo;22465]Sounds easy enough, but of course it isn't.... Most can't do it, but I do believe you can.[/QUOTE]

I may still look fat, but I am now officially "normal". That calls for a few cold glasses of beer to celebrate!!
Back in early April my BMI was 27.8 which equals to "overweight".
Today it is 24.8 which equals to "normal".
By the end of the year I intend to be at 23.1.

Hopefully my added activity level and dietary changes are aiding me not just to drop weight, but to also improve my fat to muscle ratio. For a young guys the rules are quite different than for a septuagenarian. Fair or not, that is reality.

Check your self here:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

July is a memory

July has been a hot month - go figure!
Not much improvement, the surprise to many is that I persevered with my program.

I expect/hope August to be nearly identical.

Don't look for improvement until October when it cools some.  Most days now I get out at the unnatural hour of 8AM to my hills and find it is over 70degrees and over 90% humidity.  I struggle to survive.
My motto remains --> "Endeavor to Persevere".

DIST    TIME    PACE    AHR      ELEV  DATE

3.00    40:16   13:20   143      1TM   07/01
3.14    37:10   11:46   139      248   07/03
3:00    37:34   12:30   135      1TM   07/04
3:00    37:49   12:30   122      1TM   07/05
3.00    53:22   17:39    87      1TM   07/06
3:12    38:58   12:29   130      219   07/08
3.00    44:14   14:38    96      1TM   07/09
3.08    37:38   12:13   131      275   07/10
3.15    37:19   11:51   134      263   07/11
3.00    40:08   13:20   109      1TM   07/12
3.10    37:36   12:09   140      214   07/13
3:00    38:25   12:46   125      1TM   07/15
3.14    37:58   12:06   131      256   07/16
3.16    38:03   12:01   127      210   07/17
3:00    40:47   13:38   117      1TM   07/18
3.13    37:11   11:54   136      248   07/19
3.19    39:39   12:25   138      261   07/20
3.14    38:42   12:20   127      197   07/21
3.14    36:55   11:46   139      232   07/22
3.00    43:50   14:38   103      1TM  07/23
3.29    38:33   11:42   146      337   07/24  
3.00    40:12   13:20   123      1TM  07/25
3.16    40:59   12:59   141       218   07/26
4.00    60:01   15:00    98        1TM  07/27
3.12    37:10   11:54   136        226   07/28
3.00    41:10   13:44   123        333   07/29
3.10    35:22   11:23   138        228   07/30
3.00    40:23   15:01   119        1TM  07/31

Hot August

Still doing my 3 mile course.  I still walk the big hill in each mile to keep my heart beat from exploding my brain.  
There is no real improvement to report, but today did come in with my fastest (very slow) time.

Speed is not an issue yet.  The important thing is to keep at it and build my body.  That takes a long time.  Any fool can run them self in the ground.

My plan remains the same for now:
-- begin to add on in October with longer runs and more weekly miles.
-- begin to actually run/train in January.

Why Run ?

When I first started jogging, read up on how to do it at the library (no internet then).  There are many good books and lots of good information.
Running is not as simple as you might think.

I came across a book by George Sheehan that dealt with more than just "how" --> a lot more!
George Sheehan became a major force in my life.  He wrote down things I knew, just never thought to think about.  He is my favorite philosopher.