"Walking" Wednesday

Today was a little different. I was scheduled for my usual TEAM Weight Loss cardio class. When I got there, Meghan said "Let's take a power walk outside for something different." So even though the weather looked like it was going to rain any moment, we set out for our fast walk. I brought some hand weights with me to keep my arms working as I walked. We ended up walking 3.3 miles in about 48 minutes and ended with stretching in the club. We got back to the club just in time before the heavy rains started! Of course, that meant I ended up driving to work in the storms afterwards. Oh well...

Meghan wanted to make sure I took it easy this week. She is worried my enthusiasm over running might cause me to overdo it right after running the 5K race. She wants me to be smart and to avoid any injuries. So I will be smart.

Of course, after work was the regular Wednesday "Walk Club" activity at 7PM, where the runners and walkers head out and do our thing for a specified distance. Today, I joined the walkers (Meghan's suggestion, cuz I wanted to run) and we walked almost 2 miles. It was a little chilly at 55 degrees but it felt great.

Meghan and I were walking pretty fast, leading the group as we talked about my training and how I would handle the upcoming change in my routine -- my 10K training program starts next Wednesday. Once I know what this training program requires, then Meghan can help me integrate that into my other exercise activities so that I keep things balanced and avoid overtraining. I am lucky to have a marathoner for a Personal Trainer!

We are thinking that my new schedule would be TEAM Weight Loss cardio on Mondays and Fridays, Strength Training on Wednesday mornings, 10K Training on Wednesday evenings, interval runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and my long runs on Saturday mornings. Sundays will be my Scheduled Rest Day. But this will be fine tuned once I know what the 10K Program will entail.

So today was definitely not my usual workout but I was content to take it easy but still get in 5 miles of walking and burn about 700 calories. That will make up for the Lemon Meringue Pie I ate at Bakers Square for lunch. (Come on, a guy has to treat himself every now and then, right?)

Celebrating and Looking Forward

I won't lie..... I am still so very pumped and excited about the Sunday race! I know that 38:20 may not seem all that fast to many runners, but for me it is still hard to believe I could have pulled that out of the hat. Comparing where I was a year ago in terms of my overall health, weight, and physical conditioning to where I am now is like night and day. I still have about 75lbs left to lose before I can call 'victory' but I am so pleased with the progress that has led me to this stage in the game. And it was so awesome to have two of my three kids there to share the experience with me. That was priceless.

So instead of resting on Monday morning, I was back in the club doing my TEAM Weight Loss cardio program with Meghan. Of course, all we could talk about was the race, my execution plan, and how satisfied it felt to be able to finish (and the surprise at the AG Medal). Meghan worked me pretty good during the workout -- the only slack she gave me was that I didn't have to run at all, just walk on the treadmill. Of course she had me walking up 10-15% inclines! But hey, that's her job. And based upon Sunday, I have to say that she is doing it well.

But recovery is important, so I will not do anything on Tuesday or Thursday of this week to give my body a chance to rest. But I will do my cardio workouts on Wednesday and Friday mornings. And Saturday will be my regular long run (hopefully with my friend Mark who is an elite runner and will certainly challenge me). Wednesday night I will join in a Walk Club at LifeTime after work. It will be my first time meeting the run club folks and I am hoping it will turn out to be a great way to meet fellow runners, learn some things, and meet some new friends who share the enthusiasm about running. If it looks good, maybe I will officially join.

Starting June 1st, I will start a CARA Training Program to prepare for my 10K race in mid-August. This will be a weekly 90-minute commitment for the next 10 weeks and should help me focus, increase my endurance, improve my running, and get me in the right mental frame of mind to move up to the 10K level. I will lose one week at the end of July because of a mission trip in Mississippi (but I hope I will be able to get in a few runs while I am out there).

My next race is on June 19th -- another 5K in Chicago. I am setting my sights on that race. I will try to have fun, run a good race, and maybe set a new PR for the 5K. But mostly, I just want to be able to run the race and enjoy the experience. And if I am lucky, I will get to run it with some friends from church and the Christian Youth Theater. Running with friends makes it so much more fun!