The Chances

How a 250+ Pound Couch Potato Got Healthy

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

In keeping with developing a new habit of cardio before bed, I just did 30 minutes on the stairclimber... I decided to use a program I hadn't used before, so I went with Level 5, Climbing. The notes claimed it would slowly increase the intensity over time, but honestly I didn't feel much intensity. I was climbing 12 flights per minute (I think that's what the number means), but on the program I used before on Level 2 it was more like 8 and was much more difficult. Still, I burned 306 more calories, making the total 730 for the day.
Finished running 5k, plus the walk back to work. Time: 28:30:26, which is still 15 seconds slower than my best. The weird thing is that I felt like I was FLYING...

So I finally got a chance to try out the Garmin Forerunner, and I gotta say even with the cheapest, bottom of the line Forerunner, it kicks butt! I only used the basic functionality this time around, not the "personal assistant" features, but it was still cool. As I was running I could see my pace on the fly. It kept track of my average pace, best pace, plus distance of course. I was also able to verify that yes, my landmark for 5k is in fact 5k.

423 calories burned.
I think I've worked out the logistics of keeping my lunch break to a minimum while still making it to the gym: change at work while "available", go work out, come back and change at work again, while "available". Cardio at home after everyone's in bed (10pm). As a feeble attempt at starting a new routine, after Biggest Loser tonight I ran a mile on the treadmill @ 7mph, and burned 95 more calories for the day.

Speaking of which, my treadmill's got quite the limitations compared to the ones at the gym. I hadn't really noticed because it'd been a while since I used mine. I was able to get an incline of 12% and a speed of 12mph (not simultaneously hehe) on the ones at the gym, but mine appears to have a max 10mph and max incline of 10%. Without the gym treadmills I wouldn't have been able to run the sprints I've been doing @ 12mph, or the ones at the 12% incline. Another interesting thing is that the ones at the gym have a minimum incline of 0%, but mine won't go below 1.5%...

THEREFORE, my workout here at home was tougher @ 7mph than the ones I had done at the gym the past few days. I suppose that's a good thing, but after a mile I had to stop!

That's all for now. 5k tomorrow, woo! And my boss shouldn't be too uptight, 5k + walking back is no more than 45 minutes.