Monday, September 27, 2010

Day 331: Progress

I wrote a few weeks ago about my running goal. If you missed that entry, let me catch you up. The past two years, I have trained and run a half-marathon, but the training takes so many hours that I really can't do it with Lil Bit. I can barely get 40 minutes on the treadmill much less the 90 minutes a few nights a week and 2-2 1/2 hours on the weekend. So this year I am dedicating myself to how far I can go in the 40 minutes on the treadmill.

I started slowly, I haven't been running at all in months. My first run was mostly a walk - 2.6 miles in 40 minutes. I my plan is to add one tenth to my distance a week. I should be working up to 2.8 this coming week, but I was running at 2.7 in two days and ran 2.8 the next time. Getting to 2.8 my first run of the 2.7 week, I decided to increase my incline on the treadmill if I make distance before the end of the week.

My guess is that if I increase incline, I will have to work harder to run the same distance and will build up endurance that will help me increase my speed when I get back on flat ground. I started running at a 2.0 incline the first run of the week and ran 2.8. My next run I ran at a 2.5 incline and got to 2.88. Yesterday I ran at a 3.0 incline and got to 2.9. Today I am taking a walk and Monday is a recovery day, but my goal is to run 3.5 incline for 2.9 miles on Tuesday.

This goal is certainly important for my fitness and my goal to lose some weight while Chad is gone, but it also gives me something to work toward. I can focus on getting somewhere, doing something. When I run and start to feel tired, I picture Chad so proud of me. Last deployment, he bragged to all of his friends about my running a half-marathon and last year he got to be there on Valentine's Day to watch me cross the finish line. He was so proud of me.

While I have run 13.1 miles several times now, twice in races, I can't just pick up and go for a run with my husband. His speed is just too much for me. I can't even run fast enough for him to jog with me. His slowest mile time is minutes faster than I could run years ago. I have always wanted to be able to surprise him by being able to keep up with him. I don't know what level of fitness he might achieve during his deployment because of his being so busy, but my goal is to at least get to a point where I can keep up with him jogging comfortably.

I don't know how long I can keep up adding a tenth a week, but if I even can add .05 a week, I will still be able to run with him when he gets home. If I can keep up a tenth a week, I might be able to run with him when he is home for R&R. Working toward this "secret" goal (he doesn't know what I am doing), motivates me, makes me feel good and helps me deal with the long months ahead, because I will need it all to get where I want to go.

I have also lost 4 lbs. real not water weight pounds!! YAY!! Another plus to my running goal.

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