My Journey With Weight Loss – So, How Is Training Going?

Ok, weather Karma, time to give us a break. I woke up this morning to find it had snowed last night and once again it was freezing cold. Despite the fact that it was less than 2 millimeters and it likely will melt this afternoon I still went out and shoveled the walkway, sidewalk and around my brother’s vehicle. This is all because with his prosthetic he is at a high risk of slipping and falling so if I don’t clear the walk to his vehicle for him he is stuck in the house. I then proceeded to spread some melting salt everywhere. This was not what I had in mind when I planned my strength exercises for this morning.

As the weather has been so cold other than walking the dog (and trust me I make her move pretty quickly during those walks) I have not been venturing outside. Instead I have been doing runs on the dreaded treadmill (seriously I hate that thing and find running on it extremely boring) as I don’t want to lose momentum. But yesterday was a Fartleks day and it just isn’t possible for me to do those on the treadmill. So, up I got and hit the treadmill by 6am to do a 6k run. Then it was walk the dog for a few k followed by leading a walk with my seniors group. After lunch I decided the temperature was decent enough so got in the training I really wanted to accomplish for the day. Yep, I still managed to pull everything off.

Today was my long run and the thought of 18k on the treadmill was nearly killing me however I was resigned to it. This was simply reinforced by the snow from last night. I picked out a movie on my iPad that would last 2hrs 45mins (including credits) and thought that should get me to 18k (normally I count blocks to plan my long run). I started out at a comfortable pace and tried everything I could to focus on the movie. I willed myself to avoid at all costs checking the time on my Fitbit and just focus on taking one step at a time. My husband Facetimed me at one point and noted I was ‘glistening’ (read, really sweaty). I replied of course I am, I’ve been running for 2 hours! You bet I made it through that run and when I finished I had already reached all my Fitbit training goals for the day.

I should note, I did realize on today’s run when I was trying to find things to distract myself that I no longer have to think about things like keeping my back straight or my abs tight, it is all just 2nd nature to me now.

Overall, my training is going great. I have actually kicked things up a notch and am ensuring I do at least 2.5 hours of walking/running each day and that I get in a minimum of 20,000 steps. No, I don’t feel I am pushing myself too far, before I started running I was doing even more time and steps, this is just to help get me to the level I want to be within the next few months.

Bottom line, I am just going to keep carefully doing what I am doing so that I improve. That reminds me, time to do a 30 minute stroll on the treadmill.