Running and Walking
Right Now All Walking…
This winter, after I finished the marathon in November, I gained weight. Ended up about 12 pounds above the weight I did that run in, which is 10-15 pounds too heavy for my healthy running weight, but last year was impossible to train because of the pandemic and no chance in hell I was getting close to a gym.
Surprise, there are a few 5K runs happening before the end of May and everything around here gets too hot until late September. So a few months back I started turning around the thinking, watching the eating, and have finally got the mind in the right place again. (Yes, took months. So now the weight is coming off.
For me, I gain all my weight around my stomach, like a ball strapped there. Family thing, sadly.
Might lose two pounds when I can finally get a haircut.
I hope to be down to my optimum weight and have built up miles by the middle of September. (Thankfully, I am vaccinated and Kris will get her second shot in a week and I can start heading to the gym not only for the miles, but for weight work.
But this Saturday was sure fun (except the getting up with three hours sleep part). We got to head out to a 5K. Lisa Silverthorne and I walked while Kris headed off doing her thing, which is running and not walking at all. 5K is a short morning run for her these days. Lisa and I saw a ton of jackrabbits of all sizes, including one that looked to be the size of large dog. And we even saw a Roadrunner. And I enjoyed the walk in the desert immensely, a lot because it felt like a start to really getting in running shape.
Everyone has to start somewhere.
Maybe the next one I’ll run a half mile or mile of it. Doesn’t matter. It’s exercise and I am going in the right direction, one step at a time, headed for the fall and half and full marathons, this time trained correctly.
First picture is of me and Lisa “sprinting” toward the finish line. Second is of Kris and her award.
3 Comments
Joseph Cleary
Nice job, Dean, Lisa, and Kris. Kris looks like she’s in amazing shape these days and it’s great to see her feeling so healthy.
I’ve been trying to adjust my mindset for exercise and weight loss to something more age-appropriate. My brain keeps trying to get me to act like I’m still in my twenties or thirties, but I’m almost fifty. I haven’t worked out since the gyms shut down, and I’ve put on a good fifteen pounds when I already had fifteen or twenty to lose. I’m thinking that a walk/run program might be the way to go. I should probably pick a goal race and just get to it,
dwsmith
Slow ramp is the way to do it. Just add a little total distance each week, and remember to give yourself rest or less-steps days. I have a fit-bit on my wrist (pretends to also be a watch) and that helps. It also tells me how many calories I have burned in a day (I have it set about 20 pounds under my current weight.)
The old saying to lose weight is eat less and move around more. I try to consume better food (more protein than sugar) and keep it at 1,000 calories under my burn number. Knocks a pound off about every four or five days, a nice safe pace. The key is to get to the 1,000 calories difference, which takes slowly upping walking distance over time and slowly bringing the intake down. I never allow myself to get hungry. Or eat after midnight, even though I am up until 3 or 4 in the morning.
As you said, a mind-set. Sounds so easy, but not and it will really help me when I can get back in the gym after Kris is done with her second shot. Have fun!
Kate Pavelle
Walking here as well, plus doing a lot of physical work in the yard and rehabbing a rental. I totally get the whole “will lose weight after a haircut” mindset. But don’t stop at just the head hair – there’s more! I’ve been know to do a leg wax just to maximize the whole effect. (Men do this too, especially triathletes, to cut down on drag in swims and during the bike section.)
YMMV 😉