Author: PaleoMarine

Today was a good day. I started by hitting 90 push ups for the first time! I felt good, and I didn’t have to struggle to get there! Brendon got to 20 which is a new high for him as well! We had a quick motivation chat and then waited for GPS to synchronize on his watch (my Garmin Fenix 3 HR is faster at syncing) and we hit the pavement.

This was a good run. I started off a little slow due to the music playlist being wrong, but I got it figured out within the first 1/8 of a mile and was able to speed it back up. I set out to run a full 30 minutes regardless of distance, and I met that goal. My pace was okay, but still off from the faster paces I was running before I started helping Brendon run. On this run, he told me to go off on my own while we both circled the same track. I took him up on it so I could get a solid run in.

As for Brendon, he did 2.25 miles and his pace was better by 40 seconds per mile over last week. I’m proud of the effort he’s putting into it, and how hard he’s working. He really wants to get into shape and start matching my pace. I’m looking forward to when he can get past me.

Cinco de Mayo Run! I wasn’t going to run today because I have drill this weekend and we were supposed to be doing unit PT and I wanted to be as fresh as possible. However, Brendon (my son) really wanted to run, and he really wanted me to run it with him. So, out I went. We started with our push ups, and I did 70 of them without effort. Again, I could have done more, but I didn’t want to wear out my arms before drill. Brendon did his push ups, and then we hit the pavement.

After a lap (about a quarter of a mile), Brendon told me to go ahead and run at my pace and he would run at his. I said okay and ran it out at my pace. I got done with a pretty decent time considering my first quarter mile was very slow. I ended up with 3.2 miles at an 8:50/mile pace. It’s not my fastest, but considering the blister on my left heel bled through my sock and onto my shoes, I did okay.

This was both a good and difficult run. It was good in that my pace felt okay; not my fastest, but it was solid. The bad was that the sock on my left foot crept down below the heel of the shoe which resulted in an open blister on the back of my heel. It is now quite sore, and I’m sure it will bother me for my next few runs.

I started with 70 push ups and hit the track around the lake. It was pretty hot and very humid out, but overall, decent run. I stopped at 3.2 miles which is what I consider to be my new minimum run distance. I’d like to hit 4+ on my runs, but for some reason (I think it’s the heat), 3.2 seems to be about right for distance right now. Oh well; I have goals!

Oh. My. Gosh. It was hot out there. I started with 70 push ups and then hit the pavement. It was also a difficult run for me, as I’ve not run more than 2 miles in a stretch for the past week. Today, I went to 3.2 miles for my first run, and I did .9 miles afterward at a slower pace with my son. I had to stop as I was experiencing some strange knee pain in my left knee on the second run, but I’m proud of my son as he kept running to his 1.5 miles. We walked around the small lake a few times afterward before heading in.

I’m happy with 4.2 miles for the day’s total. My pace for the first 3.2 was slower than my average by about 30 seconds which was due to a strange pain in my right knee cap. It went away after the first half mile and felt better for the rest of the first run, but I couldn’t get my pace any faster due to the heat. I did have three dried apricots before my run, but I didn’t feel any boost from the extra sugar in my bloodstream.

I’m going to take the following day off and run again on Wednesday (weather permitting). Our exercise cycle gets delivered on Tuesday which is what I’ll use on the days it’s raining or just too darned hot out there to keep my cardio going. Heck, I may add it as a low impact cardio exercise on my running off-days. We’ll see how that goes.

Today was a bit tougher on me, and my son made some serious headway in his progress as well. We started with push ups. Brendon did 10, while I started with 80. We then hit the pavement and set out for his mile and a half at a 11:30/mile pace. We kept it up, and after he was done with his mile and a half, I reset my Garmin Fenix 3 HR and set out on a two-three mile run at my pace. I got around the lake a few laps at about an 8:30/mile pace when Brendon decided to join me for a lap. To his credit, he kept up, made sure his shoulders were back and he moved his arms properly, and he was careful with his breathing. Once the lap was done (it’s a quarter of a mile), he went back to his walking, but I was impressed with his desire to keep up and get a little more in.

My solo run ended up being a two-mile run instead of a three-mile due to the heat, but I still feel like I got a good workout, and my pace ended up with being around an 8:38/mile average for the two miles. I’m happy with anything sub-9, so there’s that.

My next run will be Monday, and I’m looking forward to it!

I’m so very proud of the guy in the picture with me. That’s my son. He’s 22, and he’s gotten overweight and out of shape. He decided last week to go Paleo like his mom and dad, and today, he began running. We did a solid mile and a half and then we walked the rest out. It was a lot for him, but he did it. He never quit, and never complained. He also started with 5 push ups. I started with 80 (which felt surprisingly good). We kept the pace at an 11:30/mile, or so, which turned out to be good for him.

Since it was so hot out, I decided to not do any additional workout since I expected to run the following day. This didn’t happen due to many things including work, work, and more work, but I did end up getting in more running this week.

This was my first post-APFT run, and I wanted to run fast and hard and ended up doing pretty darned well. While I didn’t set any new records (and I really didn’t expect to), I did end up surprising myself with a great third-mile pace! It was faster than my first or second miles! For 3.2 miles, I ended up with a 8:34/mile pace which is pretty decent.

I actually learned something today. When I was running, I started pushing back on my legs to where I could feel my feet making contact with the ground just a little longer. This made me noticeably faster. I only figured this out on the last quarter mile of my second mile and I used this technique for the last mile and a quarter and looking at the numbers afterward, it definitely helped. I’m still not using a proper step/run, but with extending the power portion of my step did make me have a reduced heel strike. I will continue to work on this in the coming runs.

My goal is to bring my pace down to 7:15/mile at max effort for my next APFT. I know I won’t get there quickly, but I have a year to train to get to that point. It’d be nice to be at the front of the group next year and really surprise everyone. Heck, they were plenty surprised as it was. As an older guy, it felt great coming in before all these young soldiers. It just goes to show that you’re only as old as you allow yourself to be.

As for push ups, I stuck with 60 today. I am still slightly sore from the 80 push ups and 51 sit ups on Saturday, so I didn’t want to push myself too hard. I’ll try for 70 on Wednesday (my next scheduled PT day).

Otherwise, I feel great. No, seriously: even after the run, I don’t feel exhausted or sore. I just feel amazing. If this is what it feels like to finally be fit, I can’t believe I’ve missed out on this for so long. I thought this was what being young felt like. I was wrong.