Exercise, physical fitness, stuff that makes you sweat
This morning, I was a grader for my National Guard’s annual physical fitness test. I took my own test last month and scored a 273 out of 300. Today, I took the scores down for the soldiers taking their own tests.
It’s days like this that I’m glad I’m fit. I am leading from the front, and by example. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
This was a much shorter run and at a slower pace as I get ready for my APFT on Saturday. For the first quarter of a mile, I tried the new running technique which was a mistake. My calves started hurting and they ached for the rest of the run. I hope this doesn’t effect my run time on Saturday. I should have stuck with my plan to not change anything until after the run, but I was too eager to see if it could perhaps make me faster. Instead, it may end up slowing me down. I’m hoping two days of resting the muscles is enough for me to not experience any pain for a full-effort run on Saturday morning.
I started with 75 push ups. Again, not max-max effort, but I’m hoping for 80 on Saturday morning. Not that I need to go that high, but I want the guys to know that I can do the true max, not just the max for my age group. Things like that matter to soldiers.
I now begin my pre-APFT break. I will post on Saturday as soon as I can after my APFT to report on how I did. I’m hoping for 61 sit ups in two minutes, 61 push ups in two minutes, and a run close to 16 minutes (or less). As for weight, I’m well under my max, so that’s not even a remote concern at this point for the first time in a very, very long time.
This is a big week for me. As a new National Guard soldier, I will be taking my first APFT, or Annual Physical Fitness Test. Since I’m an old guy, the standards are a little lower for me, but basically I need to do 61 sit ups and 61 push ups in 2 minutes and complete the 2 mile run in under 19:40. Well, as of my last few runs, I was completing the run closer to 16:30, so I think I’m going to be in good shape. As for my weight, I’m a good 6 lbs under my max, so even there, I’m in good shape. My body fat is around 15%, well under the maximum allowable for my height/weight.
This week, my workouts will be a little different. I will likely go for 3-3.5 miles today (weather willing) and then do a slow run on Wednesday; like a 3 mile run. I’ll take off Thursday and Friday to have my muscles be as fresh and ready as possible on Saturday morning.
I’m actually looking forward to the APFT which is something I never did in the Marines. I’m a much more active runner now than I was as a Marine, and I actually run for fun. I never thought I’d be a person who enjoys running, but I am.
Today’s run was actually really quite nice. I wasn’t really in the mood to run or exercise, but I decided to just go out and do it anyway. What’s 30 minutes out of my day to stay fit anyway, right? The temperature outside was perfect; not too hot, not too cold, and not too humid. I did my 70 push ups and then hit the pavement. My pace average was pretty decent. Not sub-9’s yet, but I figure I’ll be back there again soon enough. I did push it, but not too hard. I pushed just hard enough to get sub 9:30’s.
My next run will likely be sometime Saturday. Not sure exactly when, but most likely in the afternoon. Hopefully, it’ll be nice out as well.
I had my first run since returning from vacation in Spain. My wife asked me if I had a good run, and I answered her by saying, “Not really, but it had to be done.” Now, don’t get me wrong. I do enjoy running, but today’s run wasn’t pleasant. It was hard work and it was painful at times. I didn’t understand why until after my run when I looked at my stats.
The first half mile, I ran hard because I wanted to beat the 10 minute mile pace. Well, I guess I was a little over-zealous, because my first half-mile pace was an 8:34/mile pace. My second half-mile was at a 9:17/mile pace, and I kept it under a 10 minute/mile for the first two miles. Only the last mile went over by a little bit, but that was to be expected after the lack of running as much as I normally do in the last two weeks.
Overall, I am happy with the average pace being under 10 minutes/mile, though. That did make me happy. Also, I pushed myself to do 65 push ups. Well, not really pushed myself, but I was able to do them without much trouble. I could have pushed to 70 or even 75, but I figured there’s no sense in causing myself arm pain tomorrow. Besides, I’m already over the required 60 push ups in two minutes for my Army APFT, so at this point, I’m working on gravy.
I’ve yet to start my sit ups. I need to do that before my next run on Wednesday. I have my first APFT in April, and I need to do my very best. I want to show the soldiers I’ll be working with that I’m ready for the tasks at hand, and that I take this seriously.
After all is said and done, I’m glad to be back to my routine. My legs felt pretty good, and although I’m a bit tired, I’m more relaxed having run. I actually am already looking forward to my next run. There are things I’ll do a little different (like not start off so blazing fast). I need to even my pace a bit more on my runs.
Although I planned on running more while in Spain, I was only able to get in two runs in the 12 days I was on vacation. This was my second run. My first run in Spain was in Barcelona, and this run was in Madrid’s Parque del Retiro. I’m glad I got out there and ran, but I do with I ran more often.
With that said, the run was actually pretty decent. I had to work pretty hard running up some hills, but that was a good thing. My breathing was okay, and my legs felt pretty good, too. My pace was much slower, though, due to the altitude. I never realized how high Madrid was! All the walking we’ve been doing in Spain made sure my legs were still strong, though. I could definitely feel the lack of cardio coupled with the altitude, though.
My push ups definitely suffered: I’m down to doing 60 instead of my usual 80. No worries, though: I’ll bring those numbers back up over the coming weeks.
I am happy that I ran on vacation, even if it wasn’t as much as I had planned. I made it a priority, and I stuck to it. It was also nice to run in such beautiful places. I will always treasure the memory of running in these locations, and I hope to be able to do so more in the future.
Today was an interesting run. I set out to take my time and have a comfortable run. I also set out to do over 4 miles, which I did. What surprised me was my pace: 9:34. This is within my happy range. I am able to consistently run within the 9:30’s, which is good for a comfortable slow run. When I kick it up, I can hit sub-9’s, which is my PRT goal (that’s what they call PFT’s in the Army/National Guard).
As for push ups, I did 70 and called it good. I could have knocked out the last 10, but I wasn’t feeling it. The day was long and a little stressful, so I felt I could use an easy workout day. Oddly, running 4.13 miles felt good, and the last mile was really very pleasant.
I’m getting the hang of this running thing more and more. I can’t say I love it when I start a run, but by the end of it, it’s actually pretty nice, and when I finish? Even better. It’s a great sense of accomplishment, and the stress or anxious feelings I’ve carried with me for the day all melt away. After a nice hot shower and then dinner, all is good with the world.
The other weekend, I put up shelves in our master closet for Sherry’s shoes. I had to measure, cut shelves, and then mount them in the closet. This required a lot of going back and forth, bending down, holding up a drill, and a lot of minor physical activity. When I was almost done, Sherry noted that I wasn’t sweating, out of breath, or needing to take breaks from holding the drill up. I hadn’t realized it, but this was the first time in as long as I could remember that I was able to do basic maintenance or construction without feeling like I was going to die afterward. What changed?
I hated running. I hated exercise. I hated anything that had to do with exerting myself to the point of sweating. The problem was that even getting a screwdriver out to put in a shelf or to fix something simple would cause me to sweat and get out of breath. Seriously, it was that bad. Something had to change.
I began running on September 1 of 2016. It was the one year anniversary of my healthy lifestyle, and by that point, I’d lost 110 lbs. I wasn’t running to lose more weight. Rather, I was interested in fitness. It was all well and good to be lighter by almost 1/2, but my heart needed to get stronger. So I set out doing it with the following plan:
Run day – off day – run day – off day – run day – off day – off day
That turned out to be a M-W-F run days with Sa-Su off. When life would get in the way (as it often can) and made me skip a run day, then that would become my “Weekend” and I would continue as if I’d just passed a weekend. So, it could turn into a M-Th-Sa run week, or a Tu-Thu-Sa run week, depending on how things went. Either way, I started with three runs a week.
My first run started with a 20-25 minute jog. I didn’t set out to run hard or fast, just to complete the run without stopping. I did it, and my first run was in the record books, as they say. My main goal was to finish. This had a much larger effect on me than I thought it would. It proved to me that I can set my mind to it and get through it. Was I uncomfortable? A little bit, but it wasn’t horrible. I wasn’t nearly as out of breath as I thought I would be, and the discomfort was trivial compared to what my mind had built it up to over the years.
I then set out to run a little further and a little faster with every run. I vowed to never cut one short unless I felt the bad pain. What I mean by that is that there is good pain and bad pain. Good pain is the muscle burn you get after exerting yourself. Bad pain is a pulled muscle or ligament. It’s pretty easy to tell between the two; one is just discomfort and the other indicates a serious problem.
With each run, I also would gauge how I felt (I still do this) and increase the distance if I felt good or cut it a little shorter at the turn-arounds if I was having a hard time with it. More often than not, I end up increasing the distance from what I set out to run. It’s funny; I always end up feeling better once I start than at the beginning of the run.
I also do push ups before every run. I started with 10 and I’m up to between 70 and 75 right now. It really gets my heart pumping and gets me ready for the run. I don’t do any stretching or warm-ups before my run as many studies have shown that most injuries in runners is caused by stretching before a run.
With this day on/day off schedule I run, I’ve been able to make steady progress and kept myself from over-exerting myself. I’m 49, and my muscles take a little longer to recover than they did when I was 19 or even 29. I know people my age and even older who exercise daily, but I just can’t do that. I’m not willing to live in constant muscle burn. I don’t work a different part of my body every day: I’m a runner who does push ups and very soon will add sit ups to the routine. I currently don’t feel the need for weight training although I am looking into some self defense training that is physically intense. No decisions have been made yet, but we’ll see. Surprise, Sherry!
My plan is simple and anyone can do it. If you do it the way I did it, you won’t have shin splints or excessive muscle pain after your runs. I actually look forward to my runs now, and I find that I do much better on my runs when I pump myself up psychologically beforehand. Remember, keep an open mind, get excited, and if you find you can’t get excited about a run, fake it. Seriously, just pretend you’re going to enjoy it. Something strange will happen: you actually might find yourself smiling during a run. It happens to me all the time now, and I never thought that was possible. Ever.
I’m grinning like an idiot because I achieved one of my big goals in running: I had an average pace tonight in 3+ miles of 8:57!!! My first half mile split was 8:08, second half mile split was 9:00, and the third split was 8:42. From there, I had TWO 9:06 minute half miles followed by the slowest (ha!) which was a 9:30. All in all, it was a hard run as I pushed myself to keep my pace up, but it was well worth it! I’ve been wanting to hit sub-9’s, and I did it!
As for push up, I also hit a new personal best: 80! Once again, these were easy and without really pushing or straining. I could do more possibly, but I am really happy to be progressing without feeling spent afterward.
As for post-run, I do feel a bit tired in my leg muscles, but it’s not any worse than usual. Again, I didn’t really go all-out, but I did keep myself right at the top end of my comfort level and didn’t push past it.
I feel great. This is a huge accomplishment for me. I ran an actual USMC run pace for the entire run. Had this been a PFT run, I’d have done it in 26:35 which would have been a pass for me when I was 31. Now at 49, it’s actually a decent time! I’m hoping to hit low 8’s by summer. I don’t know if I’ll get into the 7’s, but being in the 8’s is a happy place for me and soundly puts me into the category of “Runner.” I never thought that would be me, yet I’m happy to be here. Ecstatic, truth be told.
Last Friday, I had more personal bests in the first half-mile pace and overall pace: 9:10! I’m SO CLOSE to getting sub-9’s, I can taste it! I also discovered something again on this run. As I ran, I set a breathing pace (I know it sounds weird; stick with me) and whenever I found that I was getting too much oxygen, I would run harder to match the oxygen intake to output. It really worked to keep me going fast!
As I run, I tend to forget to keep focus on either my pace, my breathing, or sometimes even both. I feel like I now have a decent grasp on how to keep myself going as fast as I physically can without going past a certain “You’re going to hurt yourself” barrier. I also found a small lake I can run around that keeps me safely away from streets and even sidewalks where kids play. It’s a little boring running in circles, but it helps me keep the pace up and with my headphones on, I can listen to a podcast or some music in safety.
I’m looking forward to today’s run. After Friday’s run, my legs felt tired. Not too tired, but definitely a post-workout kind of feel. They were still a bit sore yesterday as well. Today, they feel ready to go, and I’m ready to stretch ’em out and let ’em loose!
In the push ups department, I stuck at 70 again. I may go to 75 today; we’ll see. But 70 is my new minimum. I feel pretty good about that.
PaleoMarine's Fitness Blog 