Day 4 and Running

I have to post this earlier than I usually do, because tonight I'm going to see the last Twilight Movie!  I can't wait to see it, but as always I'm apprehensive as to how good it is.  Let's hope it's a good one!

Today I'm not feeling so hot, I got a flu shot on Tuesday and I woke up this morning with my arm throbbing and I have been achy all day.  I'm not expecting to get full blown flu, but today hasn't been very fun.  That didn't stop me from getting my run in this morning.  Actually I didn't start feeling like crap until this afternoon.

This morning, other than my arm I was feeling okay, so I got out there with my double jogger and did 5.5 miles.  It's funny how so many people think it is crazy to run even if I tell them I ran a couple of miles.  They all say the same thing, "Oh, I could never do that!".  But what's funny is that I used to be like that.  If you knew me in High School you would know that I was just a Chorus nerd who used to tell people it was against my religion to run.  I absolutely hated the idea of running, not that I had given it a try, I had already made up my mind that I hated.  Although internally I used to dream that I was this amazing athlete who was too afraid of failure to give any kind of sports a try. 

That all changed when I married Theo, who was way into fitness.  He still struggles with weight management like I do, but the difference is that he wasn't afraid to get out there and pound the pavement, or go to a gym to pump some iron.  I would tag along with him and he showed me the ropes.  My love for weight training began to develop, but I still had a hard time getting out there and running.  Until my Dad introduced us to a program called Body For Life.  The food was decent, (and you were allowed a free day to pig out) and the weights was easy enough, but it wasn't until I did this cardio program did I really begin my passion for running.  Here's the concept, you don't have to do a ton of cardio to burn calories, if you practice interval training you burn the same amount of calories, if not more, in less amount of time.  My cardio days were only 20 minutes, that's it.  And I started off slow, and I mean s...l....o....w.  Here is the breakdown:

Minute                  Speed
1                            3.0
2                            3.0
3                            3.5
4                            4.0
5                            4.5
6                            5.0
7                            3.5
8                            4.0
9                            4.5
10                          5.0
11                          3.5
12                          4.0
13                          4.5
14                          5.0
15                          3.5
16                          4.0
17                          4.5
18                          5.0
19                          5.5
20                          2.5

Obviously I did this on a treadmill so I could keep track of the exact speed.  I couldn't believe how quickly I advanced in speed.  Soon my speed wasn't even making me winded.  Now my top speed is 6.5 with a constant incline of a 2 on my treadmill, and it makes a world of difference in my running.  I can tell it has really been helpful in my training as I am trying to get faster and go longer.  So my advice to anyone wanting to run, or those who think they can't do it, just start small and build on that, and before you know it you'll be running for miles and miles!

Here is my report for Day 4 of the Accountability Project:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water with lemon and honey
Breakfast:
Apple
Activia
Post-Workout:
1 cup Coconut Milk
1 scoop Chocolate Whey Protein
Lunch:
1/2 grapefruit
Salad
2 boiled eggs
Chicken
Low Fat Dressing
Snack:
Diet Soda
1/4 piece of Turkey Bacon (doesn't that sound silly!  I was at Costco and it was from those food peddlers.  I passed up a Cream Puff!)
Dried Coconut pieces
Dinner:
Salmon
Stir fry veggies

Workout Routine:
5.5 mile run

I think that is going to be it, I don't plan on eating anything else, but I guess if I do I'll add it on to tomorrow's report.