Today's Workout (2-22-2011)

Hey Everyone,

Today we had a short workout. We worked on increasing stamina which is need for running distances. I jogged a 3 minute time period followed by a 3 minute cool down, then I jogged a 5 minute time period followed by a 3 minute cool down, then I had a little slower pace for my 3 minute jog before a light cool down mix of walking and slow jogging. I felt I could have kept going at my pace for my last 3 minute run but I really want to find my race pace. Either way my times amounted to 8 - 9 & 1/2 minute miles so as Emily told me, that's a great pace. I am blessed to be in a situation where I get to have so much one on one time with my trainer. She is very knowledgable and is understanding of my goals and where I want to be. We did our stretching exercises at the end which is very important when factoring the distance that we covered. I am already looking forward to Thursday's workout.
-Brian

2/19 Workout

Today was a crisp cool day and I was able to get another workout done outdoors. It was a little bit of a pain hoping over ice patchs or jumping water puddles but I did manage to survive. Emily sent an e-mail to all of us yesterday with some weekend workout instructions which were the same as what we did on Thursday. She advised to do a warm up walk for 5 minutes before doing a 90 second jog. After that we were told to walk for 90 seconds and then jog for 3 minutes before walking for 3 minutes. We were then supposed to repeat the process. I decided to try and eliminate part of my cool down period by only having 90 seconds breaks in between my jogs rather than 3 minutes after the 3 minute jog. I did this because I am planning on walking during the 5k and I want to start preparing to jog with out relying on breaks. It was nice jogging while I listened to my mp3 player (yes, I know I don't own an Ipod.) I felt very good with how I did and feel like I am well on my way to finishing a 5k.

2/17 Workout

Todays workout can be compared to a circus.....it was INTENSE. We started with a 5 minute walk. We then jogged for 90 seconds and then walked for about a min then jogged 3 minutes. We did that twice before doing a cool down walk and some stretching. Michelle came today and was nursing an injury so Emily spent the jogging time with her. I think Michelle is showing tremendous heart and determination by coming to train even though she's hurt. It proves how committed to her goals she truely is. I felt that the jogging went fairly well but I was disappointed in myself for not being able to run as quickly during the second half of the work out as I did in the first. I hope I am able to stay consistant with my pace when I run the 5k, still I think I did real well and am making progress so I can be proud of that. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Hopefully I can get two or three workouts in before Tuesday.

Day after Valentine's Day Workout

Yesterday I had a workout that I felt really good about. I had a good walking warm up and then did 4 walks and 4 jogs. The walks were 2 min. 40 seconds and the jogs were 1 min. 20 seconds. I felt like I kept a steady pace going through out all those and then I did a lap on my own. My time for the lap was 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Emily and I then walked for about half a lap and then I did another lap in 2 minutes and 35 seconds. Emily said my time was really consistant which was what we were going for. I felt amazing before, during, and after the workout. Emily said that after this week we'll be kicking it into a new gear so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. Until then Happy Exercising!

Sunday Funday

Today the weather was nice enough that I was able to run outside. I didn't enjoy having to just around puddles or breathing in cold air, but it was nice to be outside. I did the same workout I did with Emily on Thursday where I walked two minutes and forty five seconds and then jogged a minute and fifteen seconds. I did that six times before walking back to my apartment. I didn't feel like it was my best performance. I don't know if it was because I ran in my street shoes rather than my running shoes or just breathing in cold air. I hope to improve upon my times and better myself. Six weeks until I run my 5k. I'm getting excited to do this and hope that I can improve myself between now and then. My body feels pretty good although I think I'm gonna need to do some more stretching. I can't wait for what this upcoming week is going to bring. To quote the Zach Brown Band "Life is Good Today."

Time to step it up!

Wow, I can't believe I completed my second week with Emily as my trainer. Only six more to go. Today, I was the only person that came to the Thursday workout so that meant I got to work one on one with her again. I like that, it gives her time to evaluate me, as well as being able to have somebody to talk to. Before we started, we talked about nutrition and the importance of eating right. That is important for everyone to do whether you are training for a race or not. We walked/jogged around the outer concourse of the unidome today. We did a warmup walk and then we did 1 walk of 2 min. 45 seconds followed by 1 jog of 75 seconds. We did that 5 times (slowly building up endurance.) Once we finished our 5th jog she told me to go around the outer concourse by myself once while she timed me. I finished in under 4 minutes, which was better than any of her joggers did yesterday. That made me feel pretty good, although I expect more out of myself so I still have a lot of improvement left to make. We completed our workout by stretching and that ended that. She told me to do that exercise once by myself this weekend and to workout for a half hour or so on an exercise bike, stairmaster, or other piece of exercise equipment once this weekend. Another fun workout.

Tuesday's Workout

Hey all,

I apologize for not putting this up sooner, my class schedule has been really crazy. On Tuesday I worked out with my trainer Emily as well as a girl named Michelle. Michelle is a senior majoring in pre-nursing. She seemed pretty cool. Our workout was pretty simple, we walked around the outer edge of the unidome track. They had the pit open for the long jump, so I had to avoid walking in sand which was a minor inconveince. We then walked 2 minutes 50 seconds and then jogged for 70 seconds. We did this 6 times total. Towards the last 2 or 3 I started getting far ahead of Michelle and Emily. When I slowed down and waited for them, Emily told me just to go on ahead and stop when they did. I felt bad because I wasn't trying to show Michelle up on her first day, but at the same time I have to look out for me and run my race. Michelle did very well for her first time. She seems determined to finish the 5k and I feel that she will get alot out of this course. After we finished our last 70 second jog, we walked around the track once more and then did some stretching before we ended it for the day. It sounds like in todays session Michelle won't make it so I'll be working one on one with Emily. Hopefully, I can improve my form and help me out.

Well I tried

Well, today was the first day I tried jogging since I had gotten sick on Wednesday. It went alright but not as well as I would have hoped. My body showed signs that it wasn't quite at 100% yet. I was able to walk one lap and jog one lap around the UNIdome arena 3 times. I was hoping for 4 but my body just wouldn't let me. Hopefully tomorrow or Monday my body will be 100% healed and I can impress my trainer Emily on Tuesday. Here's hoping! On an unrelated note, I watched the first 10 minutes of Saturday Night Live Tonight and it was good to see Jon Lovitz, Mike Myers, and Dana Carvey all back on the set. It would have been nice to have seen Chris Farley and Phil Hartman as well but they were unable to appear for obvious reasons.

Sick as a dog

Couldn't go to training yesterday due to being sick. I had to go to student health (student death) and meet with a doctor. It wasn't to serious, he said I had a virus and it would have been much worse if I hadn't gotten my flu shot a week or two ago. Last night my body felt like it was burning up, but today I feel better. I'll pry just walk today as a precautionary, but hopefully I can get the workout that I had planned to do on Thursday done on Saturday or Sunday. I talked to Emily via e-mail and it sounds like I need to walk 2 min. 50 seconds and the jog 1 min. 10 seconds. I need to do that 4 times followed by a cooldown walk and the some stretching.

About me (long version)

Well, I figured I tell the universe a little bit about myself, my background, and my beliefs when it comes to exercising and how I got to where I am today. I was raised on a corn and soybean farm in a small town called Rockwell City. My parents are hard working people who are still on the farm today. I was involved in athletics up through high school although I didn't have very much athletic ability. Once I entered college, I focused on getting involved in various clubs and organizations and quit making time to work out. The day I graduated from Iowa State University I weighed 225 lbs. I could not believe how much weight I had gained since high school where I weighed 160 lbs the day I graduated. Due to the rough economy, I wasn't able to find a job and so I spent 4 months living with my parents (yes I was 225lbs, unemployed, and living with my parents...I was a real winner) however during that time I started walking every day and got my weight down to under 200 lbs. However, in May I took a job that was not a good fit for me. I was stuck at a desk all day plugging data into a computer. Some people may consider that a career, but it wasn't for me. Before to long the company decided to eliminate my position, and I was back searching for a job. Between the stress of having a job I didn't enjoy and eventually losing that job I gained back about 15 of the pounds I had lost. However, during that time I made the decision to go back to school to get my teaching certificate (youth of America is in my hands.) That new years eve I decided to make a New Year's Resolution to lose weight. I started exercising, but the turning point came after school started when I turned on the T.V. and came across the T.V. show The Biggest Loser on NBC. I saw people who had let their weight get out of control for several years, and had been told by doctors that if they didn't get their weight under control they would be dead in a matter of years. Because of this, they were in the gym working out each and every day under the guidance of trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels. Those people inspired me in two ways. First, they showed me that no matter how big you are, it's never to late to start working out. Secondly, it showed me what could happen to me if I didn't get control over my weight. I started walking a couple miles every day and watching what I ate. I don't count calories, but I cut back on the pop, beer, pizza, fried chicken, and fast food (except subway). I started eating more fruits, lean meats, and drinking more water and fruit juice. I am proud to say that I still practice these good habits and have gotten my weight down to under 185 lbs. Now, I have decided to push myself to a new level and starting training for various running events beginning with the Fool's Run 5k which will be held April 2nd here in Cedar Falls, IA. As I stated in yesterday's blog, I hope to turn this into being able to run longer distances (such as a half and eventually full marathon)

Day one of 5k training

Hey all,

Today I did my first day of the training for my first ever 5k. I started the day out by buying saucony running shoes. They felt really light weight so they should hold up all right. The man who assisted me at Scheels had ran a few marathons so I felt like he knew what he was talking about. Shortly after getting my new kicks I went to the WRC (wellness recreation center) to start my first day of training.

The class I enrolled in is going to be 8 weeks long, and by the end of it I should be able to run a 5k without to much trouble. I met the gal who will be teaching the class. Her name is Emily and she seems pretty nice. She is a senior majoring in exercise science and is teaching two sections of the class. One meets M/W at 5:15 and the other meets T/Th at noon. I was the only person in our class today and I hope it stays like that because I enjoy the one on one attention.

Class started out by meeting to discuss my goals for the class. Ultimately I hope to be able to finish this 5k without any difficulties (basically I don't want anyone to have to give me CPR during or immediately after this race.) I also hope to finish in the top 40% of all those who run it. My long term goals are to be able to turn this into being able to run longer distances. I hope to complete a 1/2 marathon in September and in a year or two I hope to complete a full marathon. After talking goals, she taught me about proper running technique. One thing I had been doing wrong was I was looking at my feet alot. When you run you are supposed to look straight ahead. (Although if you're running outside you can look side to side a little bit) Also, Emily gave me some readings to do in order to learn more about proper running technique.

Once she was done teaching me about technique we went to the unidome to do a light jog. We started out by walking at a "normal" pace. I always thought I walked quickly, but this gal walked a little quicker than I did, but it wasn't a struggle to keep up. After a warm-up lap, we walked for 3 minutes and then jogged for a minute. We did this twice on the unidome track before we went upstairs and ran on the outer concourse. We did the 3 minute walk 1 minute jog twice more. All four times that I jogged I felt really good. We ended by walking around the track once more as a cool down period before we did some slight stretching to end our workout.

All in all it was a great workout. I know it doesn't seem like much but even the longest journeys begin with a single step.