At it again!

Here it is, January of 2013! I didn't get to do much running at all in 2012. In February of last year, I sprained my ankle pretty severely & it took some time before the Doc would even approve exercise walking on it. When she did, I began doing some pretty vigorous walking on it to prepare for my fall fit test (which I passed, with the walk, as I was exempted from the run) with just a little running mixed in to see how the foot & ankle would do. It did OK, but still had me concerned about whether it was healing right or not, so I waited to really get back into running.

Since my next fit test is coming up in March, it was time to start running again this month, so, the first week in January I began a 9 week Couch to 5k running plan. Today was week 2, day 2. So far, so good. Next entry I'll tell more about it.

On my way to half marathon in the fall!

New twist on the old run

It's been a couple of weeks since I updated my run blog. I've been running pretty regularly around 8-10 miles per week and about 3 times each week. It was a great afternoon to run, sunny and about 55F. Not bad for the end of November in Ohio. Nat went with me & we ran on the bike trail.

Today I completed week 6, day 3 of the 10K trainer but added a new twist to it: after some research into interval training I learned about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and an especially extreme version of it, Tabata interval training. Tabata is a very intense 4 minute workout that research has shown to be very effective in increasing both aerobic and anaerobic efficiency. It's also been shown to be quite effective in increasing fat burn for accelerated weight loss. After a warm-up, the Tabata interval is 20 seconds of VERY INTENSE cardio followed by 10 seconds of low intensity cardio or just resting. That 20+10 second interval is repeated 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. Those 4 minutes are said to be equivalent of at least 60 minutes of steady-state cardio.

So here's how I incorporated Tabata into my run for the first time today. Knowing that Tabata is at a high level of aerobic intensity & that I'm not quite ready for that yet, I set up an interval timer on my iPhone for 2 minutes warm up, 2 minutes of Tabata (4 - 20+10 intervals instead of 8), and 2 minutes cool down. I plan to increase that gradually to work myself up to being able to complete a full 4 minute Tabata. :-)

My regular run for today was to be 5m warm-up, 15m run, 3m walk, 5m run, and 5m cool down (total-33 minutes). After 5m of the first 15m run interval, I paused that app and started the Tabata itnerval timer. For the 20 secs of intense cardio, I sprinted as fast as I could. For the 10 secs low intensity, I walked. The 20 sec intervals seemed long and the 10 sec rest intervals seemed like they were only a couple of seconds long! By number 4 I was feeling pretty much beat. I even started to feel a little nauseous, but I made it. After a short cool down, I went back to the 10K run plan and resumed running at a medium intensity level. Following the 3m walk interval, I again paused the 10K app and did a second 2 minute Tabata. It felt worse doing it the second time, but I kept after it anyway. I again resumed the 10K app but instead of stopping at 5m of running for the second run interval, I ran about 10 minutes, then did my 5 minute cool down walk.

All told, I did 4 miles (bringing my weekly total mileage up to 10.8 miles) in 42:40 for an average mile time, including warm-up and cool-down walking, of 10:39/mile. I felt pretty good afterwards other than a moderate headache from dehydration just as I finished my run. My legs and feet were a little sore but nothing unusual or too bad. I did notice that it seems to have ramped up my metabolism for some time after my run. It took about 3 hours before my heart rate dropped significantly below 100 bpm. That would seem to line up with the research that showed Tabata to have an after-burn effect (I saw it labeled as EPOC, although I don't know what that stands for), keeping the fat burning furnace going for hours afterwards.

I like the idea/concept of Tabata intervals and plan to keep using it from 1-3 times per week either incorporated into my running or stand alone. As its coming on towards winter, there may be days when I won't be able to run, but I can do Tabata intervals inside using exercises like burpees, speed skaters, jump squats and jump knee tucks among many other choices.

I should mention that, along with the apps I'm using on my iPhone to help me with and track my running, I also use a Sportline multiple-function heart rate (HR) watch that I bought at Wal-mart. It can be used by itself or with a chest strap that gives a continuous HR reading. I've set it with a heart rate zone between 135 and 155 for my steady state cardio. I came up with those figures using the Karvonen HR formula which factors in resting HR along with age. The watch beeps to let me know when I'm outside that range. Of course when doing Tabata intervals my HR is well above that.

I currently have a resting HR of 49! Not bad. It's the same as my age! And I've lost 5 pounds from my max weight of 198 & I'm down to 193. Woohoo! Only about 30 more pounds to go.

Till next time...

Monday night run

The weather was great this evening so I ran on the track at the base. I did week 4 day 2 of the 10K Runner. Averaged 12:00 per mile for 2.5 miles. The maximum HR was 152. Pretty good run overall.

Oops! I messed that one up!

In my last entry I mentioned looking forward to the time change because I'd be able to run in the day light later in the day, but I obviously had that one figured wrong. Instead of staying light later, it gets dark earlier! Oh well, I guess I'll be doing more of my running on the road. For this evening, I'm going to be at the base so I'm planning to run on their 1/2 mile track.

Back on the road in my Bikila's

It was another beautiful evening to go running again with clear skies and about 48F. I hit the bike trail this time since I was able to get my run in while it was still light and I'm looking forward to the time change since I'll have more opportunities to get runs in while it's still light.

I did about 3 miles in 37:14 , or about 12 1/2 minutes a mile (including the warm-up walk). The plan called for today's run to include about 14 minutes of actual running. As it tunred out, by the halfway mark I still felt pretty good so I put in more running and less walking in the second half, & ran a total of 23 munites. I can definitely tell that I'm making progress towards some much longer runs. The maximum HR I saw on my HR monitor was 145, so I think my body is getting more efficient at this running which is making it easier to keep my HR in the desired target range.

Now for 2 days of rest for the ol' bod.

Thursday evening

I got home later this evening so didn't get my run in until after 2030. I ran on the road since it was after dark. It was a beautiful evening to be out running, a little breezy, but not bad with an air temperature just above 50F. I ran week 3, day 3 of the 10K Runner plan (it's setup to be run 3 days a week) with just 1.5 minutes of extra running thrown in for good measure. The actual total time running with walks dispersed in between was 11.5 minutes. The total time out-30:20.

In order to increase the calorie & fat burning on my runs as well as reduce the generation of lactic acid, I'm working on keeping my maximum heart rate while running somewhere in between 135 & 150 BPM. During the walks my HR quite naturally drops to between 125 & 130 BPM. In order to keep the max down below 150, I slowed my pace down some while maintaining a cadence of around 180.

The slower pace meant only covering 2.3 miles in that 30:20 for an average mile pace of 13:10 including the 5m of warm-up & 3.5m of cool down.

I'm not having any knee, leg, ankle, or foot problems with my running. Everything feels pretty good overall. Not bad for a person that is getting awful close to 50 & is overweight.

Looking forward to my next run...

Vibram FiveFingers Bikila LS

 

The Coolest Shoes! I love running in them!