Day 71: Week in Review

"Major Tom" got me through this week's rough patches.

Week 1 is complete. I've kind of been all over the place, which has led me to believe I need more of a plan.

First, the stats:

Wednesday: 3.3 miles, 44:55 minutes

On Wednesday, as I went on my first full-fledged run since I embarked on this warrior quest, I started to wonder: Can I actually even run 3.23 miles, let alone 3.23 miles filled with death-defying obstacles? I've been running casually for a while, but I never really log how many miles I run, and I don't run terribly fast (OK, I'm a slug). I'm often pressed for time by familial obligations, so I usually just crank up my DVR'd Real Housewives of New Jersey or put my iPod on and start running without ever really looking at the numbers. When the show's over or my playlist is done, my run's over.

So: My goal was simply to jog for 3.23 miles on the treadmill (sorry, still way too hot to head outside). I didn't want to discourage myself by failing at my simulated 5K by sprinting and running out of gas, so I did the first mile at a painfully slow 4.5, which I then cranked up to a still-leisurely 5.0 for the next mile, then back down to 4.5 for the remainder of the run. It was somewhat encouraging to me that I could at least finish that distance, even though it took me an excruciatingly long time.

Friday: 2.3 miles, 30 minutes

I was feeling nauseated and hot because I forgot to turn on the AC, and Jackson was screwing around with the fan blowing on me while I was running. I started at 5.0, then was all over the place, sprinting, walking, jogging. Then the Wii broke, Jackson had a meltdown, game over.

Saturday: 2.2 miles, 30 minutes

The oil can icon on my treadmill flashed today. I take that as a good sign that the treadmill is seeing lots of activity. Today my goal was to see if I could simply improve on my individual-mile speed, as I was not at all pleased with Wednesday's 13.6-minute mile. So for the first mile I ran at 5.5 (baby steps), which took me 10 minutes (better), then I did a power walk at 4.0 for the second mile and change.

On a somewhat related note, I discovered that "Major Tom" (the 1983 Peter Schilling version, not the 2009 Shiny Toy Guns version) was the perfect cadence for the 5.5 run, while Metallica's "Enter Sandman" (the regular version, not the philharmonic mashup the group did with the San Francisco Symphony) worked quite nicely for the power walk.

Sunday: 1.8 miles, 30 minutes

I don't know what the hell happened. Maybe it was lying on the beach for three hours this morning, combined with the fact that I didn't even get on the treadmill till close to 10 tonight, but I was all over the place again. I ran at 6.0 for a couple of minutes, then thought I was having a heart attack (shouldn't have eaten so many hamburgers this weekend, including one an hour before my workout), so I just alternated between walking and running for 30 minutes.

So back to this strategic plan I need to set up. The way I figure it, if I can set some mini goals and see some improvement in my numbers over the weeks, I won't get discouraged and quit like I'm prone to do with such physical challenges.

THE PLAN, MAN

Weeks 10-7
Continue indoor training, which means continue to run 3.3 miles at a clip and cut time down little by little. My ultimate goal is somewhere between 30 and 35 minutes. Or, if I can only squeeze in 30 minutes, try to up my distance for that time period week-on-week. Plus, every week I want to try to improve upon my fastest individual-mile speed.

Weeks 6-5
Alternate indoor running with track running/around neighborhood. This is going to be my biggest mental hurdle (more on that for another post).

Weeks 4-1
Alternative indoor running/track running/trail running, including this Sunken Meadow route I keep hearing so much about.

I also realized that while I'm taking this somewhat seriously, I need to remember I signed up for this for a fun, kick-ass day. Remember: turkey legs!