Here I am one week after the first run and as I am trying to summarize the whole week I can only say that it was a nice start of an exercise that fits me and give me soooooo much. I can never remember having such a good workout in so little time. I have found out that only 20 minutes of running is enough for my current level of physical ability, but I am determined to raise it during the next weeks as my muscles will adapt to regular running.
I have also tested when is the best time for me to run and by far I prefer to run in the evening at approx. 8 or 9 p.m. so that the only items on my to-do list are shower and bed.
Here are the basic stats for my first week:
Distance: 14.2 km
Time: 115 minutes
Today I wanted to make my exercise more structured and make a long term plan for running. I searched the web a bit and finally landed on Polar’s web site https://www.polarpersonaltrainer.com/
This web page offers several training programs:
- General - Program duration 4 weeks
- Running 5K - Program duration 9 weeks
- Running 10K - Program duration 10 weeks
- Half Marathon 21K - Program duration 14 weeks
- Marathon 42K - Program duration 14 weeks
All these programs are based on your current activity - trainings per week, intensity of training and duration of training. So when you enter all these parameters into a web form and choose the training program you will be able to see all sessions in your online diary.
My program for Running 5K will last 9 weeks (it ends a week after New Year) and I will have 5 weekly training sessions. So altogether there will be 46 sessions and I will run over 25 hours.
I have a feeling I might run even more sessions or change some of them (in duration or intensity) and because these programs were created for outdoor runners I will try simulate them on treadmill the best I can.
On the web page https://www.polarpersonaltrainer.com/ you can also edit your exercises so that the statistics on the end will be correct and you can see some nice graphs of your program. Unfortunately I cannot load these sessions on my Polar ANX500 watch but still I think this is a valuable resource that will be able to motivate me until the end of this year.
So today my exercise looked like this:
- 10 minutes of warming up (walking) at approx 6 kmh
- 20 minutes of running at 9.8 kmh
- 10 minutes of cooling down (walking) from 6-4 kmh
I liked the longer warming up and cooling down. It make me feel like I really prepare to start running and later slowly lower my heart rate and stop when feeling I have cooled down.
My average HR was 141bpm and max was 173bpm, I ran and walked for 40 minutes and made 5 km (approx 3 running and 2 walking).
The diet today was also OK. Breakfast with milk and cereals, sandwich and a small cake for snack, and salad for lunch. I will skip the dinner tonight.
Today I felt I can run more easily than yesterday. But I made a mistake and had too much incline. First I was testing interval incline training but I soon found out that today is a better day for higher speed than for higher incline. So for the most of the run I had it set up at 10 kmh. As a result my average heart rate was higher and I have reached new maximum heart rate. At the end I felt like I could run for at least 15 minutes more but to be on the safe side I decided to cool down and save some strength for tomorrow.
Data:
Distance 3.2 km
Used calories: 225
Max HR: 179 bpm
Average HR: 151 bpm
Time: 25 min
Diet went well today:
- Breakfast: milk with cereal
- Snack: a banana and grapes
- Lunch: some wholegrain bread
- Snack: some more wholegrain bread
- Dinner: a small pot of yoghurt (180 ml)
Today I had a good diet and ate only the right things:
- breakfast (milk and dried apricots)
- snack (black bread and natural juice)
- late lunch (chicken and salad)
In the evening I had a short sleep and then I ran for approx. 25 minutes on the treadmill.
HR average: 148 bpm
HR max: 176 bpm
Used calories: 210
Duration: 25 minutes
Distance: 3 km
I will drink another 2-3 glasses of water and then hopefully go to sleep.
Today I ran for 25 minutes and the distance meter showed over 3 km. I was also wearing a Polar HR belt and therefore I can tell you my heart rate. Average was 146 bpm and max was 176.
My goal for today was to run for more than 20 minutes and combine running with walking - especially when my heart rate was close to 170. I did my plan and I feel great again. I have also noticed that the exercise on the treadmill is better for me (comparing to bicycle) as I can achieve higher heart rate and even perspire more. I can also feel my legs working more and I do not need to ride a bike for 2 hours (or uphill) to feel that I have done something good for myself.
My goal for tomorrow is to run for another 25-30 minutes and try to walk less.
