Success! The wheels are turning :D

After nearly a month of not doing any workouts, I finally got in the first day of the C25K schedule!

The first 3 "runs" consist of a brisk 5-minute warmup walk, then alternating 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of brisk walking - for a total of 20 minutes. I was running to a specific beat so I kept a consistent pace throughout. I did have trouble keeping my pace to the beat of the jogging portions. I don't know if my stride is just different from what they created the BPM for, or if I should be running faster, or slower? I couldn't imagine running slower though. I knew I was supposed to be jogging so I was doing that. I felt like I needed to jog in slow motion to keep up with the beat, or run to hit on every 1/2 beat - so I just jogged at what I felt was a normal pace and ignored the beats for those parts.

I downloaded the mp3 tracks from the Podrunner Intervals site. Honestly, if it weren't for this mix, I'm certain I would not have kept the pace I kept. If anyone else needs this sort of help but you don't care for the techno type mixes, check out http://www.c25k.com/ for other mixes (even podcasts) available.

So, how did the "run" feel? My thighs started burning about 4 minutes into the warmup, but then the burning went away by the time I finished the first jog. The burning in my legs was gone. The burning in my lungs had just begun. I was very grateful for that 90 second brisk walk! I had my breathing back to normal just in time for the alarm to sound that it was time to jog again. All in all, the whole run lasted this way until my very last interval of walk/run/walk. I had to really mentally push myself to stay in pace with the beat for brisk walking. The end result was 2 miles in 25 minutes, which I'm pretty sure is further than I've ever gone since I was a sophomore in highschool (1994!)

A side note: I really expected it to be "easier" because I've done Insanity (the 1st 3 weeks anyway) and all 30-days of Hip Hop Abs. I don't want to imagine what it would have felt like without those programs priming my body (and mind)!

Green Tea - thoughts?

Lately, I've been tossing around the idea of switching from coffee to tea for multiple reasons. I first began looking into it when coffee started upsetting my stomach. Then I started getting fitness newsletters that touted the benefits of tea as an appetite suppressant (in line with a healthy eating plan) as well as the many antioxidant benefits. So when today's Health Notes article from HyVee was about green tea, I didn't expect to be reading anything I hadn't already learned.

I didn't expect to learn that by drinking at least 3 cups of green tea a day, I could see results of lower LDL cholesterol totals in as little as three weeks.

This is a renewed motivation to get my blood tested. With current test results in hand, knowing I've been taking fish oil capsules for well over my intended one-month test time frame, I'll have something to compare after a month of drinking green tea.

Are you a tea drinker? What do you think of the claims?

Talk it up

I talk a mean game but I'm not showing much promise on the follow-through. Today was beautiful outside, my stomach was back to normal, and I'd had plenty of sleep. I did not go out and run though.

On a better note, Sweetie bought me some lettuce! So I'm not having chicken and frozen veggies this week after all, but chicken and lettuce :D