Running Towards Fitness

Personal Awareness
The ancient Greeks used to believe that a healthy mind and a healthy body not only went together, but were both critical for happiness and a successful life. They were also intertwined, meaning that a weakness in either area would affect the other. When I started this transformation I was overweight and full of excuses. And by overweight I don't mean just a few pounds - I weighed over 70 pounds more than I do now. I finally took my life into my own hands and started exercising. At the time, I had no idea where it would lead - to a stronger body, a happier, more nimble mind, and a chest full of race medals. Healthy mind, healthy body, indeed! It hasn't been easy, or without issues, but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.

LT Run

So today I decided to put actions to words. I’m not sure that I can run this slowly more than once a week, so I’m thinking about making Thursday my LT day, keeping Tuesday as a V02Max day, leaving Monday/Wednesday as relaxing run-how-I-feel days, and finally having Saturday/Sunday as “pace” days, as listed on the schedule.

Today I went out and did the 7 mile loop paing careful attention to my heart rate and breathing. It was amazing how slow I had to go to keep my HR in the 135-145 range! All told, it took me 1:25 to do the loop, which is a 12:20 average pace. Yup. That’s right. 12:20. Any faster and my pulse would jump right up to 160. Very weird - remember that this is the same loop that I did in 1:03 last Saturday just running however I felt. Still, I’m going to give this a fair trial, and figure on doing at least six weeks of training at this HR - although hopefully the speed will be coming up over time.

I saw your comments from yesterday, and I’ll respond more fully when I have more time to do so. This run took a lot longer than I thought it would!

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About

I'm Richard Stanford, a fit, happy runner. Of course, that wasn't always the case. Dip into the archives to follow my progress from couch potato to sub-four hour marathoner.

I also like to cook, write, code, and play with power tools...

Personal Records

DistanceRaceTimePace
Marathon2006 Freescale3:54:078:56
20 Miles2006 RunTex3:00:089:00
30K2005 RunTex2:42:448:45
Half M2006 3M1:42:577:51
20K2005 Decker1:40:428:06
10 Miles2005 Pervasive1:20:138:01
10K2005 Dublin Dr Pepper48:437:51
5 Miles2005 Turkey Trot37:017:24
5K2005 Margarita Run22:327:15
4K2006 Fila Relays17:247:15
1 Mile2006 Congress Ave6:236:23

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Activity

5 total comments, leave your comment.
  1. That’s wierd about your heart rate. I wonder if there is a very different running style at the slow pace. I mean, you can’t be jumping like you do at the fast pace. Wierd.

  2. I tried pretty hard to keep my form as close to “normal” as possible. It was a bit different though, you’re right there.

  3. Rick
    Oct 14th 2004
    9:10 PM

    I’ve been running this slow (130 to 140 range)since early June, on purpose. Its sort of like beer. It was awful at first, but I have adjusted.

    My running style was different at first. It almost hurt.

    I have been told that sometime in November I can start mixing in two days of faster running. I can’t wait! A friend of mine is doing this same style of training, quite successfully I should add.

  4. That’s good to know. How much have you sped up - and how long did it take you? I’m not sure that I can stand running this slowly on my official “long run” days - I’ll commit to one a week for now, and I may extend it if it seems to help, but if I tried to go for two or three a week I’m 95% sure I’d end up with zero…

  5. Yeah. I have a really hard time running that slow too! Seems like a good idea right now though. ;)


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Famous Marathon Times

RunnerTimePace
Al Gore4:58:2511:23
Oprah4:29:3010:17
P. Diddy4:14:549:43
Sarah Palin3:59:369:09
Will Ferrell3:56:129:01
George W. Bush3:44:528:35
John Edwards3:30:188:01
Carrie Sapp3:29:067:59
Boston Qualifier3:10:597:17
Lance Armstrong2:59:366:51
Gilbert Tuhabonye2:23:075:28
Paula Radcliffe2:15:255:10
Paul Tegat2:04:554:46
Haile Gebrselassie2:03:594:44

People I Train With

Alex - Addicted to Exercise
Carrie - Tri to be Funny
Erine - Thousand Miles
Frank - Running Blog
Gilbert - Gilbert's Gazelles
Jay - Leotian Blog
Mike - BROTH