Step 1 to the 10K in May

I'm a poet and didn't even know it :)


First step for me, is replacing my existing shoes. The problem is for the last while, my fav shoes, the Asics Gel-Kinsei2s (I suppose there are more expensive shoes - but I've yet to find them) wear out at the inner padding of the heel-glove (left two pics)(well - what do you call that part of the shoe?). Very frustrating as I feel like I don't get my moneys worth as the tread (right two pics) is still in fine form. Mind you, they do last 6+ months before this starts and when I was marathon training I was lucky if a shoe made 4 months before the tread was hooped.

So, that is me.

First step for my sweetie, apparently, is discussing the wisdom of setting a time goal with me. I don't know - I see the wisdom of her advice: "Just go out and have fun running, for goodness sakes!". The problem is, (and this would probably better fit in my other blog, Angst in the 50s) I like having a time goal. I like pushing myself a bit. If I don't have that specific goal, I'm likely to just laze around and get nowhere.

Week 14

Monday
No plans for a run today - 2nd day sans caffiene! I will do something Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Potentially, I will also do something on Saturday.

Caffiene withdrawal is affecting my mood somewhat today - bit of a downer and things just seem to be more -- That is, molehills become mountains very easily.

Slight update. I walked at lunchtime up to Gord's, to get new outdoor Gel Kinsei 2's. According to Google Maps it is 2.25 K each way. There is also a height change of a few hundred feet. Took about 20 minutes to walk up there and about 15 to walk back (we'll call that 2k on the return as the lights just do not cooperate once you are downtown.) A notable point is that after the walk, my leg and hip definitely feel better.

Tuesday
Today I did a 20 minute walk from work towards home. Already, this week is shaping up to be better than last week. One slight issue is that I noticed my knees doing a bit of hyper extenstion during the walk. I'm not sure if it was an overuse thing, the shoe change or just random getting older issues.

Once again, though, the walk was great and very productive. Plan for the next run on Thursday.

Wednesday
I was quite happy to take the day off from exercise. Recovery time is soooo much longer at 52 than at 32. Ah well. One thing I do notice is that the training effect seems to take place perhaps even more quickly than it did before. That is quite nice actually.

Rest of the week
Thursday night got hooped by a last minute family dinner. Friday and Saturday were school and Sunday was recuperating (Grandchild sleepover :). On to the next week!

The first run

After picking up new Gel Kinsei 2's from Gord's, I got home and tried out the new treadmill. First, we adjusted the band a bit during the initial test. It is a little bit to the right of center, more so at the front than the back. Interestingly, one can only adjust via bolts at the back of the machine.

After all that, I programmed my userid, weight and age, strapped on the heart monitor and got on. I had planned to just do an easy 20 minute run, with HR monitoring. From what I read, I thought I needed to select program C1 (HR monitor) and then manual. Doesn't work. I suspect that I didn't need to worry about the C1 part, just go straight to manual and it would have been OK.

However, with all the excitement, I didn't think of that at the time. So, I switched over to C2, the "Set target heart rate" program. I punched in 142 BPM (75% for my age assuming a max HR of 168 using the old 220 - age formula. Newer formula include the .67 formula, giving me a MHR of 169 so the same percentage and the Karvonen formula, which takes morning resting HR into account. Since my sitting in the afternoon HR is 58-60, I assume a morning resting HR of 55 giving me Karvonen numbers of Max HR 168, Max training of 145 and Min training 123.)

So, the default for the program is 30 minutes - a bit too long for me at the moment. I switched to 20 minutes, reduced the max elevation of the program to 1.5 from 10% and upped the max speed from 4mph to 4.5mph.

The machine performed beautifully.

It started with a 5 minute warm up to get me up to speed and target HR, followed by 10 minutes where it varied speed and elevation to keep my HR at target and then a 5 minute cool down. It kept me between 139 and 143 for the entire 10 minutes with no problem. Very nice machine.