Keep on running

Tomorrow is the first Wednesday in a while I am looking forward to. Over the past week, I've stuck to my guns by keeping to a three meal a day no snack diet plan, and got off my flabby backside and exercised. Lots of it too. I've run on six out of seven days and quite unexpectedly I am starting to enjoy it. Things are becoming that little bit easier every time I hit the treadmill, presumably because my body is adjusting to being used rather than abused, while my pathetic lungs are showing signs of playing ball too.

How do I know that things are improving? Well, having taken snaps of the workout summary most of the days I've been at the gym, I can monitor my progress and the images tell their own story. The first was my session last Friday when in just under 24 minutes I covered 3.53km in a mixture of run and walk. The second pic shows my workout today, when in a similar time of just over 24 minutes I managed an additional half a kilometre.

Gym on Friday

Gym on Tuesday

Simply put, I've been able to increase the intensity of my running, both by upping the pace (I now run at 12k/h, walking 7k/h) and by being able to maintain running for that little bit longer. My aim now is to extend my running time, building up my stamina until I'm able to run 5km flat without needing to slow down to catch my breath.

Physically I'm feeling better for all this exercise. I thought I may have a few aches and pains from running, but barring some slight tight calf muscles, I'm feeling good and hence able to run again the following day. I'm expecting to see a weight loss when I get on the scales tomorrow which be welcome. The challenge is to replicate the past 7 days so that it becomes the norm rather than the exception.

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