Back in training: Update #4

As mentioned previously on this blog, I am currently training for the sold-out Phillies’ 2nd annual 5k race on March 31 as part of my latest efforts to lose a total of 40 pounds. This is the fourth in what will be a series of updates here…

I took advantage of the mild temperatures earlier in the week and got in a couple of runs Monday and Tuesday. Since I was still recovering from eating way too much food and drinking more beer than usual on Super Bowl Sunday, I decided to just do a quick mile run and see if I could break the 10-minute mark. Unfortunately, I couldn’t. I finished that run in 10 min., 3 sec.

I ran just about 3.1 miles* on Tuesday and finished in 32 min., 56 sec., which I was OK with considering I know I put on a couple of pounds over the weekend. It was only 31 seconds slower than my previous 3.1-mile run last Friday when I wasn’t weighed down by a weekend of gluttony.

*I think my Nike+ sensor needs to be calibrated again because I’ve consistently marked one loop around my neighborhood as 0.8 miles, which would make four laps around a total of 3.2 miles. That was what I did on my first four-lap run on January 26 (which took place after I calibrated the sensor) and it came out to 3.2 miles, as expected. However, four laps around keep coming in under 3.2 miles, according to the Nike+ sensor. And Tuesday’s run was recorded as 3.04 miles on my iPod nano. There is no way I ran 0.06 miles less than 3.1 miles. I’m going to assume the time is right, but I’m recording it as a 3.1-mile run (if anything, it was more than that — not less).

Today, I ran about a total of 4 miles, but I have no idea exactly how long it took. Why? Because I tried to calibrate the Nike+ sensor and wound up running 0.5-mile for nothing. So then I started timing a four-lap loop around the neighborhood—from a different spot than in front of my house. However, I planned on running all the way to my house, which added another 0.2-0.3 miles to the run. That meant with the 0.5-mile calibration run and the planned 3.4-3.5 mile run, I covered just about 4 miles.

But guess what? I had trouble controlling the iPod nano again. I clicked play to momentarily—or so I thought—pause the workout for a time check at the halfway mark. Well, apparently, the iPod did not register my hitting the play button again to resume the workout…because it was still paused when I finished my run.

According to Nike+, I ran 1.94 miles in 22 min. exactly. Of course, I had picked up my pace after the time check so my last two laps were probably closer to my more typical 10-minute mile pace. But I guess I’ll officially record it as 44-minute, 3.88-mile run since I have nothing else to go on. I probably ran a longer distance, especially including the un-timed calibration run, and in less time, but that’s what I’ll go with.

You can read my post from Jan. 28 for specifics, but I finished my only real 5K race in 27 min., 54 sec. back in fall 2006. However, I had been running regularly in the months leading up to it (the first time I ever ran like that in my life) and had lost 35 pounds. Now, after putting all the weight back on and being five-plus years older, my goal is to finish the Phillies 5K in less than 30 minutes.

I’ll be posting updates on my progress here once or twice a week.

Here is a table with my run distances and times charted during this training period: