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Here is the latest update on my training for the sold-out Phillies’ 2nd annual 5k race on March 31 as part of my current effort to lose a total of 40 pounds. This is the sixth in what will be a series of updates here…

I took advantage of the nice weather this week to get in a couple of 3.2-mile runs. I completed one in 34 min., 18 sec. on Wednesday, which was a bit of a disappointing setback. So I decided to push it a little bit today and completed a run in 31 min., 49 sec., which is my fastest 3.2-mile run time since the start of the year.

What I really need to do is use the calorie-tracking apps I installed on my iPhone and start monitoring what I am consuming in order to accelerate the weight-loss process. When I lost 35 pounds in 2006, I did it rather quickly by running and exercising regularly, and by limiting my caloric intake so that I would lose at least one pound per week even without any exercise. Therefore, the additional calories expended through exercise caused me to lose about 10 pounds in the first two or three weeks, before the rate of weight loss slowed to 2-3 pounds per week.

At this point, eight weeks into my new regimen, I have just hit the point where I have dropped 10 of the 40 pounds I am aiming to lose…so I feel the need to pick up the pace in getting lighter, which should make me a bit faster.

On a personal note, another reason I am doing this is because my wife and I are expecting our first child in early July. I’ll be 41 a few days after my wife gives birth and I want to make sure I’m in shape into my 50s and 60s so I can do things with our kid (or, thinking ahead a bit…kids).

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 goals are to finish the Phillies 5K in less than 30 minutes and lose 40 pounds.

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:

Here is the latest update on my training for the sold-out Phillies’ 2nd annual 5k race on March 31 as part of my current effort to lose a total of 40 pounds. This is the fifth in what will be a series of updates here…

This week, I managed to get in a 3.2-mile run* on Wednesday and a 2.4-mile run* on Friday. I finished Wednesday’s run in a tidy 33 min., 33 sec. It was a little bit slower than my previous runs of that distance, but my back actually started hurting halfway through so I slowed up a bit to ease the pain a bit.

Friday’s run was cut short by a) an appointment, and b) tightness in my left calf muscle that slowed me down to the point that I wouldn’t have been able to finish another lap and get to where I needed to go. Anyway, I finished that run in 24 min., 19 sec.

*My Nike+ sensor is still messed up. I have confirmed that one lap around my neighborhood is 0.8 miles, so four laps should be 3.2 miles. I’ve decided that I’m going with that distance no matter what the Nike+ sensor is telling me.

As far as weight-loss is concerned, I lost another pound this week. That means, I’ve now dropped 8 of the 40 pounds I need to lose to reach my weight-loss goal.

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 goals are to finish the Phillies 5K in less than 30 minutes and lose 40 pounds.

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:

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:

As I posted previously, 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 third in what will be a series of updates here…

Although it was a bit on the chilly side today, it was sunny and dry so I went for another run. This time, I ran 3.1 miles—the equivalent of a 5K—in 32 min., 25 sec. That means I knocked nearly two full minutes off my time of 34 min., 10 sec. on a 3.11-mile run on Wednesday. Finally, I’m making progress in getting my time closer to 30 minutes.

As far as weight loss goes, I’ve now lost a total of 7 pounds…so 33 more to go. I have to admit, though…since it’s Super Bowl weekend and I hate both the Giants and Patriots, I’ll be eating a lot and drinking several bottles of Beach Haus Classic American Pilsner and Beach Haus Winter Rental to ease my pain…so I’ll probably have to work harder next week to shed the weight I expect to gain this weekend.

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.

As I posted previously, 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 second in what will be a series of updates here…

I took advantage of today’s spring-like weather in the low 60s and ran 3.11 miles — the equivalent of a 5K — in 34 min., 10 sec. Considering, I ran 3.2 miles in 34 min., 18 sec. a few days ago, I didn’t really improve any and — unless I can run .09 miles in 8 seconds — probably did worse.

You can read my post from Saturday 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.

Well, I am officially in training mode…I’ve registered for the Phillies’ 2nd annual 5k race scheduled for March 31.

After losing about 35 pounds in 2006 and running quite regularly, I ran in a 5K at Mercer County (N.J.) Park and finished in 27 min., 54 sec. I had two goals going in: 1) don’t die of a heart attack, and 2) if I don’t die, finish in less than 30 minutes…so I was happy I succeeded on both fronts.

However, shortly thereafter, I lost my way and began regaining the weight I had lost. I wound up gaining 20 pounds back within the next year and had stayed right around there ever since…or so I thought. I hadn’t weighed myself in months (and, of course, I’m well overdue for a checkup) and quite recently discovered I was hovering right around where I was before I dropped all the weight in ’06.

So I have been working out more regularly and have started running again in order to get back into shape. When I saw someone tweet about registering for this year’s Phillies 5K, I jumped at the chance since last year’s inaugural event sold out in 24 hours. Well, it’s a good thing I acted quickly the other day because registration for this year’s race is now closed.

This means I’ll be posting updates here as I train for the 5K and work on shedding the pounds. Again, I have two goals: 1) finish the Phillies 5K in less than 30 minutes, and 2) lose 40 pounds from where I was a couple of weeks ago.

I’ve already lost about five pounds since I started working out again, but I really need to do a better job of tracking what I’m eating — something I did pretty well back in 2006. I ran 1.6 miles today in about 16 minutes (I stupidly never hit the button on my iPod nano to start the Nike+ workout, so I wasn’t able to track the run).

I did complete a 3.2-mile run in 34 min., 18 sec. the other day, though. While it was good to get in a 5K-distance run, it was disappointing to see how far the drop-off has been in my performance. But I’m also seeing it as a great challenge.

When I lost 35 pounds in 2006, I actually wound up five pounds short of my goal back then. I will not let that happen again.