Pneumonochrome

So I’m not very good at running, nor am I good at making myself do it, but I really need to lose some weight and develop better cardiovascular endurance, and running seems to be the best option.  So I tend to go in spurts, I’ll run for a week, or two, or sometimes even a solid month, but eventually I always end up skipping for some reason and then it all goes out the window.  I think this happens because:

1. I don’t enjoy running itself.  It’s something I do because I feel like I need to, but I don’t enjoy it.
2. The rewards from running (losing weight and increased stamina, for me) are slowly realized, so it’s hard to feel like I’m accomplishing what I want to.
3. I always tried to go before I went to work or school, and that resulted in my getting up and trying to run between 5:30 and 6:00am.

All those things together resulted in my eventually having a day where I was too tired, and didn’t feel like it was worth it to try to run, and I’d stop.  Well, I found a treadmill that’s in front of a TV, and I’ve decided to run in the afternoons instead, and I’m enjoying my time more now.  I’ve also changed strategies a bit.  I used to really push myself hard for about 30 minutes when I’d run.  I’d be exhausted, and after the first time I ran my legs would get so sore I wouldn’t want to move for days.  Now I’m taking it easier, running at a pace that lets me run for 60 minutes and keeps my peak respiration rate at 18 breaths per minute or fewer.  I still work up a sweat, but my leg muscles didn’t ache after my first attempt.  I’m feeling a lot more tired afterward, but I expected that because I’m running to push my glycogen stores to the limit so they’ll grow some.

I started running again on Wednesday.  I ran for 40 minutes at 4.5 miles per hour.  After the cooldown was done, I’d gone 3.1 miles and burned 565 calories.  Today I ran at 4.6 miles per hour for most of 60 minutes, increasing the speed to 4.7 and then to 5 miles per hour during the last part of the run.  I also inclined the treadmill during the last half of the run, and after the 60 minutes of running and a cooldown I’d run 4.75 miles and burned 885 calories.  I feel good, but wiped out.  885 calories is over 1/3 of my daily calorie allowance, which is a significant increase of my calorie expenditure, which is what I need to be doing to lose weight.

To further cool down after my runs, I walk home, which gets me out in the open air and the sun for about 20-30 minutes, depending on how fast I walk.  Overall, I’m optimistic about running this time, which is almost never the case, so yay for me.