Day 37: Wednesday, April 29, 2009

When I went to the gym on Day 37, I was surprised to see that there was only one other person there. With this revelation, I decided to do some weight training before hoping on the treadmill. I probably only worked about 10 minutes with the weights, but with that time, I was able to push my arms pretty well, while not high with weights, definitely high on intensity and repetitions, since it was only 10 minutes worth of activity.

I began with the weights doing 20 curls (two sets of 10) with a 20 lb. weight for each arm. I then rested and decided to drop the weight to 15 lbs. With the 15 pounds, I did one set of 10 curls, before picking the 20 lb. weight back up. With the 20 lb. weights, I did inclined presses - 2 sets of 10. Then I grabbed the 15 lb. weight again, doing curls into military style presses - I do two sets of 10 reps each for this activity, before finally ending my weight training session by simply curling the 15 lb. weight one final set of 10.

Then I got on the treadmill. I walked the first minute at 4 MPH to get myself into the game, before I upped the speed to 5.2 MPH. At 5.2 MPH, while being slower than Monday's 5.5 MPH, I was hoping to run for a longer duration than Monday - which I both succeeded and failed at. I succeeded in that, I ran for 14 minutes straight (therefore running 14 of the first 15 minutes), however, I failed in that I still only totaled 20 minutes of running at the 5.2 MPH. What I did do, was upped my speed for a minute towards the end to 6.5 MPH. In times I was not running, I walked to catch my breath at 4 MPH. I would have, and probably could have, ran longer, if I didn't have a stitch in my side - it made it really hard to focus on the running and breathing. Still, all in all, running for 21 minutes of 30 minutes is a definite improvement from where I first began when every 1 minute of running made me feel as if my lungs couldn't possibly gasp enough air.

In total, I completed 4 sets of curls with 10 reps each - 2 sets at 15 lbs. and 2 sets at 20 lbs., I completed 2 sets (again, 10 reps per set) of curls into military presses at 15 lbs., and I completed 2 sets (10 reps) of inclined presses with 20 lb. weight per each arm. I'm not a body builder, but it is a place to begin - and I'm happy I got the chance to do some strength training.

On the treadmill, I completed a total of 31 minutes for 2.47 miles. Walking at 4 MPH for 9 minutes for .60 miles, running at 5.2 MPH for 20 minutes for 1.73 miles, and running at 6.5 MPH for one minute for a distance of .11 miles. The remaining distance needed to add up to 2.47 miles came from my cool down session of one minute.

I feel good. I feel like I am accomplishing something. And I feel like I will lose weight this week, without question. My attitude is positive, and I can truly feel that a 5k is not out of my grasp. With as far as I've come, I am certain that, with time, I will be able to complete a 5k within my desired amount of time - that is to say between 30 and 40 minutes. It will certainly be a challenge, but I look forward to the accomplishment.