This was the first full week of 2019 and my new post-weight-loss normal is starting to take shape this week. I am working to establish a more structured fitness routine to ensure that I am pursuing all of my goals but doing so in a healthy way instead of risking overdoing it. But in general this was a thoroughly uneventful week
New Weekly Routine
As I mentioned I am working on building a new weekly routine for my fitness goals. Some of the main goals of this new routine include:
- Run 10+ miles each week but never run on consecutive days.
- Get into the gym and lift weights 2-3 times per week but don’t target lower body workouts the day before a long run.
- Include at least 1 active rest day per week.
- Focus on flexibility and joint health through yoga and stretching.
- Give myself freedom to adjust the routine based on how I feel and other things happening in my life like early days at work or races.
With those goals in mind I have sketched out the following routine. I have built it around one long run each week on Saturday and a personal training session every Wednesday. Then I pieced in everything else around that.
- Monday: gym or active rest day
- Tuesday: short run or long walk
- Wednesday: personal training day
- Thursday: short run or long walk
- Friday: gym or active rest day
- Saturday: long run of 3+ miles or more as I prep for half marathons
- Sunday: yoga
So that is the routine as it stands now. I am sure it will continue to evolve as I live with it. For example I am already thinking about taking a break from running for most of this coming week due to so pain I have from my long run. So we will see how it changes over time.
Treadmill Long Runs
On Saturday I did my long run of the week – 7 miles. Unfortunately snow hit Columbus and this is what I woke up to on the morning of my long run.
So running outside was not in the cards. This meant that I needed to take my long run into the gym and do it on the treadmill.
What I relearned this week is that long runs on the treadmill aren’t great. It is more boring on the treadmill and harder to adjust speed up and down in a natural way. I was slow, I was sluggish and I had more pain after the run than I usually do. But I did the run and continued to make progress towards my next half marathon.
Unfortunately I will probably have to keep doing treadmill long runs because winter has arrived.
Stats Tracking
Starting this week I am tracking a different set of stats at the end of my weekly blog posts.
My previous stats of calories in, calories out, etc. were all focused on losing weight. Now that I am done with that I need to update the stats to focus on the things that I am focused on now. I have included an initial stab in this week’s update but I am planning for them to change over time.
Thanks for reading!
Last week’s stats (12/31-1/6):
Maintain avg. weight of 189-199 pounds: 198.3 lbs average
Run 10+ miles per week: 12.36 miles
Total walk/run miles: 33.5 miles
Weight training 2-3 times per week: 1 workout
Yoga 1+ times per week: 1 Sunday yoga class
One race per month: January 5k complete
Continue to track & manage calories: 2626 calories under budget
