It sounds like porn, but it’s true! Despite being hotter today, I actually found it cooler during the walk, especially the running part where I sweated far less. This was due to that whole “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” thing, as it was noticeably less muggy.
I ended up running the entire back half of the trail, which was nice. The lace on my right shoe came untied, which was less nice, but it was really my fault. I’m not used to having to tie my running shoes after using the lacing system on the Saucony shoes for so long.
Overall, I was faster, with attendant increase in BPM, but still perfectly normal for the activity.
It occurred to me today that I am now, to some degree, running every day, something I’ve never actually done in 11 years of running. I don’t know if I will ever start doing full runs every day, but I can dream of the impressive calves that would result.
Stats:
Walk 6Average pace: 7:44/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.58 km
Time: 58:36
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26ºC
Humidity: 50%
Wind: light
BPM: 129
Weight: 172.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 46.11 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 8
Yes, today my snacking consisted of a single chocolate-covered almond. The no-snacking thing must be working because I didn’t immediately want to scarf down the entire bag (I did not procure said almonds).
I did another good walk/run, as well, so my daily exercise is also continuing to roll along.
In neutral news, my weight remained unchanged at 171.8 pounds. I’m kind of excited to see it drop some more, because dipping below 170 will be a nice psychological boost.
Too bad work sucks corn dogs, it’s the one real blotch in my life right now. Oh well. At least I’ll be physically fit.
The day after my first 5K in three months I was expecting to be sore/achy and all that. To my surprise and delight, I was not!
But I am still taking at least a day off before doing another 5K. A day off from running, that is, because I am still sticking to my daily 30 minute exercise minimum.
The weather was pleasantly warm, but it was also rather humid, which meant a lot of sweating and energy depletion. I didn’t run as much, but I still ran for good stretches.
My pace was 7:56/km vs. 7:43/km on the previous walk, so a bit slower, but still generally speedy.
Overall, a solid effort.
Stats:
Walk 5Average pace: 7:56/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.57 km
Time: 1:00:07
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Humidity: 59%
Wind: light
BPM: 122
Weight: 171.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 38.53 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 8
In a way it’s both hard yet easy to believe this is only the third time I’ve been on a run since the pandemic took hold here, which was in mid-March (about five and a half months ago).
At first, the park trails were super-crowded because everything was closed and there was nowhere else to go. I said, “Nope!” to jogging among crowds of potential virus carriers and for awhile I just avoided running outside out of that fear of catching COVID-19 (and to a lesser degree being asymptomatic and spreading it to others).
But as I continued on my daily walks and those walks began morphing into walk/runs I knew I would eventually decide to do an actual run again.
That day was today.
I had a 70 day gap between my previous two runs. This time it was an impressive three months, as my last run was on June 1–92 days ago.
That last run saw my pace drag to a slothful 6:28/km, but while I was slow today as well (the splits reveal that I really ran out of gas on the final km), my time was actually much better, due to all those daily walk/runs. Perhaps the most impressive change was my BPM. Despite three months between runs, it fell from 163 to 151.
6:04/km still ranks as Pretty Slow, though, so I am eager to see that pace improve.
Overall I felt pretty good. I felt a bit of a burn, but it was mild. I took it relatively easy, knowing that this was going to be tougher than the 2 km stretches I’d been doing lately.
Pace-wise I started out fine, then immediately saw a big drop in the second km. The next two saw my pace improve back to where I started before my energy reserves magically floated away. I did not commit to a heroic burst of speed at the end, I just keep going until my watch blissfully informed me it was all over.
The heel was fine. I mean, fine in that I can feel it, but it doesn’t hurt at all to run on. The new Caldera 4 shoes are nice so far. They are lighter than my Cascadia 12’s, yet have more cushioning and so far have done a much better job of keeping debris out.
I’m not sure when I’ll do my next run, but I suspect tomorrow will be a return to the walk/runs, as I have a feeling my legs are going to be a wee bit sore in the morning.
Below I’ve included the previous stats in brackets for comparison. I’ve omitted a few stats that aren’t especially relevant for comparison.
Run 649Average pace: 6:04 km (6:04/km)
Location: Brunette River Trail (Burnaby Lake, CCW)
Start: 4:49 p.m.
Distance: 5.02 km (5:03 km)
Time: 30:29 (32:33)
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Humidity: 54%
Wind: light
BPM: 151 (163)
Weight: 171.8 pounds (175.1 pounds)
Total distance to date: 4855 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 8
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 4 (5 km)
I cheated again a bit today, basically the same as yesterday, with a few crackers and a Clif Bar.
But I also went on my first 5K run in awhile, so I burned a few calories there. I’m calling it even because I can.
Somewhat to my surprise, my weight was down 0.3 pounds this morning. I am close once again to where I was at the start of the year, so here’s hoping tomorrow continues the downward trend.
You may have noticed that the last two days of cheating have also been the start of the work week. This is not a coincidence, as I am not particularly enjoying my work these days. I am trying to be positive and research other careers and look into other job opportunities instead of just being perpetually frustrated and enduring where I am now. Having the self-awareness that I am doing that snacking-as-comfort-food thing will hopefully make it easier to slap my hand away from the box of crackers that calls to me with its sweet and crunchy voice.
I opted for a nice relaxing bath instead of a walk/run after work, and dinner ran late, so it was past 9 o’clock before I could do any exercise. I debated going for a walk in the dark, but in the end I just didn’t feel up to it. Instead, I hit ye olde treadmill and did a 30 minute workout. I was a bit slow, but this was in line with how I felt. I was not really feeling it in any respect today and will be glad when the day is done.
The previous stats are from my August 20th workout.
Pace: 9:28/km (9:19 km/h)
Time: 30:05 (30:03)
Distance: 3.17 km (3.22 km)
Calories burned: 300 (293)
BPM: 139 (140)
Today, I just didn’t care, so I cheated…a bit. I had some crackers. I had a Clif Bar. But I did a half hour workout on the treadmill, so it wasn’t all just indulgence. I paid for my sins in sweat.
I was down this morning by 0.3 pounds. This meant I did not end the month at a total weight loss for the year to date, but I am closer than I’ve been in a long time.
A few stats from my two-week snack-free experiment:
I lost exactly two pounds if you go from Day 1 to Day 14, from 174.1 to 172.1 pounds.
If you track from my highest to lowest weights during the same period I lost 3.7 pounds.
If you do the same for the month, I lost 5.2 pounds.
The bottom line is the last two weeks have kept me on a steady downward track with my weight and I’m lower in weight now than I have been in many months. It would be foolish to not continue, so starting tomorrow, I’ll begin tracking September’s 30 days and see how it goes.
This may mean I have to skip a birthday cake on my birthday. Maybe I’ll have a brownie instead and work it off on a run.
If you look at my high and low weight in August, there is a spread of 5.2 pounds, from a high of 176.5 to a low of 171.3. I ended the month this morning at 172.1, exactly two pounds lighter than when I started. This is a smaller drop than the previous month (2.6 pounds) but it does reflect a two week period in the second half of the month when I started going snack-free.
If you look at the snack-free period, my weight went from 175.8 to 172.1, a more impressive difference of 3.7 pounds.
For one day this month–August 29 when I hit that low of 171.3 pounds–Fitbit declared my weight as normal instead of overweight. Today, sitting at exactly 25 for BMI, I am once again officially in the tubby category. Alas. But if I behave, I could have my next normal day as soon as tomorrow, which would be a spiffy way to start the month. (I am aware there is controversy over using BMI as an indicator for weight/body fat.)
If I had ended the month on that 171.3 pound weight I would have seen my first loss for the year. Instead I am still up, though it is now a more modest increase of 0.3 pounds (as of last month it was 3 pounds).
Body fat has gone down for the month, which suggests I am actually starting to lose the tire.
The no snacking policy will continue!
Stats:
August 1: 174.1 pounds August 31: 172.1 pounds (down 2 pounds)
Year to date: From 171.8 to 172.1 pounds (up 0.3 pounds)
And the body fat:
August 1: 23.1% (40.3 pounds of fat) August 31: 22.6% (38.9 pounds of fat) down 0.4 pounds)
It was bound to happen and today my weight went up instead of down, by 1.1 pounds to 172.4 pounds. Alas. I blame water and etc.
Snacking was absent today except for a few small pieces of cheese (not the seemingly massive calorie-rich slab I had last week) and while I didn’t do one of my exercise walk/runs, I still got out for a nearly 4 km walk to burn a few.
Tomorrow morning I assess how well I’ve done with two weeks of snacking, evaluate and then make a plan for September.
Today was a day of no snacking at all. I’m not actually sure how I managed it without getting hungry. I guess I spaced the meals optimally.
I also hit a milestone this morning on the weigh-in: I dropped to 171.3 pounds, which puts me below where I was at the start of the year. As of today, at least, I have actually, officially lost weight in 2020. Fitbit also decreed that I am no longer overweight, instead I am normal. This just means my BMI dipped below 25 (to 24.9 to be exact), which is the somewhat arbitrary line where one shifts from not fat to fat.
The reality is I am still rather pudgy, but now just over 20 pounds short of my goal. That may still seem like a lot, but given the results I’ve seen in the past 12 days vs. the rest of the year to date, it seems entirely achievable.
There is a small chance I could dip below 170 pounds before the month is over, but it’s also just as likely I could gain water weight or swallow lead ingots encased in chocolate or something, and see an increase instead. I’m hoping for the former, but braced for the latter (don’t worry, I don’t have any chocolate-covered lead ingots handy).
I almost decided to do a run today, but by the time I got to the river trail, I changed my mind. But then as I walked the trail I changed my mind again and ended up with a compromise. I walked past the end of the river trail so I would have at least a clear 2 km stretch before hitting the exit to North Road. Then I started to run, and kept running until I exited the trail.
I only have one full km segment of full-on running that was tracked, but in that one km I averaged a pace of 5:26/km, which kind of shocked me, because that’s a really good pace.
The heel held up fine, though it is, as it has been, a bit sore, especially if I have ironically stayed off it for awhile.
Because of the longer stretch of running, my total average pace was down to 7:43/km. BPM was up a bit, but to be expected with the extra running. Oddly I didn’t feel overly exerted. Maybe these daily walks are actually making me more fit. Who knew! I might also have been helped by the temperature, as it was 21ºC–not exactly frigid, but also not exactly hot, either.
Stats:
Walk 4Average pace: 7:43/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 8.07 km
Time: 1:02:19
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21ºC
Humidity: 42%
Wind: light
BPM: 130
Weight: 171.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 30.96 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 8
