Pneumatised!

Nathan was feeling better on Sunday (yay!) and could get out to run with me at the track. Here is what we did on Sunday in order:

1) Easy warm-up lap

Our time was 2 minutes 30 seconds which is okay since the purpose of this was just to warm-up the body.

2) 3 laps (1200 metres or 3/4 miles)

We did the first two laps in 4 minutes 30 seconds (a little slow for a half mile) and then decided to try a third lap without stopping so as to run a total of 1200 metres. The total time for the 3 laps was 6 minutes 41 seconds. The last lap we picked up the pace a bit and ran it in 2 minutes 11 seconds. So far not bad since we are concentrating on endurance here and not necessarily speed. This time works out to an average of 2 minutes 13 seconds per lap, which means at this pace we could finish a 10k run in 55 minutes 41 seconds, assuming the pace is maintained throughout the whole run.

Now, here’s the fun part again. If I want to finish the 10k run in 45 minutes, I’ll have to run an average of one lap in 1 minute 48 seconds. This should be feasible for me since I can run one lap in 1 minute 44 seconds, but the challenge is to keep up the pace. Basically, still lots of endurance work to do in the upcoming months.

3) 2 laps (800 metres or 1/2 mile)

Next, I decided to run another 2 laps at a slightly faster pace than for the 3 laps. In total, I did the two laps in 4 minutes 15 seconds. However, after the first lap, I had to stop briefly to tie my shoelace which had already come undone halfway through the lap. So, this time for the 1/2 mile is a little dubious. I’ll have to do another 1/2 mile next time I run and try to get a good time. The time to beat is 4 minutes 15 seconds.

After the track running, Nathan and I walked home (again, we walked to the track and back) and did some conditioning – pushups, situps, and backups (works the back muscles) and then lots of stretching. Stretching is always best done after a good workout. Always warm-up and do light stretching before a full workout and always try to do full stretching after. Lately, I’m finding pushups, situps, and backups easy to do after a run. To do backups (I’m not sure what anyone else calls them), lie on your stomach with arms stretched out in front and legs straight back, then lift your stomach off the ground. This is one rep. Do about enough to begin with so that you should feel your lower back muscles working. If it feels too hard to do at first, pull your hands back to beside your ears. Also, if you have someone around to help you with your exercises, it’s easier having someone sit on your lower legs, so you don’t rock too much.

I’m feeling good about the running. I noticed now, with the weather cooling off, my head starts to feel a little lightheaded when I’m running. Basically, my head is getting too cold even though my body is warm and sweating. I’ll probably need to buy some kind of running headgear so as to prevent my head from getting too cold when I run in the winter. I still need a track suit as well. My taekwondo master is supposed to be ordering special track suits for us, but I’m not sure when that will be so I might just have to resign myself to buying a brand name (not as special as a taekwondo track suit!) sometime soon.

The do jang was closed all weekend and is closed today, so no martial arts workout. 🙁 I will just have to wait for tomorrow (gumdo and taekwondo).

Cassandrah
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