I’m a fairly active guy but lately I felt like I’ve been spending too much time at the desk and building quite the beer belly without the luxury of drinking beer. I’m fairly active and run  and lift weights in between boot camp fitness and pilates classes but in the past, I’ve been in far better shape. My girlfriend works at a hospital and wears a pedometer while running around at work. Every day she logs in about 5.5-6.5 miles at an insane walking pace (you practically have to jog to keep up with her walking pace) and I wanted to simply increase my physical output and log the results.

One week I decided I was going to make a change to my routine and add 30 miles of running, walking or swimming. I wanted to see the difference an added 30 miles would make in my weight and self image, without changing my diet (at first), trying some crazy concoction or anything else. I eat fairly well, no fast food or soda but I am not by any means a purist. I drink about a gallon or more of water each day and workout regularly, doing pilates and boot camp fitness twice a week. I hope to do this without the assistance of caffeine or other legal or illegal stimulants (joking) at all. My initial weigh in was 188 lbs strong- ooh rah!

My Workout Sessions and Habits

After a few weeks of journaling my experience I left out some important details about my routine that are important to know.

Treadmill

When I walk on the treadmill, I walk fast, at least at a 4.1 mph pace. That’s under a 15 minute mile pace. It is uncomfortable and challenging for me to keep that pace.

When I run/jog on the treadmill,  6.5 mph is the lowest speed I will go. I prefer to do stints of 7.5, 7 , 8 and 8.5 MPH

Elliptical

When I use the elliptical machine, I keep a pace of 7-8 RPM/MPH

Swimming

When I swim, I keep a constant speed and stroke. I don’t switch it up for the first mile/mile and  a half. I’ve never been on a swim team nor did I play water polo (but those will get you in shape fast so I encourage you to sign up) but I have taken swim classes. I was never able to establish a good pace until one day at the gym after working myself out to exhaustion. My muscles were to sore to power through my swim session, so I spent a Sunday focusing on synchronizing my stroke with my breath and nothing else. I was slow the first couple of times but quickly found my groove. Women probably have less of a problem finding their equilibrium in the pool than men. As with many activities, rock climbing, pilates and yoga, men try to power through motions and sacrifice stability and control. Swimming  is similar to those activities, such a long distance day in and day out requires more than brute force.

Hydration

I drink at least a gallon of water everyday. Sometimes, I fall behind and have to play catch up. I will admit that chugging a bunch of water will make you feel sick, ill and it is best to space out your H2O consumption. Drinking a gallon of water is my goal each day. When I need the electrolytes I’ll go for a Gatorade or Powerade. Powerade has less sugar. I try to avoid charging up on caffeine. It is an addictive stimulant and bad habit. The one day you try to workout without an energy drink, you will feel like everything is in slow motion. It is important to develop a natural understanding of your physical abilities and performance.

I have had my binges and stints on every drink or mix under the sun and I can tell you from experience, that there is no cheater’s way to true self-awareness or personal fulfillment. It feels far better to really do it yourself.

Gear

In the water

TYR Goggles- They’re a little pricy $15-$25 but they keep the water out of your eyes and won’t leave scarred outlines when you get out of the pool. I believe in buying good gear to eliminate excuses. There is no reason for you to walk away from a work out, especially when you have decent gear.

Jammers- If you are going to take swimming seriously, you will have to grab those butt hugging boxer brief style swimming jammers. I use Sugoi brand jammers ($30-$65) and have had them for far too long.

On the Run

On the feet-A $60 pair of Aisics that feel like a $50 dollar pair of shoes. They’re not that great but if I can get the job done in these, than upgrades will feel fabulous and empower me to go after world domination.

For My Tunes-iPod nano($150) +Nike arm band-($20) I use an older generation iPod Nano and will continue to use it until it tanks. I recommend buying an iPod on Craigslist. Apple cranks out a new model every 4 months with minor improvements and is worse than Microsoft, cell phone companies, and the people who make 12 versions of the same DVD combined. Buying used or orphaned (fell off the back of a truck and needs a home) iPods allows you to hold on to your hard earned cash. You don’t need to send Steve Jobs extra money.

In the ears-Sony sweat-resistant headphones $20-$25 – Emphasis on the sweat resistant and headphones. I destroy headphones with sweat and hate worrying about it. Furthermore, Ear buds do not stay in for long runs and they are quite annoying to put back in while running. Also, the new trend of these “Noise Eliminating” ear buds that are basically tiny sound drivers encapsulated by ear plugs, are hazardous to your health especially if you are running outside. You want to be able to faintly/somewhat hear screeching tires, sirens and horns on the street and the Rattlesnake and quadraped animals on the trail. Sprinting around deaf=bad idea and good way to get hurt.

iPhone 3GS-$100-300 (depending on deal and contract) I mention my iPhone because adding so many miles to a routine obviously takes me away from other things. I still have to be available to clients and phone calls. More importantly, I love listening to streaming programs like NPR and others to pass the time.

On the Wrist-Timex IronMan triathalon watch $35- this is the long way of saying/compensating for the fact that I bought a decent budget sport watch at Wal-Mart. It works and is an essential tool for any workout. I later found a better model on clearance at Target for $8.74. So shop around.

Here are my initial journal entries for the first few weeks.

Week 1

Week 1 Day 1

4 mile run @ 3PM with a full stomach. Now I remember why I don’t like to run on a full stomach. Fighting the urge to upchuck is never pleasant. Thankfully it didn’t come to that but it was a hard run in the heat.
About 1 mile in a 25 yard pool-32 laps  (1 Mile = 35.2 laps  Leave it to me to look this up after I finished swimming)
I didn’t quite make it to 6 miles on the first day, so I will have to make up for it. I hit the steam room as well and afterwords I felt amazing. My body was tired but my brain felt alive.

Week 1 Day 2
8 miles on the treadmill- This is harder than running outside and a different ball of wax. To me, running on the treadmill is a numbers game, where I find myself staring at a screen watching numbers pass and trying to zone out or focus on music. I’d rather run a trail but this gets the job done. At my gym, all the cardio machines have televisions, which is nice late at night…on an elliptical but watching a television while running makes me nauseous.

1 Mile+ in the pool -40 laps-All arms! (had to  make up for yesterday) I was worried that my legs would cramp up after running so far and immediately walking out to the pool so I let my feet rest and used just arms.
*Don’t try this at home kids! Running long distances and then jumping in the pool can earn you a full leg. That is serious business and you could easily drown. Note to self- more breaks and bananas.

Week 1 Day 3
1 mile in the pool 6 miles treadmill. I definitely rediscovering how to breathe when running at faster speeds. I normally jog with a friend outdoors or by myself all the time but at a slower pace. The treadmill makes it easy to train for wind sprints and to build speed.

Week 1 Day 4
3 elliptical 3 treadmill 1 mile pool. The elliptical feels like a cheat. While it’s low impact, it certainly easier on the lungs as well. I really have to push it to be huffing and puffing.

Week 1 Day 5 -
Rest

Week 1 Day 6 -
Rest

Week 1 Day 7
6 miles walk/run 1 mile in pool

The first week was really about seeing if I could meet my initial goal. The second week I will focus on establishing a pattern and habit and identifying weaknesses and problems.

Total: 34 Miles

Week 2

This is the week to focus on flaws and begin to make changes. I thought week 2 would be more about cracking down on diet and things but I had more obstacles in my way. I certainly ate better than last week, but being better than gross is an easy effort. The challenges that lay in the weeks ahead will require even more discipline.

This is also the final week of my boot camp and pilates classes, so I’ll have to plan to make up for those workouts in week 3 as well.

Weigh in: 185

Week 2 Day 1
I put in six miles on the elliptical and it was way too easy and seemed almost waste of time.  Logging a mile in the pool helped me feel worked out.

Week 2 Day2
2.5 miles on the elliptical, 3.5 mile walk

Week 2 Day 3
4mile run (in the heat 80+ degrees). Hot runs are challenging and it is important to stay hydrated. You can shed some serious water weight in the heat though. I sweat so much my nick-name in almost every fitness class /group activity is “Swamp Thing.” Subsequently, I also have the nick-name “Aqua Man,”  because I am constantly carrying a huge jug of water with me where ever I roam.

Week 2 Day 4
2 mile swim (new distance record for the pool) Still need to pick up some miles. I changed up my stroke to realize how week my inner and outer thighs were. I made a few notes to really begin weight training and doing leg work outs in week 3. I am the type to set lofty goals and attempt to do too much, so the challenge for me is to pace my development to create lasting habits. So I don’t attempt to immediately solve every problem the instant I identify it.

Week 2 Day 5
5 mile walk 1 mile swim – I weighed myself and noticed no change. I chalk it up to several things: too much walking not enough runs, not enough weight lifting, too many carbs in diet and not enough green veggies.  When you are low on groceries, it is quite easy to leave out produce and protein as they are often the first to be eaten, first to go bad, and more expensive than other foods that keep well. It’s funny how many carbs are left in the cupboards long after everything else is eaten. To compensate for my lack of proper nutrition I was also eating too much. I definitely need to make some changes.

Week 2 Day 6
I purchased some Dutch Chocolate, Iso-Pure protein powder on sale for $40 at GNC. It has been a while since I’ve had any kind of nutritional supplement and all I could remember about the brand is that it tastes the worst. I reviewed what I have done over the past few weeks and decided to crank up my running miles and swimming miles and use walking and the elliptical as a last resort (as opposed to first plan of attack) to getting the needed miles each day.

It’s important to drink plenty of water when you start adding in supplements, especially protein into the mix. The right amount of water will ensure that you don’t get sore, don’t fall asleep, and you don’t become dehydrated or sick. After chasing this program, I realized I was over indulging on opportunities to eat junk foods and not purchasing enough healthy foods. I remembered

Week 2 Day 7