10×10 in 2010

Archive for March, 2010

He conquers who endures.
– Persius

We’re in it now.  39% of the way to the goal, and the water weight is gone.  Having past 12 weeks of progress, the midpoint is coming up, and enduring the painfully slow progress is becoming both a habit and a trial. Read the rest of this entry »

My New Running Shoe

Last weekend, in preparation for the running project, the family went on a trip to buy a pair of running shoes for yours truly.  Since we were already at a sporting goods store it seemed like a good idea to save some time and buy the shoes there. Wrong answer.  While the shoes weren’t “bad”, they didn’t fit quite right, and I’ve since learned that if running shoes don’t fit well at the store, they never will.

Fast forward to yesterday, when we took a jaunt up to Bauman’s Running and Walking Shop in Grand Blanc, Michigan.  It’s about 20 minutes away, so not too far, and it also happens to be where Heather bought her shoes roughly six months ago.
Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday (Saturday) marked the first week of a nine-week subproject – the “C25K” project.  It’s an interval program designed to take the average couch potato (me) off the couch and up to running 5k (3.1 miles) in only 9 weeks.  By running three days per week (27 times total), your body is conditioned to run 5k non-stop.  It’s not designed to make the hapless couch potato into a speed demon; that comes later.

So far, so good.

I’m looking at you, Stadler & Waldorf. Been thinking about what you said about exercise being boring. I can’t argue about that – some days it’s a slog to get up and exercise (today’s one of them for me). BUT.

There’s just no way to compare it to everyfreakingthingelse that’s gotten an uplift from all this. Clothes fitting better, walking without knee (or back) pain, wife is glad I have a neck again (and more energy), kids are really happy to have a dad who plays with them.

Looking forward to a future where I get to LIVE LIFE, and not watch it on T.V. (or Hulu, or YouTube) – hell, that’s the best of all. I really want to hike the Grand Canyon. And soon, I’ll be healthy enough.

So get your bad muppet self out there, man. It’s worth it.

-G

On a recent Saturday morning my amazing wife went out and just ran a 10k – because she could.  Motivational is not precisely what I would call it, though she has been absolutely excited the past few days (as she should!)

After considering her victory, I’ve decided to (literally) follow in her footsteps and start the “Couch to 5k” workout series that led her down this path to becoming an honest-to-goodness runner.

This new side project supports the overall goals of the 10×10 in 2010 project by providing a healthy mechanism to increase health, burn calories, and lose weight.  It has the added benefit of preparing me for a bright future of active living with the woman I love – that’s a tremendous bonus.

Here’s the link to the website with the interval mixes: http://www.djsteveboy.com/podrunner.html

If you’re interested in downloading them at iTunes (they’re free), here’s the link to the podcasts (will launch iTunes): http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=55501053&id=124686671

The Plan

3 days per week, 9 weeks – 27 running sessions.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Day 1 – March 22nd, 2010 – COMPLETE (and it didn’t kill me, or even hurt all that bad.)