mattstoc's Journal, 29 July 2015

if I only had .00025% of your determination...lol - Congrats on your new healthy lifestyle. Don't forget your wife and kids...lol 

Never forget the wife and kids. The kids do some of this with me (jogging). The wife keeps me going by taking care of us and supporting me. Her efforts at home allow me to do what I do. Now that I think about it, I should do more for her. Chelle if you are reading this, we need to hit a concert this weekend. (Let's see if she still reads my posts). Y'all have fun. 

Sounds like a great plan. Keep up the good work. 

I'm trying to restart a regular running routine and my progression (in distance and speed) is very slow -- appreciate the additional info and tips! 

I love weight training and it helps me lose fat, inches and some pounds on the scale. 

Losinit - I obviously don't know if our situations are the same, so here is mine. I was really fat. I started walking and progressed into jogging. For about 6 months I got faster and farther. I was losing weight through the jogging and the diet. Then everything just kind of stalled. I can still jog about 6 miles, but getting beyond that has been a real whip. I will keep posting how things are going with the weight training. I can report today that my upper inner thighs, hamstrings, and quads are aching (in a good way). I had started with light weight so I believe that indicates I really was weak. 

Tomorrow is my first day. Hopefully, will have some news to share it... Excited  

Good plan. I've needed to step up my weight training also. It does help. 

Thanks for sharing, Mattstoc! Even when I was jogging more regularly, I wouldn't call myself a 'serious' runner (6 miles is VERY impressive to me!) -- I never ran a distance beyond 3.5 miles and that was at a 9-10 min. per mile clip. The last time I was jogging regularly, I was also doing some 'weight training' ~3x/week (in the very rudimentary basement gym of my former office complex), mostly with small hand weights. I still have those weights and have been mostly using them lately for toning/strengthening my arms (and also doing body-weight squats for legs/thighs/butt/core). I joined an FS Challenge that starts Monday that will incorporate a greater variety of strength exercises/weight training as I continue trying to increase my jogging distance/speed ~3-4x/week. I have been making progress, but in pretty small increments. My biggest hurdle where jogging is concerned is the breathing/stamina (my legs can far outlast my lungs). The summer heat doesn't make it any easier -- even though I grew up in the South, I'm half-Dutch and have never been able to tolerate the humidity very well. Your sustained dedication and commitment is inspiring and motivating!! 

Well you 9-10 min per mile clip is screaming fast for me. I can do right around 10 minutes when I am doing a 3.1 (5k) run. Anything further than that and I have to back way down to around 12:30. Again, everything is pointing to needing more strength for me. What FS Challenge did you join? 

Sass in the Sun -- it actually includes several components re: food tracking, sodium intake (max), fiber intake (min), minimum steps per day, plus daily min challenges (where the exercise variety comes into play) . . . I JUST joined this group 'Sassy Sistas' -- looks like they've been around awhile and have initiated several challenges in the past . . .