Base Building, February 14-20, 2011

Quote: "...too many people never realize that sacrifice is a requirement of life.  You either sacrifice today to reach tomorrow's goals, or you give up your dreams in favor of the fleeting comfort that's distracting you.  The pleasant reality, for those who choose the former, is that comfort is abundant when long-term goals are achieved."  --Dave Griffin, from the article "After the Last PR," Running Times Magazine, January/February 2011, pg 59.

My current health goals are to reach 170 pounds, build my mileage base to 60 miles per week, and improve my overall fitness. 

My weight today is 177.1 pounds on my six foot frame, just about seven more pounds to lose!  The closer I approach my weight goal, the tougher the pounds are to lose.  I've been making plenty of sacrifices with my sweet tooth last week, and suffered watching my wife eat a bowl of chocolate ice cream last night!  The about.com running forum's weight loss competition ends on May 29th, and I should easily reach my weight goal if I can maintain a one pound loss per week.


My mileage base is slowly adding up and last week ran for a total of 27 miles.  No hurry on reaching my 60 mpw goal as I have no races planned in the near future...I keep striving to improve by baby steps, baby steps, because mas most running injuries are due to running too much, too fast.  All my runs are easy, about 9-10 minute miles at 60-70% of my maximum heart rate. The following is my effort last week:

Monday: Easy Run, 3 miles. Swam 20 laps.
Tuesday: Easy Run, 5 miles. Upper body weight circuit training.
Wednesday: REST DAY
Thursday: Easy Run, 3 miles. Swam 25 laps.
Friday: Easy Run, 5 miles. Upper body weight circuit training.
Saturday: Easy Run, 8 miles. Cycling, 30 minutes.
Sunday: Easy Run, 3 miles.
Total Weekly Mileage: 27 miles.

Tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. (I'm NOT a morning person) I'll be visiting Dr Kyra Norris for the first time...she's my new HMO primary care doctor and will schedule me for my next cat scan as well as to check for other developments in my overall health.  The last few weeks have been pretty dramatic for me as I haven't been to a doctor in many years and now I'm starting to feel my age.