The Running Plan

As of this post I have 25 weeks, 3 days, and 11 hours until my flight to Hawaii. I moved to the San Francisco bay area in November of 1998 and I have not been back since. I have three main reasons for going: visit my mother, visit my old high school friends, and my 20th high school reunion. It would be nice to shed a few pounds, look better, and feel better.

I have been feeling very sluggish for a while now, especially in the past year. It has gotten worse in the past few months as my weight has continued to increase. Even though I manage to get enough hours of sleep on some nights I still face my days with heavy eyelids and, half the time, a cranky disposition. Although I have not seen a doctor for testing and diagnosis I believe I have sleep apnea. From what my roommate tells me I snore quite a lot, sometimes loudly, and I suffer from acid reflux.

I'm 5'11" and I guess I weigh around 200, give or take a couple. I don't look obese, but I'm probably close to the clinical limit of obesity. I'll have to weigh myself when I go to the gym tomorrow.

So, below is the plan to get myself running. After the first or second week I will work weight training into my workout. I would like to lose 20 pounds of fat, which will be hard to measure since working out results in increase muscle mass, which leads to additional weight.

Taken from Runnersworld.com:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/printer/1,7124,s6-238-520--13479-0,00.html

Run-Walk This Way Start and finish each workout with five minutes of walking. Then, alternate the following run/walk ratios for 30 minutes.

WEEK
1: Two minutes running/four minutes walking
2: Three minutes running/three minutes walking
3: Four minutes running/two minutes walking
4: Five minutes running/three minutes walking
5: Seven minutes running/three minutes walking
6: Eight minutes running/two minutes walking
7: Nine minutes running/one minute walking
8: Thirteen minutes running/two minutes walking
9: Fourteen minutes running/one minute walking
10: Run the whole time!

KEEP MOVING Watch Your Form

Running is a natural movement, so good running form should feel natural, says Bakoulis. "Some of the best runners in the world have terrible form!" she says. "But that's not to say that you shouldn't strive to start out with good posture habits."

Here's what to aim for:

Head Keep it up—your eyes should be looking ahead. Keep your chin up and back, not dropped toward your chest or jutting out in front of you.

Shoulders One word: relaxed. Many runners tense their shoulders so they creep toward their ears. This causes fatigue and slows you down. Shake out your arms and keep your shoulders low and loose.

Arms "Your legs do what your arms tell them to do, so you want your arm swing to drive your legs forward in a nice straight line," says Kastor. That means swinging your arms forward and back, not across your body. Keep your elbows bent about 90 degrees and cup your hands into loose fists with fingers lightly touching your palms.

Torso Run "tall," so your back is comfortably straight. Avoid leaning forward from the waist.

Hips Pointed straight ahead and upright, not tilted forward or back.

Legs and Feet Your feet should feel quick and light, says Kastor. "You want to feel springy, like you're popping off the ground." Shorten your stride so your feet land directly underneath your body. Land on your heel to midfoot and push off through the ball of your foot.

The 10% Rule
Add just enough time (or distance) to improve your fitness, and stay injury-free

THIS WEEK if you ran: 90 minutes
NEXT WEEK run: 99 minutes

THIS WEEK if you ran: 120 minutes
NEXT WEEK run: 132 minutes

THIS WEEK if you ran: 150 minutes
NEXT WEEK run: 165 minutes