Just found the forums

Ernestern

I've been using MFP through my phone for nearly two months now and only recently have I discovered these forums. Lotsa good stuff in here!

At any rate, I'm basically here to work on becoming more active and fit. Having spent most of my adult life in the US Army, staying fit was sort of a requirement for my employment. Once I retired from the military five years back, I enjoyed my new found freedom of eating what I wanted, sleeping in, and not having to deal with daily five mile runs. Well, forty pounds later, I decided I don't like the way I look or feel so I dusted off the running shoes and hit the concrete. I found that I actually missed running.

I've made a few feeble attempts to get back into running in the past which would last a few months until I got bored or tired of it. To keep myself going at it, I've been signing myself up and paying for a race every month. Having spent money on it, I can't very well not show up or it would be a waste of cash. So since I have to show up, I don't want to look foolish so I keep up my training. It is kind of an odd way of keeping myself motivated, but it has working so far. I ran a 5K in Oct, doing a 4 miler on Thanksgiving, and I'm signed up for another 5k in December. My goal is to do a 5k or better each month, with a 10K by summer, culminating with the St Jude Half Marathon next December.

To date, things have been going well. In the last two months, I've gone from being barely able to knock out a 2.5 mile run at a slow jog (5mph) to runing 4.5 miles almost daily at a slow run (6.5mph) and I've shed right at twenty pounds with twenty to go. Still got a ways to go until I'm back to where I was in the military, but I'm getting there.....

cmriverside

Welcome. Good luck to you. You already know what to do and you are doing it.

Ernestern

Thanks. I wouldn't say I know exactly what I'm doing. I just try and keep it simple....burn more than what ya take in... eat a little less, exercise a little more. Been working for me so far.... All these strange and fancy diets and programs that you keep hearing about just confuse me anyways...

Thea7777

That's awesome! I hope to take up running soon, but I feel like I need to work up my cardio a bit first. Congrats!

Ernestern

That's awesome! I hope to take up running soon, but I feel like I need to work up my cardio a bit first. Congrats!

I think the hardest part for me was the transition from a walk into a jog. Transistioning from a jog into a run was merely a matter of slowing increasing my pace and distance as my fitness improved. But changing from a walk to a jog was a lot more uncomfortable...

While I just gritted my teeth and pushed myself through the discomfort when I first started jogging. I've heard the easiest way to make the walk/jog transition is to walk/jog. Just jog until your breathing becomes uncomfortable then walk until you catch your breath, then job some more repeating the whole cycle. As your fitness improves, the time you jog should increase while the time you need to walk and rest will decrease. I think most of your "couch to 5K" type training plans use a method similiar to this.....