All or Something

Whew, today was a hectic day.  I didn't really have a firm plan as to how to squeeze in exercise so I shouldn't be surprised that it was almost 8pm by the time I got to the gym.  I didn't have enough time to do my 5 mile run and then strength train so I compromised and did 2+ miles on the treadmill rotating through 5, 5.5 and 6mph speeds.  After that I did my legs/shoulders/core routine.  Lunges are super tricky after running so I do some shoulders first but I was still pretty wobbly when I did lunges.  I feel a bit disappointed that I didn't get to run 5 miles today but I'm nowhere near as disappointed as I'd be if I had skipped working out altogether.  Something is much, much better than nothing.

So I found this spiffy chart online that gives a "rough estimate" of how much time you'd shave off your running times depending on how much weight you lose.  I have more than 20 pounds to lose still and the chart says if I lose 20 I'll take almost 9 minutes off my 1/2 marathon time.  That's kind of cool to consider for next year.  The 5k times are kind of sad, lose 5 pounds, save 31 seconds.  Yippee.  Not. 

The good thing is that during this year I will not just lose 20 pounds (assuming I do lose 20 pounds in the coming year) but I will also be working on my fitness level, getting stronger.  That means 9 minutes and then some.  It's funny, I don't think I care all that much about my pace for speed's sake, it's that I'd like to be able to run long distances without it taking me half the friggin' day.  It'd sure be cool if I could go on a 90 minute run and cover 10 miles.  Right now that takes me just over 2 hours.  Maybe some day.

I hope you got to squeeze some exercise into your day.  If not, tomorrow is another chance!