So we’ve had a plan to get a treadmill since we bought this house, we even allocated a space for it on the upstairs landing and had a plug point put in the floor – especially for the treadmill. But due to the house, the renovation, then the wedding – we had no budget to actually buy the treadmill..
So the poor lonely power socket has been gathering dust for the past 2 years, and has only been used for steaming clothes, ironing and vacuuming. But a week or so ago, we were at 1-Utama to watch a movie and we happened to see the treadmill we’ve been looking at (actually a newer model) on sale at a pretty good price.
There’s not a whole lot of treadmills available for sale in Malaysia (fitness, what?) so we have limited choices, we ended up getting a NordicTrack T8.0, which honestly doesn’t have great reviews. But it feels comfortable and has decent features (28 workouts, mp3 line in, fan, incline etc).
Last week we had it delivered and set up 🙂
And honestly I had no idea where to get started, so I did some googling (as per usual). After some reading I came across this program called Couch-to-5k, which seems ideal for me.
I’m not terribly unfit, as I walk my dog about 1.6km twice a day – but I’m not terribly active either and I certainly can’t sustain a decent running past a few minutes without collapsing. I do spend far too much time sitting in front of the computer.
Too many people have been turned off of running simply by trying to start off too fast. Their bodies rebel, and they wind up miserable, wondering why anyone would possibly want to do this to themselves.
You should ease into your running program gradually. In fact, the beginners’ program we outline here is less of a running regimen than a walking and jogging program. The idea is to transform you from couch potato to runner, getting you running three miles (or 5K) on a regular basis in just two months.
Sounds reasonable to me. So I grabbed the Android app here for US$2.99 and today I took it for a spin.
I collapsed after about a mile (15 minutes) of alternate jogging/walking. After some post work-out research, it seems my jogging speed is too fast for a beginner and I won’t be able to sustain the workout. I was walking at 3-3.5mph and jogging at 7mph, it seems like I need to slow it down a bit to maybe 2.5mph for walking and 4.5-5mph for jogging.
Perhaps I’ll be able to complete the entire 20 minutes then. But one thing is for sure, after spending the damn money on the Treadmill I am going to be able to run 5k continuously – and hopefully lose some weight in the process 🙂
I plan to do a real 5k race when I’m ready, the program should take around 8 weeks but I might take a little longer, there’s no shame in repeating days/weeks.
Here’s to fitness!
Glad you found the Couch to 5k program – that’s probably the best there is. Does it tell you to go at 5mph though? I think the goal in the beginning is to simply build up a cardiovascular endurance to last 30-40 mins, not to achieve a distance or speed. Good luck and see you at a 5k or 10k soon 🙂
No it doesn’t specify any speed, it’s different for everyone (stride length, height, weight, current fitness level etc). I just think I’m going to fast at 7mph for the running sections.
And you can choose the goal as time based (ability to run for 30 mins) or distance based (ability to run 5k).
So yah, here’s to 5k..and later 10k haha.
Oh I already showed Kim, but do check out penangmarathon.gov.my. Best thing is that you’d be eating after you finish the race.
Ohh yah, run then makanz, nice. Is the fun run 5k?
There is a 10k run, and the 5k fun run.
Well, its 5 months away which isn’t too far, but its a good time to build up for 10k. As long as you can run about 7-8k non-stop, you’ll have no problem with the 10k cos you’re usually more buzzy on race day.
My personal experience: I started running semi-seriously in Sept 2012 (Sept, 3 runs; Oct, 2 runs; Nov, 2 runs; Dec, 4 runs. My training schedule was a joke with each of the runs about 3-4km only) , and joined a 12k in end Dec. It was tough; not in the fuck-me-i-am-going-to-die tough, but omg-why-am-i-doing-this-to-myself tough.
Penang bridge is very flat so shouldn’t be a problem there. As a recent runner, look towards getting your running form (how your legs move) right. My Brooks half-marathon in March ’13 was hell because I was running too long strides and that stressed my knee too badly.
These links might help: http://www.runnersworld.com/workouts/fast-abs?page=single
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6x2cD6Y8Q
Thanks dude! Yah the Fun Run is 10k as well, one step at a time haha. Will see how it goes.
Go Shaolin Tiger Go… Run Run Run!!!
Yah! FTW!
£1300 for a Treadmill you need your brain fitness checking!
That’s like 4 new PS4s!!!!
🙂
Jon.
PS. I’m proposing at the end of the month