W1 R3 - What a shambles and a new toy.

[LeeU]

I was tired this morning, my back issue seems to have mainly sorted itself out, thankfully, with only the odd sharp pain, etc.

Loaded up the music, set it to play through the Amazon device on my office desk, jumped on the treadmill, fired up the C25K app and set everything going.

It was evident after the first jog, I won't insult anyone by saying first run - not with my pace, that today was going to be a hard one.

My breathing was ok but I couldn't get into a rhythm, which wasn't good.

BUT I carried on, fighting the urge to hold onto the treadmill arms for a couple of seconds after each run.

I couldn't slow down any further because I would almost have stopped.

The last run came and I felt I had to lift the omens of a bad performance so I finished on a sprint, for me it was a sprint.

A few niggles in my ankles but I think I'd tied my shoes too tight.

Feels strange finishing a week on a Wednesday, I used to run Monday, Wednesday and Friday but I'll adapt.

I may re-run W1R3 on Friday, see how I feel otherwise it's going to be week 2 run 1.

Right, the new toy.

When my wife and I were going on holiday I couldn't find the scales, I used to have a set of digital ones but I couldn't and still can't find them, serves us right for moving so much stuff around.

The company I work for gets a very good discount from Garmin, hence all my sports tech being Garmin, so I took a look at their smart scales, the Index 2 Smart Scales.

Like all Garmin devices it connects up to Garmin Connect, it not only provides weight but BMI, body fat, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass and body water content.

To be honest, I'm not sure how accurate a couple of these are but the numbers look frightening at the minute!

You do not need to register all users with their own Connect, it will do guests and it identifies people by their weight.

Are they a gimmick, possibly and at £130 retail they are expensive and if I'm honest without the discount I would not have bought them but it gives me a connected experience with NO chance of me tweaking the figures to make myself look good.

Obviously, I wouldn't do that, but it could be tempting.

Even after 4 weeks of increasing walking, up to 6 hours per day swimming in the sea, eating healthier choices (high protein based) and finishing week 1, I'm still officially the heaviest I've EVER been!

Now comes the challenging part, getting rid of years of unhealthy (but very tasty) food, lack of exercise and poor mental choices.

Let's see how I do.

[justinedr2000]

I remember sweating buckets on the treadmill when I first started! I had to quit halfway through TWICE. Was your speed around 3km p/h on it, because that's all I could manage for a run 😭 I began running outside after getting better on the treadmill, which was like starting from scratch, to be honest - I had to rerun week 1-3 lol

I've heard great things about the Garmin and I'm already jealous - I have an Apple Watch that I'm happy with for running and stuff, but it was expensive AND it's not even designed for health like a Garmin is 😮 Personally I love a good gadget so I think you're on the ball 🏃🏃🏃

[LeeU Graduate in reply to justinedr2000]

Lol, the only issue with the treadmill is it means when I do run outside I can't pace myself and I run too fast. I got around this before by setting speed alerts on the only Forerunner 735 and I also got my wife doing the program, she was a lot slower than me so I used her as a pacer, worked great.

I've had a Garmin watch for over 7 years, it was a gift to myself for the first time I graduated from the program, I didn't know about the discount then and bought it from Run Forest in Matlock (highly recommend them for anything running btw and their cakes).

My 735 died recently while I was in Egypt so I upgraded to a 745.

I'm not an Apple fan, hated them since the iPhone 4 if I'm honest, I'm left-handed and the signal, or lack of it, put me off of them PLUS, if Microsoft would have released a phone with a camera built in and said you need to buy an app from us if you want to zoom in they'd be in court, but Apple got away with it.

The Garmin discount has been very handy if I'm honest, I bought a rear light for my bike with a radar built it and thought it would be a gimmick, but it is absolutely amazing, not only is the light bright but when cars, lorries and even other cyclists come up behind me the head unit shows their position.

Being able to run, ride and weigh myself without having to keep spreadsheets, etc, is appealing to me, almost a one stop shop for everything health wise (I have my Garmin account linked to my MyFitnessPal account for food tracking).

[justinedr2000 in reply to LeeU]

I found that running on a treadmill kept me steady paced, but I definitely run slower in the real world. It's like your muscles are fighting more to move than they do on the treadmill 😩

It sounds like you've got it all sussed out with your tech across the board! It's just a shame that they can't make the runs easier lol

[LeeU Graduate in reply to justinedr2000]

Indeed, they are, keep in mind, on a treadmill the 'floor' is pulled along under you so you don't use those muscles as much that would power you along.

I used to have a tablet that fit the tablet holder on my treadmill, there are some interesting videos on youtube, some of the C25K runs in different places too!

That tablet died and I haven't replaced it because that was its sole use (I used to use it for TV/video when I travel for work, I have a small/light laptop that I carry now for that when I have to go anywhere).

I love tech, it's been my job for the last 30 years, there is nearly always a solution available with tech but there isn't one I've found to make the runs easier.

If there was one, would you want to use it?

[Annieapple Administrator Graduate]

LeeU you sound very determined & so are we about encouraging you to do what you have to do!! The scales sound frightening but they will keep reminding you to clear out the junk food… I make people laugh when they offer me crisps or whatever “That looks delicious, but sadly they are poison for me” 🤣

[LeeU Graduate in reply to Annieapple]

Annie, I've been determined every time I've done the program.

I think my issue is that one the program is over then there isn't a structure to follow but the Garmin watches have the plans built in so, hopefully, this time around I'll continue past the 1hr mark and get the 10k graduate badge too.

My issue is anything with chocolate in it, that's very hard to say no to but I am doing.

[Packrunner Graduate in reply to LeeU]

I’m working on a project in Canada at the moment and the chocolate is horrible. It tastes like cheese. Very easy to pass on. I’ve gone cold turkey on chocolate out here 😂

[Annieapple Administrator Graduate]

I allow 2 small squares of dark chocolate with coffee on rundays! I eat it slowly concentrate on enjoying it! 🤣

[Cmoi Graduate]

Hi LeeU , well done on completing week 1. You definitely sound super-committed, which is great. Do be careful not to exhaust yourself with your new fitness regime though. If you've added C25K on top of increased walking and maybe other activities, your body is probably going to welcome a bit of rest and downtime as well.

And while I totally understand the urge to add a burst of speed at the end of what you consider a less-than-great session, when you're already finding things tough then simply completing is an achievement and you can congratulate yourself for that.

Good luck with the rest of the programme!