If you think prayers/good thoughts/good vibes etc., are a zero sum game...

[johnpalmer]

If you think that the supply of prayers, good thoughts, etc., are limited, then don't bother reading this. But, if you think that they're unlimited (so it costs other suffering folks, who have actual *problems*, nothing if you help out here), carry on... :-).


Yesterday, I tried jogging at 5.8 miles an hour for 2:15 on each interval. My heart rate went too high too fast. I ended up using the elliptical instead. I could exercise at close to 20 calories burned per minute without any problems.

Today, I went back to trying to jog 1:45 per interval... I got through six intervals before having to cut back to 1:30, and I only completed 20 minutes total jogging in 45 minutes... and that included two or three nearly minute long breaks when I hit the pause button on the treadmill. (Meaning I had three minutes, give or take, of just standing around doing nothing.)

I can tell I'm running differently. It *feels* different. A lot different. Still... it's clear I'm not even *close* to being able to jog even two minutes per interval.

It can't be that my body is falling apart. On the elliptical, I can exercise at a higher level for a longer time than I'd ever been able to before. But damn is it frustrating. It's not so much that I can't do intervals as long as I'd *like*... it's that I don't have any idea what I *can* do. I was sure I could do two minute intervals, no problem, because, well, I *had*.

So it's time for me to reconsider how I'm doing this.

Rule one: if I keep getting my heart rate up, and then resting, my heart must get stronger; that's how you strengthen your heart. (Well... getting it up to a moderate rate, and keeping it there, works too. But not as fast.)

Rule two: if I'm jogging for 20 minutes, my legs must get stronger; challenge your muscles, and they get stronger.

So, barring disasters, I plan to jog one minute intervals tomorrow. One minute on, up to two minutes off, my *only* goal is to get 20 minutes of jogging done in less than an hour. That's two minutes of rest to each minute of jogging.

My hope is that I can do at least this much, and then move up to 1:15 by the end of the week. It won't make me happy if that's all I can do, but at least it's a start.

But if this doesn't work, I'm going to be stuck (and stunned) and have no idea what to do next.

Comments

[grey-lady.livejournal.com]

Nope, definitely not a zero-sum exercise. I'll send prayers and good thoughts your way.

[firecat]

Good thoughts toward finding exercise that you enjoy and that gives you a sense of accomplishment and progress.

[ljgeoff.livejournal.com]

I'm curious what "too high too fast" is.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

My heart rate was up at 153 beats per minute after the first interval, and then at 159 after the second. My expectation is that my first interval should bring me 140 or below, and my last interval of the day might take me to 159 (but only if I'm working exceptionally hard).

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

I wish you well; you'll be in my thoughts for getting this (or something else reasonable) to work for you.

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

Prayers and good thoughts on the way.

[roseate1.livejournal.com]

Definite good thoughts sent. And... maybe wondering if there shouldn't be additional professional advice somewhere along the line?

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

The big trouble is, once you're dealing with someone who weighs 265, what people are going to say is "lose weight". I'm kind-of in unknown territory here. People at my weight aren't supposed to be concerned about how they can find a reasonable set-point for how long they can jog.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

A question, because I don't know as much about this sort of thing as I should: Is the interval or the speed more important?

In other words, can you get the intervals (and heart rate response) you want at a lower speed?

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

The biggest trouble is, once you set the speed too low, you're not running any more. I don't mean "you're not going fast enough for it to count as running", I mean, you can't do the motions that people do when they run. When you run, both feet are supposed to leave the ground; the front one lands, pushes you forward, and then both feet are off the ground again. Go too slow, and you end up doing a kind of staggered hop. It'd probably be decent exercise, but it'd run the risk of me not exercising the right muscles.

[surelars.livejournal.com]

I don't have much experience with jogging, or using a heart rate measure for that matter, so I can't offer much help. Lots of good thoughts sent - I really hope you figure out a way that works for you.

I never really got beyond just going at it until I fall by the wayside. I'd either find something I can do at my leisure, that makes me feel I'm working a sweat but not more, and do that often and gradually step up the pressure, or I'll go real hard until it really hurts and then limp home. Trying to engage my brain at this never worked for me.

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

:::good thoughts:::

[theano.livejournal.com]

Forgive the random comment from the random person -- I'm on kightp's friendslist, and am just passing by....

I've had similar issues with jogging (was overweight, did well on low impact machines but couldn't keep going on the treadmill, etc).

What helped me was to do weight/strength training for the leg and thigh muscles involved in running. The idea here is that these are partially different muscles than those you use on the elliptical, and they are being asked to do something different. Those running muscles are probably not yet up to the task of repeatedly launching your body weight and cushioning the landing, and are asking for lots of fuel, which increases your heart rate. Strength training will also lower the risk of injury!

Anyhow, that worked for me. I used to be more than 20kg overweight, and at first couldn't run more than a minute. Now I'm still overweight (by about 10 kg), but can run at a decent pace for 7km straight. So, hang in there, you'll get there in time! :)

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

I think I might need something like that. I know that, for example, if I'm doing weights near my limit, it increases my heart rate a lot, and I've been pondering whether the same thing is happening with my legs. This is especially true because I was jogging for a long time, but then realized that my step was kind of funny. Now it's changed, and I can't jog nearly as long as I used to.

The big trouble is, I'm not more than 20kg overweight; by some reckoning, I'm more than 40. And I don't think it's the leg muscles doing it... I think it's the hips and/or some of the balancing muscles. I'm working on them, now, but it's slow.