12 Week Fitness Program
Even though I have two weeks to go to the marathon, I’ve decided to start my next fitness program. It’s keyed toward getting my body more beach-worthy for our vacation to Hawaii in February.
The basic goal is to get my weight down to 162 pounds by February 15 and to significantly improve tone and muscle definition. I haven’t weighed that little since college, if then, so I’m not exactly sure what to expect. I may look like a stick when I’m done, but I doubt it. I think I’m carrying enough extra weight around the middle that I can lose ten pounds without missing it.
The components of the program will be diet, running and supplemental aerobic exercise, and modest strength training.
Diet: Cut way back on snacks, portions, late night eating, and drinking. Monitor overall calorie consumption per day so I can average a 500 per day calorie deficit and lose about a pound a week. Record what I eat on a food log..
Aerobic exercise: After the marathon I may cut back on running a little to give my Achilles tendon some time to get healthier — I may cut back to about 25 miles per week for a little while, and get into the gym to do some swimming, elliptical machine, and stationary bike.
Strength training: Strength training will have the limited purpose of trying to preserve muscle and enhance definition while I lose weight. I have no plan to pack on muscle while I’m dieting; that’s not going to happen. I plan to do most of this training at home, doing crunches, pushups, and various dumbbell exercises such as curls.
Recording: I’ll be logging my exercise, daily food intake, and body measurements. I plan to take pictures to record my progress, such as it is, too.
My first day was successful — yesterday I measured 175 on the scale, and today I was 172. I managed to do that just be cutting back on all the snacking and overeating I was doing and ridding myself of some bloat. The real weight loss starts now — 10 pounds to go in 12 weeks.
Back to the marathon — I will try to run today, a short run of less than 6 miles, probably. Thanksgiving morning is the 5K. My family will probably walk it while I try to beat my PR of 20:04. It may be difficult to do. Over 10,000 people participate in this race, and it is so crowded that some say it’s not ideal for getting your PR. On the other hand, it’s a fast course, and the weather should be perfect — sunny but cold (cold for Sacramento, that is — probably high 40s by the start of the race).
Interestingly, I measured my resting heart rate this morning in bed at 45 bpm — that’s the slowest I can EVER recall it being. My aerobic fitness right now is probably about as good as it’s ever been - I just hope it translates into a decent marathon showing.
