Jogging... one lap at a time.

So yesterday was "treadmill" day. I'm currently working on being able to jog a full mile, slowly building up 1/4 of a mile at a time.

I normally walk at about 3.0 mph on the treadmill. I'm short, and I have short gait, walking faster than that is really hard for me. I can do 3.5 mph for a while, but I start to trip over my feet and can't keep up with the treadmill for any length of time. 3.3 is probably as fast of a pace that I can maintain.

I did the first two laps (1/2 mile) at a brisk walk, then I turned it up to 3.5 mph and did an entire lap at a jog. I did it. That's the first time I've been able to do a whole lap at a jog.

I know that they say it's the miles that count, doesn't matter if you walk briskly or jog, but that's not true. I had my heart rate monitor on. The effort to jog a 1/4 mile put me at about 165 bmp, while the same speed at a brisk walk I maxed at about 138 bmp. That's a significant difference.

I'm going to continue to take it slowly and work my way up. I didn't feel over taxed from a cardio standpoint (thanks to Yourself!Fitness, my cardio capacity is much greater) but my legs sure aren't used to running. With my bum knee, I want to slowly increase up to being able to jog a mile.

So today is Maya day. I'll do the upper body workout on Yourself!Fitness. Probably for an hour.

Oh, and I had my regular morning coffee this morning. I'm going to focus on being more physically fit and try to eat within a healthy diet without going nuts. If my coffee is slowing down the weight loss process, I can live with that. I should still be able to lose 1 lb a week with what I'm doing. A cup of good coffee a day is worth it.