Biting off more than I can chew

The ongoing adventures of a computer nerd that, for whatever reason, agreed to do a triathlon with some coworkers. This blog is my fitness journal documenting my journey from inactive computer nerd & couch potato, towards my goal of running an Olympic-length triathlon. Safe for work. I don't reblog fitness models, belfies, calorie counting, ab shots, or thinspo. Just me sharing my workouts along with motivational posters & videos/gifs of humans doing amazing things.

[kristina100000]

the only thing you should care about is getting stronger arms and a stronger back nothing else matters

[runnerdrun]

This reads like advice to skip leg day. 0/10

[defineyourgrind]

Define Your Grind

[systlin]

Do you have any advice on how to ease a chubby person (hi, she's me) into jogging from walking without making it feel like my lungs will burst or my ribs literally explode?

Interval training.

What this means is 'jog for a bit, walk for a bit, repeat for the duration of your session'.

When you're starting out try jogging for, oh, 30 seconds, then walking for a minute or two, repeat. Gradually increase the time spent jogging and decrease the time spent walking.

Also, make sure you're breathing from your belly, not your chest. (You probably are but it's worth reminding)

[runnerdrun]

Fellow chubby person here or just got into running this year. There's a program called "Couch to 5K" or C25K. You can Google it and get all sorts of articles or apps for it. I don't think I've ever been able to run a mile, definitely not in my adult life.

But the C25K interval training took me from barely being able to run, to now being able to do a mile and a half a a time (and really close to my goal of being able to run a 5K).

It starts you off slow (walk 90 seconds, jog 60, repeat several times) and helps you work from there. Anytime I hit an interval I couldn't complete, I'd go back to the previous one and do it again instead.

It's definitely taken me longer than the advertised "9 weeks" to get there, but everybody's different and everybody goes at their own pace.

[dailydungeondelves]

I've started hitting the gym again

[dairymoos]

Don’t forget to workout your calves

[systlin]

how do i get thighs that can crush a watermelon when i have asthma and aerobic activity is Pain?

Inside near an air purifier, and with an inhaler close at hand.

[runnerdrun]

Can’t quite crush watermelons (yet), but I take 2 puffs of my inhaler before starting any vigorous exercise.  It works for me.

[defineyourgrind]

[strikereurika]

[nerdyfitness]

Don’t worry this new year if you’re slow or just exhausted from a mild jog. It does get easier the more you do it!

[runnerdrun]

Am I disappointed that I haven’t met my New Year’s resolution of 5 workouts (the middle green ring) per week?  Maybe.

Am I doing better than I was at the end of the year in 2018?  You betcha.

Am I gonna keep at it?

Workouts under the cut:

Monday

I went to my new gym to swim, and it was PACKED.  2-3 swimmers in every single lane.  I’m not alert or observant enough at 5:30 am to keep from kicking others in the head (or keep from getting kicked in the head), so I hit up the treadmill.  Oh how I hate running, so it’s been forever since I was on the treadmill.  Obviously it’s been too long, because I cranked back the whole “Couch to 5k” plan to Week 4 and still had problems getting it done.  It might help if I knew exactly what MPH “jogging” was.

Wednesday

The weather is above freezing with no precipitation, so I rode my bike home.  11 miles, 1 hour, and that’s with a detour off the bike trail that sent me down a street I’d never ridden on, and I ended up in a traffic circle in the dark during rush hour.  But hey, I’m not dead, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Friday

Back in the gym, and Monday’s “run” was a reminder that I needed to be running more.  So back to week 2 (90 seconds jogging, 2 minutes walking).

[motivation-and-fitness]

[laboratorium-ix]

ONE - for the ALLFATHER…

TWO - for the PRIMARCH…

THREE - for FENRIS….

FOUR - for the VLKA FENRYKA

…

by Ragnarok Publications

[thanzaghours]

[defineyourgrind]

[defineyourgrind]

[pi4nobl4ck]

[delcisco]

NO WAY

[irritatedkiwi-deactivated202512]

Honestly how the fuck

[tyleroakley]

this did not disappoint

[rumplefuckingstiltzkin]

When you’re 15 minutes late on your morning run

[trainthief]

being in love with the process and not the results is one of the healthiest things in the world

[trainthief]

in this same vein: being proud of yourself for the work and not the product brings so much more happiness