Anyway, but running is a great fat burning exercise. Instead of doing any other cardiovascular exercises at the gym, for the same amount of time, I can run and burn more calories.
I started running about 2 months ago a couple of times per week. I told myself to run as much as I could and walk/rest whenever I felt I had to. I wasn't completely committed to it, but Bill felt encouraged enough to sign both of us up for a 5K run on my birthday in August! Thanks Bill.
So I've continued to run, from 10 minutes to 15 and now I am up to 20-25 minute runs 4-5 times per week. Since the boys went to China, I've run every weekday on my lunch break. The part that is not that encouraging is that I haven't lost much weight (maybe 1-2 lbs). Bill gives me the "muscles are heavier than fat" talk as I roll my eyes. We have continue our workouts with our trainer Kyle, and last week I asked him to do the pinch test to measure my body fat percentage (not to be confused with BMI). The is not incredibly accurate, but since I have done it 2-3 times before in the past 3 years, it give you a relative comparison on whether you are improving. When I started workout 3 years ago I was close to 33% fat, which dropped to 28% after the first few months. My last measurement about a year ago was 23-24%, and last week I measured at 20.8%. I'm very happy and it keeps me motivated to continue to run (although I still hate it, and will always hate it and count down the minutes on the treadmill).
Running outdoors is a different story. I also go to the gym around lunch time which works best for my work schedule, and running outside in the sun in Summer is impossible. I really don't like all the elements - other people and bikes on the trail, making sure I am stepping on poop and rocks, make sure there are no snakes (there are garden snakes around this trail), and closing my mouth so I don't swallow any bugs... the list goes on. I will have to adjust and get use to it to survive the upcoming 5K.
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