I went to see the doctor today, and I asked him some questions. He was glad I was doing an exercise program, and didn't see any health reason that would preclude me from this vigorous sort of exercise. He didn't seem shocked that I had discovered a 185 heart rate on my first treadmill workout. He said the 150s and 160s is a good range, and that the number will come down with continued exercise. I asked if a 120 rate would get me anything. He said it would only get me walking, and in training for a 5K the higher rates are to be expected, especially for someone out of shape and overweight. He seemed most pleased that I had woken up one morning and gotten a pulse between 48 and 52. Some have disputed these numbers, suggesting I was only half awake and missing beats due to inattentiveness. All I can say is that I really was wide awake, and I took it four times. It's called a dirunal dip, and in waking up early my body didn't yet accept that it was day time. About eight years ago I wore a holter monitor overnight, and my heart rate bottomed out at 40 bpm. Sitting around during the day I can be anywhere from the low 60s to the mid 70s.
I should get the lab work back tomorrow or the day after that, so if I find anything interesting I will update this post. And, I should be able to populate the cholesterol numbers after completing Week 7. Oh, my blood pressure was 122 over 74 and they were all right with it. I think these numbers will get even better as I lose weight. The doctor's scale was a little pessimistic relative to the home scale, but either way, I've lost around ten pounds so I've got a good attitude in that regard.
He was nice, and answered my questions, but I'm thinking had I asked him if I should run barefoot on broken glass, he would have just nodded and said "Sure, sure."
My legs feel good, locked and loaded for tomorrow. I'm really hoping for good weather tomorrow -it's supposed to get up to 68°, but there is a chance for rain. I'm not jogging that trail in the rain - too easy to screw up and take a dive.
Just wanted to tell you that your blog inspired me to do my second run of the C25K program. I wasn't sure it was ever going to go anywhere, and if I would ever be able to do something like run for 20 minutes in one go, which seems absolutely ridiculous to me at the moment. But here you are - in week 7!! You are a demi-god to me now!
ReplyDeleteI thought to myself: if he can run the 6th week, then I can run the second run. So I did :-)
Thank you! I hope you keep running and keep blogging!
Yeah, demi-gods come in suprisingly lumpy, pedestrian disguises don't they?!? I'm glad you have gotten something out of my blog, and thanks for following it. I will continue running and will blog like a fiend!
ReplyDeleteTake it slow so you can enjoy it even while getting acclimated. There's a chubby guy in Virginia rooting for ya!