My transition into maintenance (oh, I just cringe at that word) is getting smoother. I have found a few new goals to work toward and that is what will keep me going.

And, for the record, I am not going to refer to it as that word anymore. In my mind, that is a stagnant word, descriptive of keeping status quo, of suggesting no further growth. Instead, I am actively pursuing a new balance point in my life. My weight is no longer the key issue (although, the reality is that my weight always be a point of consideration) but now I am focusing on greater physical fitness.

I remember back in my elementary school days, working toward the President’s Physical Fitness Test (or something like that) which involved running, jumping, throwing a softball, pull-ups (or more accurately described by my demonstrations, “hang-time”), and the worst, the rope climb. I was never an exemplar of physical fitness. I hated phy ed. And of course, I was terrible in all those tests.

Fast forward four decades. Now I have a different perspective. I no longer am comparing myself to classmates like  Jeff Dellenbach (who later played center for the NFL Dolphins, Patriots, Packers and Eagles), nor to any of the other faster and stronger kids of my school. I am competing against myself. I am comparing what I do today with what I did yesterday.

I started training for my 10K. When I was running earlier, before I really started training, I would just go outside and run. And would get winded immediately. Now I am working on a treadmill, at a set pace (5.2 mph, no incline at this time) and am timing myself. I guess that rather than jogging outside, I was sprinting. No wonder I was winded after one block.

My progress so far is that on Friday, I jogged 4:21 (min:sec) at 5.5 mph for 0.4 miles.  (A little too fast.)
Saturday, I jogged 6:25 at 5.0 mph for 0.52 miles. (A little too slow.)
Sunday, I was able to jog continuously for 6:45 at 5.2 mph, which was 0.59 miles. (A nice pace.)
This morning, I completed 7:30, at 5.2mph, for 0.65 miles. I was also able to get my breathing back to normal in 60 seconds today after finishing the jog. That suggests that I am increasing my endurance.

My goal is to add 0.05 miles (or more) each day. That will get me to 6.2 miles about 2.5 weeks before the race.

I also bought a bike. It’s nothing fancy, but it will get me back on the road riding, for another form of exercise. And I am using my weight machine. (I’ll have to get photos of each of those tools soon.) A variety of exercise types will keep things fresh and prevent stagnation.

I have my iPod up and running, with fast-paced music of a wide variety for inspiration. I will start listing my jogging play lists (as soon as I have proper play lists) which should be good for a chuckle or two, because I listen to diverse music. I will soon add a C25K program (or more like a program for 10K races) but first I want to teach myself a good jogging pace, so I will use the treadmill for another week or so.

Bottom line: Get off your bottom. Jog. Bike. Swim. Zumba. Yoga. Pilates. P90X. Find something that gets you motivated and get moving. I used to hate running. Now … well, let’s just say that “hate” is not the correct word anymore. It’s a long way from “love”. Sort of at the “tolerating” stage. But it is another tool that I need to keep me healthy.