Julie Says... Aslan's Bite

We're just getting started and already I feel like a negligent blogger. You'd think someone who wanted to be a writer her whole life would be more interested in writing than fiddling with the technical stuff. But I can spend hours tweaking code, playing in Gimp, or exploring widgets. I'm sure there is something to be learned there; I don't feel like thinking about it today. (As a side note... while I write this, I can hardly concentrate on what I mean to say for obsessing over such details as "it's not proper to begin a sentence with a conjunction, or is it?" or "is that the best use of a semi-colon?" Hmm).

I thought I'd follow-up Beverly's post with my own disclaimer. In the interest of full disclosure, I know Beverly isn't going from the "couch" fitness-wise, and I have been flirting with yoga for about a month now, but neither of us are currently runners, and I in no way can consider myself to be fit. Although I spent a good decade of my life being forced to run, I have never thought of myself as a runner. As a matter of fact, I have almost always completely despised it. HOWEVER. This is a part of the therapy. Did you know the first time I ever ran with headphones was last week? I'm nearly 30 and worked out with music for the first time in my life excepting the random aerobics class and jodies.

In Book 3 of the Chronicles of Narnia, "The Horse and His Boy," the proud war horse Bree, despite the urgency of their mission, refuses to go as fast as he is capable. Despite Bree's experience and great ability, it is noted that "one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when there is no one to force you any more you find you have almost lost the power of forcing yourself." Let's just say I can relate.

Which brings me to my current training plan... the heart rate monitor. Through a fortuitous accident, I own a Polar heart rate monitor. Genius! All I have to do is strap it on and off I go with a completely objective measure of my effort. Today, I set out to do 30 minutes of effort at 85%-95% of my MHR (about 160 to 170 beats per minute). Notice I said "effort" -- not "running" not "walking" not "jogging" -- just effort. How this works out in reality is that I start off at a moderate run until my heart rate is in the target area and try to keep it there. Inevitably, my heart rate creeps higher and higher, so I back off to a trot or a walk. When my heart rate starts to dip into the low end (160), I start running again. When it gets above my target (170+), I walk again. I don't have to care about how far I run or how fast I run. I just watch my wrist. Amazingly, I feel much less worn out after running than ever before in my life. No bargaining with myself ("if you sprint to that telephone pole, you can walk for the next 3 telephone poles"). No slacking off. No pushing myself to the point of puking. And no guilt. Hey, research says this is the most effective way to workout. Working above my target heart rate is a waste of effort, so I don't have to feel guilty about walking in the middle of my workout... as long as I keep the heart rate in the set range.