so today i decided i felt well enough to not only bump up my speed but also go for an extra 5 minutes. i know it doesnt seem like a lot but 5 minutes is an eternity if you have never worked out in your life. anyway, i set the timer to 35 minutes today and when it was all over with i looked down to see what my summary was... 1.99 miles! i couldnt believe it. my goal is 1.5 miles in 30 minutes and here i was looking at alllllmost 2 miles in just 35 minutes. i was very proud of myself and gave myself a pat on the back.

john

YAY! Its so nice to see our fitness levels improve, isn't it! WAY TO GO on getting in that all-important exercise, and for progressing so much!

That's awesome John! I always tell myself on the weekends I will do an extra 15 minutes, but by the time I am done with my normal workout I am exhausted!

good for you. Keep that up and keep bumping yourself up every now and then...and next thing you know you'll be there....woooohooo!

if i asked myself to do 15 extra minutes i dont think i could do it either. i picked 5 and maybe next week ill do 5 more and 5 more and 5 more. this time around im doing baby steps. it seems to be working so far.

time for work!

john

Congrats! That's awesome. Keep up the good work.

That's awesome! It's neat when we realize that we're doing better than we thought we were. Congrats! Keep it up!

Awesome, John! Congrats on that. That's what 'round these parts goes as an NSV -- non scale victory! Hurray!

It feels great, doesn't it? To feel like you're gaining control over your body?

way to go John! Keep up the good work! 35 minutes for 2 miles is awesome for a guy that has never exercised. It's a good workout too, I did it yesterday!

How are all your joints feeling? Knees? Make sure to get a good stretch. You don't want to injure yourself like i did last month.

Congratulations!!!!!

Congrats, I know and love that feeling. Way to go!

very nice

Yay! GO JOHN!!!

Sometimes the best results come from not even paying attention and just getting into it.

actually ran into a bit of a snag today. i guess i need to stretch more. my joints feel fine but it felt like whatever muscle is behind my shin bone on both legs was real stiff when i started walking today. any ideas?

Ohhh, I used to get that too! When I first started doing the crosstrainer on higher levels, I started to get sharp pains in that very muscle... I always stretched before my workouts, but I didn't know much about which specific muscles needed warming up before such strenuous work.

Anyway I have a solution for you! You should have your sneakers on when you do this stretch.

The way to target this muscle in your pre-workout stretching is to stand facing a wall or a bar (preferably a bar or ledge a few inches from the ground if you can find one, you'll get better leverage with that than a wall). Keeping your heel on the floor, put the toes of that foot flat on the wall/bar, so your foot is slanting up from the ground. Transfer all your weight to that heel and push a bit forward on your tilted foot-- right away, you should feel that muscle stretching out. You can adjust the the slant of your foot/the amount of weight you put on your heel to the degree that feels comfortable... you'll know when you've stretched it out enough, especially if you stretch while you're still sore from yesterday's workout.

Let me know if that works for you, and CONGRATS on your workout success!!!