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Congratulations to everybody for lots of great physical effort!!
Everybody's 3 weeks are over now, so I've started a new challenge thread for the next one. Check it out at:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/messageboard.asp?imparent=3708540&imboard=8
or at this tinyurl:
http://tinyurl.com/m4fs2
Join me for 3 more weeks and challenge yourself to get even better!
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Congrats, FitterMe! I think you've definitely achieved your goal. Intervals are actually more effective than steady state effort -- so the fact that you racked up more strides in the same amount of time is great!
How close did the rest of you get to your goals?
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Woo Hoo, FIDDLER!!! Awesome effort, spectacular result!! I think I remember you saying something somewhere about translating everything into numbers. That really seems to work for you....create these short term, measureable and reachable goals then accomplish them. Well done!
I'm doing pretty well too. I don't know whether to say, "I did it" because I did, but only sort of. My original goal was to reach 30 minutes at a 130 strides per minute on my elliptical, but I modified my goal along the way. I don't have any distractions, like a TV or video near my workout area right now, so I found myself being very progress conscious...like how much longer before I could be done with this. Not the best motivator day after day. So I started playing with the time by breaking it into very small intervals and using each differently. So my workout is not the same, but perhaps to better result. My original goal would have netted 3,900 total strides in 30 minutes. What I'm doing instead has me working variably at intensities between 120 and 150 strides/minute. I've only hit 28 minutes so far but my total strides are closer to 4,100. That's a lot of ellipticizing!!
And if this all makes me sound like a total dork, I can live with that.
Good luck to everyone else as we wind down this challenge!! Let's hear the stories.
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By the way, everybody....
I DID IT!!!!!!!!!! 
I met my goal and did 21 minutes straight at 4.0 MPH this morning. The only weak parts were a couple of tiny water breaks where I jumped on the rails for 5 seconds, took a sip and jumped back on. However, I went longer to make up for that, and I'm not going to hold it against myself that I'm too clumsy to drink at that speed and too thirsty to go without. :)
Mostly I'm relieved that I won't have to find a way to visit an out-of-town gym this weekend to finish the challnege. Instead, I plan to move my body in some way for at least 2 hours a day while I'm gone (shouldn't be hard with nieces and nephews around) and start a new 3-week challenge when I get back.
How are the rest of you doing???
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| Nichole, way to go! You're definitely back on track. I find that getting in *some* kind of dedicated exercise (whether it's Gilad or dog-walking or golf or whatever) even on blah days is key for keeping my head in the right place. Otherwise, I start to think of myself as a "slacker" instead of an "exerciser" and it's that much harder to get my butt moving the next day, even if I'm feeling better.
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NICHOLE5354
8/30/06 8:59 P
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Hi All,
I was way to sore today. I forgot to mention that I did some strength training yesterday in addition to walking the dogs and doing a small run. I couldn't hang with Gilad.
Today I opted for an hour walk with the dogs. I'm happy that I did some activity today. In the past I would have sat in the house and tried to baby myslef.
Sun. 8/27/06 0 activity
Mon. 8/28/06 0 activity
Tues. 8/29/06 strength training/ run/walk 15 min, 45 min. walk burned 378+
Weds. 8/30/06 1 hour walk with dogs burned 300+
Have a great day.
Nichole
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NYXWOLFWALKER
8/30/06 1:23 P
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Afternoon everyone ... the past three days have seen me walk 53,006 steps and burn over 3,000 caloires ... am over my min goal for the week ... chuckels yesterday did me in with burning almost 2,000 caloires for the entire day out (did a hell of a lot of walking around at the loca fair.
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NICHOLE5354
8/30/06 5:28 A
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Hello Everyone,
Sun. 8/27/06 O activity
Mon. 8/28/06 O activity
Tues. 8/29/06 Run/Walk 15 min,Walk 45 min. burned 378
Thanks Fiddler for the virtual kick in the pants. I NEEDED IT! Got a new dog today. We now have 2. This forces me to walk regularly. They get along very well (Rhodesian Ridgeback 2 yrs.; Red German Shepard 1 yr). Getting Ready to meet with Gilad right now. Will post results later.
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Thanks FitterMe! The one thing I forgot to mention is that my 13 minutes came right after an hour of high intensity elliptical, so I was already pretty tired out.
Of course, who knows... maybe the elliptical warmed me up for the treadmill. :)
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| Fiddler, I'll wish you luck but you don't need it. You've got drive, determination, enthusiasm and spirit... you'll get there.... I have no doubt! Great job on the 13 minutes!!!
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Hey Nichole, here's your virtual kick in the pants!  Gilad is waiting for you and he wants to pump you up! :)
Write us back this evening to tell us how today's workout went!
I gave the 4.0 MPH another shot this morning and got up to 13 minutes straight. That's 2/3 of the way to my goal. Including my 3 minute warmup at 3.0 MPH, I managed to reach 1 mile in 15:45, which is a new record for me. Yay!
Of course, my challenge deadline is Saturday and I won't have access to a treadmill then, so I need to hit goal by Friday morning. Wish me luck!
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NICHOLE5354
8/29/06 12:58 A
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Not off to a good start. But not giving up
Sun. 8/27/06 0 activity
Mon. 8/28/06 O activity
  
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NICHOLE5354
8/27/06 6:27 P
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Hello Everyone,
I have been working a lot of double shifts this week so I haven't followed through with my challenge at all this week. I hope to get back on track this week. I only have 2 doubles scheduled so I can work out in between. At this point I know I will not reach my original goal so I will be forced to revise it. I certainly hope this won't be the only 3 week physical challenge. I hope after this challenge is over that you (Fiddler) will post another one.
Anyway, today is my off day for exercise but I will be doing my 4 mile walk in the morning when I get off work. I plan to meet with Gilad on Tuesday.
You guys have been doing great. Keep it up.
Nichole
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Hey Shawtay, Think? Geez Louise, I KNOW that was excellent effort! At this rate you'll be thin as a pencil by New Year. Great run!! I didn't look back to check, but wasn't that your 3-week goal? Er, maybe that was someone else. Either way, well done!! And keep up the great work!
Jamie, Have a fun trip and just do your best while you're out of your environment. We'll be waiting to hear how it all went after the long weekend. Enjoy!!
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JAMIE_LYNN
8/27/06 11:39 A
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Thanks for the words of encouragement. I will be out of town from 8/30-9/5, so I will check in upon my return. Good luck to everyone during that time.
Jamie
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| Greetings All!!! I went more than 35 minutes today @ 5.1mph without stopping. Really, I went further than that, but the first treadmill that I was on had something wrong with the belt so I was forced to stop and find another treadmill. The run felt pretty good. I iced really well afterwards. I think I'm right on track!!!
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Fiddler, Woo Hoo! Great to hear you're doing so well!I think you can do it too! No, I know you can! Super job on the mini goal.....my progress is going pretty well too only I think I'm changing my goal a little as I progress. Instead of going for the flat 130ish strides per minute I'll stick with the interval approach and keep elevating the pace for each interval. My what-I-call sprint interval is now in the upper 140s and sometimes 150 and my recovery rate is now in the 120s for most of my 25 minutes. So I've pretty much decided to build toward maintaining that pacing for the full 30 minutes as my revised 3 week goal. I think I can do it too!
Everyone else, keep it up! One of the articles I read today was on the importance of having intermediate goals to work toward as another way besides the scale of measuring progress and helping to stay motivated.
Jamie_Lynn, bummer. Get your R&R and keep us posted on how the food part is going. We'll cheer you on thru the setbacks too.
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Hey Everybody,
Just a quick update -- I did 11 minutes straight of 4.0 MPH today (a combination of walking and slow jogging to keep alternating muscles). I also did 95 minutes of walking at slower speeds.
My goal is to hit 20 minutes straight of 4.0 MPH by September 2nd. I think I can do it!
JAMIE_LYNN, I'm sorry to hear about your strain! Rest well and hopefully you'll be raring to go at the end of 2 weeks.
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JAMIE_LYNN
8/23/06 3:05 P
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Hey all~
I am out of working out for at least 1-2 weeks per dr's orders. I have strained a muscle in my back and it keeps spasming. I will watch what I eat and she also told me that I would have to start slow again and build back up.
Sounds like everyone is doing good. Take care
Jamie
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Nyx, that's really impressive (the speed, not the height). :)
Tonight, I did 65 minutes on the treadmill. I discovered that I can actually jog/shuffle at 4.0 MPH. It's a little strange, but seems like it may help accustom my legs to the shock of jogging without going too hard too soon.
During my first 20 minutes, I jogged 6 minutes. Not terrible. If I can improve that by 2 minutes a day, I'll finish this challenge early. :) I do love the idea of jogging the 4.0 MPH instead of walking it, since that will get my body used to the impact and make it easier to progress to 5.0 and 6.0. My only problem now is that it might be embarrassing to jog that slow at the gym.
I also tried a new pair of shoes. Unlike yesterday, my shins didn't hurt too much, but my arches hurt pretty badly. I wonder whether that will get better over time, or whether it's a bad sign for those shoes. (Maybe I have to choose between comfy arches + over-pronation vs. arch pain and normal pronation? At least the arch pain doesn't bother me after I stop.)
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NYXWOLFWALKER
8/22/06 2:08 P
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| I was 5'9 am now down to 5'7
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| Nyx, how tall are you? I'm about 5'4.
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NYXWOLFWALKER
8/22/06 1:11 P
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| my standard walking speed is between 4.5 and 5 MPH by jogging deal is closer to 6 and running well I don't run much so the best I've clocked myself at for that is just over 7 ... i've never under stood where there differenaces lie for when walking turns into more then walking less its now speed walking or something ... no idea but its 100% natural for me to end up doing 120 steps a minute when i really get going on flat ground.
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On Sunday, I noticed that a tall guy next to me was warming up by jogging 4.5 MPH. That got me thinking that maybe walking 4.0 MPH is pretty unnatural for me, and that it might be interesting to try jogging it or even jogging a little faster.
Anyway, now I'm not sure which I'll do, but I know I'll get there one way or another.
Yesterday I did this:
5 min at 3.0 MPH
1 min at 4.8 MPH
4 min at 3.0 MPH
1 min at 5.0 MPH
4 min at 3.0 MPH
1 min at 5.0 MPH
4 min at 3.0 MPH
1 min at 5.0 MPH
4 min at 3.0 MPH
1 min at 5.5 MPH
4 min at 3.0 MPH
5 min cooldown (3.0 down to 1.0)
I did pretty well on the 5.0 MPH jogging and probably could have gone longer than a minute. However, I want to ease into this so I don't hurt my joints too badly. The 5.5 was much harder and took a lot out of me.
At 5.0, my limiting factor is aches in the front outer part of my calves, right above my ankles. Not sure why or how to fix that. Any ideas? At 5.5, my heart rate skyrocketed and I think I went anerobic.
Lesson learned: I shouldn't have done this right before weight-lifting. Getting through that afterwards was brutal!
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NICHOLE5354
8/22/06 9:38 A
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Hello Everyone,
I have not worked out for the past 3 days. I am going to get back in the swing of things this week. I went to a barbeque out in the country and the only exercise I got on Sunday was a game of "Corn Hole" I need to step it up this week because I didn't meet with Gilad at all last week. I did manage to get my miles in though. So hopefully I can put the two together this week.
Welcome all Newbies.
Nichole 
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| Welcome, Shawtay! That's an excellent goal. I've done a little bit of jogging, but doubt that I could make it 10 minutes without stopping. Once I get done with this current challenge, I want to work on that and see if I can make it up to 30 minutes.
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| I would like to join this challenge. My goal is to be able to run on the treadmill @ at least 5 mph for 60 minutes without stopping at all. Right now, I can get 30 minutes with about 2 short stops along the way. It may be a bit ambitious, but worth a shot!
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| I would like to join this challenge. My goal is to be able to run on the treadmill @ at least 5 mph for 60 minutes without stopping at all. Right now, I can get 30 minutes with about 2 short stops along the way. It may be a bit ambitious, but worth a shot!
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Hi Fiddler & All
Sounds like in spite of heat and ailments, everyone's managing to do pretty well. I guess that includes me too. I tore my ACL playing squash in Dec 04, had it reconstructed in Jan 05 and then had a second surgery on the meniscus in the same knee in Dec 05. My caveat as I ramp up my exercise is a dull pain starting in that knee again. In my 2nd surgery the doc discovered arthritis there, and I'm sure that's what's bothering me now. It's manageable, but I took yesterday off from exercise and will call my doc today. I'm not giving up by any means, I just might need rx meds going forward b/c NOT going forward is NOT an option.
Have a great week, all!
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JAMIE_LYNN: Congrats on the 40 minutes and 60 crunches! You're doing fantastic! I hope your back and eye feel better soon!
NYX: Sending cool thoughts your way. Heat waves must be terrible with no A/C. Maybe you can make it out to walk around a mall or museum and soak up some of the air conditioning? It cooled down today in my neck of the woods, so hopefully that will reach you soon. (It's still hot in direct sunlight, but there's a great breeze, so it feels like high seventies instead of the real temperature.)
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NYXWOLFWALKER
8/21/06 2:14 P
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Fiddler - unfortuantly i only made it to 2786 caloires burned for last week and not my 3,000 goal but better then the week before of 2,567 so its progressing slowly
this week looks like it will only be about the same or less becuase we're once again do for heat wave which means little chance to get out and walk/run and no AC so can't so much working out at home - grumbles
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JAMIE_LYNN
8/21/06 2:03 P
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Hey Fiddler~
Starting this week, I am up to 40 minutes on the treadmill and 60 crunches.
Hope everything goes great this week for everyone!!
Still have a sore back and eye, so I am going to do what my body allows!!
Jamie
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