27
Jan
2.3km – chaining
Speaking as somebody who’s expanding horizontally, arresting that bulging man-breasts has become something more than a comestic want. It’s become a need. Whereas this isn’t an issue about spending money (like the same measure used when deciding what to buy), this has become a critical decision that I want to take.
I’m supposed to be able to clear the IPPT by the end of August, or face a brutal Remedial Training regime that would eat into my class time project work time. Next semester is a crucial period for me, as I will be starting my final year project, along with my classmates. Taking time out from my project to take part in a mass exercise is an absolute no-no for me, thus I’ve made a conscious decision to commit to a fixed regular training regime.
Unfortunately, since I’m always busy during the day, the only time I’m free to run is in the evening. And by that I don’t mean 7pm or 8pm. For the past 3 weeks, I’ve been going on 11pm runs, right at the cusp of the new day. It isn’t that hard to run at this time, nor is it very much different from running in the daytime. The cool evening air does motivate me somewhat, and my man-boobs are less conspicuous that way, ever since the town council decided to use lower wattage bulbs for the street lights along my route.
The approach I’ve decided to take is inspired by Jerry Seinfield – maintaining a chain of activity on your monthly calendar. I’ve tested this for the past 3 weeks, and I’m happy to report that it’s my most successful embarkation on a consistent training programme so far. My chain, however is slightly relaxed, as I leave a day’s break between sessions. Of course, I’m giving myself leeway in terms of what constitutes the continuation of the chain: this chain isn’t considered broken, as long as I have at least one exercise day within any 3 day period. That should cover eventualities, like all those looming project deadlines, as well as rainy days.
The reason why I’m posting my progress calendar here, is so that I can be accountable on the Internet for my actions. I’m putting my feet to the fire this time, instead of tolerating the long-term pain later on. I aim to achieve a 10 second reduction in my 2.3km time each session, and thus hit my target 2.3km timing of 11:40 by end of April 2009.
I’ll also be re-posting this calendar with each of my post, so that any stalkers can monitor my updates. Hold me accountable for my fitness, and I may post pictures of my shrinking beer-belly once I hit my target 
Today’s timing is an improvement over the 21 January 2009 timing of 14 min 25 sec. I stopped at the 1 min 38 sec mark to take a call from a friend, and resumed running immediately after the call ended. Taking calls allowed me to catch my breath, and so may be responsible for my improvement today. You may not think so, but I know that I stuffed cashew nuts and other new year goodies down my belly in the day, so the effects of this particular session may be nullified. But at the very least, I know that I’ve burnt off a percentage of today’s calorie intake, and that alone is motivation enough for me to carpet-bomb goodies tomorrow!
And here’s the calendar:
on January 28th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Jiayou!!
on January 28th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Ah you run, you run somemore.
on January 31st, 2009 at 10:48 am
[...] the new exercise regime I’ve only established at the start of this month; I nearly broke the chain when I contemplated missing Thursday’s session, but I decided to go for it anyway. But [...]