Posts by greenfruit

a themed desk/wall calander... pick one that suits their personalities/interests.

Hey, if you are just starting to run and can't run for 30 minutes yet, you might want to try something like this:

WEEK 1: Run 2 min, Walk 2 min. - Repeat 7 times.

WEEK 2: Run 4 min, Walk 2 min. - Repeat 5 times.

WEEK 3: Run 6 min, Walk 2 min. - Repeat 4 times.

WEEK 4: Run 8 min, Walk 2 min. - Repeat 3 times.

WEEK 5: Run 6 min, Walk 2 min, Run 10 min, Walk 2 min, Run 10 min, Walk 2 min.

WEEK 6: Run 10 min, Walk 1 min. - Repeat 3 times.

WEEK 7: Run 13 min, Walk 1 min, Run 14 min, Walk 1 min.

WEEK 8: Run 15 min, Walk 1 min, Run 16 min, Walk 1 min.

WEEK 9: Run 17 min, Walk 1 min, Run 18 min, Walk 1 min.

WEEK 10:

   DAY 1: Run 9 min, Walk 1 min, Run 21 min.

   DAY 2: Run 7 min, Walk 1 min, Run 23 min.

   DAY 3: Run 5 min, Walk 1 min, Run 25 min.

   DAY 4: Run 3 min, Walk 1 min, Run 27 min.

   DAY 5: Run 30 min.

This was taken from "The complete runner's log" by Sean Keogh.  I picked it up at Borders on sale for $5.  This schedule is for people completely new to running and they recommend you run 4 days a week.  If you can't run at a conversational pace you can drop down a week, if you find the plan too easy they recommend skipping every third week.  You can also mix and match, for week 4 you can run one day from week 3, two from 4, and one from 5.  Also, if you are over 20% your ideal weight they recommend spending two or more weeks walking briskly for 20-30 min, 4 days/week.

If you have done some running before you also don't have to follow this exactly.  My first week back to running I followed week 3 and week 4 runs.  My second week I mixed the week 5 and week 6 routines.  This week I went on a 35 min run and a 40 min run, and will be running this afternoon.  (woo!) 

Even though I didn't really follow it, I really liked their plan.  It makes building up your endurance not seem like such an impossible task when you are beginning.  It helped me stay on track... I just got back into running much faster than I thought I would.

 Good luck!

Sure!  I'll join.  I'd love to lose 20lbs by the 1st, but I would be so happy with 15 lbs.  We'll see how it goes!!

My stats: 22 yrs old, current weight 186.2

September 22 : 186.2 lbs

September 29

       .

       .

January 1 - Goal 166lb

Hey - I'm 22 and in a similar situation.

This is what I do, and it seems to work for me:  I count the mixers towards my calorie count to encourage me to use high calorie juices sparingly, I count beers for about half their calorie value, and I never count hard alcohol calories.  (If I'm drinking hard alcohol I'd much rather have food in my stomach and go slightly over my calories than not.)

Going out every other weekend isn't a whole lot, so slightly going over your calories once every 14 days (in my opinion) is ok.  The main thing is to have fun with your friends, not go crazy about calories.

Just make sure that you are being good on the other days of the week, don't go too crazy on the weekends, and maybe try to add in an extra workout.

Other than that - drink your gin and tonics and have fun!

raves