A few weeks after I started my 21-day Yoga Challenge I realize that wanted to add some more to my exercise regime. I thought back and remembered how I started to gain weight, when I stopped babysitting Oliver two plus years ago. While I was babysitting I would take him for two or three 30 minute walks during the day.
Once those walks stopped on came the weight! Anyway I thought even though you won’t be pushing a stroller you can walk twice a day numb nuts! So I created the 30-day Oliver Walking Challenge. The aim of the challenge was to use walking to help me get back into shape with the idea that I would then be able to start and run again.
Well the Walking Challenge worked so well that within two weeks or so, I was running again.
.The Run: 3.1 Miles….
Yesterday I ran for the third time this week. It’s the fourth week in a row that I have done such! The first week I ran 3.1 miles on Sunday and then did the same on Tuesday and Thursday. On the following three Sundays, including this past Sunday, I ran four miles and 3.1 miles on the following Tuesday and Thursday.
The end result is that I ran 11 days in May and have run 3 days so far in June. Yesterday’s run was my fourteenth since May 1st and one of my fastest. I completed the 3.1 mile course in 33:53 about two minutes faster than the first 3.1 mile run I ran on May 6th. One of the better things is that I am running faster with a lower average heart rate.
Yesterday’s run was over the 5K (3.1 miles) course that I have run the majority of May and June. I completed the course in 33:53 as mentioned above. That calculates to an average pace of approximately 10:53 minutes/mile. Here are the mile splits…
Mile 1 – 10:49 Mile 2 – 10;56 Mile 3 – 10:46 0.13 Miles – 10:00
I think this may be the first time that the pace for all three Miles was under 11 minutes per mile. And it certainly was one of the few times that my last mile was faster than the first mile!
I don’t think that I have ran three days a week for four weeks in,well, probably, more than four years. But hopefully like my yoga routine I hope I can keep this up!
The Soundtrack: Brighter Days – Grand Marquis
The soundtrack from yesterday’s run was provided by a band that I am unfamiliar with, Grand Marquis. I listened to their latest release Brighter Days. Grand Marquis is a blues and Americana roots band hailing from Kansas City. The band formed in 1998. Since then they have become a mainstay of the Kansas City music scene. They have also released eight albums and performed coast to coast.Their music is their own brand of Americana Roots, Blues and Prohibition-Era Jazz
Members of the Band include:
Ben Ruth: upright bass, sousaphone, backing vocals;
Chad Boydston: trumpet, backing vocals;
Ryan Wurtz: electric and acoustic guitars;
Trevor Turla: trombone, backing vocals;
Fritz Hutchison: drums, backing vocals;
Bryan Redmond: lead vocals; soprano, alto, tenor & baritone saxophones
Currently, Brighter Days is No. 8 on the Roots Music Report’s Blues Charts.
I never get a true listen to an album on a run, but I did like what I heard. So Brighter Days will go into my music rotation and I’ll let you know in a bit what I think!
You can check out Grand Marquis’ website here. Or visit them on Facebook
Here’s the band performing “Brighter Days”……..
