Monday, July 15, 2013


The beginner 5k plan...this is what I have been attempting to do, but I am going to be super serious about it now.  Trust me...super serious is WAY more serious than regular serious!  lol  

I am going to do my first Army Fitness Test today and show you where I should be by the end of the year.  This is the first time I've set a goal like this for myself, so it will be interesting to see how well I stick with it and how well I do at the end of the year!  I plan to do this beginner 5k plan/run at least three times per week and other workouts in between.  I don't want to do push-ups and sit-ups three times per week - I'm afraid it will get too repetetive and I won't look forward to working out, so I will do other things as well when I run.  I'm going to start with Week One of training today because I plan to bump my running speed up to 4.5 (fingers crossed on that!) AND I plan to run without holding onto the bars on the treadmill.  I know, I shouldn't be holding on anyway, but I have been.  I've discovered I run (and walk, according to my kids) crookedly so I will have to "touch" the side bars just for balance, but I really want to let go of the front bars and run without holding on.  Normally, I can run about 8 blocks before grabbing on to the bars, but my goal is to run completely without holding on at all.

Okay...all of that being said...here is the Army Fitness Tests for Women aged 47-51:

Push-ups - 2 minutes to complete, body cannot touch the ground at any time (if it does, count starts over), you must stay in the "plank" position the entire time
   - 34, to score 100
   - 10, to score minimum passing grade of 60

Sit-ups - 2 minutes, knees bent w/feet grounded either by partner or object
   - 66, to score 100
   - 30, to score minimum passing grade of 60

2-mile run - completed in allotted time
   - 17:36, to score 100
   - 24:00, to score minimum passing grade of 60

Looks intimidating to me, but I'll just have to get over that!  Now that I've discovered I can do regular push-ups, that will be a good goal to have.  I will probably throw in some "plank" holds in there as well, since I'll obviously have to be able to do that during the test, so might as well, huh?  I'm going to continue to do CrossFit sit-ups.  I figure if you can do those, then you can definitely do the ones with your feet grounded, right?  Obviously, the running will be my toughest hurdle and I'm looking forward to jumping over that bitch!  lol

OH!  Forgot to mention this - I know the fitness test is only for 2 miles and I'm doing the training for a 5k (which is 3.107/mile).  I will write down my time whenever I reach the 2 mile mark in my training run, and continue to do the training run as is.  I can't remember if I hit 2 miles during the Week 1 training or not, so I plan to continue to do the training run until I do hit it - but I will at least get 8 reps in of running 1 minute, walking 90 seconds.  Also - not sure if I will move from one week of training to the next on a weekly basis (have I confused you enough already?) because I want to conquer the training completely.  I mean, I have until the end of the year so I don't feel like I need to rush it.  I really want to be able to do this, so whenever I can fully do a training run without holding on to the bars, etc. that is when I will move to the next week of longer running.  I hope this isn't coming out as confusing as it is in my head!  I understand what I'm saying, I just hope you do as well!

Y'all wish me luck!!
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WOW!  As we like to say in the south, I can guaran-damn-tee ya, I failed that test!  WHEW!  So tough, but I did it.  Here's the results:

Push-ups - 2 - I only counted 2 because that was all I could do of "real" push-ups, not girl ones.  I did switch over and started doing girl push-ups but I didn't keep count.  Don't ask me why I didn't count - I could at least see if I improved on those, huh?  I did manage to get in 3 more "real" ones though in the allotted time, but since my knees touched the floor, I'm not counting those.  Oh well, I can only improve, right?  :)

Sit-ups - 32 - score of 62!!  Woot-woot!!  I was so disappointed in my sit-ups today, I was so tired and forced myself to continue.  Just not a good day with sit-ups for me and I was thinking I had to score 34 to make the minimum pass score of 60, so I'm VERY pleased to see I did better than minimum!  Barely, but still...it counts!!  :)

Run 2 miles - 34:07 - NOT great, but it's okay.  I wasn't expecting much on these.  I did week 1 of 5k training, and by the time I hit 8 rounds I was at 20 minutes and almost 1.25 miles.  My treadmill time at 1 mile was 16:47.  I continued to run 1 minute, walk 1.5 minutes or more until I hit 2 miles.  I actually ran for a total 13.5 minutes out of the 34:07.  I did most of my running without holding on, but still had to touch the bar for balance - and yes...I did have my safety clip on.  Don't worry - I have the ugliest scab on my knee right now from falling on my treadmill.  I don't plan on doing it again!

Well, now I know where I am and where I need to go and what I need to do to get there.

Push-ups - add 8 real ones
Sit-ups - check, check!  Do not get sucky or worse!
Run 2 miles - knock off 10:01 from time, which means run, Berta, run!!  :)

Workout song of the day:  AC/DC - Highway to Hell - I renamed it "Treadmill to Hell"!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B0PJkS0iyk


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