A run on New Years Day 2015 marked my latest attempt to return to fitness. The first steps to fitness are arguably the most important so I was glad to get this workout under my belt. This takes me from being a ‘fitness dreamer’ on the couch to the lowest steps on the rung of the latter.
Easing myself in to a fitness routine is not something I’m very good at. Despite the risk of injury or three days of intolerable stiffness I decided to embark on a six mile jog, accompanied by my 6 year-old son on his mountain bike. Our route was mostly off-road and guided us along the banks of the river Mersey and Sale Water Park in South Manchester.
The weather was terrible. The biting cold wind and relentless rain proved a little too much for my training partner so we cut our route short and completed 4.5 miles. Despite the sedentary pace and the reduced distance I felt this was at least a few respectable first steps to fitness.
I completed the 4.5 mile run in 50 minutes 35 seconds. This works out at an average of 11 minutes 15 seconds per mile. According to my Garmin Forerunner 410 Running Watch and Garmin Heart Monitor my ticker averaged 165 beats per minute. The workout burned off 768 calories.