Weigh-In Wednesday: Target Heart Rate

If you don't see much a change from last week to this week, it's because there isn't much. I only dropped one pound and I felt like I was fighting for every little bit of it. The scale was waging a vicious battle against my mental sanity, taunting me to give up and adding on a couple pounds in the mornings. I'd spend the first couple hours of every day trying to squeeze every little drop out of my bladder and stripping off my clothes to weigh myself over and over again. I took Saturday and Sunday "off" to regather my forces and continue on with the battle. I'm so close to gaining that second goal and earning another reward for my hard work. I just need to change things up here.

A friend in our Biggest Loser group said that I need to exercise for at least 25 minutes at 60-70% of my target heart rate. What in the heck is that?? I see the option on the cardio machines and I always grab the handle and watch the numbers jump all over the place, never quite matching what I think I'm feeling. So back to google and find out what my target heart rate is supposed to be. It doesn't get much easier than subtracting my age from 220 and multiplying by .6 and .7 to get my target heart rate of 110-128. Geez, why didn't I know that sooner? That is the fat burning zone that I need to maintain as opposed to the higher cardio zone that I normally run at.

Mom took both girls for a couple hours this afternoon so I took advantage of the child-free opportunity to hit Pilot Butte. My goal was to go up and down twice as quickly as possible. Cardio Trainer said it was actually 4.66 miles in 1:08 for 429 calories. The extra .66 mile must come from me running all the way back to my car for a drink of water after the first round as well as circling the whole top when I reach it. I walked at a good pace all the way up and then ran down all the way to the car and then walked at a slower pace back up it again and walked back down. By the time I finished and reached my car, my thighs were just shaking with exhaustion, that's something new for me. Even after I ran the half-marathon, my legs didn't feel that bad so I must be really out of shape. All in all, it's time to push on and next week you better be seeing my digits in the 140's!!