The Journey Begins

So here's the thing; I've decided to push towards getting in shape in order to even consider the possibility of joining the Army. So hopefully I'll have something to talk about, mainly, my journey of shapedness. Or whatever.

Some starting stats, just for my own curiosity at the end of... however many months.

Age: 33
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 252 lbs (yes, a bit obese)

Today I started an 8-week walk/run program to get me in the groove of things and to safely get me started on this journey. It seems easily doable, and the expected results at the end of the 8 weeks seem highly achievable, which can only result in the feeling of fulfillment one needs to carry on.

You can find the routine here for those interested, plus other articles: http://running.about.com/od/getstartedwithrunning/ht/getstarted.htm

Stop here if you don't care a flying fig about what I did, but I'm using this also as a sort of journal to record my progress.

Here's what I did today:

Warm-up:
- Started at 2 MPH (I'm using a treadmill, so you may want to get a pedometer or something to that effect to help you easile keep pace, although always go for your comfort level).
- At 2:30, I increased it to 2.5 MPH
- At 5:00, I increased the speed to 3 MPH. This is the speed I used for my walking segments.

For my jogging segments, I was using 4 MPH. This seemed to work great for my current state. Obviously, your conditioning will greatly vary these speeds. But this is a good start for someone who's obsese for his height, and although I could feel my calves starting to burn even before the warm-up period was over, I was able to finish this first session with no problems, and my heart rate seemed to stay on target.'

For my cool-down, I went down to 2.8 MPH after finishing the last jogging segment. 1:30 into my cool-down, I went down to 2.5 MPH. 3:00 into my cooldown, went down to 2.2 MPH. 4:00, to 2.0 MPH, and ended up at 1.8 MPH. This seemed a good way to bring down my heart rate to non-insane levels.

Good luck to those about to embark in a similar endeavor, and please feel free to share tips!

Hopefully as I go along, I'll actually have something to contribute towards those who actually are trying to find information on joining the Army/Military.

Peace and God Bless.