Capped off a good week of workouts, despite work travel. Managed to get into week 4 of Couch to 5K. This is a great program built around intervals: Starting easy with 60 second run followed by 90-second walk. Each day, progressing gradually to 5-min run with 2.5 min walk.
So today I graduated myself from the C25K program and joined our group run for 3 miles. I’m now using MapMyRun, which is a big data app run by one of my customers – UnderArmour. I’m contributing to the tech I help facilitate which seems rather odd, but rewarding. 😉 The cool thing is that it maps directly to MapMyFitness, which tracks calories. How refreshing to have this tech work seamlessly! I’m pleased…

On our long run, we also did intervals – 2min run to 1min walk. Met the rest of the team in Ohio CCFA, and am VERY impressed by this organization! Great people who have been impacted by IBD for between 8 and 45 years. Really reinfo rces my commitment.
I’m committing to the half-marathon which is a long 13.1Mile slog. I think I’ve got this. Some people drop back to the 10k so that’s an option but I’m optimistic about my ability to make it.
Thinking about Andrew and those who suffer from Crohn’s. It’s a long series of intervals for them too! Periods of healthy activity followed by poor health until the treatment cycles in. And if a flare pops up it throws the whole cycle into jeopardy.
It’s estimated that Crohn’s and Colitis affect 1.6 million Americans, most of whom are diagnosed before age 35. We can drive research dollars to help wipe out these horrible diseases.

Thanks again for your sponsorship! Please donate for one of three reasons:
1. To help those with Crohn’s or Colitis
2. Watch me drag my sorry self 13.1 miles in February
3. A combination of both!
I’ll keep you posted here with weekly updates. Feeling good and looking forward to another great week of training!
Best,
ET

Originally posted at CCFA site by Eric Thorsen on Sun, Dec 04, 2016 @ 7:37 PM
Cross posted here after successful completion of the race

I’m using Couch-to-5K to get ramped up and just finished my first full week. Rather than skip a day, I ran each day of the program on each day, taking one day off. It worked out pretty well and I felt challenged but capable during each workout.

The app has matured since I last used it and I love the audio cues to walk/run/etc. and really like the graphical tracking of pace, distance, and workouts over time.
Today was my long run, so I went off schedule and just ran as long as I could on the same route, walking when necessary. Total distance was 3 miles, and total time was 45 mins. Nothing to write home about, but a good baseline to measure against going forward!
Crohn’s is an expensive disease. In a 2008 study, direct medical costs were $18,022 to $18,932 per patient per year in the United States. About 53 to 67 percent of those costs were from hospitalizations.
The cause of Crohn’s is undetermined, but with enough research we can learn more. I’m looking forward to driving research forward and am anxious to reach a breakthrough in my son Andrew’s lifetime.
THANK YOU for your support! I’ll keep you posted on this weeks’ progress!
Best,
ET

Originally posted at CCFA site by Eric Thorsen on Sat, Nov 26, 2016 @ 7:30 PM
Cross posted here after successful completion of the race

So it begins… I missed the organization meeting last month and spoke to the organizers last week. I still have time to train for a half-marathon! I’m on day-four of “Couch to 5K” which does a nice job of pacing me through walking and running – one minute run, followed by 90 seconds of walk.

I should be past newbie stage by next week and will join the team runs on Saturday mornings, and able to ramp up my daily runs to more miles.
This is a great program since there is a coach to help ramp up to goal levels and get into shape by race-time!
I have run in the past – I used to run the Cincinnati Heart Mini-Marathon, so my top mileage was 9.3 miles. I think with the time I have prior to Feb, I should be able to complete the half!
Thanks for your donations and I’ll keep you updated here.

Best,
ET

Originally posted at CCFA site by Eric Thorsen on Mon, Nov 21, 2016 @ 3:46 PM
Cross posted here after successful completion of the race