It took me 56 days to run 30 times, a 53.57% completion rate. I was trying to keep it over 50%, which would have been okay too; basically running every other day.
I ran a total of 51 miles.. just under a mile a day.
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| Oct 4, before pic |
I started off strong, most of my runs were two miles and although they were tough they were completed. Then I started hanging out, going on road trips and doing squats nights. All of that stuff got in the way. The squats nights enhanced my legs though. Half way through the process I decided I probably shouldn't be drinking while I'm doing this - it was one of those hang outs and I may have lost the next day.
There was a transit strike during the 56 days - it only affected me for one day and on that day I walked a total of 6.5 miles. It didn't count as a run, but I got the benefits nonetheless.
Somehow sick caught up with me, so I lost a couple of days there. It was a 24 hour bug, and when I emerged victorious my weight bottomed out at 176. I had a few more 176+ days so the illness wasn't the ONLY time I'd gotten that low.
Which was the point of this experiment - I wanted to see if I could lose weight by running. My conclusion is yes - but not that much. How much is not THAT much? I didn't even lose five pounds. However, I did lose weight. In fact, I believe by running on a regular basis I managed to maintain a less than 180 lbs body weight for possibly 90% of the time I was running. A couple of times I popped up over 180, but only by 1/2 a pound.
- this chart shows fat weight 57 days before the running session and 57 days after. As you can see, i finished where i started, around 28 lbs of fat.
- The fat average during the running was 26.83 lbs.
- The fat average before running was 28.16 lbs. a difference of 1.33 lbs. which doesn't seem like much, except when you're dealing with averages over a span of time.
- Muscle weight during the run session was 78.87 lbs.
- Muscle weight before the run session (No chart for this btw) 79.59 a difference of .72 lbs. This suggests, as does most of my experiments that exercise burns fat at a faster rate than muscle. i just haven't been able to build muscle as I'm shredding fat.
- It looks like fat drops at a fat:muscle ratio of 1.84:1
- Finally, let's look at overall weight difference (average) 178.63 during the run
- 181.42 before the running a difference of 2.79 (almost 3) lbs.
Above there's a chart that compares the 57 days of running with the 57 days before I started running. The evidence is clear, if not very dynamic... to me at least. The question is; is it worth it? Is it worth the effort and the discipline to run every other day for nearly two months to lose an average of 3 lbs. (And if you're looking at the first day of running vs. the last day, you see the weight is the same.)
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| During Pic - November 7th @ the YMCA |
What I did learn along the way is that there are other benefits besides weight loss that might keep me running on a regular basis; mainly the muscle development in my legs and the fat-burn on parts of my torso, including the belly, however it's not as apparent as I'd like it to be, but the sides are showing improvement. I had/have more fat on me than I thought.
So now that I'm done, I may have this running thing in my "soul" or psyche (same thing really). I am convinced that it works, so I may just keep it as part of my routine. If I don't run as often I may be able to run further and further; of course we'll be watching how the body adapts. This will also give me time - the time I have left - to get into the gym and lift again, to see if i can balance out the run, the lift, the body weight training.
I'll have more time after December 16th.
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