I witnessed my first “The Biggest Loser” competition last night.
I was invited by Anne, the owner of Hampton Hill Athletic Club, about a month ago to come and watch their version of The Biggest Loser last night. They have been going since August and wrap up in about a month.
She wanted me to come check out her gym, the competition, and chat with the participants. I have to say that while I’ve never been apart of a competition like The Biggest Loser, I was really impressed. Anne asked me to participate in the physical part of last night’s challenge, running two miles (outside), and there was no way I could turn that down. If you recall, last Thursday I ran 2 miles in about 30 minutes.
Sunday night during the challenge: about 23 minutes.
My first mile was something like 10 minutes and 30 seconds. The second mile was ran uphill for a little bit and I was definitely dragging. I was surprised that my first “real” outdoor run had a shorter mile than I’ve ever accomplished on the treadmill. I quickly realized why — I had people running in front of me and people running behind me, all trying to reach the same place.
We were holding each other accountable.
Anne invited me to the next and final meeting of The Biggest Loser at Hampton Hill on November 22nd and I can’t wait to go back. I loved all the people there and can’t wait to see all the progress made between now and next month.
I had such a great experience, not only participating in the competition and talking to the folks but with the gym itself. So much, I joined before I left.
Starting tonight, I’ll be going to Hampton Hill Athletic Club.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I find that I always run faster outside. It’s so much better than running on the treadmill, even when it’s 32 degrees outside. Good job on the 23 minutes. You’ll only get faster from here!
Running outside DOES make it harder to breathe though, I noticed. The colder it gets I imagine the harder it gets to breathe.
With that being said, it was refreshing.
First of all… very impressed with your two mile time!!
Treadmills are notorious for misinformation. You can NEVER trust the mileage or calories burned information on those machines. This might also explain your increase in time (plus the power of competition is a wonderful motivator).
If you are training for a race, nothing can replace the training you get from running outside. On the treadmill you don’t have wind resistance, and your muscles aren’t working as hard because the belt is helping them move along. Treadmills are great when the weather doesn’t cooperate, but otherwise…running outside is best.
Great job! and Good Luck in the November challenge!
I’m training for the Cooper River Bridge Run, so I definitely need to start running outdoors more. I just don’t have the lung capacity yet to run a big distance.
Yea, running with partners (that are faster than you) will always speed you up. Also, running outside has a lot of advantages. I too find that running outside uses more lungs though. (The treadmill conversely uses more legs for me.)
10:30 is a respectable mile. I think you should focus hard to getting your first mile to 10 minutes. I’ve always found that running goals are mostly mental. Knowing in your mind that you can run a 10:30 goes a long way in doing it again or beating it.
A big congrats!
I’m definitely focusing for that under 10 minute mark. That is my goal. I hope to be able to do that in a few weeks!
Sorry, but I felt the need for a long-winded post on the Outside vs. Treadmill:
People are always down on treadmills. I know I am. I mostly run outside and enjoy it much more. But treadmills have their advantages. In fact, I ran my fastest 10k (7:51 pace) after training almost exclusively on a treadmill. The two main advantages of a treadmill are 1) time/weather independence: it doesn’t matter if it’s raining, running at night and in the morning are the same, and it’s usually air conditioned; and 2) it’s digital: you set a speed and you have to either run that speed or make a conscious decision to set a new speed, which can be really nice when you’re looking to make small improvements in an otherwise solid routine.
I find running outside to be much more analog. You’re constantly adjusting to the environment, slowing down or speeding up depending on what’s going on around you (hills, curves, cars, other people, scenery, etc).
As a result, I find that when you’re doing something new with your running (new speed, new distance, etc), it’s beneficial to run outside because the analog experience gives you many more opportunities to adjust to it. But when you’re fine-tuning something established, running on a treadmill can make a big difference. Still I will rarely do a long run on a treadmill, much preferring to go outside for that.
I like hampton hill; it has a good location. But how are you working that out with your golds membership?
It’s a great location. Not as close to Gold’s, but I can stop by Target on my way home and get some POP Chips. I am not paying anything to go to Hampton Hill.
See you CAN run faster. Knew it. Do you watch your posture when you run? A lot of people slump as they go along and that makes breathing more difficult. Obviously the better posture you have, the longer your torso will be and the more room your lungs have to expand.
Running with someone else does change the pace you set but you’re still the one setting your speed either way. You can easily do the math and up your speed for a 10:30 mile on the treadmill. If you knocked off over four minutes from your speed you aren’t pushing yourself to the right point. You may not have thought it was easy doing that 15min mile, but people train and train and train to gain seconds in speed. You can see now it was a lot easier than you thought it was. Push yourself to what you think you can do, and then when you get there see how far you can really go.
I made sure to watch my posture, but it was tough on the hill. My body wanted to slouch.
I’m definitely going to keep running on the treadmill, but I will mix in running outside every once in a while. I will definitely be pushing myself more, though.
That’s actually really good…a lot of people find that when they go from the dreadmill to the road, they have less stamina/speed…not more.
I know I personally have trouble making the transition because I will occasionally veer slightly left or right…which you can’t do on a treadmill without a major owie.
An 11:30 mile is fairly decent, too. Although it does put you into the “penguin runner” category :)
I know, that’s what I’ve heard to! Most people aren’t as good running outside than they are inside.
I don’t want to be a penguin runner, so I better keep at it :)
Awesome job!!! Keep it up, running only gets more addictive, it’s awesome! See you at the Cooper River Bridge 3/27/10!
Hey! Don’t be knocking us penguins! I’m really proud of my 13′ mile, lol. As we like to say, “Slow is the new Fast!”
Great job, Tyler. Keep it up :-)
Sup dude I have been periodically checking your blog since I started my weight loss. In May I was 279 today I am 210. Since Ive gotten back to school I love running. I used to hate it, treadmill, outside. It seems strange but I love running on the indoor track here at school, something about knowing I have this many laps, and other people running gets me motivated to go faster. When I started my weight loss journey, I don’t think I could run a mile let alone a quick one. But today I ran somewhere around a 7:45 minute mile, I was dead after but I still did it! I want to be under 6 minutes by the end of this school year. Some advice to you that sounds silly, but it works so great for me, is music. Any music that makes you happy. If you have a song that no matter what mood you are in, makes you happy listen to it while running. I’ll be running just kind of trudging along and as soon as one of the songs pops up I’m speeding up and I’m excited about running. Keep up the great work, this blog has helped me a lot to know that I’m not alone, and you knew what it was like to be very obese and have skinny people tell you how to lose weight. That doesn’t work. You have lost way more than I have so you know what your doing too, but when someone who has no professional background tells me to do this or that, I’m just like no I’ll continue what I’m doing, when you lose 70 pounds, you can tell me what to do. I’m sure you can feel the same way, except you get to say 120 pounds! great job dude keep it up!
>An 11:30 mile is fairly decent, too. Although it does put you into the “penguin runner” category :)
Hey… I just finished a marathon at 12:45. Nothing wrong with being a penguin runner if that’s your pace. Only focus on your pace if it motivates you – the most important thing is to maintain your desire to run regularly!
BTW, I also think this comment was a reference to John “the Penguin” Bingham, who is a huge inspiration to us back of the pack folks – http://www.johnbingham.com/
Way to go, Tyler. Would you have ever dreamed a year ago that you could run a 10:30 mile? That’s an amazing accomplishment – congratulations!