Wogging a 15min mile

When I started walking I was doing a 20min mile if I was lucky. I felt like I was on the verge of a coronary when I was finished but I could do a 20min mile. As I lost weight and got more active I gradually worked that down to around 14.

Last winter I decided to focus on running and improved all the way to under a 12 min mile. WOO HOO!!!! I was thrilled. Fast forward to June where I find myself on crutches for 6 weeks after having major knee surgery. :(

Carrying around the extra weight all those years was an issue but the increased running and speed definitely didn't help the knee. So I had drilling done to repair a bone defect and then tried to claw my way back to fitness through physical therapy and workouts. It's been a loooooooooooong 6 months but I think I'm turning a corner.

Wogging. It's my term for walk-jogging where you're moving fast but not really picking your feet up too much so it looks like you're jogging but you're really like shuffle walking. I've been working my way up to 3 miles at 18min miles without pain and around Christmas finally got there. Now I'm slowly racheting my way down :)

The pursuit of the sustainable 15 min mile. I can do a 15 min mile now while wogging without pain. I can even do a 14 min mile (albeit with a tiny bit of pain) but I have managed to hold the 15min mile pace for 2 miles so far.

I've decided that as I work towards distance and the completion of my 1/2 IM this summer and the full IM to follow that 15 min miles will stay my goal. Rather than try to get faster I will try to build distance and hold that pace. Being able to go further is the goal and the reality is I need to spend the time preparing my legs for going further rather than faster.

Go Long Speed Leopard!