Standing Desk

I've been standing at my desk for several months. (Minus a few weeks when I was nursing some foot pain I wanted to get better for the marathon.) I love it. I love how my posture has improved. I also feel good knowing that I'm not endangering my health by sitting for 8 hours at work on top of the sitting I do while commuting and watching TV.

Since I first started standing at work, I have noticed and been told that several of my coworkers also stand at work. I really think that people have started to take the studies about the negative health effects of sitting to heart. This makes me really happy. I can see how this trend will continue and grow as more people learn about it.

I think that companies could really help their employees by making standing desks the standard. If people want to sit, they could, but they'd need to opt out of standing. People don't like being the odd one out, and right now, the healthiest option is the odd one. Without having the standing desk set up, finding a way to elevate a monitor to eye level and have the keyboard at a 90% angle from the elbow can be difficult. While I was typing this, I noticed that my monitor should be a bit higher, actually. I'm going to have to dig around for another catalog to put under my tower, which is under my monitor. It may be set up like a bad duct tape nightmare, but it's still better than sitting. Now I just need to convince my company to spring for a treadmill desk.

If you're sitting at your desk at work, have you considered switching to standing? What would push you to make the switch?

July 5Ks

I know I promised an update on how I did in my 5K Double-Header back in July. I am here to deliver, even if it's FOUR months late. My post might be late, but I wasn't late during the 5K Famous Racing Sausages Run/Walk at Miller Park. In fact, I passed most of the sausages, even though they had a good minute or two head start.

When trying to set a time goal, I finally settled on under 28 minutes total or faster than 9 minutes per mile. I finished in 27:37, which is 8:53 per mile. That was more than a full minute shaved off of my time from my PR 5K in April.

I've said it many times, but one of the reasons I love running is that the main competition is you on any prior day. I was not nearly as fast as the person who won the trophy for my age group (30-39) but I was about 4% better than I had been a mere 3 months prior to this. 4% might not seem like a huge improvement, but it's about 20 seconds faster per mile. I will take a 4% improvement every time.

I haven't run a 5K since that run, but I'm running one this weekend. I would love to see a 4% improvement for a finishing time of about 26:30. That would put me closer to my long-term goal time of 25:00. When I run races, I usually have a realistic goal and a reach goal. My reach goal will be 8 minute miles for a time of 25:00, but my realistic goal will be 27:00. That's not a full 4% improvement, but it's an improvement, which is always welcome.

I just looked at the best times for my age group and they're closer to 20:00. That's a pace of 6:26 per mile. I have never even run one mile faster than 7 minutes. I can't imagine running 3.1 of them at that pace. I'm sure some people would see that my goal of being 25% slower than the fastest runners of my age is "losing." I see it as realistic and competing against myself, not random strangers. It is possible that if I hit 25:00, I will evaluate my progress and aim to be faster than that.

I'm Back!!!!

I have neglected my blog for far too long. Instead of writing, I was running and training. It was all for a very good reason, but it's time that I got back to writing. I will still run and train, but also write. I promise to fill you in on some of the more exciting moments since July 27, but for now, I'll just post this picture.