As some of you know, I am currently following Hal Higdon’s 10K Novice Program. But I haven’t been actually running—on the street. Instead, due to a lingering left foot injury, when Hal calls for a run I have happily hopped on the elliptical cross-trainer at the gym and ran the prescribed miles. For example, this past Thursday Hal asked for a two mile run which I dutifully completed in 15 minutes and 49 seconds.

Sixteen minute aerobic sessions just don’t seem like enough! Thus, from this point on when Hal calls for a run and I use the elliptical, I’m going to multiply whatever milage he requests by 15 minutes. So, the next time he asks for a two mile run I will use the elliptical for 30 minutes. Three miles will have me on it for 45 minutes and so on.

This seems like a better way to go—getting a minimum of 30 minute aerobic sessions being that Hal always calls for at least two miles. The key thing here is I’m still a newbie at all this and want to keep my current injury-free streak going and yet continue to increase my fitness in a timely manner. What do you think?