Beginner Runner

Question
Hello,
I am an obese female who has started jogging/running as a way to lose weight. I found I enjoy  using my treadmill as opposed to outdoors. Mostly due to access to water. I keep it on a shelf next to the treadmill.

First, a little about me. I am 34, 5'3 and 205lbs. I take Seroquel and Wellbutrin for bipolar disorder. One of the side effects is dry mouth. Starting in July 2012 I decided to lose weight. I was 260 ay my heaviest. As you can see I've dropped 50lbs. This is through diet and a website to count calories.

When I started on the treadmill I walked 2.5 miles in 90 minutes. My current workout is three days a week on the treadmill going 6 miles at a steady pace of 4mph. I change the incline around. I add on average depending on how I feel .50 miles every two weeks. Sometimes on off days I may do a real run. I am capable of doing 1.5 miles at 5mph. But that's rough on me. The only pains I have are my big toe joints.

My question is two part. First, to become a better runner should I focus ion speed or distance? Is my workout efficient for more weight loss and increasing cardio health? I read about interval training, walk, run, walk run but doesn't appeal to me for some reason.

Second part, On days I workout I burn around 700 calories. I eat about 1650 cal a day I jog. Is this enough? Should I be eating the same on days I don't workout? I want to keep my body fueled properly to be more efficient.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you,
Cathy

Answer
Fabulous job on working so hard and losing so much weight Cathy. Many try and fail, but you've succeeded. Keep up the great work!

Right now you should focus on distance. You will only be able to get marginally faster. Once you can jog for 3 miles I recommend starting to increase speed.

I can see why interval training isn't appealing. When you jog you can get into a rhythm. There is no rhythm in interval training. That being said it is very, very, very effective. One way that you may not mind doing it is as follows. Increase the treadmill to 6mph for 30 seconds and then decrease it to 4mph for 60 seconds. This way you won't have as big of a drop in speed, but you are still able to get many of the benefits of interval training. If you do this twice a week you'll be able to see good results.

As far as diet goes you want to make sure that you don't start your run hungry more than once a week. The more energy you have for your run- the faster and farther you'll run- the faster and farther you run- the more calories you burn. You want to be feeling great when you start your run. You should feel full of energy. That being said I do recommend running once a week after having not eaten anything for at least 6 hours. This encourages your body to be able to burn fat more efficiently.

Please let me know if you have other questions. I'd be more than happy to answer them. Good luck in your efforts!