Had a scare - back on track.

First of all, Hello blog. I've been ignoring you for a while. Much has happened since our last meeting. I'm now a father of a beautiful now 9 week old boy named Henry:







He's awesome.

But the real reason for my post it to come clean. A while ago I found my maintain weight of around 215 or so. Well, after maintaining that for a while I got comfortable and stopped weighing myself. Eventually I knew I'd gained weight but grew afraid to step on the scale. Not cool. That's an old habit that got me to over 300 pounds eventually. Not cool at all.
I finally came clean a week ago after an especially debaucherous evening. The next morning i jumped on the scale ready for the worst, and it was the worst, 231.6. OUCH!

To rehash the past few years, I lost 100 or so pounds over 6 months, reaching 202 or so in early 2008. I maintained that for a while, at the same time getting comments from people telling me I'd gone too far. I eventually settled on a maintenence weight I felt comfy with, and that was 210-215. I maintained that until about 3 months ago after I finished a half marathon. Then the impending baby came. Goal-less "maintenence-land" existed for while. I stayed active, riding my bike daily, but my diet eventually started to slip and I stopped weighing myself.

That brings us to last Monday and my 231.6 weigh-in.
I'm now happy to report that after a week of much better eating and daily weigh ins to keep me honest I'm back down to 224 , on my way back to 215 or so.
I'll keep updating this blog until I get down to where I want to be again and to keep me honest.

But yeah. It just goes to show that it really is a lifestyle change and that has to mean forever. You cant allow yourself to slip into old habits and if and when you do, you have to adjust and get out of them. I'm working on doing that now.

Zone Maintenence - Paranoia Check

Today's weigh-in: 215.4

Today I'll be blatantly ripping off Bill's Zone theory, adjusted of course for my numbers.

Green zone: <212 lbs
Yellow Zone: 212-220 lbs
Red Zone: >220 lbs

220 was my original goal to reach, back in January of 2008. Since then I've found myself averaging as low as 203, to having weigh-ins as high as 221. There was an upward trend that started the past 4 months since I stopped Half Marathon Training, so the past few weeks I've been trying to get things in line and my number is coming back down. The reason I consider my green zone a little higher than my lowest recorded averages is that I've put some muscle on. Basically I don't start getting nervous about my weight if my number is below 212 or so.

So that's it really. Thanks for the idea BillyBob!

Psycho Killer Qu'est-ce que c'est?

Hi.

Been a while eh?

Well you know, I had those neck issues and all. I re-injured my neck after it was almost completely healed, so that set me back. That was a few weeks ago though and it's been 100% now for at least a week. So, no more excuses really.

Know what sucks? As soon as my workouts tail off or I don't watch those calories quite as close as I normally do, what happens? Fat shows up. Where? Directly on my hips and gut. Not so much anywhere else really, but right on my gut and love handles. How annoying is that?

I mean, I was still active, riding my bike and running maybe once a week, but I just lost the fire. And I was relaxing big time on watching my caloric intake.

Maintenance is hard...man.

So after just being tired, hurt, and maybe a bit lazy and watching my weight show my numbers as high as 221-ish, last week I decided I'd better get back on the bus. Err, wagon, and off the retard bus.

I surrounded myself with healthier snacks. I rode my bike a few more days, and I ran in a 5K.

Right, so that 5k. I ran this on Saturday:




On paper I guess I did well, running it in 23:45 and placing something like 170 out of 2000-ish people, but in reality, it hurt. I started the race towards the front for some reason, I guess I thought I was being more badass. You know, the place where they ask the real runners to start from...

I stood around with these 90lb women runners all decked out in spandex and muscles and told myself I'd pace with them for a bit. I mean, come on, I just ran a half marathon, I can do this. That's what I told myself. I forget the Half was almost 3 months ago and I've barely run 12 miles since then.

The Mayer of Philly sounded the alarm and the runners took off, myself included. That first 90 pound women took off, running between large fat cop legs, weaving in and out of Dunkin Donuts eating traffic. I stuck with her, but being 6'3" 215-ish I wasnt quite so agile as her. I found myself running at top speed to get around people in the crowd to try to work my way towards the front.

We hit the first mile marker and it said 6:45. That's when I was like, uhhh wow! I've never run a mile faster than 7:15.

What the hell am I doing? I cant breath! my legs hurt! where the hell did those women go?

I had to slow down and catch my breath and try to recover enough to finish the race.

My splits were something like

mile 1 - 6:45
mile 2 - 8:15
mile 3 - 9:30

hahaha! Way to pace myself! That hurt!

The short of the story is I got a decent time for me, but I almost died. I could have nailed a low 22-ish 5k time two months ago, but I've definitely lost some cario ability. My muscles hurt after the race too.

At the end of the race I basically collapsed at the finish line and layed down on my back for a minute. A random stranger kicked me lightly to make sure I wasnt dead. I just gave her a thumbs up since I still couldnt breath.

So yeah, I ran a 5k.

I've been eating a little better. If Bill's kryptonite is a Cheese Steak, mine are nacho's. beautiful, cheese and meat covered nacho's. Warm. Crunchy. Sour cream. Delicious....

I'm cutting those out for a bit. The constant snacking? Gotta stop that too.

So here I am, trying to eat a little better, ride my bike a little more, lift a little more, and drop about 8-10 pounds. I am down to 215 after topping out at 220.

Last summer I was maintaining around 204. I've put on some muscle with all the running and lifting work in the past year, so I'd like to maintain about 210 this year.

We'll see. Honestly I'd really like some nacho's though.

Update

I still have neck pain that is keeping me from lifting because I don't want to make it worse. Considering this is how I injured it to begin with I think it's the right choice.

I've been eating OK, and in fact I'm trying to dial my eating in more than usual since I'm not getting the workouts in.

I rode my bike to work on Friday, and for a short ride over the weekend, but once again, the neck is an issue and I'm afraid that whatever I do will make it worse.

So really, all I feel like I can do right now it monitor my food intake and try to maintain. It's pretty frustrating because I'd much rather be exercising.

That's all I've got right now. Hopefully someone soon I can get active again and maybe even set some fitness goals.

My neck my neck!

So apparently I pulled something in my neck lifting a few weeks ago. For the third time now, I have a dull pain in my neck that lasts for a few days. Last Sunday I went bowling and made it even worse. It sucks!

I've never been to a chiropractor in my life but the pain was becoming unbearable so I decided to give it a try last night. He put me on a table and cracked my neck.

It immediately felt better but this morning it hurts just as much as it has all week.

This sucks!

So that has been hampering my workouts. I got a 4 mile run in Monday morning in the rain, but I skipped lifting. I also havent been on my bike for a week because it's been raining non stop. It's really kinda depressing.

I havent weighed myself for about a week, but I have been watching my food intake fairly closely so I don't think that I've put on weight or anything. That said I do need to get back on the scale.

Right now my first priority is just getting better though.

So I guess this is a warning, be careful, especially when lifting with free weights. I think what I did was rush through my workout and I got sloppy and ended up injuring myself.

Here's to better days.

Going All Out

I've been really active the past 4 or 5 days. I've also eaten and drank a bunch :).

Friday Morning: - 4 mile run
Friday Night: 4 Marqherita's, chips, a few french fries, the Flyers lose.

Saturday Morning: 40 mile very hilly bike ride
Saturday Night: 2 beers, way too much sushi, and Ice Cream Sandwitch and a cookie!

Sunday Morning: Bike 30 miles, eat a huge breakfast, bike another 20 miles home
Sunday Night: eat a salad, but not the healthiest of salads. The Flyers win!

So yeah, it's kinda crazy. As you can see the weight is back up to 219, and I don't know if it's water retention from all the riding/running, extra weight from all the food drinks, or just that I ate too late last night.

I'll button the eating back up this week though, and I'd be willing to bet I'm back down to 215-ish within a few days. I'm also planning some running this week since the weather wont be the best for riding.

I do feel great though. The weather was beautiful and it felt great getting all that riding in. I really like that I'm riding and running.

I really need to take some pics and compare to last year so see if I can tell if the extra ten pounds is mostly muscle or fat. I'm starting to think that 210-215 is my real ideal weight. This happens to be 10-15 pounds over what BMI says.

I still have something, and I feel good.

In case you couldn't tell I've felt a little down about myself lately. It's weird, I had this kind-of high for a few days after the half marathon. It might have even lasted a week. I felt directionless, then I didn't really do much of anything. I've already mentioned that I put on a few pounds that I'm not working on getting rid of.

In reality it's only been 3 and a half weeks since I ran 13.1, but due to doing very little since then I was starting to think I was going to have trouble running the Broad Street 10 miler that's coming up in about 2 and a half weeks.

For one, I've proven that I haven't lost much if anything, because I just got back from running 10 miles in the cold and rain, while posting a personal best time of 1:30:45.

So I'm clearly happy about that, but more importantly, I think I'm realizing that if I don't make myself do something active I don't feel well. The benefits are not just a smaller butt, but a happier life.

I really don't know if it's a physical thing, maybe chemicals that get released when you work out that make you happier, or just mental. Maybe it doesn't matter, it's just another reason that you have to stay active to stay happy, or at least I do.

I've even found that if my muscles aren't sore on a semi regular basis I start to get pissed off that I'm not working hard enough, and I get a little depressed.

Honestly I don't know how I ever survived when I was over 300 pounds and doing nothing.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else that has experienced something like what I'm talking about and could speak to it some more.

Checking In

Just checking in.

The weight went up 2 pounds today, I assume because I had a late dinner. Aside from that eating was good yesterday. Still havent had time to do any workouts though.

I hate Mondays

The weekend was good. Got in a 25 mile hilly bike ride, ate well, watched the weight go down a bit.

This morning was a whirlwind of BS as it pertains to bill paying, working, and general first thing Monday morning annoyances.

I'm posting my weight every day on the right side of this blog to keep myself honest.

Aside from a 10 mile run I have in early May I still havent come up with any new goals.

I hate the look of this stupid blog and I'd really like to change it.

Hopefully I can get in some cario soon. Maybe I'll go for a run tonight.

I don't really have much else to add. I'm trying to do what needs to be done and biding my time until we have a nice sunny day that is also warm.

This is a pretty lame post, but hey, at least I posted.

Uhm...what?!

Wagon? Where are you?

Damn it. I hate to post this, but I've fallen off the wagon and it's time to come clean. 3 weeks ago tomorrow I ran a half marathon. What have I done since then? Ate a lot of crap. Ran a few miles a few times (maybe 3 times total), lifted one day a week, and then ate some more. I drank a bit too. I over ate a few times. I didn't weigh myself much, going a few weeks without doing so.

Where am I now? I weigh 222 this morning. Holy crap! That's 20 pounds above my lowest average ever. It hurts. I did it.

I have to say, BMI says that based on my height and build, i should be 199. I don't want to be 199 because if I was I'd have not much muscle on my frame. There's just no way. What I'd like to get back to, albeit with less fat and more muscle is about 208-210. So I have 12 pounds to lose.

I do know that I've gained muscle, both in my legs and upper body. I can bench almost double what I could a year ago when I was 202, and I wear the same size waist jeans, however they got tight in the thighs. I ran a LOT over the winter and I think the thighs are tight because of that because I can see lots of muscle in my thighs..

But all that stuff aside I've gained some fat. There is no way I haven't.

My problem is that I set goals for myself, I meet them, then I flounder for a while after I meet my goal. I flounder goal-less. Normally I'd be OK because I'd be riding my bike, but so far this spring the weather has been crap, so I haven't been riding, I'm still eating like I'm riding, and I've put on weight. I'm pissed at myself but at the same time, HUNGRY! ALL THE TIME!

Time to get back to daily weigh-ins (I started 2 days ago), time to get some runs in if I'm not riding (I ran this morning) and time to come up with some damn fitness related goals (still working on that, although I do have a 10 mile organized run to do in a month).

I REFUSE TO GAIN ANY MORE WEIGHT.

That is all. I've come clean. I'm going to fix it. Here I go...


EDIT - FOLLOW UP:

It's now a day after I made this post, and I have a day under my belt of close to perfect eating and my weight is down 4 pounds from yesterday to 218.6. I'm still about 8 pounds above where I want to be, but I feel a little more in control now because I think the 222 weigh in that freaked me out was ne of those random high ones. That said, everything I posted above still stands, and I am on a mission to get back to where I want to be.

Mark it done!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm happy to announce I've met a personal goal of mine. Today I completed the SunTrust National Half Marathon in Washington DC.

I'll go into more detail about the race when I'm not about to fall asleep, but I will tell you that I did not meet my secondary goal of running the half marathon in less than 2 hours. That is because I ran it in EXACTLY 2 hours, down to the tenth of the second. You can see the results here which show me (search for Brian Payne) coming in 2062nd place out of 4150. So exactly 2 hours was my time with an overall average pace of 9:10 per mile. The second half of the race I was faster than the first which is kinda interesting...

Anyhow, I'm very happy with the results and I also know next time I'll post an even better number. But for now I'm beat, have sore knees, and need to go to bed so I'll fill you in on the details later.

-Brian

Half Marathon getting close...

I'm at the end of week 9 of my 10 week long half marathon training. The is down in DC next Saturday the 21st of March. I'm excited about it. I'm excited because I'm looking forward to seeing if I can get under the 2 hour mark. I'm also excited because I really miss riding my bike. That's something I really haven't been able to do much, partly because of the weather but mostly because of my training. I plan to start to ride to work again the week after the run.

I found out that you can't wear headphones during the Half, which kinda sucks. That's actually the main thing I'm worried about as music really helps me not focus so much on the run and pass the time.

I have one more longer training run of 8 miles this Saturday and I plan to not wear headphones just to see how it goes. I want to mimic what it will be like the day of the race as best I can.

So yeah, back to riding my bike after the run, although I did sign up for a 10 mile Broad Street run the first week of May. That will be nice to keep me in decent running shape until then.

I like to keep myself busy and keep setting clear goals that are exercise oriented. I've found that as long as I have something to focus on that I'm interested in I'm good. It's when I'm floating around in no-mans-land, just randomly trying to stay in shape where I look back and realize I had not worked out for 2 weeks. I don't know how some people just fit in workouts when they can randomly. That would never work for me. I do know that everyone is different and you have to work with your schedule...

Lastly , about my last post; I do realize I came across a bit harsh and probably a bit like a dick, and I am sorry I seem to have offended some people, but I still stand by what I said. I only say it because I know I spent YEARS blaming my "self issues" on outside things. It wasn't until I took accountability for them that I could take control. In the end I just want everyone to know that my intentions in that post were good regardless of how they may have come across. I hate to see people fail and find themselves unhappy with themselves, especially when they know what they're capable of. I also understand everyone has their issues and there is no one formula for everyone.
Sometimes people just need a kick in the ass though. Call me insensitive or short sighted if you must.

OK, that's it, I'm blabbering. I hope everyone is well, doing what makes you happy. That is all.

Later

LIFESTYLE CHANGE, REMEMBER THAT?

I'm annoyed.

Why am I annoyed? Because I'm tired of reading about people in the same boat as me fail.

How many people lose lots of weight, then gain it all or a lot of it back?

How many people stop setting goals for themselves?

How many people stop keeping a constant monitor on their weight to keep it in acceptable range?


Lots.

Maybe most.

WHY?

What is one of the main things we always talk about when we go down this road of getting healthy?


THIS IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE!!!

Do you know what that means? That means there is no maintain. There is no "life gets in the way". There is no crash diet. There is no make time to work out/eat better etc.

Healthy is your life now. Committed isn't even the word. When you set out to get in shape, lose weight, get healthy, you committed to be a different/better/more aware person. Healthy lifestyle is not a hobby, it's not a fleeting idea that fades. It's not an idea for a neat blog. It's what you are now.It is you.

Stop making excuses, stop blaming things on life, stop getting angry at yourself, stop trying to fit health into your busy lifestyle. Just stop.

Healthy IS YOUR LIFESTYLE. Life fits into healthy, not the other way around. This is what you are now. You own your own actions , they do not own you.

I know this comes across like a preaching email, but I'll make no apology. Make a decision as to what you are and stick with it, otherwise you're not being true to yourself.

I've used the word too, but I'm done; there is no more "maintain", there is just you. Take responsibility for your actions and use them to be the person you want to be. Do it now or die regretting it!

Feeling bad about yourself is a absolute waist of time. Erase that shit from life and just do what the hell you need to do. Everybody fails. That's normal, but when it becomes an every day pattern, you need to do something. You already know what you need to do. Do it! NOW!

Or ignore me and go back to feeling bad about yourself, but I'm done reading about it.

I have no time for people who give up, and I'm not sorry about that.

I'm done.

Recovery

Time for an update. I'm now into the last 3 weeks of my training for the Half. The bad news is that I got sick last week and missed my Thursday and Saturday run. Perfectly bad timing as the Saturday run was the pinnacle of my training and the longest run before the Half. The good news is that I'd already run that amount a few weeks ago. I tried to run on Sunday, still not recovered from being sick and wimped out after 4.5 miles. I just didnt have it in me. Then yesterday, I missed that run because we had a huge storm, my car was in the shop and I had no way to get to work to run. I worked from home, and running outside yesterday would not have been possible.

So today I'm back on the wagon, finally feeling strong again and I knocked out 4 miles this morning, making up for yesterday's miss. The race is about 2.5 weeks away. I don't feel as good about it now as I would had I not gotten sick, but I'm still comfortable that I'll be finishing the race.

Baja Fresh Pork Tostata Salad and New 4 Mile Time

Today I bested my 4 mile time by a half a minute or so and ran it on the treadmill in 34:00 flat. That's a 8:30 average which for me isn't too shabby. Tomorrow is a rest day and then I have another 12 miles on Saturday.

In other news, yesterday at lunch I got a "Salad" at Baja Fresh with Pork, veggies, a small amount of sour cream, avocado, and some other stuff. I noticed the salad weighed what seemed like 2 pounds. Now, I don't really count my calories any more because I have a pretty good idea what I'm putting in my body from my experience watching it so closely over the past year and a half. But out of curiosity I looked it up.

Here's what I found:



doh! Lucky for me I did burn about 600 calories earlier in the day, but still, look at that saturated fat content!
I wasn't far off on the weight either as it's listed as weighing 1 pound 11 ounces!

Crazy.

After that moment of reality I buttoned up my diet for the rest of the day and stayed under my maintenance number, but still. It just goes to show how a few "lax" meals can very soon turn into weight gain. It also goes to show that as most of us probably already know, just because it's a salad doesn't mean it's healthy!

I guess there is one positive, that salad combined with the shakes I have in the morning had enough protein to feed a horse.

With as much running and lifting as I've been doing, it's really hard to eat well all the time because as much as I eat I'm hungry all the time. I think my body is a calorie burning machine right now. Unless I keep healthy food in front of me at all times it's really hard not to justify having cheat meals all over the place since I know I'm burning so many calories.

I gotta try to stop that and dial that in a little better.

I also have to go get something to eat because I'm starving right now. Later :)

New 5 Mile Time

I bested my 5 mile record by 2 minutes. Not really on purpose, moreso because I didnt feel like running so I figured the faster I ran the sooner it would be over.

5 miles - 43:26.

Yes! 12 miles, I win.

Those two days of rest paid off. I ran 12 miles this morning!

I was only supposed to run 10, and not 12 for another 2 weeks, but screw it, I felt good so I kept going. I ran it in 1:48:30 which is averaging a 9:03 mile. That's a minute below my goal!


My training schedule didn't even have me running 13, but I think I'm going to ramp up the next two long Saturday runs and make the next one 12 instead of 11, and the next one 13. Then the next few weeks will be a recovery mode before the actual race. If I'd of gone another mile today and kept the same pace I would have completed a half marathon in less then 2 hours. I think that is awesome for a first timer , let alone someone who never ran at all a year ago, and I'm really happy with myself because I now KNOW I can do it.

Originally my goal was just to finish, but now that I know I can I plan to get under 2:00:00 in the actual Half Marathon.

For now though, I gotta go soak my feet and stretch a bit more. Overall I feel pretty good though! RAWR!!!

P.S. One interesting fact I just calculated based on my average heart rate, average speed, time and weight; Calories burned: 1,960!
Kinda crazy. So if you want to lose weight just run 12 miles every day.

Ouch!

A few problems today.

Not big problems, but I was due to run 5 miles this morning. The past due days I've tried to take it easy as I really do think I may have overdone it by biking on Sunday.
This morning came and something was going on with work that kept me up late last night, and up early this morning, preventing me from doing my run.

Now, I've done almost all of my running over the past year and a half in the AM. Often before eating anything.

I had lunch at noon or so today, and since it was unseasonably warm outside I decided to head over to Valley Forge Park again and get my 5 miles in.

After the first mile my sides started to hurt. Then before the second mile hit I had stomach cramps. Wow, that really sucked.
I toughed it out to three miles, then decided to walk. I did that for maybe a half a mile, then when I felt better I ran another mile to so, short of my 5 mile goal for the day.

So I guess there is something to be seat for routine. My theory is that I ate too soon before I ran. Or I just can't run in the middle of the day. Or I'm just still sore from the past weekend. Or all of the above.

The schedule has me doing another 3 miles tomorrow, off friday, then pushing it again with 10 on Saturday.

I think I might skip the 3, and take it easy for the next two days, only doing me weight routine, and hope that I'm strong again for my Saturday morning run.

I knew things were just going too well up until now. But what is life without adversity?

I do feel good that I even got out today, even though it didn't go as planned. Consistency is key I suppose.

Slightly Beat Up

I had a pretty "productive" weekend. Although I'm mentally in great spirits and still full of energy, my calves and hamstrings and pretty beat up.

-Saturday I ran in accordance with my training schedule, 8 miles. Those 8 miles were in 20 degrees over some pretty steep hills in Valley Forge National Park. I was kinda intimidated by this run as I've only ever run this distance a few times, all of them on treadmills with no incline. I'm happy to say though that I paced myself very well and felt strong the entire run. I felt I could have even gone further. In the end I ran it in 1:13:15 or a 9:10 mile average, well below my 10 mile average target. I was happy about that.

I felt really good and not sore at all after the run, so on Sunday:

-I rode my bike 30 miles. My friend invited me to come out and the weather was in the 50's for the first time in a while; I couldn't resist. Those 30 miles once again were very hilly. I felt good and pretty strong considering I had no ridden a bike in a month or so.

By Sunday night I had some soreness in my calves. This morning it was time to do my Monday 3 mile run. I did it, outside once again, but I felt like I was running in sand. I still managed a respectable 25:17 or an 8:26 pace, but it sure didn't feel like that when I was doing it.

Now it's a few hours later and like I said, I feel good, but I am sore. I've been stretching when I can.

This week's weather was supposed to be fairly warm and I've been considering commuting on my bike a few days. I'm just not sure if I'm going to wear myself out adding in riding my bike 20 miles a day for a few days, lifting on Tuesday, then doing the rest of my training runs for the week which total another 18 mile.

This Saturday I have to continue to push myself and get up to 10 miles. The following Saturday is 11 and the next is 12, then is tapers down for a few weeks until the actual Half Marathon.

Overall I'm very happy with my progress and I don't want to wear myself out or worse, injure myself for the race. So I think I might have to suck it up and not ride my bike this week. I guess I have all year for that anyway...

I've also heard that a low cardio slow workout can help your muscles to recover and get rid of the extra lactic acid, so maybe I will ride to work...

As you can see I haven't decided yet.

On another note, I've been trying to get back into posting some sort of pictures in my posts. I'm not really a fan of posting pics of myself in spandex, but what the heck. It's not like there arent already half naked pics of my on this blog:

I managed to snap a pic in the freezing cold before my long run on Saturday. The trick to running in such cold? Layers! Lots of them.



Disclaimer: As you can see despite all the exercising I've been getting I still have an extra 10 or 15 pounds around the middle that I'd like to see go away. But being in weight loss mode and doing this much stuff is hard. I'm hoping it comes back off when I get back on the bike more consistently.

Finish the run or run for time?

I ran my miles today on the treadmill because we got 8 inches of snow overnight. I really wanted to run outside like I did on Monday but it just wasn't in the cards.

I started out rather sluggish, my body not really feeling like moving much, but by the end of my 5 mile training run I was pleasently surprised to see that I beat my best time by over 3 minutes! 5 miles at 45:36 ,that's averaging a 9:07 mile. I felt pretty strong throughout the entire run, but I still feel like maintaining that pace for 8 MORE MILES is a bit in a future.

I have no doubt in my mind that I will finish this half marathon, which was my original goal, but I'm afraid to say I'm making the sketchy mental goal in my head that I can do this thing averaging less than a 10 minute mile. Everything I read says for your first half marathon your goal should just be to finish. For me though, I want more.

Another note, I'm noticing a trend in my running. My outdoor runs, the majority of which have been run in horribly cold weather, have always been faster than my indoor runs. I don't know if that means the treadmill is off, my gps watch is off, or I just truly am faster outside. I certainly don't feel faster outside, if anything quite the opposite. However I have noticed that when on the treadmill, it's easy to get into a groove at one speed and stay there for long periods of time. Outside you don't have the luxury since you're reacting to the terrain and you don't have as much of a constant watch on your speed. I don't really know what this all means if anything, it's just an observation. I will say I much prefer my outdoor runs now, even though they're physically harder on my body. They're just much less boring and a bit more rewarding.

I'm looking forward to spring, or at least no ice on the roads, at which time I think the majority of my runs will be outside, which is a change for me.

Day 555

Well, it's officially day 555. That's right, it's been 555 days since I decided to get happy about my looks, performance, and health. Seems like a long time, but to be honest, after the first few months it became a lifestyle and things get a little bit easier then.

Anyway, I've been wanting to update my blog a bit with my changing goals and outlook. I'm no longer in a weight loss mode, nor have I been for almost a year. Sure, I'll probably put some weight on,then try to lose it. But my overall focus in life isn't weight loss. It's challenging myself physically and attempting to further realize potential from my mind and body. Hence the new semi cheesy title and blog layout. I hope to get some decent "action" pics soon and maintain a current Day XXX picture in the right column.

I don't want to forget what I used to be, where I came from, and how I got to where I am now. Much of the point of this blog for me is to track my physical changes over time in order to ensure they're headed in the right direction. I hope to keep this log and blog around for a long time.

You may also notice that I've deleted some links to people's blogs. Please don't take this personally, but I've decided that I can't support peoples blogs that are never updated. That's kinda the point of keeping a blog. If any of these blogs become active again I'll by all means be available for support and add them back to my page, but until then I don't see the point in keeping old stale content linked on my page.


In other news, training for the half is going well, eating is going well. Baby planning is going well as well. If anything, right now I just can't wait for the winter to people over so I can start being outside more. For now though, I'll make due and keep trudging along. Hope everyone else is doing well.

Doin' It

Been running this week lots. After my first outside run last Saturday I had some really sore calfs. I attributed this to the fact that I don't think I was stretching enough. Is not at all enough? Probably not.

So when by Tuesday I was still pretty sore, I got a hot bath, and really started stretching at various times during the day. This helped a lot, and I made it through my Wednesday and Thursday 4 and 3 miles runs respectively.

This weekend I'll be doing my annual "Winter Campin'" trip with the guys, so I had to move my Saturday long outside run up to today. I just got back from it a bit ago. Aside from my gps watch running out of power after only .6 miles, it wasn't too bad. I had to wing it as far as distance, but I did pretty well. I mapped my route when I got home and I'd run 5.2 miles. Not bad guestimatin'! I'm not really sure of my time because I didn't pay attention to when I left, but I believe it to be around 50 minutes. I felt strong for most of the run and I know I'm getting stronger, and more used to running outdoors.

Next time I'll make sure the battery is all charged up on my watch though.

So, like I said, this weekend I'm off for some snow camping fun, then Monday I'll be back on the treadmill, Tuesday lifting the weights, Wednesday and Thursday on the treadmill, Friday resting and next Saturday running 6 miles this time, outside of course.

And so it goes...

Soon enough I'll be able to call myself a (Half)Marathon Runner. I've got it clearly in my sights and intend to see it through.

Double U Tee Eff

Weigh-In: 218.2 lbs!!!

218 pounds today. That's right, that's now over 10 pounds more than the weight I was maintaining for the last year. I know some of it has to be water weight. I've run 17 miles in the last 7 days, lifted weights twice. I beat the hell out of my legs running last Saturday outside and my calves are still pretty sore. My shoulders are sore because I've been doing my chest routine for a few weeks right now, mostly lifting to fail once a week. I think I've packed on some muscle in the past few months too because I can see it in my shoulders and chest.

My clothes still fit fine.

Other than being sore I feel great.


That said, some of that 10 pounds has got to be fat and I'm annoyed. As I've mentioned I've been working out a lot lately, but with that my hunger levels have been through the roof and the quality of the food I've been eating has not always been the best. I'm also drinking way too much coffee.

There is also supposedly the possibility I'm putting on weight because I have a kid on the way. I've heard of men eating more when their wives start eating more in pregnancy. Come to think of it, I don't think I've told any of my blog readers I have a baby on the way. Due July 19th! We don't know the sex yet.

Back to my weight, to make matters worse, some people's reaction when I tell them I put 10 pounds on is "great!". Yes, I still have certain friends and family who think I was too thin.

Meanwhile, I still have flab around the middle that I want gone.

My point is that it's hard to stay motivated to be in a weight loss mode when people are cheering you on for gaining weight, you're hungry all the time because you're working out so much, it's winter time, my dog died, the alignment of the sun is off..

Anyway, I just wanted to post to get some stuff off my mind, express my dissatisfaction and internal conflict with being 10 pounds heavier than a year ago (for whatever reason), and to come clean with what's going on. For anyone who thinks life is great once you loose a hundred pounds and you're below your goal weight, think again. This is a life long struggle!

I guess I probably need to do pictures again soon too..

Talk to you soon.


P.S. For anyone still out there, please stop on by Garth's page and help support him on his journey to get in shape.

Support Yourself and your Brother

I just read my first two posts to this blog from about a year and a half ago. First of all, wow, I almost forgot what person I was. How I felt about what I looked like and how much I weighed. Some days I forget not only the importance, but the breadth of what I've actually done. I mean, I transformed myself. I lost over 100 lbs and I've kept it off for over a year. I can't allow myself to forget that.

That said, the point of this post isn't to pat myself on the back or brag about my accomplishments. Those accomplishments I speak of? They owe so much to this blog and to the people who read it, commented on it, and helped me in so many ways. Even if it was just being there and letting me know other people were suffering through the same things I was, and DOING SOMETHING about it. I didn't really need experts, I just needed to know I wasn't alone. That played a huge part in my success.

I know things don't go on forever and life is constantly changing, but some things shouldn't. Excuse my french, but WHERE THE FUCK IS EVERYONE?

People need our support.

If you're not posting because you're not completely happy with yourself and you no longer need a blog, fine. I kinda doubt that's the case with most people, but if it is, great.

If not, you not only owe it to yourself, but to everyone else to keep talking. Keep posting about yourself, keep supporting the people that helped motivate you to meet your goals.

The most important thing is that everyone is still working to better themselves while helping friends and even strangers do the same. Maybe most people aren't blogging anymore, but I hope they're at least happy, since that really is what this is all about.

Later

Half Marathon Training Begins

So today I officially started my half marathon training. In case anyone is interested, here is how the schedule pans out, with the last Saturday being the actual race.

10 Week Half Maraton Training Schedule

My plan is to do the weekday runs on the treadmill as I've been doing, with the Saturday runs outside. For those outside runs, arriving today is my new toy, a Garmin Forerunner® 305.



For anyone interested in getting one, check out Amazon. I got mine for less than half of the price listed on the Garmin site.

It's basically a watch that has a heart rate monitor, a gps, and all of the normal watch type functions. It means I can track my pace, time, and distance while running outside. Not more plotting out routes or guessing to figure out what you're really doing. I means you get everything the treadmill gives you except you get to be outside. What could be better? I'll do a more depth report on it once I get some experience using it.

One additional comment for today...GO EAGLES!!!!

-Brian

Half-Marathon Training and starting again

So, I've been kinda floating for a while. Trying to maintain, but mainly half-assing a half thought out work-out routine in order to be able to eat what I want and stay relatively in shape. Things got harder and fell off even more when it got cold enough outside that I wasn't comfortable riding my bike to work every day. The past few weeks I've been running maybe 8-10 miles a week and lifting 1-2 days, but that's basically been it.

We all know that exercise and good eating habits are all part of staying in shape and being healthy. I need to better align myself with that again. Like many of you, the holidays could have gone better, and over the past two months my weight has slowly crept up to around 214. That is still not a bad weight for me at 6'3", and right in the range my doctor recommended for me a year ago. However, my lowest average weight was about 204, so as far as I see it, I've gained 10 pounds. Ironically, one year ago today I weighed exactly the same as I do today.

My body can still perform like it did at 204, in fact, just today I ran a 5k on the treadmill without really pushing TOO hard. After checking my numbers it was my 4th or 5th best time ever. That's not too bad really, especially for not really trying to hard. I can also bench the same amount today that I could 6 months ago.

Anyway, since I'm really trying not to ramble, let me just get to my points:

- I feel like I've lost a bit of my drive to stay in shape and eat right. Blame it on the time of year, circumstances with my commute to work, being basically comfortable with my weight, the direction the wind is blowing, whatever. I'm going to change things in order to give myself back that drive.

- I'm running a Half Marathon, the Sun Trust National Marathon in Washington DC on March 21. I'm starting a regimented 10 week training schedule for that event this Monday. I really want to be able to mark down on my list of accomplishments a half marathon, so no time like now to get started on that. Two of my co workers are doing it with me, so that really helps too :

- I'm going to pay better attention to what's going in my body. You see, losing 100 pounds was easy. I cut out almost all saturated fats, kept my calories around 2500 a day, ate breakfast every day, and exercised my ass off any way I could. 6 months later the weight was gone. Building muscle and maintaining weight for the rest of your life, well, that's the hard part.

- I hope to start posting more to hold myself accountable for what's going on. My posts fell off when I didnt have much to say. Normally when you don't hear from me its because things are going well. I'm not breaking any personal records, but I'm not doing bad either. I'm posting now because I don't want to be one of the many who fall off the life long wagon. My blog is how I keep myself in check.


That's all I'm going to say for now. I have more to say, but I'll save it for the next post.

Ran Run Ran

I ran 5.7 miles total on the treadmill tonight. Yes, on a Sunday night after lounging around all day watching football and eating. I just felt rather slobbish so I went and ran some of it off. Not my fastest time, but I feel like I ran 10 miles. I'm still getting back into the running groove.

Tomorrow I go back to work and have to work 5 days straight for the first time in 3 months. I'm not looking forward to it.

Life goes on.

Hope everyone is getting and staying in shape.

Talk to you soon.

New 5 Mile Time

I ran another 5 miler on the treadmill this morning. This may be the first time I've actually tried to better my 5 mile time, but nonetheless I beat my best time by close to 2 minutes. I'm really still not in that great of running shape yet, so I think I can still knock a few miles off of my 5 mile time.

It's something to shoot for anyway. Perhaps I'll start running 10k's though instead, since 5 miles seems like a rather arbitrary number in the running world. We'll see.