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.