Overall stats and a graph of the last month of runs leading up to the race.
An overall graph first walk to race.If you want to keep up with me in the future I've started a new blog where I'll be logging my progress in pursuit of a half marathon.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Closing Up Shop
When I started walk/running I thought it would take forever to be able to run. I thought it would take a long time before I would be able to actually run a 5k. I figured that by the time that rolled around I would be thin. I've focused more on the running than the actual weight loss, trusting that the one would bring the other. So far that has been the best decision I've ever made. There are two reasons I started this blog. The first, I couldn't find many blogs about weight loss and running that started when the individual did. It seems most people who lose weight by running start their blogs well after the fact. What I was looking for was to be able to see more of the ups and downs and days in and days out of the process. The second, was so that I could have a log of my progress. If I were to run into problems or what have you, I wanted to have something to point to and say well that's what I've been doing. So what I'm trying to say is that Fat To 5k is over. I did the 5k. I'll leave this blog up in case anyone else might need to see what it was like for me to go through this. Here's a couple pics from my exercise log.
Overall stats and a graph of the last month of runs leading up to the race.
An overall graph first walk to race.
If you want to keep up with me in the future I've started a new blog where I'll be logging my progress in pursuit of a half marathon.
Overall stats and a graph of the last month of runs leading up to the race.An overall graph first walk to race.If you want to keep up with me in the future I've started a new blog where I'll be logging my progress in pursuit of a half marathon.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Bertha Vos Costume Classic II
Friday Evening
If you haven't read the last post, go do that now. Ok, so I got a call from my runner friends and as predicted, they will not be able to attend. A little while later I gave the race director a call and found out that late registrants were welcome and the race was in fact rain or shine. So this was really going to be it. Nervous energy was now copious. We had to run some errands so it was a little after 7:00 before I could run. Since it was so late I was stuck on the treadmill. I decided to scale back the walk to .25 mile cause I still hadn't gotten anything ready for the race yet. I walked that in 5:00 and then ran a mile in 15:04, slow even for me. I wasn't trying to go slow, it's just that I run slower on the mill, odd I know. Afterwards I felt better though. It served to burn off a little of that anticipation shake I was developing.
Saturday - Race Day!
I slept well. That run last night really calmed me down. Unfortunately I am not a naturally organized individual. That means I woke up at 6:45 with the intention of leaving in an hour, having to get two children ready to go and not yet having packed myself. It all went well though. I through my gloves, headband, watch, and a spare change of clothes in a bag and I was packed. Got the kids ready and ended up leaving for the race only 10 minutes later than plan.
I knew the race was going to be small, but showing up 5 minutes after registration was supposed to open, I did not expect to be the only people there. So my wife and I waited in the car and debated whether we were in the right place. A minute or so later two car fulls of cross country runners (they had CC stickers on there cars) showed up and started getting ready. I got out of the car to ask them where the registration desk was and all of sudden I could see down the large hill where we were parked. The barricades and decorations told me the race was going to be at the adjacent building at the bottom of the hill. I asked to make sure and they said it was down there. The parking lot of the building the race was at was all blocked off so we the racers had to park next door, up this hill. I wasted no time in getting down to register with the hopes that I would be early enough to get a shirt. I registered without a problem. The space on the entry for t-shirt only went up to XL. Not really my size, but that's ok soon enough I'll be able to fit. So the lady takes my form and money. Then she says, "Oh it looks like we ran out of XL, Large is all we have, do you still want one?" I said sure, knowing full well that I will have to run for another year before I have even a chance at wearing this. I checked out where the start would be and looked at a course map, just a simple out and back. Back up the hill to the car with a half hour before race time, nerves ablaze. Checked out the shirt, it's pretty cool. Race name on the front graphic on the back definitely something I would wear, if it ever fits. We sat in the car and tried to distract me for the next fifteen minutes. Finally it was 9:15, race start was 9:30, I figured I should do a little warm up. So I got my watch, gloves and headband on and my pants off. Boy I just realized it's a little cold this morning, like under 50 F. No matter, I'll warm up once I'm running. So I ran along the parking lot driveway to the road and around a corner to where the start was, ie the long way, maybe 1/4 mile. This is when I notice how slow I really am. Other folks running longer warm ups are a lot faster than me. They pass me giving off a breeze, like I could draft behind them or something. No matter, I get to the spot and the wife is there camera in hand under an umbrella. Oh yeah did I mention it was raining, great day for a first race. The next ten minutes took forever. People kept showing up, but I could tell that unless a bus pulled up in a second this was going to be a very small field of entrants. It was mostly young people with their parents. I saw a short bald man come line up and felt better about not looking like I belonged. I figured he might be someone I could run with. A couple people had heeded the call of the race director and actually dressed in costume (the race was the Bertha Vos Costume Classic II). Batman, Minnie Mouse and a clown were the most obvious, but a couple people also wore wigs. Since there was a child's mile race about an hour after this one a lot of people had their kids there also dressed up. (My oldest is far too young for that, so when we saw what the weather was like we sent her to grandmas.) Finally the race was going to begin. I lined up in the back. I told my wife to comeback to the finish line after 45 minutes and I should be close. The air horn went off, and we were racing. I couldn't find bald man, oh well maybe I'll catch up to him. There were no bib numbers and they weren't keeping track of your time unless you finished in the top few. They had a big clock at the starting line so I hit my watch when I passed it and made a mental note that I'd have to remember to stop it when I passed the clock again, my timing would be my business. The course was dedicated to the northbound lane of the road. There were cones setup in the center to separate us from traffic which was shared both ways in the southbound lane. The pack ahead of me disappeared pretty quickly, but that was ok as I planned on being last. I ended up going back and forth with a couple groups. The first was a dad with 3 kids. One kid wanted to run fast and the two others wanted to go slower. The dad kept going between. He'd tell the two behind me, "Ok lets run up to that guy (me)." Then I'd hear them catch up to me then they would start walking and he'd keep running up to the one ahead of me. Then he'd fall back to check on the other two and repeat the process. Oddly enough the one out front and one of the kids behind ended up stopping at the 1/2 mile mark where their mom was cheering them on. The Dad and daughter left racing ended up passing me and finished a good ten minutes ahead. The second group was Minnie Mouse and her daughter. They were run/walking or is it run/dragging if you walk faster than your kid and hold hands? Anyway they stayed mostly ahead of me till the halfway point. They stopped to talk to the woman dressed as a witch who was turning people around and that's when I pounced. I stayed ahead of them for the rest of the race, but only because the kid was gassed, definitely a year to early for her on this event. I did end up seeing bald guy, it was about 13 minutes in or so, he was all alone heading back, and he was flying. I told him good pace, but I think he was going too fast to hear me. My wife said he finished in 19:??, so much for judging that book by it's cover. I congratulated the top 5 or 6 racers as they passed me. I got a few responses and a few people encouraged me while I was running. There weren't any official water stops, but a lady had set out a folding chair at the side of the road with cups of water on it, I thought that was nice. There were 3 volunteers and one cop along the course making sure people didn't turn down side roads and shouting encouragements. The guy at the 2 mile mark had his car stereo blasting really loud which gave me a little boost. The course was on a very windy road. So after every curve I kept expecting to see the finish. There was a guy who walked out of driveway to check his mail and he yelled to me that I was doing well and he had just started running 4 weeks ago. I yelled back I was 3 months in, that felt good. Then all of sudden I was there. I could see the clock it looked like 42:?? I tried to run faster but it was up a slight incline and I was already going as fast as I could. I finished in 44:05, a default PR, and a minute faster than I expected. I also completed my biggest goal for this whole thing in running the whole way, which seems like a forgone conclusion but deserves celebration. I was indeed the last person to finish running, the ten or so people that finished after me were all walkers. Immediately after my wife had a water and an apple waiting for me. Even though I was soaked the water was what I wanted most. I tried to sip it but it was gone quick and she went off to get me another. I did some stretches and then drank some more water and we were out of there. I noticed as I was walking back to the car that my nipples really hurt. I figured it was from being out in the cold for an hour. As the day wore on though I learned that I was a victim of nipple chafing. I wore my long sleeve tech shirt, but I didn't wear my compression shirt underneath which is what I had done when I ran in the rain previously. So I learned an important lesson, rain = compression shirt. I was in pain all weekend, but it was a small price to pay. On our way home we stopped at a couple stores and that was good to get out to the car and walk around a bit. I'm glad that I found the race, but I have no interest in running it next year. The people were nice, but I think what I'm looking for is something more race like or official. Something that feels more like an event.
Letting it all hang out before the race. Why be self conscience, so what if I'm 320+lbs and I'm going to run. You can see the barricade blocking the parking lot entrance in background.
I'm the red blob in the center. Minnie Mouse is on the left and the clock is on the right.
Coming in for the finish. The clock and me aren't really in sinc since I started in the back of the pack. You can see the cones they used to separate the racers from the traffic.
If you haven't read the last post, go do that now. Ok, so I got a call from my runner friends and as predicted, they will not be able to attend. A little while later I gave the race director a call and found out that late registrants were welcome and the race was in fact rain or shine. So this was really going to be it. Nervous energy was now copious. We had to run some errands so it was a little after 7:00 before I could run. Since it was so late I was stuck on the treadmill. I decided to scale back the walk to .25 mile cause I still hadn't gotten anything ready for the race yet. I walked that in 5:00 and then ran a mile in 15:04, slow even for me. I wasn't trying to go slow, it's just that I run slower on the mill, odd I know. Afterwards I felt better though. It served to burn off a little of that anticipation shake I was developing.
Saturday - Race Day!
I slept well. That run last night really calmed me down. Unfortunately I am not a naturally organized individual. That means I woke up at 6:45 with the intention of leaving in an hour, having to get two children ready to go and not yet having packed myself. It all went well though. I through my gloves, headband, watch, and a spare change of clothes in a bag and I was packed. Got the kids ready and ended up leaving for the race only 10 minutes later than plan.
I knew the race was going to be small, but showing up 5 minutes after registration was supposed to open, I did not expect to be the only people there. So my wife and I waited in the car and debated whether we were in the right place. A minute or so later two car fulls of cross country runners (they had CC stickers on there cars) showed up and started getting ready. I got out of the car to ask them where the registration desk was and all of sudden I could see down the large hill where we were parked. The barricades and decorations told me the race was going to be at the adjacent building at the bottom of the hill. I asked to make sure and they said it was down there. The parking lot of the building the race was at was all blocked off so we the racers had to park next door, up this hill. I wasted no time in getting down to register with the hopes that I would be early enough to get a shirt. I registered without a problem. The space on the entry for t-shirt only went up to XL. Not really my size, but that's ok soon enough I'll be able to fit. So the lady takes my form and money. Then she says, "Oh it looks like we ran out of XL, Large is all we have, do you still want one?" I said sure, knowing full well that I will have to run for another year before I have even a chance at wearing this. I checked out where the start would be and looked at a course map, just a simple out and back. Back up the hill to the car with a half hour before race time, nerves ablaze. Checked out the shirt, it's pretty cool. Race name on the front graphic on the back definitely something I would wear, if it ever fits. We sat in the car and tried to distract me for the next fifteen minutes. Finally it was 9:15, race start was 9:30, I figured I should do a little warm up. So I got my watch, gloves and headband on and my pants off. Boy I just realized it's a little cold this morning, like under 50 F. No matter, I'll warm up once I'm running. So I ran along the parking lot driveway to the road and around a corner to where the start was, ie the long way, maybe 1/4 mile. This is when I notice how slow I really am. Other folks running longer warm ups are a lot faster than me. They pass me giving off a breeze, like I could draft behind them or something. No matter, I get to the spot and the wife is there camera in hand under an umbrella. Oh yeah did I mention it was raining, great day for a first race. The next ten minutes took forever. People kept showing up, but I could tell that unless a bus pulled up in a second this was going to be a very small field of entrants. It was mostly young people with their parents. I saw a short bald man come line up and felt better about not looking like I belonged. I figured he might be someone I could run with. A couple people had heeded the call of the race director and actually dressed in costume (the race was the Bertha Vos Costume Classic II). Batman, Minnie Mouse and a clown were the most obvious, but a couple people also wore wigs. Since there was a child's mile race about an hour after this one a lot of people had their kids there also dressed up. (My oldest is far too young for that, so when we saw what the weather was like we sent her to grandmas.) Finally the race was going to begin. I lined up in the back. I told my wife to comeback to the finish line after 45 minutes and I should be close. The air horn went off, and we were racing. I couldn't find bald man, oh well maybe I'll catch up to him. There were no bib numbers and they weren't keeping track of your time unless you finished in the top few. They had a big clock at the starting line so I hit my watch when I passed it and made a mental note that I'd have to remember to stop it when I passed the clock again, my timing would be my business. The course was dedicated to the northbound lane of the road. There were cones setup in the center to separate us from traffic which was shared both ways in the southbound lane. The pack ahead of me disappeared pretty quickly, but that was ok as I planned on being last. I ended up going back and forth with a couple groups. The first was a dad with 3 kids. One kid wanted to run fast and the two others wanted to go slower. The dad kept going between. He'd tell the two behind me, "Ok lets run up to that guy (me)." Then I'd hear them catch up to me then they would start walking and he'd keep running up to the one ahead of me. Then he'd fall back to check on the other two and repeat the process. Oddly enough the one out front and one of the kids behind ended up stopping at the 1/2 mile mark where their mom was cheering them on. The Dad and daughter left racing ended up passing me and finished a good ten minutes ahead. The second group was Minnie Mouse and her daughter. They were run/walking or is it run/dragging if you walk faster than your kid and hold hands? Anyway they stayed mostly ahead of me till the halfway point. They stopped to talk to the woman dressed as a witch who was turning people around and that's when I pounced. I stayed ahead of them for the rest of the race, but only because the kid was gassed, definitely a year to early for her on this event. I did end up seeing bald guy, it was about 13 minutes in or so, he was all alone heading back, and he was flying. I told him good pace, but I think he was going too fast to hear me. My wife said he finished in 19:??, so much for judging that book by it's cover. I congratulated the top 5 or 6 racers as they passed me. I got a few responses and a few people encouraged me while I was running. There weren't any official water stops, but a lady had set out a folding chair at the side of the road with cups of water on it, I thought that was nice. There were 3 volunteers and one cop along the course making sure people didn't turn down side roads and shouting encouragements. The guy at the 2 mile mark had his car stereo blasting really loud which gave me a little boost. The course was on a very windy road. So after every curve I kept expecting to see the finish. There was a guy who walked out of driveway to check his mail and he yelled to me that I was doing well and he had just started running 4 weeks ago. I yelled back I was 3 months in, that felt good. Then all of sudden I was there. I could see the clock it looked like 42:?? I tried to run faster but it was up a slight incline and I was already going as fast as I could. I finished in 44:05, a default PR, and a minute faster than I expected. I also completed my biggest goal for this whole thing in running the whole way, which seems like a forgone conclusion but deserves celebration. I was indeed the last person to finish running, the ten or so people that finished after me were all walkers. Immediately after my wife had a water and an apple waiting for me. Even though I was soaked the water was what I wanted most. I tried to sip it but it was gone quick and she went off to get me another. I did some stretches and then drank some more water and we were out of there. I noticed as I was walking back to the car that my nipples really hurt. I figured it was from being out in the cold for an hour. As the day wore on though I learned that I was a victim of nipple chafing. I wore my long sleeve tech shirt, but I didn't wear my compression shirt underneath which is what I had done when I ran in the rain previously. So I learned an important lesson, rain = compression shirt. I was in pain all weekend, but it was a small price to pay. On our way home we stopped at a couple stores and that was good to get out to the car and walk around a bit. I'm glad that I found the race, but I have no interest in running it next year. The people were nice, but I think what I'm looking for is something more race like or official. Something that feels more like an event.
Letting it all hang out before the race. Why be self conscience, so what if I'm 320+lbs and I'm going to run. You can see the barricade blocking the parking lot entrance in background.
I'm the red blob in the center. Minnie Mouse is on the left and the clock is on the right.
Coming in for the finish. The clock and me aren't really in sinc since I started in the back of the pack. You can see the cones they used to separate the racers from the traffic.Friday, October 26, 2007
The End Is Nigh
Wednesday
I ran 2.5 miles today. It was a real solid run. With a mile left my mp3 player died. At least this time it wasn't my time piece. I rolled it up and stuffed it in my pocket. I was already in a pretty good rhythm, but I was amazed that after a minute or two it was like my groove had swallowed me. I've been running with music thinking that I needed the distraction. Now I wonder if it's been holding me back. I've never been so in tune with how tight it feels to run down the road. Muscles moving in unison, feet hitting the pavement, breathing in and out. Relentless. That's kind of how it felt. To look back on it now, I don't remember any effort. Next time I run I'm going without the music again. We'll see if I got lucky or if I've been missing out. I finished that last mile in near record pace at 13:16 bringing my total time to 36:20.
Thursday
I did my weights routine, it was uneventful.
Friday Mid-Morning
It's all happening fast. Tuesday I got an email from Jeff about how he really wanted to hook me up with a race. He may live a few states away but he's wiz on the ole intertrons and he had some good ideas for locals I should contact. I did my best to reassure him that there were none close enough and I was fine waiting till next year. That evening after talking to my wife about it I showed her Jeff's email. Apparently he was able to convey something that I had previously been unable to relay. On Thursday she told me that we could try doing a race down state this fall, if there was one available and we could get someone to watch our youngest. It took all of 30 minutes to find and decide on attending this race. There aren't a lot of choices this time of year, but this one is close to some friends of ours *who just happen to be runners*. So I sent them an invite. This morning I got a positive reply from them, they sound down. For some reason though I thought I should go peruse the runmichigan calendar one more time. That's when I found it. Williamsburg.
For some reason it never clicked before. Last night my wife was talking about doctors in Williamsburg. I told her it was close to Traverse City (which is about 45 min away from us).
So right there it was staring me in the face, a race in Williamsburg. Tomorrow! I called my wife, she was surprised but ready to go. I called my friends. They will have to confer and get back to me tonight. If they are in it will be a hell of a drive for them as they live 2 hours south of us. The one thing I didn't see on the race information page was about late registrants, they had nothing. So I emailed the race director. Still waiting for a reply, but I have her phone number so I can call this evening. That brings us to now, anticipation and excitement are at Christmas time levels. Not sure if I'll be running by myself or what, but I'll be there. It's supposed to rain so I hope they don't cancel. I'm planning on moving my walk a mile run a mile to this evening as opposed to running 2.5 miles the day before my first 5k.
Incredible... absolutely incredible.
I ran 2.5 miles today. It was a real solid run. With a mile left my mp3 player died. At least this time it wasn't my time piece. I rolled it up and stuffed it in my pocket. I was already in a pretty good rhythm, but I was amazed that after a minute or two it was like my groove had swallowed me. I've been running with music thinking that I needed the distraction. Now I wonder if it's been holding me back. I've never been so in tune with how tight it feels to run down the road. Muscles moving in unison, feet hitting the pavement, breathing in and out. Relentless. That's kind of how it felt. To look back on it now, I don't remember any effort. Next time I run I'm going without the music again. We'll see if I got lucky or if I've been missing out. I finished that last mile in near record pace at 13:16 bringing my total time to 36:20.
Thursday
I did my weights routine, it was uneventful.
Friday Mid-Morning
It's all happening fast. Tuesday I got an email from Jeff about how he really wanted to hook me up with a race. He may live a few states away but he's wiz on the ole intertrons and he had some good ideas for locals I should contact. I did my best to reassure him that there were none close enough and I was fine waiting till next year. That evening after talking to my wife about it I showed her Jeff's email. Apparently he was able to convey something that I had previously been unable to relay. On Thursday she told me that we could try doing a race down state this fall, if there was one available and we could get someone to watch our youngest. It took all of 30 minutes to find and decide on attending this race. There aren't a lot of choices this time of year, but this one is close to some friends of ours *who just happen to be runners*. So I sent them an invite. This morning I got a positive reply from them, they sound down. For some reason though I thought I should go peruse the runmichigan calendar one more time. That's when I found it. Williamsburg.
For some reason it never clicked before. Last night my wife was talking about doctors in Williamsburg. I told her it was close to Traverse City (which is about 45 min away from us).
So right there it was staring me in the face, a race in Williamsburg. Tomorrow! I called my wife, she was surprised but ready to go. I called my friends. They will have to confer and get back to me tonight. If they are in it will be a hell of a drive for them as they live 2 hours south of us. The one thing I didn't see on the race information page was about late registrants, they had nothing. So I emailed the race director. Still waiting for a reply, but I have her phone number so I can call this evening. That brings us to now, anticipation and excitement are at Christmas time levels. Not sure if I'll be running by myself or what, but I'll be there. It's supposed to rain so I hope they don't cancel. I'm planning on moving my walk a mile run a mile to this evening as opposed to running 2.5 miles the day before my first 5k.
Incredible... absolutely incredible.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
What's Up Doc?
Monday
I did my weights routine, nothing eventful happened.
Tuesday
I decided to increase my mileage. So I added a half mile to my easy run and it went well. There was a wicked head wind I had to run into for the middle mile. I was surprised to find that I had run the first 1.5 miles in 22:37, I had been expecting closer to 24:00. The last mile was quick as usual anymore with 14:07, bringing the 2.5 mile time to 36:44, a good 3 minutes faster than I hoped. I wasn't even sure if I was going to add the extra mileage today. I had originally planned to add it last Friday, but the day was so rotten with rain and cold I figured I'd wait see if I could get a nice day to do it this week.
Afterward I had an appointment with my doctor. The last time I saw him was the middle of August. At that point I'd been walk/running for a couple weeks and I was down about 10 pounds. I think this time he was a little surprised that I had stuck with it, but very pleased. Originally one of the things that had propelled me to start being more active was his insistence that I should go on a weight loss pill. I very much was not interested in taking whatever legal form of speed he wanted to put me on, so I figured that enough was enough and I should get this going on my own. When he saw what I had started in August he agreed that I wouldn't have to go on the pill if I kept this up. Personally I don't think he thought I would, that is why he scheduled this appointment, to check up on me and see if I backslid. So of course the weight loss pill is officially out of the question now.
I did my weights routine, nothing eventful happened.
Tuesday
I decided to increase my mileage. So I added a half mile to my easy run and it went well. There was a wicked head wind I had to run into for the middle mile. I was surprised to find that I had run the first 1.5 miles in 22:37, I had been expecting closer to 24:00. The last mile was quick as usual anymore with 14:07, bringing the 2.5 mile time to 36:44, a good 3 minutes faster than I hoped. I wasn't even sure if I was going to add the extra mileage today. I had originally planned to add it last Friday, but the day was so rotten with rain and cold I figured I'd wait see if I could get a nice day to do it this week.
Afterward I had an appointment with my doctor. The last time I saw him was the middle of August. At that point I'd been walk/running for a couple weeks and I was down about 10 pounds. I think this time he was a little surprised that I had stuck with it, but very pleased. Originally one of the things that had propelled me to start being more active was his insistence that I should go on a weight loss pill. I very much was not interested in taking whatever legal form of speed he wanted to put me on, so I figured that enough was enough and I should get this going on my own. When he saw what I had started in August he agreed that I wouldn't have to go on the pill if I kept this up. Personally I don't think he thought I would, that is why he scheduled this appointment, to check up on me and see if I backslid. So of course the weight loss pill is officially out of the question now.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Weekend Blog Dump + Weigh In
Thursday
I did my weights routine, it was uneventful.
Friday
I ran 2 miles this afternoon. A more concerted effort was made to start slow and consequently I had a much better time in both respects. I finished the first mile in 15:35 and the second in 14:21, making this the first time I have ever run 2 miles in under 30 minutes (29:56 for the mathematically impaired). It was a little rainy out, but it didn't bother me once I was wet.
Saturday
Since last week's "1.8 mile walk then run light day" turned out to be only a 26 minute workout I decided to increase today's to 2 miles. This marked the first time I had walked a whole mile with no running since the beginning of August. No surprise I was much faster today with a 17:51. My run after that went really well again. The wind was at my back and pretty effortlessly I PRed again with a 13:04. I've been thinking a lot about changing things up a bit and moving my XT/rest days so that this workout could be turned into an all running one. My thinking is that if I move the XT/rest days to Tuesday and Friday that would actually fit my life a little easier through the winter. So we will see how that goes and what happens to the light day. I think I'm going to add a little workout schedule on the right so that it will be easier to keep track. Oh look at that I did it and it's there.
Sunday
I did my long run this morning. It ended up being 4.31 miles. The route was one of the first routes I ever mapped out on runningahead. It goes around the section I live in, section 17. In case you are not familiar, in the legal description of your property it indicates what section, township, and range your property is located in. Populated sections of land typically have at least roads on each side. Sections are typically 1 mile by 1 mile squares. To get around my section it's a bit longer because the north line goes through a small lake, as you can see below.
Because sections are numbered in such an odd backwards snaking pattern I numbered all the surrounding ones out on the above picture to make it a little easier to understand. There are typically 36 sections to a township. At least this is how Michigan is divided below the county level. The road that slashes at an angle through section 17 is M-115. It is known among most northern michiganders as our answer to the German autobahn. Stray deer and cops appear to be the only thing that can slow people down there and that's only temporary. Heck, their corpses litter the road where even they fail. So I was really lucky to get to cross this road twice on today's run. As most cases the apprehension was worse than the deed. The first crossing I only had to slow down for a second and then I got across fine. The second time I sprinted across because the cars were closing in but there was enough time to make it. It definitely didn't make finishing my run any easier (the sprint), but I only had about .6 miles left so it wasn't that bad. I finished the whole thing in 1:06:52 with no walking.
Monday Morning
I weighed 320.6 lbs this morning. That is a loss of 5.2 lbs this week, bringing my total weight loss to 46.4 lbs. It was nice to break out of that rotten routine of gaining a little weight back every other week. Knock on wood that is behind me.
I did my weights routine, it was uneventful.
Friday
I ran 2 miles this afternoon. A more concerted effort was made to start slow and consequently I had a much better time in both respects. I finished the first mile in 15:35 and the second in 14:21, making this the first time I have ever run 2 miles in under 30 minutes (29:56 for the mathematically impaired). It was a little rainy out, but it didn't bother me once I was wet.
Saturday
Since last week's "1.8 mile walk then run light day" turned out to be only a 26 minute workout I decided to increase today's to 2 miles. This marked the first time I had walked a whole mile with no running since the beginning of August. No surprise I was much faster today with a 17:51. My run after that went really well again. The wind was at my back and pretty effortlessly I PRed again with a 13:04. I've been thinking a lot about changing things up a bit and moving my XT/rest days so that this workout could be turned into an all running one. My thinking is that if I move the XT/rest days to Tuesday and Friday that would actually fit my life a little easier through the winter. So we will see how that goes and what happens to the light day. I think I'm going to add a little workout schedule on the right so that it will be easier to keep track. Oh look at that I did it and it's there.
Sunday
I did my long run this morning. It ended up being 4.31 miles. The route was one of the first routes I ever mapped out on runningahead. It goes around the section I live in, section 17. In case you are not familiar, in the legal description of your property it indicates what section, township, and range your property is located in. Populated sections of land typically have at least roads on each side. Sections are typically 1 mile by 1 mile squares. To get around my section it's a bit longer because the north line goes through a small lake, as you can see below.
Because sections are numbered in such an odd backwards snaking pattern I numbered all the surrounding ones out on the above picture to make it a little easier to understand. There are typically 36 sections to a township. At least this is how Michigan is divided below the county level. The road that slashes at an angle through section 17 is M-115. It is known among most northern michiganders as our answer to the German autobahn. Stray deer and cops appear to be the only thing that can slow people down there and that's only temporary. Heck, their corpses litter the road where even they fail. So I was really lucky to get to cross this road twice on today's run. As most cases the apprehension was worse than the deed. The first crossing I only had to slow down for a second and then I got across fine. The second time I sprinted across because the cars were closing in but there was enough time to make it. It definitely didn't make finishing my run any easier (the sprint), but I only had about .6 miles left so it wasn't that bad. I finished the whole thing in 1:06:52 with no walking.Monday Morning
I weighed 320.6 lbs this morning. That is a loss of 5.2 lbs this week, bringing my total weight loss to 46.4 lbs. It was nice to break out of that rotten routine of gaining a little weight back every other week. Knock on wood that is behind me.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Faster Than The Speed Of Me
Monday
I did my weights routine, it was uneventful.
Tuesday
I ran my tar chip 2 mile route this afternoon. It was the first time that I have ran in the rain. As Vanilla says it's not the running while being wet that is the problem with running in the rain it's just the initial getting wet that sucks. Even that though wasn't bad compared to what I did to myself. In an effort to be faster I went out faster than I normally do. I knew that I screwed up about a little over a tenth of mile in, but because a school bus was going to stop right about where I was going to be I had to keep up the pace for another tenth of a mile in some odd vanity fartlek type of fashion. I was pretty tired after this, so I slowed down, but it didn't really give me any relief. I hit the mile mark at 15:25, which is the best time ever for my first mile on this course since I started keeping track. The second mile sucked almost as much as the first. My head was telling me to walk but thankfully my tired legs were far too stubborn. I finished soaked to the bone with 15:22 making my total time 30:47, another 2 mile PR. Though the times look good now, I don't ever want to do this to myself again. I like starting slow and getting faster. I like finding my groove and feeling like I could run forever. I like to feel like I'm floating down the road. None of these things happened today.
Wednesday
I ran 2 miles on the Pheasant Ridge loop in town yesterday afternoon. The weather was much more docile today. I made the mistake of leaving my compression shirt at home. I usually just wear it as a body bra under whatever cotton shirt I have on. This meant that I would have to run outside with out jiggle protection for the first time ever, oh and lets throw in a bit of an audience too. There aren't as many people out and about in the residential neighborhood that I run through as there could be, but there's always one or two. And one or two is more than I see in my own neighborhood out in B.F.E. I'm exaggerating though because I wasn't nearly as self conscience once I started. At one point I think I may have made an old lady's day. I had just passed a mile at 14:59 (not that impressive because the first mile is mostly downhill) when I saw an old woman up ahead walking on the sidewalk across the street from me. Immediately I was like, 'alright I'm going to pass this lady.' Try as I might it took almost a tenth of mile to catch up to her and then another tenth to finally pass her. She was probably thinking that she's pretty spry since she was keeping up with somebody running especially with her dragging a leg and walking with that walker. I finished with 15:46 making a total of 30:45, yet another 2 mile PR. I still started a little fast today, so on Friday I'm going to have to make a more concerted effort to start slow.
I did my weights routine, it was uneventful.
Tuesday
I ran my tar chip 2 mile route this afternoon. It was the first time that I have ran in the rain. As Vanilla says it's not the running while being wet that is the problem with running in the rain it's just the initial getting wet that sucks. Even that though wasn't bad compared to what I did to myself. In an effort to be faster I went out faster than I normally do. I knew that I screwed up about a little over a tenth of mile in, but because a school bus was going to stop right about where I was going to be I had to keep up the pace for another tenth of a mile in some odd vanity fartlek type of fashion. I was pretty tired after this, so I slowed down, but it didn't really give me any relief. I hit the mile mark at 15:25, which is the best time ever for my first mile on this course since I started keeping track. The second mile sucked almost as much as the first. My head was telling me to walk but thankfully my tired legs were far too stubborn. I finished soaked to the bone with 15:22 making my total time 30:47, another 2 mile PR. Though the times look good now, I don't ever want to do this to myself again. I like starting slow and getting faster. I like finding my groove and feeling like I could run forever. I like to feel like I'm floating down the road. None of these things happened today.
Wednesday
I ran 2 miles on the Pheasant Ridge loop in town yesterday afternoon. The weather was much more docile today. I made the mistake of leaving my compression shirt at home. I usually just wear it as a body bra under whatever cotton shirt I have on. This meant that I would have to run outside with out jiggle protection for the first time ever, oh and lets throw in a bit of an audience too. There aren't as many people out and about in the residential neighborhood that I run through as there could be, but there's always one or two. And one or two is more than I see in my own neighborhood out in B.F.E. I'm exaggerating though because I wasn't nearly as self conscience once I started. At one point I think I may have made an old lady's day. I had just passed a mile at 14:59 (not that impressive because the first mile is mostly downhill) when I saw an old woman up ahead walking on the sidewalk across the street from me. Immediately I was like, 'alright I'm going to pass this lady.' Try as I might it took almost a tenth of mile to catch up to her and then another tenth to finally pass her. She was probably thinking that she's pretty spry since she was keeping up with somebody running especially with her dragging a leg and walking with that walker. I finished with 15:46 making a total of 30:45, yet another 2 mile PR. I still started a little fast today, so on Friday I'm going to have to make a more concerted effort to start slow.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Weekend Blog Dump + Weigh In
Thursday
I did my weights routine and it was uneventful.
Friday
I ran 2 miles this afternoon and boy was it cold. I never did check what the temp was but it felt downright frigid for the first 15 minutes or so. I did have an inkling that the temp would be a problem so I wore a long sleeve cotton shirt for the first time. My hands were what ended up suffering the most though. It looks like I will have to invest in some kind of running glove. I tried start out quick and the cold definitely helped that happen. I hit the 1 mile mark at 16:19 which is probably the fastest I've ever ran the first mile. I ended up finishing in 31:14, making my second mile 14:55.
Saturday
Today I had a bit of a shopping spree before I ran. I've been looking at watches at a few different places. While ebay had a fine selection, the price was about the same as our local Wal-mart. I ended up getting a Timex Ironman Triathlon watch today. I've been timing my runs with the stopwatch on my mp3 player. While it is perfectly adequate for overall time, it's not as ideal as I had originally hoped. The display is fine for seeing the minutes, but for some reason the seconds are printed very very small. There is also no split/lap memory capability with it. Anyway the new watch has 100 lap memory that I can store in multiple workouts. It also has a 9 setting interval timer which may come in handy if I ever do speed work. Eventually I'd like to get a Garmin GPS watch, but for now it something I can't afford. I also purchased a long sleeve tech shirt, which I will give a try to on tomorrow's long run. I totally forgot that I needed some gloves, luckily as we were headed to the grocery portion of the store wal-mart was nice enough to clog an isle with a giant crate of tiny cotton stretch gloves. They were only a $1.47 for two pair. This has to be a first that their isle clogging ways have actually benefited me. On to the run, the watch and the gloves worked great today. It was very windy today and maybe one degree warmer. I walked the .8 miles into a fierce wind and was still faster than last week at 13:20. My run back was greatly aided by said wind, blowing me in at 13:33, another mile PR.
Sunday
Today was a beautiful day for a run. Low-50's overcast and almost no wind. I realize that this may sound depressing to some, but fall has always been my favorite time of year. Summer is nice and all, but it's always been too hot for me. Being fat, I sweat at the slightest provocation. God forbid I should have to turn my head or nod, you'd think I just went swimming in my clothes. Fall though, supplies temps that I can totally get down with. Take today for example, probably the second least amount of sweat I've ever expelled on a run (first being yesterday), but I ran 3.82 miles in 59:47, the furthest and longest I have ever run. I managed to run and drink through both of my water areas, so that was a plus. Overall I felt really strong. The total distance surprised me a bit, I didn't know I could do that. The new shirt is definitely a a good purchase for cooler temps, I'm going to have to get at least one more and maybe a pair of the workout pants too.
Monday Morning
I weighed 325.8 lbs this morning. That is a loss of 4.2 lbs this week, bringing my total weight loss to 41.2 lbs. The pattern of one week big loss, one week small gain, isn't especially satisfying, but at least overall I'm still losing.
I did my weights routine and it was uneventful.
Friday
I ran 2 miles this afternoon and boy was it cold. I never did check what the temp was but it felt downright frigid for the first 15 minutes or so. I did have an inkling that the temp would be a problem so I wore a long sleeve cotton shirt for the first time. My hands were what ended up suffering the most though. It looks like I will have to invest in some kind of running glove. I tried start out quick and the cold definitely helped that happen. I hit the 1 mile mark at 16:19 which is probably the fastest I've ever ran the first mile. I ended up finishing in 31:14, making my second mile 14:55.
Saturday
Today I had a bit of a shopping spree before I ran. I've been looking at watches at a few different places. While ebay had a fine selection, the price was about the same as our local Wal-mart. I ended up getting a Timex Ironman Triathlon watch today. I've been timing my runs with the stopwatch on my mp3 player. While it is perfectly adequate for overall time, it's not as ideal as I had originally hoped. The display is fine for seeing the minutes, but for some reason the seconds are printed very very small. There is also no split/lap memory capability with it. Anyway the new watch has 100 lap memory that I can store in multiple workouts. It also has a 9 setting interval timer which may come in handy if I ever do speed work. Eventually I'd like to get a Garmin GPS watch, but for now it something I can't afford. I also purchased a long sleeve tech shirt, which I will give a try to on tomorrow's long run. I totally forgot that I needed some gloves, luckily as we were headed to the grocery portion of the store wal-mart was nice enough to clog an isle with a giant crate of tiny cotton stretch gloves. They were only a $1.47 for two pair. This has to be a first that their isle clogging ways have actually benefited me. On to the run, the watch and the gloves worked great today. It was very windy today and maybe one degree warmer. I walked the .8 miles into a fierce wind and was still faster than last week at 13:20. My run back was greatly aided by said wind, blowing me in at 13:33, another mile PR.Sunday
Today was a beautiful day for a run. Low-50's overcast and almost no wind. I realize that this may sound depressing to some, but fall has always been my favorite time of year. Summer is nice and all, but it's always been too hot for me. Being fat, I sweat at the slightest provocation. God forbid I should have to turn my head or nod, you'd think I just went swimming in my clothes. Fall though, supplies temps that I can totally get down with. Take today for example, probably the second least amount of sweat I've ever expelled on a run (first being yesterday), but I ran 3.82 miles in 59:47, the furthest and longest I have ever run. I managed to run and drink through both of my water areas, so that was a plus. Overall I felt really strong. The total distance surprised me a bit, I didn't know I could do that. The new shirt is definitely a a good purchase for cooler temps, I'm going to have to get at least one more and maybe a pair of the workout pants too.
Monday Morning
I weighed 325.8 lbs this morning. That is a loss of 4.2 lbs this week, bringing my total weight loss to 41.2 lbs. The pattern of one week big loss, one week small gain, isn't especially satisfying, but at least overall I'm still losing.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Week Long Blog Dump
Thursday
I did my weights routine. I'm not calling it the freetrainer.com routine anymore as I only got 3 of the exercises from that site.
Friday
I ran my 2 mile home route again tonight. This was the first time I had ever started running in the rain. It ended up stopping about .2 miles in, then it got really hot and humid. I must have started slow as I checked the time at the mile mark it was 17:30ish. I tried to pick up the pace at that point, but didn't really feel like I was going any faster. To my suprise when I finished the time was 33:06 with no walk breaks. That meant the second mile was a ridiculous negative split of 15:30ish. I have been thinking all along that though the course is relatively flat or slightly rolling slopes, that the far end of the road is a little higher in elevation than the one closer to my house. Later that evening my wife and I celebrated our five year anniversary at Outback Steakhouse. It's not the most unique place ever, but the food is really good. We usually do most of our celebration dinners there, as it is our favorite. Though it was a chance to eat a good 10,000 calories, I'm sure I was much closer to 1,000. FYI you can get the loaded cheese fries appetizer in a half order and not eat them all, old me never knew either of these things were possible.
Saturday
I did my light day today. Instead running and walking on the treadmill I decided to take it outside. Taking what I think I figured out yesterday about our local geography, the plan was to walk .8 miles down the road and then run the last mile back. When I made it to the start of the run I was surprised to see the time was 14:32, which means there isn't a whole lot of time difference between me walking and running. Anyway I started way too fast, after the first .1 mile I was feeling rotten and already second guessing this idea. I struggled through the run only to be surprised when I made it to my driveway in 14:05, which is a great mile PR for me. The whole time I was doing the run I thought I'd never do this again, but the success was undeniable so I'm sure I'll do it next weekend. Later that evening we had friends come up from down state and I had an opportunity to sabotage my weight loss again, this time with several beers. I'm not upset at myself because I know that if I take every opportunity I have to drink a few beers at the end of the year it'll only add up to 10 or 15 occasions.
Sunday
I did my long run today. It wasn't easy considering the excesses of last night. But before that we went up to the High Rollaways again. This time I was armed with a camera so what follows is a bit of fall from northern Michigan.
These first two are the area closest to where you park. The view there is good, but if you walk down the trail a bit to the deck the view is even better.
Said Trail. It is very nice like this for the .25 mile portion between the parking area and the deck. It continues on in both directions but is not nearly as well manicured.
Said Deck
The view isn't as colorful as years passed, but this will probably be as good as it gets this year. By the time the rest of the leaves change, what is colorful now will be on the ground. I put this picture together from two pictures I took while standing on the deck as that is easier than figuring out my camera's panorama feature.
Monday
I weighed 330 lbs this morning, considering my scales and I behavior it wasn't bad news at all. It's an increase but I wasn't good with my caloric intake on Friday or Saturday evening, so I'm not surprised. I was at a conference for work today and had a real opportunity to pig out. Luckily I stuck to my mantra of food as fuel and ate really well. A side salad and a reasonably sized self assembled sandwich. I skipped the desert table entirely (loaded with about 15 kinds of cheese cake) which made me feel really strong until I was out of the room, then I wanted to go back in bad, but I didn't. Later in the day I did my weights routine.
Tuesday
I was back in town this afternoon to run 2 miles. I used the same course as last Tuesday, but when I was in the subdivision I went around an extra block rather than just sticking to the outside loop to get the extra .2 miles. The run wasn't bad considering the wind. The whole course is very open so on a windy day like today it turns me into a sail. Luckily the wind was against me for the downhill and with me for the uphill. It was much cooler, which definitely helps out a lot. I finished in 31:58 with no walk breaks, no pains, and the fastest time I've ever done two miles.
Wednesday
I ran 2 miles yesterday evening. It looked like it was going to rain the whole time, but right before I started the rain stopped. It was the coldest it's been in a long time so I decided to try running with a long sleeve shirt over my compression shirt. It was helpful in the beginning, I don't think it took anything away from my running. I tried to start out a little quicker than I normally do, knowing full well that no matter what I would probably run the second mile faster. I didn't feel my groove until about .8 miles or so, but I knew I would run the whole thing even before I found my groove. I finished the first mile in 16:34 which is better than being over 17 minutes. The second mile took 15:03 making for a total time of 31:37, being the second day in a row that I've run my fastest two miles ever. I broke 100 miles today. I remember when I started I thought it would take forever to get to 100 miles. Now that I'm here it doesn't feel like a milestone. I just look at my 10 miles per week average and wonder when that's going to start climbing.
I did my weights routine. I'm not calling it the freetrainer.com routine anymore as I only got 3 of the exercises from that site.
Friday
I ran my 2 mile home route again tonight. This was the first time I had ever started running in the rain. It ended up stopping about .2 miles in, then it got really hot and humid. I must have started slow as I checked the time at the mile mark it was 17:30ish. I tried to pick up the pace at that point, but didn't really feel like I was going any faster. To my suprise when I finished the time was 33:06 with no walk breaks. That meant the second mile was a ridiculous negative split of 15:30ish. I have been thinking all along that though the course is relatively flat or slightly rolling slopes, that the far end of the road is a little higher in elevation than the one closer to my house. Later that evening my wife and I celebrated our five year anniversary at Outback Steakhouse. It's not the most unique place ever, but the food is really good. We usually do most of our celebration dinners there, as it is our favorite. Though it was a chance to eat a good 10,000 calories, I'm sure I was much closer to 1,000. FYI you can get the loaded cheese fries appetizer in a half order and not eat them all, old me never knew either of these things were possible.
Saturday
I did my light day today. Instead running and walking on the treadmill I decided to take it outside. Taking what I think I figured out yesterday about our local geography, the plan was to walk .8 miles down the road and then run the last mile back. When I made it to the start of the run I was surprised to see the time was 14:32, which means there isn't a whole lot of time difference between me walking and running. Anyway I started way too fast, after the first .1 mile I was feeling rotten and already second guessing this idea. I struggled through the run only to be surprised when I made it to my driveway in 14:05, which is a great mile PR for me. The whole time I was doing the run I thought I'd never do this again, but the success was undeniable so I'm sure I'll do it next weekend. Later that evening we had friends come up from down state and I had an opportunity to sabotage my weight loss again, this time with several beers. I'm not upset at myself because I know that if I take every opportunity I have to drink a few beers at the end of the year it'll only add up to 10 or 15 occasions.
Sunday
I did my long run today. It wasn't easy considering the excesses of last night. But before that we went up to the High Rollaways again. This time I was armed with a camera so what follows is a bit of fall from northern Michigan.
These first two are the area closest to where you park. The view there is good, but if you walk down the trail a bit to the deck the view is even better.
Said Trail. It is very nice like this for the .25 mile portion between the parking area and the deck. It continues on in both directions but is not nearly as well manicured.
Said Deck
The view isn't as colorful as years passed, but this will probably be as good as it gets this year. By the time the rest of the leaves change, what is colorful now will be on the ground. I put this picture together from two pictures I took while standing on the deck as that is easier than figuring out my camera's panorama feature.Ok, on to the run. This was probably the toughest run I have done in a long time. By the time I ran it was about 3 hours since I had eaten breakfast which in retrospect is bit long for what I had in store. In the first 39 minutes I only took one minute long walk break and that was when I picked up water going back by my driveway which is about the 1.2 mile mark. Anyway after 39 minutes I was headed home but my body just felt like it had nothing left. My mind said run, but my legs just wouldn't. So ended up taking 5 more minute long walk breaks on the way back. I finished 3.27 miles in 56:14 with 6 minutes of walking, which is odd because I thought I had it timed to be done in 60 minutes. So I guess next week I will take a crack at trying to run for 60 minutes again.
Monday
I weighed 330 lbs this morning, considering my scales and I behavior it wasn't bad news at all. It's an increase but I wasn't good with my caloric intake on Friday or Saturday evening, so I'm not surprised. I was at a conference for work today and had a real opportunity to pig out. Luckily I stuck to my mantra of food as fuel and ate really well. A side salad and a reasonably sized self assembled sandwich. I skipped the desert table entirely (loaded with about 15 kinds of cheese cake) which made me feel really strong until I was out of the room, then I wanted to go back in bad, but I didn't. Later in the day I did my weights routine.
Tuesday
I was back in town this afternoon to run 2 miles. I used the same course as last Tuesday, but when I was in the subdivision I went around an extra block rather than just sticking to the outside loop to get the extra .2 miles. The run wasn't bad considering the wind. The whole course is very open so on a windy day like today it turns me into a sail. Luckily the wind was against me for the downhill and with me for the uphill. It was much cooler, which definitely helps out a lot. I finished in 31:58 with no walk breaks, no pains, and the fastest time I've ever done two miles.
Wednesday
I ran 2 miles yesterday evening. It looked like it was going to rain the whole time, but right before I started the rain stopped. It was the coldest it's been in a long time so I decided to try running with a long sleeve shirt over my compression shirt. It was helpful in the beginning, I don't think it took anything away from my running. I tried to start out a little quicker than I normally do, knowing full well that no matter what I would probably run the second mile faster. I didn't feel my groove until about .8 miles or so, but I knew I would run the whole thing even before I found my groove. I finished the first mile in 16:34 which is better than being over 17 minutes. The second mile took 15:03 making for a total time of 31:37, being the second day in a row that I've run my fastest two miles ever. I broke 100 miles today. I remember when I started I thought it would take forever to get to 100 miles. Now that I'm here it doesn't feel like a milestone. I just look at my 10 miles per week average and wonder when that's going to start climbing.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Stand By
Work is being aggressive as opposed to it's normal passive when it comes to time. I have been sticking to my schedule as far as running. I should be all updated in a day or two.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
I've Upped My Standards, So Up Yours!
I upped my miles last night. It seems like I have been doing 1.8 mile courses for a long time, but looking at my logs I've only ran them 7 times. I guess I just wanted a more even number, so I ran the extra .2 miles that I normally skip. It went fine as usual, and I finished in 34:16 with no walk breaks.
Using these old USGS satellite photos you can't actually see my house or a couple of my neighbor's houses as they weren't built yet. I begin and end at the same point, the old route didn't have a portion where I went east (right).
This blog has been included in the Top 100 Health and Wellness Blogs for NOEDb: Nursing Online Education Database. The numbers for rankings are categorized more than ranked. This blog is at #52. Of note, number's 28, 53, & 55 are all blogs that I read and enjoy daily. There are lots of other interesting blogs there. Unfortunately three of the most inspirational blogs that I've come across aren't on the list. I sent an email to the list makers to let them know of their oversight. So if you are new to weight loss blogs and looking for some inspiration and advice, don't miss these three:
http://formerlyfatrunningguy.blogspot.com/
http://obrats.blogspot.com/
http://patsrunning.blogspot.com/
Using these old USGS satellite photos you can't actually see my house or a couple of my neighbor's houses as they weren't built yet. I begin and end at the same point, the old route didn't have a portion where I went east (right).
This blog has been included in the Top 100 Health and Wellness Blogs for NOEDb: Nursing Online Education Database. The numbers for rankings are categorized more than ranked. This blog is at #52. Of note, number's 28, 53, & 55 are all blogs that I read and enjoy daily. There are lots of other interesting blogs there. Unfortunately three of the most inspirational blogs that I've come across aren't on the list. I sent an email to the list makers to let them know of their oversight. So if you are new to weight loss blogs and looking for some inspiration and advice, don't miss these three:http://formerlyfatrunningguy.blogspot.com/
http://obrats.blogspot.com/
http://patsrunning.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Pheasant Ridge
Monday
I did my freetrainers.com routine. I added one set of 10 lb pectoral raises and did more crunches. It was uneventful.
Tuesday
I ran in town yesterday after work. Since my previous route was so hilly I tried a different route. This one had me using the street behind my mothers house instead of the street she lives on. The topography is a little more gentle there. The route overall is either flat or slightly downhill for the first mile. Then it circles back and is either flat or slightly uphill. I finished in 29:27 without a single walk break. It ended up being a good route that I will use in the future.
(I didn't know runningahead had two different options for satellite photography for their course mapping feature. I had tried to use it before and there were too many clouds to get a good view plus you couldn't zoom in nearly enough. Anyway today I found the USGS satellite option and that works great. Even though the picture is a good ten years old, you get the gist of the area. The part where it looks like I ran through a field is all roads and modulars/trailers now.)
One odd thing I noticed when I was running through the subdivision/trailer park is the lack of people. All the lawns were mowed and there was a car in almost every driveway, but that place was a ghost town. There were a couple kids playing on bikes in one spot, an old man walking on the sidewalk in another, and a new roof going on at one of the modulars in the back, otherwise it was empty. All the shades in all the windows were drawn. I used to think I was in the minority when I would come home and just watch TV all night. Apparently I was more average than I suspected.
I did my freetrainers.com routine. I added one set of 10 lb pectoral raises and did more crunches. It was uneventful.
Tuesday
I ran in town yesterday after work. Since my previous route was so hilly I tried a different route. This one had me using the street behind my mothers house instead of the street she lives on. The topography is a little more gentle there. The route overall is either flat or slightly downhill for the first mile. Then it circles back and is either flat or slightly uphill. I finished in 29:27 without a single walk break. It ended up being a good route that I will use in the future.
(I didn't know runningahead had two different options for satellite photography for their course mapping feature. I had tried to use it before and there were too many clouds to get a good view plus you couldn't zoom in nearly enough. Anyway today I found the USGS satellite option and that works great. Even though the picture is a good ten years old, you get the gist of the area. The part where it looks like I ran through a field is all roads and modulars/trailers now.)
One odd thing I noticed when I was running through the subdivision/trailer park is the lack of people. All the lawns were mowed and there was a car in almost every driveway, but that place was a ghost town. There were a couple kids playing on bikes in one spot, an old man walking on the sidewalk in another, and a new roof going on at one of the modulars in the back, otherwise it was empty. All the shades in all the windows were drawn. I used to think I was in the minority when I would come home and just watch TV all night. Apparently I was more average than I suspected.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Weekend Blog Dump + Weigh In
Thursday
I did my freetrainers.com routine. I changed my bicep curls to standing on one leg curls. It was uneventful.
Friday
I doubted my ability to run the entire distance again today. It seems like big accomplishments are closely followed by set backs. So when I went out today I told myself I'd just do what I could, fully expecting all the while to hit the wall before the 1 mile mark. The 1 mile mark came and went though, the wall was nowhere in sight. I felt myself in the groove again and it's weird how easy it all feels once I'm there. It almost feels like it would be more work to walk. A tough thing to describe here. Anyway I finished in 28:56. With how fast the run felt I was expecting a better time, but time really doesn't matter. I just hope I can keep finding my groove when I'm out running.
Saturday
The plan was to do my mile run and then round out the 30 minutes with walking just to get a light day in before my long run tomorrow. Things did not go as planned for once. Instead my wife and kids and I and another family drove north 20 minutes to the High Rollaways. It is a spot not many people know about, and I can't even find a link about it right now. It's a place that you can drive to and you end up in a small parking lot about 700 feet or so away from a cliff that borders the Manistee river about 500 feet below. It is entirely wooded and there is a nicely groomed 1/4 mile stretch of trail pretty close to the edge of cliff. The draw though is the veiw out, you can see for several miles with a 180 degree span. In the fall it's pretty breathtaking. Unfortunately for this trip the colors weren't quite popping yet for northern Michigan standards. The nicely groomed trail meets up with an adequate trail on both ends that goes several miles in both directions. Our plan was to hike south on the adequate trail for a half hour or so then turn around come back and have a picnic at the High Rollaways. We brought our stroller for our 5 month old, which turned out to be not as bad as an idea as it may sound. I pushed it most of the way and though the tree roots tried to stop me, they failed miserably. I don't know how far we went on the trail but we were out there for a good hour. The picnic went well and a good time was had by all. When we got home I intended to follow through with the plan, but then all of sudden I didn't. I caught the couch bug instead and soon found myself asleep to the sound of a tuckered out family and college football in the background.
Sunday
I ran my long run a little after 10:00 am. The plan was for it to be 54 minutes long. I looked at several routes and thought I had one planned that was 3.156 miles. I figured based upon past long runs that the increase in distance would match the increase in time. Today's route had me going east and then going back west and by my house before I turned east again to get home. Because of this I was able to leave water at the end of the driveway so I had some water at what I thought was the 1.3 mile mark. The run went really well. I liked the route a lot. Almost a third of it is on a dirt road and that i
s definitely softer than the tar and chip over asphalt I'm on for the rest. I found my groove very early and ended up finishing in 53:27 and my feet never gave me even a whisper of trouble. I was pretty happy with this until I went online to map the distance to put it into my runningahead log. That's when I found out it was actually 3 miles, not 3.156. I know this might seem like quibbling, but I liked the idea that I had completed a 5k distance. No matter though, next Sunday will be an hour and that will for sure be longer than a 5k.
Monday Morning
I weighed 328.6 lbs this morning. That is a loss of 7.6 lbs this week, bringing my total weight loss to 38.4 lbs. I think my scale might be manic depressive. It's digital, but it gets stuck on certain numbers some times. I will weigh the exact same weight for 3 days straight and then it will just drop me 6 lbs. I feel thinner this morning and the affirmation from the scale feels good (even if it is a little bi-polar).
I did my freetrainers.com routine. I changed my bicep curls to standing on one leg curls. It was uneventful.
Friday
I doubted my ability to run the entire distance again today. It seems like big accomplishments are closely followed by set backs. So when I went out today I told myself I'd just do what I could, fully expecting all the while to hit the wall before the 1 mile mark. The 1 mile mark came and went though, the wall was nowhere in sight. I felt myself in the groove again and it's weird how easy it all feels once I'm there. It almost feels like it would be more work to walk. A tough thing to describe here. Anyway I finished in 28:56. With how fast the run felt I was expecting a better time, but time really doesn't matter. I just hope I can keep finding my groove when I'm out running.
Saturday
The plan was to do my mile run and then round out the 30 minutes with walking just to get a light day in before my long run tomorrow. Things did not go as planned for once. Instead my wife and kids and I and another family drove north 20 minutes to the High Rollaways. It is a spot not many people know about, and I can't even find a link about it right now. It's a place that you can drive to and you end up in a small parking lot about 700 feet or so away from a cliff that borders the Manistee river about 500 feet below. It is entirely wooded and there is a nicely groomed 1/4 mile stretch of trail pretty close to the edge of cliff. The draw though is the veiw out, you can see for several miles with a 180 degree span. In the fall it's pretty breathtaking. Unfortunately for this trip the colors weren't quite popping yet for northern Michigan standards. The nicely groomed trail meets up with an adequate trail on both ends that goes several miles in both directions. Our plan was to hike south on the adequate trail for a half hour or so then turn around come back and have a picnic at the High Rollaways. We brought our stroller for our 5 month old, which turned out to be not as bad as an idea as it may sound. I pushed it most of the way and though the tree roots tried to stop me, they failed miserably. I don't know how far we went on the trail but we were out there for a good hour. The picnic went well and a good time was had by all. When we got home I intended to follow through with the plan, but then all of sudden I didn't. I caught the couch bug instead and soon found myself asleep to the sound of a tuckered out family and college football in the background.
Sunday
I ran my long run a little after 10:00 am. The plan was for it to be 54 minutes long. I looked at several routes and thought I had one planned that was 3.156 miles. I figured based upon past long runs that the increase in distance would match the increase in time. Today's route had me going east and then going back west and by my house before I turned east again to get home. Because of this I was able to leave water at the end of the driveway so I had some water at what I thought was the 1.3 mile mark. The run went really well. I liked the route a lot. Almost a third of it is on a dirt road and that i
s definitely softer than the tar and chip over asphalt I'm on for the rest. I found my groove very early and ended up finishing in 53:27 and my feet never gave me even a whisper of trouble. I was pretty happy with this until I went online to map the distance to put it into my runningahead log. That's when I found out it was actually 3 miles, not 3.156. I know this might seem like quibbling, but I liked the idea that I had completed a 5k distance. No matter though, next Sunday will be an hour and that will for sure be longer than a 5k.Monday Morning
I weighed 328.6 lbs this morning. That is a loss of 7.6 lbs this week, bringing my total weight loss to 38.4 lbs. I think my scale might be manic depressive. It's digital, but it gets stuck on certain numbers some times. I will weigh the exact same weight for 3 days straight and then it will just drop me 6 lbs. I feel thinner this morning and the affirmation from the scale feels good (even if it is a little bi-polar).
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