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/

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.

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 is 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).

Actually, I Run

So if you've read this site before then you may know I've already declared that I run. Todays announcement then may seem like a reiteration, but it's more like a 'no really'. Last night I ran the whole 1.8 miles without taking a single walk break. I started out a little slower than normal, unintentionally, it just happened. I didn't know I was going slower until the 1 mile mark when I looked at the time and saw 17:??. I picked up the pace a bit when I saw that but I was in such a good rhythm I already knew that it was important that I finish without walking. So it took me 30:53 to run the whole thing, but that doesn't matter. What matters is I ran the last 1.3 miles or so in such a good rhythm I was almost sorry that I didn't have a longer run on the schedule. My left foot started to fall asleep near the end, but was fine about 5 minutes afterward. I didn't mention it yesterday, but near the end of Tuesday's run both feet were falling asleep. I attribute this usually to when I'm pushing myself, but I'm starting to think it may have to do with how I lace my shoes. If it persists I've found some different lacing methods to try.