Well. I decided to attack the cold.
I loosened the reigns on the calories. Ate a bit more lunch. Had I think my all time high in the last 4 months of about 2600 calories(did that yesterday too).
But started feeling a little better.
Decided to do my run down at the park. WOW... Flat surfaces with grip are SOOO much easier! It's nice to see the hills and snow/ice are paying off! So, I did just under 7 miles, but it did feel like an easier run even though I was also going faster than I do on the hills.
Since then I've kept up the feeling better-ishness. I still have some random throat, nose and head pressure issues, but I'm not feeling dead-ish as I was a couple days ago.
Did my run this morning in the usual hills. Over 7 miles. No stopping. (well I walked for 3 minutes in the middle for the "slow" period it told me. Was nice that my seasonal road has mostly melted so it's not a sheet of ice!
I really think it seems like giving blood has about a month period for me to recover(though apparently I did up the intensity and duration at the same time, so there might be a bit more to it). Because the last couple weeks have felt SOO much better. I've caught myself this morning going "Oh, look I must have already gone up that hill"(realizing it was behind me now) whereas for a few weeks there it was "UGH... I'm walking for a bit"(most all of the uphills) and I was just out of breath and energy quite quickly.
So... Yeah. I'm feeling good. Not really worried about the road race stuff.
I DO still really need to get some obstacles set up so I can actually try some of this OCR stuff I'm going to be doing and see just how badly I need to get my upper body strength increasing!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
The one where I get sick
Well, I'm not one to normally get sick. MAYBE a cold once a year. However, this sore throat that started Thursday is kicking my butt pretty hard for the last 2-3 days as quite the cold. Best part is waking up at 1AM(or any of the other half dozen times throughout the night) when Bella needs a bink put back in or something, but then won't go back to sleep, so I end up having her sleep next to me... Problem being that not surprisingly she/we'll just about get to sleep when I have to hack and then she's awake again. Fun hours those are in the middle of the night!
To run or not to run... My sore throat from Thursday is now full blown cold or some sort of awesomeness now. Seems to be conflicting opinions as usual as to whether it's good, bad or whatever... I've seen a few references to the neck rule. If your problems are neck or above you should be good to go. Just not entirely sure if the little bit of stuff I'm coughing is considered neck or into chest... I want to run(it's the only time I feel good, the sickness disappears!) But I don't want to run my body down and cause this to last another days/week and push off my running that much farther...
Well, after some deliberation, I think I've all but decided I'm going to hit the park for a run this afternoon. Just remains to be seen how far/fast I'll take it.
To run or not to run... My sore throat from Thursday is now full blown cold or some sort of awesomeness now. Seems to be conflicting opinions as usual as to whether it's good, bad or whatever... I've seen a few references to the neck rule. If your problems are neck or above you should be good to go. Just not entirely sure if the little bit of stuff I'm coughing is considered neck or into chest... I want to run(it's the only time I feel good, the sickness disappears!) But I don't want to run my body down and cause this to last another days/week and push off my running that much farther...
Well, after some deliberation, I think I've all but decided I'm going to hit the park for a run this afternoon. Just remains to be seen how far/fast I'll take it.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Conquering the hills, socks/blister, watching myself...
So, this weekend was an "easy" weekend to "keep me injury free". Well.. Mostly.
Saturday was 3 miles with some strides at the end. Well, I did my best to slow my pace and I finally conquered Mackey Rd Hill. I may have been closer to a power walk than running, but I'm calling it "running"! Nonstop. WOOT!
Though, that nice seasonal road is ALL ice and the snow at the edges is getting pretty minimal, so the strides at the end were a bit rough, I was NOT going to run full speed down the hill and hope I missed the ice!
Sunday was only 6 miles and since I was pretty sure Mackey would only be worse for ice, I went around the block. I hadn't been wearing toe socks the day before, so I decided to just throw on my Lontra's. Yeah, that was apparently a bad idea. I guess I haven't gone sockless for a month or so now. A couple miles in and my left foot, right on the right side of the ball of my foot developed a real good blister. It seems I have trouble there sometimes with the straps that attach there on those models of Fivefingers. Going to have to see how I do with socks and wet feet for 10-12 miles so I know what I'm doing for the OCR's.
But again, other than I think (3) 5 second stops to try making that left shoe extra tight or extra loose to make that blister happier, I didn't stop.
Of course as I thought, it's not 6 miles around the block, so I added in some trail running through the woods as well, which is good since my next race is a trail race and I really ought to be doing more. Not exactly sure how I'm going to do that. I went as far as looking to see if I could make it to the nearest Finger Lakes Trail point with my running. Unfortunately taking roads, it would appear it's about 5 miles to the entry point which would mean with my 10 mile runs coming up in another week or so, I'd be able to get there and back, but not actually run on them at all.
So I guess I should consider adding in a car ride to there before and after my run. Otherwise I'm not sure how to get longer trail runs in very well... I can run in the woods near the house, but from what I've found so far, I'm looping a bit just to get a few miles, let alone 6 or more.
I also gave some thought this morning to catching some of the FLT points that I pass on my commute to work. I guess that would pretty much be on the way home as I don't know how well I could keep myself stinky free without a shower when I get back to work.
Work really needs a shower.
The end of the day wouldn't necessarily be that bad of an idea. As it is, I'm having trouble getting in 6 miles or more with all of the other morning stuff and making it into work when I should.
My fear with that though is that I have done an after work run once or twice and it seemed horrendous. And I have since read something about your mental state having a bit effect and that the morning runs can/do go a lot better... But I may have to try it and see. Right now I don't terribly care for these morning runs before daylight anyway.
Weight loss is still going. 187.8 or something this morning. Not sure if it's me, the weather, the holidays/time of year in general or what, but I think I'm going to just finish off my Dietbets and not do any more. I've got 2 finishing this month and then there are 2 of the 6 month ones that are a lot more reasonable to meet ending like mayish I think.
I guess I'm just feeling like I don't want to worry about it quite as much and after December, I was really scraping to get to within a tenth of a pound to meet my weigh outs at 4% in 4 weeks.
And who knows what my body is going to do now. I'm definitely starting to like it more, this "medium" size thing on me is mind blowing, even if they are a bit tight sometimes yet. I definitely still have a good bit of inches to remove from my mid section yet, but the progress is amazing to me. Anyway, It's possible it will become harder to lose the weight. Though if the running keeps increasing, I would like to think that should compensate, and I've at least started getting a couple strength/otherwise workouts done on my "rest" days and getting in 30 Spartan Burpees as well. Those still suck with the pushups.
But, I think it might be the time of the year. This weekend was just 2 days of no sun. Dark and dreary. I'm also fighting a cold it would seem. Nice thing about the runs is that it all just disappears for that hour or so. No sore throat, congestion, etc. And I think those runs keep me a bit more sane. But it's still a long couple days where I really just feel like eating everything in sight. Saturday I let myself a 500 calorie overage, but really if I hadn't had a free mint chocolate swirl shake coupon from Arby's (and I haven't yet had one), then I probably would have kept it in check. And I did keep it good on Sunday. Maybe not the best quality of calories all around, but my #1 priority is keeping the cals in check.
Anyway, I'm trying to keep these thoughts in check. I don't want to find myself thinking "Oh, I don't have a Dietbet, so I can eat more and it won't be a problem" and then that definition keeps stretching and I find myself having a lot of days with WAY too many calories again and not keeping it under control. So I need to keep that in my head.
It's not like this wasn't coming anyway. Maintenance mode is a whole nother thing. Probably just as well that I start trying to keep things under control more myself than relying on Dietbet fears to keep me in line.
Saturday was 3 miles with some strides at the end. Well, I did my best to slow my pace and I finally conquered Mackey Rd Hill. I may have been closer to a power walk than running, but I'm calling it "running"! Nonstop. WOOT!
Though, that nice seasonal road is ALL ice and the snow at the edges is getting pretty minimal, so the strides at the end were a bit rough, I was NOT going to run full speed down the hill and hope I missed the ice!
Sunday was only 6 miles and since I was pretty sure Mackey would only be worse for ice, I went around the block. I hadn't been wearing toe socks the day before, so I decided to just throw on my Lontra's. Yeah, that was apparently a bad idea. I guess I haven't gone sockless for a month or so now. A couple miles in and my left foot, right on the right side of the ball of my foot developed a real good blister. It seems I have trouble there sometimes with the straps that attach there on those models of Fivefingers. Going to have to see how I do with socks and wet feet for 10-12 miles so I know what I'm doing for the OCR's.
But again, other than I think (3) 5 second stops to try making that left shoe extra tight or extra loose to make that blister happier, I didn't stop.
Of course as I thought, it's not 6 miles around the block, so I added in some trail running through the woods as well, which is good since my next race is a trail race and I really ought to be doing more. Not exactly sure how I'm going to do that. I went as far as looking to see if I could make it to the nearest Finger Lakes Trail point with my running. Unfortunately taking roads, it would appear it's about 5 miles to the entry point which would mean with my 10 mile runs coming up in another week or so, I'd be able to get there and back, but not actually run on them at all.
So I guess I should consider adding in a car ride to there before and after my run. Otherwise I'm not sure how to get longer trail runs in very well... I can run in the woods near the house, but from what I've found so far, I'm looping a bit just to get a few miles, let alone 6 or more.
I also gave some thought this morning to catching some of the FLT points that I pass on my commute to work. I guess that would pretty much be on the way home as I don't know how well I could keep myself stinky free without a shower when I get back to work.
Work really needs a shower.
The end of the day wouldn't necessarily be that bad of an idea. As it is, I'm having trouble getting in 6 miles or more with all of the other morning stuff and making it into work when I should.
My fear with that though is that I have done an after work run once or twice and it seemed horrendous. And I have since read something about your mental state having a bit effect and that the morning runs can/do go a lot better... But I may have to try it and see. Right now I don't terribly care for these morning runs before daylight anyway.
Weight loss is still going. 187.8 or something this morning. Not sure if it's me, the weather, the holidays/time of year in general or what, but I think I'm going to just finish off my Dietbets and not do any more. I've got 2 finishing this month and then there are 2 of the 6 month ones that are a lot more reasonable to meet ending like mayish I think.
I guess I'm just feeling like I don't want to worry about it quite as much and after December, I was really scraping to get to within a tenth of a pound to meet my weigh outs at 4% in 4 weeks.
And who knows what my body is going to do now. I'm definitely starting to like it more, this "medium" size thing on me is mind blowing, even if they are a bit tight sometimes yet. I definitely still have a good bit of inches to remove from my mid section yet, but the progress is amazing to me. Anyway, It's possible it will become harder to lose the weight. Though if the running keeps increasing, I would like to think that should compensate, and I've at least started getting a couple strength/otherwise workouts done on my "rest" days and getting in 30 Spartan Burpees as well. Those still suck with the pushups.
But, I think it might be the time of the year. This weekend was just 2 days of no sun. Dark and dreary. I'm also fighting a cold it would seem. Nice thing about the runs is that it all just disappears for that hour or so. No sore throat, congestion, etc. And I think those runs keep me a bit more sane. But it's still a long couple days where I really just feel like eating everything in sight. Saturday I let myself a 500 calorie overage, but really if I hadn't had a free mint chocolate swirl shake coupon from Arby's (and I haven't yet had one), then I probably would have kept it in check. And I did keep it good on Sunday. Maybe not the best quality of calories all around, but my #1 priority is keeping the cals in check.
Anyway, I'm trying to keep these thoughts in check. I don't want to find myself thinking "Oh, I don't have a Dietbet, so I can eat more and it won't be a problem" and then that definition keeps stretching and I find myself having a lot of days with WAY too many calories again and not keeping it under control. So I need to keep that in my head.
It's not like this wasn't coming anyway. Maintenance mode is a whole nother thing. Probably just as well that I start trying to keep things under control more myself than relying on Dietbet fears to keep me in line.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Endurance/Speed and the cold
Well, let's see...
I had my 8 mile long run a couple weekends ago. ... And now I forget what notes I had for that one...
Last weekend was the 9 mile long run. That was cool. Literally cold. About 10F with a good wind chill. Found out that it's about 4.5 miles the long way to the Caboose motel, I looped up the next road. On the long downhill section, I found that about half an hour is the limit at that temp before the uninsulated camelbak starts freezing up, but thankfully it cleared out.
And after about an hour, the honey energy bar I had was hard enough to hurt my teeth when I tried to bite off a piece.
But a good run!
Tuesday was a 5 mile run. I might have moved it a day, but it was on the schedule and it had been 2 days without running, so it had to be done! Despite the fact that it was -10F and wind chill of at least -30F. Despite that, it wasn't that bad of a run. Worst part was leaving the Balaclava up to protect my nose. It seems to get saturated with breath/water or what not and then freeze. And with nothing to prop it outwards, it would suck up tight against my mouth, making it rather difficult to breathe. Holding it out with my fingers made all the difference.
But still, the run felt good and was down to about 12 min miles and I could feel I wasn't stopping to walk as much as I have been.
Also was awesome to finally get the pretty frosted eyelashes I've seen other cold weather runners post!
I had my 8 mile long run a couple weekends ago. ... And now I forget what notes I had for that one...
Last weekend was the 9 mile long run. That was cool. Literally cold. About 10F with a good wind chill. Found out that it's about 4.5 miles the long way to the Caboose motel, I looped up the next road. On the long downhill section, I found that about half an hour is the limit at that temp before the uninsulated camelbak starts freezing up, but thankfully it cleared out.
And after about an hour, the honey energy bar I had was hard enough to hurt my teeth when I tried to bite off a piece.
But a good run!
Tuesday was a 5 mile run. I might have moved it a day, but it was on the schedule and it had been 2 days without running, so it had to be done! Despite the fact that it was -10F and wind chill of at least -30F. Despite that, it wasn't that bad of a run. Worst part was leaving the Balaclava up to protect my nose. It seems to get saturated with breath/water or what not and then freeze. And with nothing to prop it outwards, it would suck up tight against my mouth, making it rather difficult to breathe. Holding it out with my fingers made all the difference.
But still, the run felt good and was down to about 12 min miles and I could feel I wasn't stopping to walk as much as I have been.
Also was awesome to finally get the pretty frosted eyelashes I've seen other cold weather runners post!
And today... It had warmed up nicely to like 15f! and the wind wasn't much there!
Best of all? It seems my speed/endurance may finally be returning!
Tuesday was good and faster at 5 miles.
Today went farther, up to 6 miles, and I dropped my time down about another minute per mile. This would be really nice if it was coming back. It has been about a month since I gave blood and about the same time I left the nice flat paved paths of Shawmut for the hilly seasonal roads around home. But I've been trying not to worry about that since I know the hills are having an impact, and I've still been increasing mileage. We're hitting double digits in a couple weeks! And even the weekday stuff is getting long, 6 miles before work! Sheesh!
Already trying to figure out my scheduling with the training vs races (I don't have them set just right for starting, ending and like my 10K is telling me to taper off weeks early, so I think I'll jump up to the half marathon training early, not sure about tapering or not... Gets complicated!
And I'm gonna have to get faster to be able to get all these runs in before work!
Looking forward to the weekend, Saturday might be closer to 50F and only 3 miles. Maybe I can get in something quick again! And not need 20 minutes to get suited up for the run! We'll see.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Dietbet. The one where I start winning.
So, according to Dietbet I signed up and weighed in at just about 230lbs on 9/11/2013.
Dietbet. There are some new 6 month/10% weight loss games, but at this time when I started, it was only 4's. Basically, someone sets up a Game and chooses the entry fee "bet". You pay that money and bet that you can lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks.
For me, this was what I needed. A challenge. A real reason to lose the weight. And I was NOT going to lose my money. And I went ALL IN. Meaning, they allowed up to 3 simultaneous games(which at the time, turned into 4 when they let anyone join the Jillian Michaels game).
I used this to fortify it in my head. 4. Stressed? Want to binge on food? 4. You need to lose 4% in 4 weeks. No ifs, ands or butts. You will NOT lose. Remember it.
And I did it. I think this was like the first weekend where I held my calories in check throughout.
Still walking with Gympact as well and logging my calories with myfitnesspal.
Dietbet. There are some new 6 month/10% weight loss games, but at this time when I started, it was only 4's. Basically, someone sets up a Game and chooses the entry fee "bet". You pay that money and bet that you can lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks.
For me, this was what I needed. A challenge. A real reason to lose the weight. And I was NOT going to lose my money. And I went ALL IN. Meaning, they allowed up to 3 simultaneous games(which at the time, turned into 4 when they let anyone join the Jillian Michaels game).
I used this to fortify it in my head. 4. Stressed? Want to binge on food? 4. You need to lose 4% in 4 weeks. No ifs, ands or butts. You will NOT lose. Remember it.
And I did it. I think this was like the first weekend where I held my calories in check throughout.
Still walking with Gympact as well and logging my calories with myfitnesspal.
This blog is late to the game.
OK. So it occurred to me the other day, that I might like more of a record of my transformation.
I'm calling it a transformation cause I can't think of a better term. At this moment I am about 2/3 of the way to my roughly 90lb weight loss goal. I have run and placed 3rd in my age group at a local 5K. I am currently training at an 8 mile long run. And this is the end of 2013. 2014 I am going to conquer almost every "normal" class of race. And by conquer, I mean "complete". Right now, for me, that's what conquer is to me. If I do a 5K, I'm aiming to beat my last time. So far I've done that every time for the 3 I've done.
Now, I also want to get something else out there. I've had a couple people tell me/ask "You must feel a lot better now."
Umm... "I don't think so in the way you're asking." Maybe I'm misinterpreting their question. But Sorry, maybe I shouldn't be the poster child for weight loss/fitness. Cause guess what? The reason I never really lost weight before? I had no health problems. I didn't feel bad. Though it's also not like I was a COMPLETE couch potato. Sure, I didn't do a ton, but I could go out for a hike up and down hills for at least several miles without passing out.
As far as health goes? Well, yeah, I was "morbidly obese" according to BMI, but that seems to largely be a joke. From what I can see, I could theoretically only weigh 120lbs and be "healthy". That seems unlikely to me.
I will admit, my blood pressure had at times been borderline at the bottom end of "starting to be high" or whatever they call it now. Seems like every few years they like to increase their BP medication sales and the "safe zone" gets lowered and sometimes they give a new class like "PRE-high blood pressure." OK, so you don't actually have high blood pressure, but you're getting close. Might as well start giving us money and taking pills now just cause hey, why not, right?
ANY-hoo... My sometimes almost high of 135/95 or something was... well let me look. 110/70 on 12/11/2013 So, yeah no question it's lower.
NOW... If we're talking, do I feel better MENTALLY? Well, that's another story... In a word? Yeah.
Why? Well mainly because as my very vague memory goes... I've seen pictures and it seems I did not look that fat in early school years. But I recall going into school with confidence. And I guess there always has been a belief in myself that I've kept in general. But I recall pretty early on getting picked on either for what I wore or soon enough being... fat, fat-ass, lard-ass, wonder whale(I wore a coat Granny gave me from Wonder bread that said "Wonder" on the back), "could use a diet coke"... I dunno, I'm sure there are dozens of others I'm forgetting.
In general, it is safe to say that I have NOT had much of ANY confidence in that area. as far as clothes, I may have liked them or simply not cared, but I never had any illusions that I was the least bit attractive. I think about the end of my senior year of high school when I started dating Sara, and she transformed me a bit with contacts, letting the beard grow and maybe some better clothes... I at least started to like my face a bit more and not be disgusted by it.
So, the not so short story is that I had about 12 years of utter nastiness ingrained in me that I am fat, unattractive and anything but a runner. (though now that I think of it, I DID have strength in some areas. People told me I should join the football team, and I generally won almost every arm wrestling match we had...)
And I've lived with that loathing self image. I mean, I pretty much got used to it, so it's not like I woke up and hated myself. But any time we were around other people, I would definitely be thinking periodically about how bad I looked and what other people were thinking about me in that regard.
Now? I'm noticing a good bit more confidence building in there. Or perhaps I should say, it seems to be gaining form and substance/solidity. I'm not entirely comfortable with myself yet, but I'm starting to think I'm not that bad... I've caught myself in a few pictures from the holidays where I was just off to the side in a picture of the girls and it was just like a mid-section pic of myself and I literally thought "Who is that?" "Wait, that can't be me.... Is that me? That person is way too slim..." So... Yeah, that's kinda cool.
Also, I think partly because I'm mechanically oriented, I'm finding it hella cool to see and feel my skeletal structure and tendons, etc... I still don't know a lot about the human body and it's not like I couldn't touch a rib before, but now... I lay in bed and slide my hand up my gut and... There's my pelvis and an INDENT, and then the bottom of my rib cage... And I can feel the actual shape of the entire bottom of my rib cage, and the bottom bone in the middle, etc... I mean, I can mentally picture exactly what I'm feeling... That's just cool. Last weekend I found some new tendon or vein or something in the back of my neck that runs up into my skull... These are things I had never even contemplated before. It's rather like the experience of switching to Fivefingers where I suddenly had all sorts of new feelings I was unaccustomed to.
Yeah, I feel better mentally. (:
Hmm, at this point I don't even remember/know if I had a place I was heading towards...
Anyway. Thinks are pretty good.
You want the downsides? Pretty much the same as everyone else. Time and money.
The running takes time. Someone in one of the running groups I'm on said "At some point you'll have to treat it like a job." Umm, yeah, that's been pretty much since the beginning. I was already in the role of "get my 40 hours a week of PAID work in, and then just about every other minute is home taking care of the girls." Now, I've got that PLUS... At the moment my training is generally something like "Hope Bella slept well enough so that I got a decent night's sleep, THEN hope that both girls STAY asleep so I can get up at 5AM, suited up, and head out into the 15F dark desolate roads around home. For about an hour Tue, Thur and Sat, and 2 hours on Sunday." And if I don't get it done then, it gets even more difficult trying to find the time for Sara to take over. I think once it gets warmer, I'm going to have to take the girls kicking and screaming(literally) with me.
And this year is going to be busy with races. I've done my best to keep it to about 1 per month for Sara's sanity(yeah, though I'm not sure she'll agree).
Which ties into the money. I've found that races are NOT cheap. Particularly obstacle races and longer runs. Basically my saviors are that Spartan and Tough Mudder allow you to volunteer and get a free or discounted race. Bonus for me, I've so far managed to score TWO Spartan entries from contests. That was actually the only reason I am going for the Spartan Trifecta this year. I had NOT planned on it, but after I won a contest, it seemed like the best use would be to put it towards the most expensive race, and if I'm going to do that, I might as well do the shorter ones as well...
That really is the reason I signed up for the Wineglass marathon as well... My mind had only progressed on marathon thinking from "That's insane." to "eh, maybe at some point". I was going to work my way up. But then I noticed that to get the cheapest rate, I had to sign up by the end of the year. Well, that's almost a year a way, might as well make that a goal!
The other money figure it equipment. Mainly clothes in general. I'm down to at least a size 34 pants and maybe a Medium shirt. So... I've been getting comments that my size 38's (OR larger) and XL's(or LARGER) are quite baggy... And with the crazy weather we've been having where I've literally gone from running in 20F and through 8 inches of snow one weekend and then having it a rainy 55F the next weekend... Well, I really need a compression T-shirt and some smaller shorts at least...
Oh the other negative I've just recently pretty much confirmed is giving blood. Yeah, I don't think it's going to happen in 2014. Well, maybe in December... I'd looked this up before I gave blood and basically read what made perfect sense. It's pretty much reverse blood doping(blood doping being a performance enhancement some athletes have tried getting away with where I believe you inject more blood cells) So with less blood cells, you've got less oxygen carrying capacity. So, after a couple days, you're pretty much good to go... As long as you aren't going hard. But once you start operating at peak capacity, you notice it's SERIOUSLY reduced. I've had a few changes in where/distance/hills that I've been training, but it was just about 3 weeks ago that I gave blood, and it certainly feels like I'm just starting to get back to where I left off. And this is with a good bit of walking breaks in my training. Now, if I were just doing 5K's and wasn't overly concerned with my times, I'd keep it up. But... Well, I've got like monthly runs and a good number of them are in the 10+ mile range going up and down ski slopes carrying 60lbs of sand, etc... And that 26 mile marathon in October... I'm feeling like I really need to be at max capacity.
I love being a "sixer"(giving blood the max allowed 6 times a year). But, I'm afraid 2014 is going to have to be a year I'm taking for me.
It bothers me, but, well it's the same as the other negatives. They bother me, but they are objects I have to fight past and take "for me" to achieve these goals. I know it's good to have more time with the girls, more money for everything, and saving lives giving blood. But you know what? If I do all of those, I'm "giving up" on this new self and just going to be the same old guy "cause I had to". So I need to just do what I can to balance these things out(Sara may not believe it, but I have whittled things down. There are a number of local and otherwise events that I've crossed out for the time and money reasons, much as I'd like to do them). I'm gonna feel a bit bad about what I'm taking for me, but I do believe this is the route I'm supposed to take. And don't get the wrong idea, I haven't spent the family fortune, nor am I not spending time with the girls. And indeed, I hope to God that I can get them involved in any and every way I can! I DREAM of the day when I can sign the girls up for a kids obstacle run, and better yet, have them run a full event with me! Which brought me to the next thought. I sure as hell BETTER be in shape now and keep it up, cause I'm gonna be like 50 when they are starting to be eligible to run in full events! ACK!
For this year, I'm hoping I can get them to agree to go "vroom" in the bike trailer (in stroller mode) while I run, and I think I can take them to a bubble pit at the 5K foam fest, and I'm hoping to take Kenzie with me on the Color Run in some form.
Well, I suppose that's long enough for now. The hard part that is more important to me, is now I should go back and figure out just what I did when. That's kinda the record I'm looking for of my progression.
I'm calling it a transformation cause I can't think of a better term. At this moment I am about 2/3 of the way to my roughly 90lb weight loss goal. I have run and placed 3rd in my age group at a local 5K. I am currently training at an 8 mile long run. And this is the end of 2013. 2014 I am going to conquer almost every "normal" class of race. And by conquer, I mean "complete". Right now, for me, that's what conquer is to me. If I do a 5K, I'm aiming to beat my last time. So far I've done that every time for the 3 I've done.
Now, I also want to get something else out there. I've had a couple people tell me/ask "You must feel a lot better now."
Umm... "I don't think so in the way you're asking." Maybe I'm misinterpreting their question. But Sorry, maybe I shouldn't be the poster child for weight loss/fitness. Cause guess what? The reason I never really lost weight before? I had no health problems. I didn't feel bad. Though it's also not like I was a COMPLETE couch potato. Sure, I didn't do a ton, but I could go out for a hike up and down hills for at least several miles without passing out.
As far as health goes? Well, yeah, I was "morbidly obese" according to BMI, but that seems to largely be a joke. From what I can see, I could theoretically only weigh 120lbs and be "healthy". That seems unlikely to me.
I will admit, my blood pressure had at times been borderline at the bottom end of "starting to be high" or whatever they call it now. Seems like every few years they like to increase their BP medication sales and the "safe zone" gets lowered and sometimes they give a new class like "PRE-high blood pressure." OK, so you don't actually have high blood pressure, but you're getting close. Might as well start giving us money and taking pills now just cause hey, why not, right?
ANY-hoo... My sometimes almost high of 135/95 or something was... well let me look. 110/70 on 12/11/2013 So, yeah no question it's lower.
NOW... If we're talking, do I feel better MENTALLY? Well, that's another story... In a word? Yeah.
Why? Well mainly because as my very vague memory goes... I've seen pictures and it seems I did not look that fat in early school years. But I recall going into school with confidence. And I guess there always has been a belief in myself that I've kept in general. But I recall pretty early on getting picked on either for what I wore or soon enough being... fat, fat-ass, lard-ass, wonder whale(I wore a coat Granny gave me from Wonder bread that said "Wonder" on the back), "could use a diet coke"... I dunno, I'm sure there are dozens of others I'm forgetting.
In general, it is safe to say that I have NOT had much of ANY confidence in that area. as far as clothes, I may have liked them or simply not cared, but I never had any illusions that I was the least bit attractive. I think about the end of my senior year of high school when I started dating Sara, and she transformed me a bit with contacts, letting the beard grow and maybe some better clothes... I at least started to like my face a bit more and not be disgusted by it.
So, the not so short story is that I had about 12 years of utter nastiness ingrained in me that I am fat, unattractive and anything but a runner. (though now that I think of it, I DID have strength in some areas. People told me I should join the football team, and I generally won almost every arm wrestling match we had...)
And I've lived with that loathing self image. I mean, I pretty much got used to it, so it's not like I woke up and hated myself. But any time we were around other people, I would definitely be thinking periodically about how bad I looked and what other people were thinking about me in that regard.
Now? I'm noticing a good bit more confidence building in there. Or perhaps I should say, it seems to be gaining form and substance/solidity. I'm not entirely comfortable with myself yet, but I'm starting to think I'm not that bad... I've caught myself in a few pictures from the holidays where I was just off to the side in a picture of the girls and it was just like a mid-section pic of myself and I literally thought "Who is that?" "Wait, that can't be me.... Is that me? That person is way too slim..." So... Yeah, that's kinda cool.
Also, I think partly because I'm mechanically oriented, I'm finding it hella cool to see and feel my skeletal structure and tendons, etc... I still don't know a lot about the human body and it's not like I couldn't touch a rib before, but now... I lay in bed and slide my hand up my gut and... There's my pelvis and an INDENT, and then the bottom of my rib cage... And I can feel the actual shape of the entire bottom of my rib cage, and the bottom bone in the middle, etc... I mean, I can mentally picture exactly what I'm feeling... That's just cool. Last weekend I found some new tendon or vein or something in the back of my neck that runs up into my skull... These are things I had never even contemplated before. It's rather like the experience of switching to Fivefingers where I suddenly had all sorts of new feelings I was unaccustomed to.
Yeah, I feel better mentally. (:
Hmm, at this point I don't even remember/know if I had a place I was heading towards...
Anyway. Thinks are pretty good.
You want the downsides? Pretty much the same as everyone else. Time and money.
The running takes time. Someone in one of the running groups I'm on said "At some point you'll have to treat it like a job." Umm, yeah, that's been pretty much since the beginning. I was already in the role of "get my 40 hours a week of PAID work in, and then just about every other minute is home taking care of the girls." Now, I've got that PLUS... At the moment my training is generally something like "Hope Bella slept well enough so that I got a decent night's sleep, THEN hope that both girls STAY asleep so I can get up at 5AM, suited up, and head out into the 15F dark desolate roads around home. For about an hour Tue, Thur and Sat, and 2 hours on Sunday." And if I don't get it done then, it gets even more difficult trying to find the time for Sara to take over. I think once it gets warmer, I'm going to have to take the girls kicking and screaming(literally) with me.
And this year is going to be busy with races. I've done my best to keep it to about 1 per month for Sara's sanity(yeah, though I'm not sure she'll agree).
Which ties into the money. I've found that races are NOT cheap. Particularly obstacle races and longer runs. Basically my saviors are that Spartan and Tough Mudder allow you to volunteer and get a free or discounted race. Bonus for me, I've so far managed to score TWO Spartan entries from contests. That was actually the only reason I am going for the Spartan Trifecta this year. I had NOT planned on it, but after I won a contest, it seemed like the best use would be to put it towards the most expensive race, and if I'm going to do that, I might as well do the shorter ones as well...
That really is the reason I signed up for the Wineglass marathon as well... My mind had only progressed on marathon thinking from "That's insane." to "eh, maybe at some point". I was going to work my way up. But then I noticed that to get the cheapest rate, I had to sign up by the end of the year. Well, that's almost a year a way, might as well make that a goal!
The other money figure it equipment. Mainly clothes in general. I'm down to at least a size 34 pants and maybe a Medium shirt. So... I've been getting comments that my size 38's (OR larger) and XL's(or LARGER) are quite baggy... And with the crazy weather we've been having where I've literally gone from running in 20F and through 8 inches of snow one weekend and then having it a rainy 55F the next weekend... Well, I really need a compression T-shirt and some smaller shorts at least...
Oh the other negative I've just recently pretty much confirmed is giving blood. Yeah, I don't think it's going to happen in 2014. Well, maybe in December... I'd looked this up before I gave blood and basically read what made perfect sense. It's pretty much reverse blood doping(blood doping being a performance enhancement some athletes have tried getting away with where I believe you inject more blood cells) So with less blood cells, you've got less oxygen carrying capacity. So, after a couple days, you're pretty much good to go... As long as you aren't going hard. But once you start operating at peak capacity, you notice it's SERIOUSLY reduced. I've had a few changes in where/distance/hills that I've been training, but it was just about 3 weeks ago that I gave blood, and it certainly feels like I'm just starting to get back to where I left off. And this is with a good bit of walking breaks in my training. Now, if I were just doing 5K's and wasn't overly concerned with my times, I'd keep it up. But... Well, I've got like monthly runs and a good number of them are in the 10+ mile range going up and down ski slopes carrying 60lbs of sand, etc... And that 26 mile marathon in October... I'm feeling like I really need to be at max capacity.
I love being a "sixer"(giving blood the max allowed 6 times a year). But, I'm afraid 2014 is going to have to be a year I'm taking for me.
It bothers me, but, well it's the same as the other negatives. They bother me, but they are objects I have to fight past and take "for me" to achieve these goals. I know it's good to have more time with the girls, more money for everything, and saving lives giving blood. But you know what? If I do all of those, I'm "giving up" on this new self and just going to be the same old guy "cause I had to". So I need to just do what I can to balance these things out(Sara may not believe it, but I have whittled things down. There are a number of local and otherwise events that I've crossed out for the time and money reasons, much as I'd like to do them). I'm gonna feel a bit bad about what I'm taking for me, but I do believe this is the route I'm supposed to take. And don't get the wrong idea, I haven't spent the family fortune, nor am I not spending time with the girls. And indeed, I hope to God that I can get them involved in any and every way I can! I DREAM of the day when I can sign the girls up for a kids obstacle run, and better yet, have them run a full event with me! Which brought me to the next thought. I sure as hell BETTER be in shape now and keep it up, cause I'm gonna be like 50 when they are starting to be eligible to run in full events! ACK!
For this year, I'm hoping I can get them to agree to go "vroom" in the bike trailer (in stroller mode) while I run, and I think I can take them to a bubble pit at the 5K foam fest, and I'm hoping to take Kenzie with me on the Color Run in some form.
Well, I suppose that's long enough for now. The hard part that is more important to me, is now I should go back and figure out just what I did when. That's kinda the record I'm looking for of my progression.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Dansville Jingle Bell Run 5K (Or The one where I placed)
Checked in, and got a bag of goodies, along with what I thought was a fleece blanket, but later realized was a hat, scarf and gloves.
Then waited a bit, and finally people started getting ready to run.
Talked a bit to Jeanne whom I had ever so briefly seen at the Turkey Trot.
And then we were off!
Well, I knew I could do 9's so this time I aimed for a pace in the 8's. And kept it up without much of any problem!
And that finish line sprint was great, I went past a number of people, including one guy I started out behind and he went ahead a few times.
Then, went inside, got a water and they had a pancake breakfast as well.
Then they were posting the times pretty quickly and I looked but didn't see my name where I thought it would be. No... I can't be up higher on the list... Sure enough, quite a bit faster than I thought!
Well, where did I place this time... Huh? I can't be reading this right... Really? Did I just place 3rd in my age group?!
Wowzers! I guess I'll stick around and get my free jar of peanut butter! (:
| Place | Name | City | Bib No | Age | Gender | Age Group | Div | Total Time | Pace |
| 54 | Levi Smith | Avoca NY | 280 | 37 | M | 3 30-39 | 5k | 26:34 | 8:34/M |
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