Tough Day

Today was a hell day at work. Things have been so busy that it is starting to stress me out. I really wanted to get out tonight and at least walk a couple of miles to de-stress, but it didn't happen. My daughter has been acting pretty crabby for a couple of days, and I've left to work out 4 days in a row, so I thought I should spend some family time at home for Kary's sake. I needed to take a night off anyway, but I sure didn't feel like it. I'm starting to get a little antsy on days when I don't do anything physical. I think that is a good sign. Maybe this is starting to become a habit.
If you haven't checked out Route66Marathon.com, you definitely should. They are starting to get a little more added to the site all the time. I just noticed today that you get all kinds of cool stuff for running. All marathon participants get a goody bag and Official Inaugural Route 66 Marathon Sweatshirt. Finishers also get a custom medal and finisher's shirt. If you are finishing your first marathon, you get a special "My First Marathon" edition of the finishers medal. Sweet!
Anyway, short post tonight since no running today. Going out with friends tomorrow night, but I'm hoping to get in at least 45 minutes before we go out. This weekend I would like to get in a long run. If I go to the track where it is nice and flat, I may try and get in a 4 miler. That would be the longest I'll have gone since my last run last year. I felt great on that run, and went a little farther and faster than I should have. That was the start of the illiotibial band (ITB) problems. The key on the long run, though, is slow pacing. I have to be willing to be patient and go slow enough. Patience is the key to everything right now.
If you are out there training, let me know how it is going for you.

Hump Day

There's just no telling when you are going to have a great workout. I had an extraordinarily busy and crappy day at work today, and after working out for 3 straight days, I thought I might fight my way through a walk tonight before taking the night off tomorrow. I read part of a book at lunch today called Chi-Running, and thought I might try out some of the principles. I have to say I felt great the whole time! I probably didn't do much more than 2 miles, but I did a lot more running than I had been doing, and it was all pain free. It was a pretty short workout, around 35 minutes, but the pace was a little faster, and I took the loop around the neighborhood with more hills. All in all a great night.
So I weighed in here at the house today at 247, which was a little surprising. I'm not putting much thought into that right now, though. A 3 pound drop in one day has to be some kind of anomoly, not a bona fide fat loss. But it is always nice to see the scale go down. Not sure how I would feel about myself right now if I were to weigh in over 250 again. If, like some people who shall remain nameless, I had gorged myself shamelessly for the last couple of days, and weighed in at 252.5 this morning, I don't think I could have looked at myself in the mirror.
I think I am to the point now where I can kiss 250 goodbye forever. I'm not sure why I am as motivated as I am right now, but I hope it lasts. 247 is better than 250, but the difference still seems pretty slight. I don't think I will really start to get excited until I can make the drop into the 230's. That seems like a long way away. Who knows, though. I don't really feel like I can start running and training as hard as I want to until I get down in the mid 220's. If I can average 3 pounds a week, I should be there in about 6 weeks. Sprinkle a couple of 5 pound weeks in there, and I could be running a couple of races by midsummer.
On a totally unrelated note, last night, as I'm driving past the sewer plant I pass every day on my way home, I notice a dead skunk in the road right by the entrance. To me, that seems a little like overkill, pardon the pun. Kary commented that that was a waste of a good skunk. Not sure whether or not I agree with that, but I have to say, on the irony scale, that's way up there....

Chasing Belgians at the Lake, Part Deux

So, went riding with Pascal at the lake again today. Had a really good time and felt pretty good. I'm not sure it's as much fun for Pascal. I mean, if you are in the shape he is, how much fun can it be getting passed by old dudes and heavy-set women, and having to turn around every 2 or 3 minutes to ask your gasping and wheezing buddy if we "need to slow down a little bit." Belgian bastard! Damn right we need to slow down a little bit!! I feel like the Kool-Aid man going out for an easy ride with Lance Armstrong. No chest pain to speak of so far, though, so that is good. The body is such a weird thing. The first time we went for a ride, my lungs were burning, and my legs felt pretty good until the last 2 or 3 miles. This time, my lungs never really gave me a problem, but my legs were just burning like crazy. We did knock 3 to 5 minutes off of last weeks ride.
I felt a little bad today at work. Fellow heavyweight Chad has been working hard at being more active and eating better, and was talking about losing 8 pounds in the last 8 days. I turned into the anti-Tony Robbins and said something about that being too much weight to lose in that short of time and that he wasn't losing the weight "the right way." I need to be a better friend than that and remember that my way of doing things isn't always the right way or the only way. I mean it IS usually the best way, but whatever.
By the weigh (yes that was on purpose), I weighed in at 250 lbs here at the house this morning. My scales aren't as fancy as the ones at work, so it only weighs in 1 pound increments. The ones at work get as close as 2 tenths of a pound. So if I am going to keep track here at the house, I am going to use a 5 pound cushion. So here at the house, the goal is 228. Sounds like a long way to go. But I'll get there.

Weight Loss Challenge, Day 1

So today is the first day of the big weight loss challenge. Official weight today - 254.2. So that means that I need to get down to 233.8. That's 20.4 pounds. I think that there are approx. 25 people in the contest, so the pot is going to be around $500.00. Pretty cool, but oddly enough, the money doesn't feel like a big motivation right now. What is motivating me is not being a big fat bastard anymore. I'm tired of all the little aches and pains that come with a BMI over 30. Being fat makes you a little paranoid too. You can't just have heartburn without turning into Fred Sanford and thinking it's "the big one". With my recent chest and back pains, along with my lack of leg strength, I've become a little worried that I may have a touch of ALS. Yep. Lou Gehrig's Disease. It sucks being neurotic. I'm hoping losing weight will alleviate a lot of mental problems as well as physical.
I did get in about 2.5 miles last night. Some nights, you feel great while walking, like you could go on forever. Last night was not one of those nights. It probably wouldn't have been too bad, but the wind was blowing its ass off. And it never seemed like I was moving directly into it or away from it. It always seemed to be at a weird angle that made it feel like the road was slanted to the side, which is hell on my knees. Couldn't expect too much after 2 or 3 days off, though.
Tonight on the other hand felt great. Right around 50 degrees and almost no wind. Tonight was one of those nights that makes you happy. It was so pretty outside that I really didn't feel the need to push too hard. Instead, I worked on posture and breathing. I tend to slouch while walking, sitting, etc, and I catch myself very subtly holding my breath a lot. So I am trying to open up my lungs and keep everything in alignment. I think that is the dichotomy of how I want to train. Part of me would like to be cutting edge with my training, but a part of me also wants to simplify. This is where my obsession with Oriental culture comes in. We will get into that another time.
I will try to remember to weigh in here at the house in the morning, so I can keep a running total here on the blog for anyone who is interested. We will see tomorrow if chest pain is a recurring theme or not while bike riding. Wish me luck....

Sunday

I need to get back out on the road today. I haven't done anything workout related since at least Thursday. We spent Friday night with friends, and then on Saturday, Kary worked from 9 in the morning until 10 at night. She had to work again today, so it looks like it is going to have to be a late walk. That's cool, though, because I love walking after dark. Not sure why, but I always have. There is generally nobody else around and it seems so peaceful.
Tomorrow is the weigh in for the new weight loss contest. I feel pretty confident with this one. I was already looking to lose the weight, so this seems like a pretty easy way to make a little extra money. I had a pretty good weekend eating, and I think the new smoothie maker is going to be my secret weapon. I may need to check the patent on the "Mango and soy milk diet". Could be a way to make millions on top of losing the extra weight. Remember you heard it here first.
Anyway, the kids are fed and everyone seems content, so if I can find my socks, I'm going out for a walk. I will post my official weight tomorrow after the weigh in, and probably my unofficial weight on the scales here at the house also. I can update that one daily.
By the way, check out the marathon website at Route66marathon.com. They are really pushing for first timers since it is also their inaugural event. I'm hoping to get as many of my friends as possible involved. Why suffer alone??

Issues

The 2 biggest issues I have right now are time and nutrition. If I was single and childless, I wouldn't have the same time issues. I'm sure there would be other problems, but that's for another day. I'm having a hard time finding guilt-free time to work out. I don't do anything well in the morning, so my natural time to work out is in the evening. It seems like 8 or 9 O' clock is when my energy level is the highest. The problem is, after being home with the kids alone for a couple of hours, Kary is ready for a little help when I get home from work. Perfectly understandable, because I feel the same way when she's been working and I've been at home with the kids. I don't really have time at lunch to fit in 45 minutes to an hour of cardio, so it looks like my best bet is to get my ass out of bed and work out before going to work. If I can plan my workouts right, I may only have to do this a few days a week. Instead of taking either Saturday or Sunday off each week, maybe I can schedule a couple of days off during the week. Once summer rolls around, I'm hoping Kary and the kids can go to the track with me, and that may solve the whole issue.

The biggest problem I am having right now is diet. Right now I am eating anything, and a lot of it. I'm not looking to go on a diet, because that is a temporary solution. What is the point of living if you can't have any carbs?? I'm looking for a more sensible, permanent solution. Daylen suggested the ABS diet from Men's Health today, and from what I've seen, it sounds like a very common sense plan. I need to take a look at the bookstore and make sure I have all the details, but in the meantime, I'm just trying to do the things I know I should be doing. I need to drink more water and less pop. I probably drink 500-1000 calories a day. If I drink soda, it needs to be diet. I definitely need to eat more fruits and vegetables. The bottom line is that I just need to eat less, and what I do eat needs to be quality. A lot of my food problems are mental, though. For some reason, I hate to be hungry. At the first sign of hunger, I always seem to be gorging myself. I eat when I'm bored, tired, stressed, etc., etc. I'm hoping that eating smaller meals more frequently will help curb that a little bit.
On a related note, at work Monday, we are starting a new weight loss challenge. Everybody puts in 20 bucks and weighs in, and then everyone who loses 8% of their body weight in 8 weeks splits the pot. Seems like perfect timing. Fully clothed at work (luckily for everyone involved), I weighed 254 today, so 8% means I need to get down to around 234. That would be a good start towards getting to where I need to be. I'm hoping my buddy Chad will get involved also, but I'm not sure it is going to happen. It would be nice to have someone to struggle along with! Since he can't figure out how to answer his new phone, I'm not sure how Aaron's training is going. Speaking of Aaron, if you want to see picture of another weight loss success story, check out Aaron's blog at AaronHambysWorld.blogspot.com. He has some really cool pictures of OU offensive lineman Duke Robinson. Man, a year working out with Schmitty seems to do a body pretty good. I can't imagine what kind of hell he must have gone through!

As for me, no working out today, but I did do some pretty good grocery shopping, so there is no excuse for not eating well this weekend. I'm hoping to get in 3 or 4 days straight exercising, whether it is biking or walking. Hopefully I can get this problem in my back straightened out in the next day or 2. It doesn't affect my walking much, but it still hurts like hell when I turn my head. Oh well, I guess that is the price you pay to be an elite athlete, huh? Maybe I'll mention it to my sponsors....

Off Day

No training today. I've worked out the last 2 nights and I'm still fighting some back pain and a little residual chest pain from a bike ride last week. The back pain I can understand. I felt fine when I went to bed Monday night, and woke up Tuesday morning with a knot in the middle of my back. So I obviously slept wrong or did something in the night. The chest pain I'm not sure about. It is not heart attack chest pain or muscle soreness chest pain. It feels like my sternum hurts. It was OK before the bike ride, but when I got home that night it was hurting. I'm hoping it will just work itself out soon, because I've only been on my new bike a couple of times, and I'm anxious to get back on. I'm hoping the bike riding will help with the running. I need to add the extra leg strength that I can get from riding without the pounding the running gives me. Strength is going to be a big issue in the marathon training. Right now I don't have the leg strength to really push myself like I need to. That's the dilemma. When running (or walking), I don't have the leg strength to push my lungs hard enough. I can't improve my VO2 max moving as slowly as I am. But if I try and push it too hard, my legs can't hold up. I think the bike is a nice alternative. Pascal and I had a pretty good ride (for me) twice around Lake Hefner last Thursday, approximately 19 miles. My lungs were burning and my legs were shot, but I felt pretty good. No muscle soreness the next day, but the chest thing has been nagging me all week. I'll give it another week or so before I start to get worried. I'm going to try to be as systematic as I can with the training. I'm hoping to give myself about 5 months to really focus on the marathon. That leaves me 3 months or so to work on building a solid foundation and start shedding some weight. I would like to be around 225 when the 5 month training program begins. To get to that point, I think I need to make a couple of big changes. I will go over these in detail tomorrow, but the short version is training time and nutrition. There are a ton of other variables, but those 2 stand out right now. For tonight, though, it is back to the heating pad to try and loosen up my back. Hopefully it will be warmer tomorrow night so I can get back out on the road.

Who knew?

I had an epiphany today at the bookstore. It was one of those lightbulb moments that can either be life altering or it could be something you forget when the Taco Bell lady asks for your order. I figured out that at 34 years of age and a well-marbled 252 pounds, it looks like I am never going to be a crime-fighting Superhero. What the hell? How does this happen? One minute you're 12 and cruising through life trying to decide how the ninja skills you've acquired over a summer break can be put to the best use, and the next thing you know, you are 34 and trying to figure out if you want to wear khakis or corduroy to work the next day. This was not how things were supposed to turn out. Sure I have the great wife and wonderful kids, but when was the last time the guys from Skynyrd called me up on stage to add a little special something to Freebird? Looks like I'm never going to be the best at something. Anything. I'm hoping this marathon is going to change that. None of the friends I have now have ever known me to be an athlete. I'm to the point now where I barely remember. What was it like to play 3 hours of pickup basketball on a Sunday, softball on Monday and Thursday, and then squeeze in a 2 man volleyball tournament on Saturday morning? Once upon a time, I knew. Once I was the man. Maybe it was just in my head, but back then I had at least one believer. Me. Maybe I can get a little of that back. Maybe I can be a superhero to at least one 7 year old boy at my house who doesn't know any better. Maybe the journey to the 26.2 miles will be that spark that I need. Because the race isn't what is important. 26 miles, 385 yards is nothing. On race day, you have thousands of running buddies and thousands of fans cheering for you. Anyone can run on race day. It's the hundreds of miles you run by yourself leading up to that point that mold you. Cold and dark, hot and sunny. Lonely miles. Can I be the person I want to be? I guess we will see.

In the beginning...

26.2 miles sounds like a long ass way. I get tired driving that far. I'm not very good with the new math, but it seems like it would take about 30 minutes to drive that far doing 55. Why would a pretty good athlete even think about running that far? For fun?? I'm not a pretty good athlete, so I don't feel qualified to answer that one. Why would an overweight, former average athlete with a bum knee, stomach problems, and an aversion to doing anything early in the morning decide to do a marathon? Because I have to. I'm not sure why, but I have to. Nobody is making me, but I feel that this is something that has to be done. I've watched my buddy Pascal finish marathons and wear the finisher t-shirt and decided I need one. Or a bunch. I've been trying to convince some of my buffet buddies to become part of my ka-tet and start training, but so far, I've only got one taker. Aaron, I hope you are serious! I am starting as close to zero as a person could possibly be physically. Last year I ran most of 3 5K races, but right now, 5K might as well be a marathon. I've started walking and riding a bike the last couple of weeks, but right now it is hard going. Walking makes my knees hurt and riding a bike makes my chest hurt. But I can't stop. I've decided to run the Route 66 marathon in November, come hell or huge waistline. I weigh a svelte 252 right now, and I feel like I need to weigh around 210 to keep from killing myself in the marathon. I've decided to follow the Galloway marathon program, because I've come to grips with the fact that I'm not running to win prizes or beat people. Galloway's run/walk program seems to be the most enjoyable way of running the marathon, and I think the less pain there is involved, the more likely I will be to stick with it. Tonight I walked about 40 minutes, and my ITB was hurting the whole time. I need to start doing the stretches from the physical therapist again. I also need to add a lot of strength. I guess you have to start somewhere, huh? More to come tomorrow....