Wow, that was difficult

I put in 4.33 miles last night.  Initially I thought it was 4.1, but I went back and mapped it out and 4.33 was the number.  I feel a bit better about my time now.  56.16 over that distance is not great but considering I had to walk a bit I am ok with that.

So why was it so tough?  Well a couple of things happened.  First was that I ended up running on grass.  Not the nice park grass, but the junky grass beside the road.  This was a first for me and it kicked my butt.  Second was a bit of a asthma attack during the run.  I think that will be the last time I go out without the inhaler.  And last would be the hills.  The first 2 miles were just brutal for me.  There was once hill that I had to walk.  I had made it up a hill that was almost a half mile long overall and then there was this killer hill that was all of 150 yards, but it was just really steep.  The kind of hill that you fear in snowy conditions in a car.

Once I got through that hill I finished pretty strong and ran the rest of the way.  I guess I still have some work to do on hills.

Do you guys have issues running on grass like that?  I know Dave is a trail runner.  Maybe he can shed some light on that.  I am also fighting a possible ligament strain in my foot.  I will have to monitor that one.  I would also love to hear if anyone else has fought the foot strain and what they did.  Right now I am thinking I might get some new inserts for the shoes as new shoes are not in the budget.

Have a great day everyone.  Go Tigers!

Kick Arse!

Well I woke up this morning and decided to get out for a run. I did my normal 3.11 mile (5k) loop and had a great run. Lets stop for just a hot second. I just said a normal 3.11. Just a little over 8 months ago I tipped the scales at 400 pounds. Now I am saying that I RAN MY NORMAL 3.11 MILE LOOP. The all by itself is a complete success. But that is not all that happened today. I ran a sub 35 minute 5k. For me this is one heck of an accomplishment. That is my best ever training run ever.

I did have music on this run for the first time. I would be curious to know if other runners run faster with music.

Regardless. Saturday is a good day!

Another loss!

Down 0.8 more.  Nearly a whole pound.  I will tell you that I will take whatever I get during the football season.  We tailgated as I already mentioned earlier in the week and that of course involved a few beverages.  With all of that and the the exercise I got in I still managed to lose just a bit.

Next up...  Get comfortably below 300.  The next 2 weeks should allow for some progress as I have no tailgates to attend.  I should have time to get ready to the run coming up in 3 short weeks.  Hopefully I can get to the gym a few times for some upper body work.  I feel like I am getting a touch weaker in that area so I need to get back to the gym.   So we will see what happens.   Regardless I am below 300.  I never intend on visiting the other side of that number again.

Training and a good running week so far

OK so Craig asked me what I had done to prepare for my upcoming 5k.  Well I would like to tell you that I used the Couch to 5K training program but I did not.  I used something more like this (click here).  And even that I did not stick to.  Basically I increased my distance as I felt comfortable.  When I first started I was able to run a single mile.  Over the course of about 5 weeks I increased up to the 3.11.  I did incorporate a 5 mile run one day but that was probably a mistake.  I am going to continue to run the 3.11 for the most part and try to get a long run in on the weekend.  Right now my pace is decent.  I am hoping for a sub 36 minute race.

I have also adopted schedule of sorts for my runs.  Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and  Wednesday are the 3.11 mile days.   Thursday and Saturdays are off, so that will leave the longer run for Friday.  Of course that would be best case.  As I mentioned before.  The goal is 12 miles a week.  Anything over that is gravy.

I am a BL addict.

OK I need to do this.

"Hi my name is Matt and I am a Biggest Loser-aholic"

I generally do not care for reality TV.  I got sucked into Survivor the first year, but I broke free from its grasp.  Biggest Loser however has endured.  I look forward to it as much as I look forward to the Office every week.  I cheer teams and people and I just think it is decent television.

I guess more than anything I feel like it is real people doing something that ultimately is inspiring.  They are taking the steps to become more healthy.  But are they really?  I know they are doctor supervised, but where are they now.  Are they able to keep the weight off? 

Oh well regardless I am hooked I will watch and see how they do try to pick up a little tid bit of information from time to time.

On a somewhat related note, I wonder if Weight Watchers sees an increase in membership shortly after Biggest Loser starts?  

OK, on to more important stuff, I ran 3.11 miles last night.  Slow and steady.  My left calf is either cramping for 2 days or strained.  It is feeling better this morning so I will be out again tonight, but man it slowed me down.  I suppose the running back to back 5k's could slow a guy down to.

Have a great day everyone!

Personal Record

Last night I had every intention of going on a long run.  Seriously like 5.75 miles long.  However I did not get going until about 7pm and it light was going to be an issue.  So I decided to bust out a 5K and see if I could turn in a really solid time.  I feel like I was successful.  I ran the 3.11 miles in 36:13.  That is by far the best 5k I have run.  I bested my previous record my over a minute.  I would not say it was an easy run, but I felt good about it.

Tonight, I will still run the 3.11, but I will not be trying to set any records.  Just want to get the run in.

Also I have not been getting in the runs I would like to the past couple of weeks,  Part due to illness part due to laziness.  From here on out the goal is 12 miles per week.  If I can log 12 a week I know I am getting in some good runs.

How was your weekend?

So another weekend goes by and I have some catching up to do.  A weekend full of delicious goodies at the tailgate and some other poor choices leave me in a position where I need to bust my but and get in a good run tonight and several more this week.  Need to burn those calories right back off.

Who can complain though.  I had a great weekend.  See pic below.

How was your weekend?

299, lets hope we are here to stay

And finally it is official.  I probably got myself in to trouble talking about it so much over the past several weeks and months.  Now though it is official and I am below 300 for the first time since I can remember I think it is pretty important to get comfortably below 300 so I never go back.

I look back at where I was and try to recall what all has changed.  Some things are hard to put a finger on, but I think day in day out I have more energy.  I know my body feels better, my knees hurt less, my sleep patterns are better, and just overall I feel more healthy.  I will say that mentally I am stronger overall, but even at 101 lbs down I am definately learning new things.  At some point complacency sets in and it is hard to overcome.  I am doing my best to make the right choice most of the time, but doing that all the time is just not realistic.  Maybe that is the way it should be.  Maybe that is a sign of "living a lifestyle".  

I have now lost over 100 pounds.  I am going to reflect a bit and get back at it.  If you are struggling I reccomend refelting and looking at how far you have come.  I might post a reflection post later.  Till then.   Thank you to everyone for all of your support.  I have a ways to go yet but I am not sure I could have done it without all of you guys!

Breaking up your routine

So lets discuss for a moment breaks in your routine.  Tuesday I logged a 3.11 mile run, then yesterday I ran 2 miles.  I will tell you I planned to run 3 but I simply could not.  My legs were a bit sore and stiff going into the run yesterday and I was hoping after some stretching and running the legs would come around, but they did not.  I had to quit after 2 miles.  I am happy I got out but it really made me think about breaks in routine.

This break the I experienced was due to illness and bad weather.  Sure I could have run inside, but I didn't.  So after 7 full days off I ran on Tuesday.  The next day my legs were sending me a message.  Something like "Hey man it has been a while".  Then today after my run last night.  The legs are saying, "take a day off bro".  So after a week of inactivity my body had already started to slip.

I have noticed the same thing in weigh training.  I have not been to the gym for weight training in a couple of weeks.  I will not be able to do what I was doing before.  I am comfortable with that.

This morning I got to thinking about our diet and how when we get out of the routine how quickly our body becomes accustomed to the dealing with food higher in fat and calories.  And mentally how easy it becomes to justify the margaritas and chimichanga.  I guess this is just something I had not thought about much before this whole thing started.

I am not sure what to do about it other than to keep moving forward and try to avoid those "breaks" as much as possible.

On somewhat of a side note, I am switching my weigh in day to Thursdays.  I skipped a week and tonight I head back.  I have no clue what to expect tonight, but I am going to go with it and move forward. 

Spinning my wheels

Well I did not run last night.  I got all ready to go and then decided to go to the gym instead and then my motivation just went away.  I have been eating like crap lately.  Not tracking a darn thing.  I am probably not eating as bad as I once did but I will say it feels like the wheels are coming off.

So why all this now.  Why after just yesterday I wrote about not giving up those things I love so much.   Well I guess it is because out feeling change from day to day.  I guess it is because I I am 4 and a half weeks away from a 5k that I signed up for and I am sitting here not doing a whole lot about it.  I know I can finish.  But I would like a strong run.

I need to not only get back to the exercise routine, but also need to be better about the choices I am making.  So what do you guys do when you motivation is down and you know that you need to get back on track?

Weekend Update

I guess it is time to confess. I did not run a bit after Monday of last week. I did not eat the best and I did not weigh-in last week. I was sick for part of the week and the weather just plain sucked.

But what about the good stuff. Well as far as weight loss is concerned, um not much, but I had such a good weekend. Lets begin with a Friday which was filled with running around to get everything ready for game day Saturday. Let me just explain that when my friends and I tailgate we go all out a couple of times a year. This week was my turn and it was "Omelet Day" which involves me chopping up a bunch of stuff and a lot of preparation. It was a 10 or 11 item omelet bar and everyone had a great breakfast. We had biscuits and gravy, although I restrained myself on that one. We also hade hash browns.

You might be thinking that the day was a complete loss for weight loss, but there was one highlight were that was concerned. I would guess that I threw the football around and ran around with my son for every bit is 2 and a half hours. Then there was the walk to and from the stadium. So all was not completely lost.

I will do little to try to explain the beat down that Mizzou laid on Nevada. If you are a fan of football and in particular football where the ball is all over the field. I strongly encourage you to check out Mizzou this season. The defense will continue to improve, but this offense is just crazy good. A little stat from ESPN. Chase Daniel has more touchdowns (seven) than incompletions (six) the past two weeks. So to say that I enjoyed the game would be an understatement.

That evening I had an anniversary dinner with my girlfriend. I will not go into detail, but it was probably one of the most amazing dinners I have ever had. More because of the company than anything else. We had great conversation for every bit of 2 hours at the table. You know you have a keeper when you can sit down and chat for that long after being together for any length of time.

So how do you complete a good weekend like that. Well my girlfriend, my son and I went to visit her sister and husband last night for dinner. The kids played we all talked and just had a really nice relaxing evening. I really love her family, they are some of the best people who I have ever had the opportunity to get to know.

For those of you thinking that you were reading a weight loss blog, I suppose I should apologize. I just started typing and the above is what came out. I can tell you I have 3 miles planned for tonight and will be back to eating right this week. I am going to try to refocus my energy to continuing my losing ways. However I currently have no weight loss goals other than to make it through the college football season at the same weight. If I can do that I will actually feel pretty good. I cannot allow myself to be unhappy and deprive myself. I have had too much fun for too long at these tailgates and parties. Basically I think you have to set your priorities realistically. It was realistic for me to put weight loss first for all that time. Right now it is not. Maybe I am wrong for moving it to down on my priority list, but I feel like happiness should always be first. Don't worry I am not going to fall off the wagon or anything. I am just going to do the best I can and not worry as much about the scale. So tonight, I run.

Go Tigers!

URI and a skipped weigh-in

So after my run on Monday I started to feel kinda crappy.  I went to bed early and then hit made it to work the next day only to head home about noon and then to the doctor the following day.  Upper Respiratory Infection.  Antibiotics that look like they should be fed to horses and I am back.

I decided not to weigh in on Tuesday and will be switching back to Thursdays for my weigh in and meeting.  I am making this change for a couple of reasons.  I need a change and I think maybe having a few days on "scheduled" time will help me refocus after rough weekends.  I am also not to enamored with the new leader.  She means well and I hope she continues and becomes a bit more comfortable as a leader but for now I need to feel more engaged in the process and there is a bit of a disconnect.

I will try to resume my running this evening with a quick 2 mile jog.  Maybe the dog and I can chat about what is bothering him.  Or maybe I will put a dog bone in my pocket and toss it to him. :-)

I will certainly provide an update for you guys this weekend after Mizzou smokes Nevada.  Not that this is a sports blog, but I am calling it right here.  45 - 17.  I will be there with my son this weekend.  Tailgate omelets are on the menu!  something I can do pretty healthy really!

8.04672 kilometers

That would be 5 miles. Umm yes 5. I ran 5 miles last night. I did this in just over an hour and that was with a pesky dog who quite honestly scared the daylights out of me.

So how did it go? Well I have heard other runners mention a groove or a zone that you get into. I thought I knew what they were talking about as I would get into a grove at about 1.5 miles. I really felt that groove at about 2.8. I was strong. My last 2 miles ended up nearly identical in time to my first two. 11 and 13 minutes. Basically due to hills on mile 2. Mile 3 was right at 12 minutes. I was tired. My legs were a bit dead last night but I am not sore today.

So what about this dog. Well this chocolate brown Shar Pei mix comes out from a yard barking a growling and I had to scream because I was startled and then back down a bit. The whole ordeal took 15 seconds, maybe 30. I am not sure. I can tell you this that I was shocked that midway through the 5th mile I had some reflexes. I jumped and got into a wierd kinda stance preparing for the worst. The owner came out and apologized and off I went. This dog normally barks at me and come midway out in his yard but this was way different. I am kinda glad I dont have a heart rate monitor cause it would have been going nuts. I was pretty frightened. How do you guys handle dogs in a situation like that?

So that is it. 5 miles. I weigh in tonight with no expectation. If I can I will try to get a run in after, but I am not sure it is in the cards tonight. If not, the pavement will be waiting.

Something Borrowed.

Well I am borrowing an idea from Andrew over at Andrew is Getting Fit.  Check out my route from my run last night.

For those of you playing along at home let me describe the route as there is some doubling back.  Starting at the green arrow head east on 51st Terr and follow it around on to Brooklyn.  Head west on Vivion to highland and then follow the line.  Once you reach Garfield you head south on Garfield to Vivion and head back east to Olive and then head north.  Circle around back to Vivion and head west to Brooklyn and then head north and follow Brooklyn all the way around to Garfield and head south.  Finish at the red arrow.   3.11 miles.  37:31 minutes. 

Wahoo!

What's on the menu?

Kathy over at Cathy Calculates asked if I had switched to light beer and if we had switched up our tailgate menu since joining WW. 

An excellent question.  The answer I have is yes and no.  I still drink the beer I want to drink.  For instance, Saturday I was enjoying Bass.  But as far as food goes things are still pretty much the same, but we have more veggie trays and things like that then we do bags of chips.  I try to limit my intake of the brats and burgers.

This weekend the menu looks like pulled pork sandwiches from smoked pork loin, so while not exactly a chicken boob sammy, it is better than a brat.  Salad, veggie tray, and some Texas potatoes (not sure what that is, but I am sure it will be good). 

So you see if  eaten in moderation all will be fine.  Anymore the tailgate is a good time to throw the football around, have some laughs and enjoy time with friends.  I love football season.

Lots of beer = weight gain

Well that pic you saw in my last post, that was before I had a number of beers.  I shall keep the number private, but lets just say that I did not drive home.  So end result, I gained a pound.  Sure glad I did not weigh in on Saturday now.  So what do I do now.  I stay on plan and get my exercise in is what. 

Have a great day!

No weigh in and a progress photo

So I promised a weigh in Saturday to find out if I made my stated goal of less than 300 by the first Mizzou football game. While I am actually pretty confident that I made it I decided to not weigh in. The reason is quite simple really. While if I did not make my goal I would have been fine and I would have not been upset about it for a long time I would have been upset about it that day. That day was going to be a big party and had I by chance made it, the day would have been ruined for me. So I will weigh in this week, probably on Wednesday as I have plans on Tuesday. So i guess the lesson is that while goals may drive us we need to nake sure that those goals do not ruin our days.

So without any further ado:

at about 300

at about 350

ah yes this would be 400ish

Hope everyone had a great weekend.