Saturday, January 31, 2009

13 Mile Run

Did another 13 mile run today and we finished in 2:02:51 thats a full 5:30 faster than we did back in November. Thats an average of 9:22 per mile not bad for a couple of guys who have been running for less than a year now. I know without a doubt that if we keep this up we will finish the Bidwell classic half marathon in less the 2 hours. We run that on March 7 so plenty of time to knock off the last couple of minutes. All this just one week after my 47th birthday and have I mentioned that the guy I run with is only 26. It is good for me cause when I am starting to fade he is young and like the energizer bunny and seems to pull me along, but I did manage to kick it in high gear for our final push and make h8im whine just a little today. My heart rate monitor says I burned 2887 calories with just the run and Spark Peoples cardio tracker says it was just over 2000, I think I trust the heart rate monitor as it is actually keeping track all the time. My average HR today was 165 I was in my zone 1:59 peak HR was 181 I have my zone set 150-185 and that seems to work really well for me. We are going to push it next Sat also but the following will only be 5 miles cause we are going to be in Pismo Beach riding the dunes on our quads for 3 days, that should be enough cardio for anyone.

Have a great week

Monday, January 12, 2009

Fooling Ourselves

I got this nifty new scale this weekend. It will tell me my BMI, Body fat % store my goal weight and tell me how far away from it I am (as if I couldn't do the math) and yes I did put in a goal. So I decided to try something I weighed this morning before work and when I got home I weighed just before going out to run. Interestingly enough with all the water I had drank and breakfast and lunch I was only 0.2# heavier when I got home. Went on a 4 mile run and weighed my self just before getting in the shower and was 3.6# lighter WOOHOO I should record it!

"EH HUM did you just sweat all that weight off running?"

who said that?
*head swivels eyes looking around*

stupid conscience, yeah I know I just sweated it off and as soon as I drink some more water it will be back. But couldn't you just let me fool myself for a little while.

In other news I didn't quite make the 25 miles last week but did do 22. I was so sore by Saturday that I decided a couple days off running were in order. It paid off todays run was really good and this weeks goal is 26 miles.

Monday, January 5, 2009

They Fit!?!?!?!

I bought a new pair of pants on Saturday and when I took them off the rack I grabbed a pair of 34's. I really didn't think they would fit comfortably but decided to at least try them on anyway. Not only did they fit comfortably but they felt good and they look good too (at least DW says so) To think that when I started this weight loss journey I was wearing 38's and they were getting so tight I was looking at going to 40's. I haven't been really happy with the way I've been going the last couple of months but this has definitely given me a really good boost that I think I needed.

Did a 10 mile run on Sat with Dennis and man was it cold outside and the wind was really blowing to top things off. The last couple of miles was into the wind and that made things kind of interesting, good thing we both bought running jackets cause we would never have made it without them.

Lutefisk yuck. What's that well picture clear jello with a really strong nasty fish smell with a taste to match and you have a close idea. My wife's family is Norwegian and lutefisk is something they eat (now I know why the vikings were so mean. They were hungry) anyway Saturday was the annual lutefisk dinner with her familt. Now I love her family I just can not for the life of me figure out why perfectly intelligent people would eat icky fish is beyond me

Hope everyone has a great week

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Inspirations

You just never know where inspiration is going to come from. I had it all set in my mind to run after work today. When we got off work we needed to go to the store, I can't believe how many people were in walmart today uGHHHHH. By the time we got checked out (we have the habit of finding the slowest frickin checkers in the world) and got home all I wanted to do was sit on my butt. So thats what I was going to do until I logged onto spark people and read this in a posting.

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest asset or heaviest burden.
I will push you up to success or down to disappointment.
I am at your command.
Half the things you do might just as well be turned over to me,
For I can do them quickly, correctly, and profitably.
I am easily managed, just be firm with me.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with the precision
of a machine and the intelligence of a person.
You can run me for profit, or you can run me for ruin.
Show me how you want it done. Educate me.
Train me. Lead me. Reward me.
And I will then...do it automatically.
I am your servant.
Who am I?
I am a habit.

Now how could I read that and not do something about it? I closed my browser got off my kiester and changed into my running clothes, got my trusty mp3 player and decided to run around the street in front of the high school were I began this running journey 11 months ago. And since I was running there I decided to time a 5k so I put on the 30 minute run podcast for the c35k program and off I went. Pushed my self pretty hard and ended up finishing in 25:55 I have only run 1 5k faster and that was in 25:45 with Dennis there to help push me (we always run faster times together)

You just never know when or what is going to inspire you so keep your eyes open cause it might pass you by if you don't.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

What A Year

WOW when I look back at the year it has really flown by. I am alot different now then I was this time last year and I am not just talking about my weight loss. I have different habits. I can run farther than I ever thought I would be able to. My relationship with Christ is stronger than ever before, life is good.

Thats not to say that there haven't been challenges along the way and pain (like when I tried to remove a bunch of skin when I wrecked my quad...ouch) or like the pain I had when I started running oh and I finished a round of P90X. I think the thing for me is that I have stuck it out, pushed through the hard times and not dwelled on them. I also have the bestest wife in the world who helps me to walk through lifes good and bad times. I know when things are tough she will be there and that reallly means alot to me.

I have also developed a great friendship with my running riding and gaming partner Dennis. God knew that I was going to need a friend when Bill and Charity moved and he provided one for me. So that scripture that says he will give us the desires of our hearts, it doesn't refer to what we think we want but what we truly need in our lives.

My work on the other hand provided the desire I didn't really need. I got a nice bonus check just before Christmas and I have wanted a PS3 for along time now, aaaaaaaaa yup I got one and a couple games too.

I DON'T WANT TO GROW UP I'M A TOY-R-US KID

2008 was a fun year and I am looking forward to the adventures of 2009, gonna go snowboarding for the first time, run an official 1/2 marathon, gonna do a relay triathlon with my cousin, at least one more round of P90X and who knows might even get a marathon in all I know is 2009 is a year I am going to challenge myself.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Sore, Sore, Sore

So did I mention that I am frickin sore??? 25 miles in the books this week that is more miles than I have logged any week since I started running and it is only going to increase from here. I really hope that after a couple of weeks the soreness subsides and I am sure that it will, but it is a deep down body sore so I know all the work I am putting in is making a difference. I am going to do the P90X stretching routine on my off day because I think that will really help with the soreness and also help prevent any injuries.
Dennis and I went on our long run today and let me tell you after 6 miles I really wanted to quit but I didn't. Then we hit 7 miles and boy did I want to quit but I didn't. Then we hit 8 miles and my legs said "enough!" and my reply was "SILENCE<,OR I WILL KILL YOU!!!!" (ever seen Jeff Dunham?) and I didn't quit. At 9 miles I should have been done but our stupid little bike path is a round trip of 9.2 miles, so we sped up and started a hard push to the end so hard in fact that I lost my MP3 player about 50 feet from the end, fortunately it wasn't hurt. Overall the time wasn't our best but the effort I had to exert to make it was I feel my hardest yet. Like I said earlier more miles in the books this week than ever before. Oh and did I mention that I am sore? I was sore before I started my run this morning. Breakfast at the bear was my reward Yummmmmmmmmmmm hickory smoked ham and eggs. The fitness tracker says I burned more than 4,000 calories this week woohoo.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

So It Begins

Well I finished my first round of P90x and thought "Now What?"
Time to officially train for 1/2 marathon. I know I already ran that distance so why train. Glad you asked I am doing a 12 week program that will get me done in under an 1:45 thats pretty fast considering my first 1/2 was done in 2:08. I know it won't be the easiest thing this program has me running over 30 miles a week and peaks at 40 miles a week, oh and did I mention it is a 6 day a week program. I think I am becoming a masochist. Fortunately the web has a wealth of training info and resources to help keep me on track.

Went to a wound care seminar, whoa were did that come from, should have warned you of the subject change. Anyway went to a wound care seminar yesterday and I had forgotten just how much I really like wound care. I really think if I didn't want to have to drive all over I could be a really good wound nurse. I just don't want to drive all those miles each week. So it was a really good seminar and I learned a whole lot in just a short time and now I want to try it all out. The only thing is our nursing home has very few wounds, and that is a good thing so I guess I will just have to be patient.