Tag Archives: running

Weigh in: December 14, 2010

December 14th, 2010

You may have noticed that I relaunched The Diet page yesterday with new information, a new challenge for myself, and even a video. Yes, it is true, I’m going back on The Diet and this is my first weigh in.

Lets get this out of the way; I’m currently 220 pounds. The last time I did The Diet in 2006 I was able to get to my goal weight in 16 weeks. After going through my weigh-ins I realized that I didn’t lose any weight a few of those weeks due to bad behavior. So my goal for this time around is to get to my goal weight in less than 16 weeks. My actual goal is 12 weeks but we’ll see how it goes. With that goal in mind it means I’d need to lose 3.3 pounds per week. That means burning or simply not taking in about 10,000 calories per week. Not impossible but not that easy with a desk job either. I’ll need to be super good.

So my goal for next week is to be at 216.something pounds.

I think it is interesting to look back at my mental state in 2006 and compare it to my mental state right now. An example of this would be my anxiety about running. In 2006 it took me three months, or 12 weeks into The Diet, before I could run 1 mile. This time around I can run a mile without even thinking about it. In fact, I’m going to begin my running routine at 3 and 6 mile runs a few times a week. In 2006 it was all my mental state holding me back. I had been fat for about 6 years at that point and didn’t think I could run. Now I know that even if you are a little bit overweight running isn’t all that hard to do. In fact, it is easy.

So I’m looking forward to this round on The Diet for many reasons and one of them is that I’m in a much better mental state to take this challenge on and chances are I’ll be able to meet or beat my goals with ease. And that will be very motivating.

As always with The Diet I’m inviting others to join me. So if you want to participate simply weigh in every Tuesday in some way – Twitter, Facebook, your blog. You don’t have to tell the world your actual weight if you’re sensitive about that (though I recommend it) but it would be nice to share how much you’ve lost or gained to keep yourself accountable to the group.

Health tip: Hate yourself enough to love yourself

November 13th, 2009

I know, hate is a strong word, but think about this for a moment (especially you new runners). Our entire lives we focus on self-preservation. From an early age we’re told “Don’t touch that, its hot.” or “Don’t jump off of that, it is too high.” And, obviously, this is good advice. It saves us from harm. However, when it comes to running, or any form of exercise, you have to deal with a certain measure of pain in order to get stronger. You have to go against that feeling of self-preservation.

In other words, you have to cause yourself pain before you get healthier, stronger, faster.

I was thinking about this as I was dealing with soreness during some recent runs. As I was running I thought how odd it was that I had to put myself through pain in order to get healthier. You have to push through pain to force your muscles to heal stronger.

Friend and fellow Viddler team member Jeff Johns, who has run the New York Marathon, has an interesting approach to hills which I think is a great example of dealing with pain to get stronger. He says “I go as fast as I can and slow down on the downhill. I love hills, they present a challenge and the faster I run up them the better I feel. No matter what mile the hill comes at, I run as fast as I can up it.”

This may seem insane, Jeff says he likes the dentist too so maybe he is, but think about how our body is made. Our body is made to adjust and fit our lifestyle (within reason). For example, if you’ve never done 50 pushups in a row you’ll find it is pretty hard. However, you’ll also find that after trying to do 50 pushups in a row for a little while – you’ll be able to do them with little problem in a short amount of time. Running is no exception. That very first mile seems impossible and you may actually feel like you’re going do pass out. But, try it again two days later and you’ll be wondering what all the fuss was about. Within 1 day your body adjusts to running and is actually ready to run a bit further than the first time. Within two or three weeks you’ll be running longer distances than you ever thought possible.

This ability to adjust extends beyond pushups and running. Our metabolism also adjusts to fit our life style. Eat smaller meals more often and your metabolism sores and fat drops. Eat bigger meals less often and your body stores fat for the period of time between meals. Your body tries to do exactly what you ask it to do and then sets itself up better for the next time you ask for the same thing.

The point is, your body adjusts and very quickly.

When you’re running, even for the very first time, think of the pain as a sure sign that your body is working hard to adjust to what you are asking it to do. Obviously you want to be conscience of any injuries you could cause – and your body will tell you very quickly if you’ve injured yourself – but in general a little pain goes a long way. Waking up sore in the morning? That is your body healing itself not just back to what it was but better than it was the day before.

Within 4 runs my body is no longer sore and I’m back up to 6 mile runs at a time without thinking about it. It may take you a few more than that, and that is ok, but remember that when you feel pain you have to learn to hate yourself a bit. Push yourself through that pain knowing that tomorrow that pain will not be there and you’ll be able to do more than you did today. If you push yourself until you feel sore every time you run or exercise you will see dramatic progress.

Now, if you’ll excuse me – I have to go hurt myself. A little.

What your lungs remember your legs quickly forget

November 10th, 2009

My recent jogging resurgence has taught me a little bit about my own body’s memory. It turns out that my lungs have not forgotten that this past spring I was jogging a lot. That I was jogging further and further and more consistently than any other time in my entire life. And that I was able to sustain a fairly good pace for, what is still my furthest distance, over 15K at a clip.

When I began to jog again last week it took only 1K or so before my lungs were back in stride. I’ve had almost no pain in my lungs since that first 1K (of a 5K run) and I’ve run about 20K since then.

What your lungs remember your legs quickly forget, it would seem. My legs ached after the first jog. For my first jog I went along my usual 5K course, except I did it in reverse. By doing this it sets me up for success because the beginning of the jog is slightly downhill and then it levels out for at least 2.5K straight. This builds my confidence in jogging for a duration of time rather than just distance. Sometimes simply jogging for 15, 20, or 30 minutes straight can be the mental challenge that people face in the beginning. However, the end of the jog is slightly uphill and so that is probably what caused the soreness.

During my second jog my legs were a little sore (three days later) but the soreness really began when I played football on Sunday. Both yesterday and today my legs have been very, very achy. So it will come as no surprise that I did not want to jog today. Well, my head did but my legs didn’t.

However, I’ve recently begun to do something I think is rather novel – whenever I feel uncomfortable about something or don’t want to do something – I do one better, I force myself to do more than I would have otherwise. Have trouble getting up early for work? Get up really early. Have trouble talking in front of a lot of people? Do a presentation in front of hundreds. Don’t want to jog because your legs are a little sore and you’re being a baby about it? Then jog double the distance you had planned on.

So that is what I did. I jogged 10K instead of the 5K I had planned on doing. I knew I could do it because I had done it before but it was still a major mental and physical battle. I almost took a shortcut home 3 separate times. Instead of taking the shortcuts I simply kept going. That is all you can do when you are at that point in a jog and you want to give up, just keep putting one foot in front of the other. With that out of the way, though, I can now focus on improving my 10K time and continue onto 15K within the next few weeks.

By then my legs should remember.

Weigh in: November 9, 2009

November 9th, 2009

I didn’t eat very well this week. I ate more than I should have, and drank too much beer (my goal was to only drink beer one evening this week, and I think I drank like three or four evenings).

I did well with beginning my exercise routine again though. I ran on Tuesday, Friday, and played football on Sunday. I ran two 5Ks, or 6.2 miles, and had “ok” times for both runs. I have no idea how much exercise I got playing football but I’d be willing to guess it was a much better workout than simply jogging. It was a lot more fun too.

My current weight is, as my goal was, 205 pounds for a loss of two pounds this week. Next week I’d like to be 203 or below. My goal, per week, will continue to be 2 pounds or more (but not much more).

My goals for this week, besides being under 203 pounds, are that I eat much better, drink only 1 night, jog at least 10 miles total for the week, and doing one other active thing this week.

I guess you could say that I’m starting to enjoy jogging

June 4th, 2009

All good stories start at the beginning. This one starts on August 14th 2006 when I publicly stated my goal to run 1 mile before my wedding anniversary that year (which was about two weeks later). In that declaration I said:

“Last night Chris and I went for a run, and while he had no trouble with the effort at all, I had absolutely no desire to run the entire mile. My lungs didn’t burn, my legs didn’t give out, nor did my heart ache – rather I simply gave up. Call it a lack of motivation.

…

So I’ve decided to set the goal of being able to run (read: jog) an entire mile without letup before my 7th wedding anniversary (August 27th). Where I’ll go from there, who knows.”

A very important lesson lies within this post. The act of giving up due to lack of motivation is probably the main culprit to my challenge with weight and stamina. Keeping yourself motivated and constantly thinking “yes I can” instead of “no I can’t” will eventually allow you to achieve any goal. I believe that as much as I believe anything, especially now.

Well, my anniversary came that year and guess what? I did it. I ran an entire mile nonstop for the first time in my life (outside of High School) on August 27th 2006.

Since then I haven’t really tried to improve my running until this year. I ran now and then both outside and at the gym. I would always run about a mile or just a bit further. I remember running at the gym for a mile (12 laps on the indoor track) and I felt like there was nothing worse than that run. I play enough basketball to keep my cardio-abilities in fair shape. This year, however, I really wanted to start getting better at running longer distances.

Running an entire mile almost three years ago was a great goal. But I’ve come a long way since then and I needed new goals. My first goal was to get back into jogging at least a few miles. There is a trail near our apartment that runs about 1.5 miles. I did that a few times a week to get myself comfortable. But, I was getting into a rut. The run was a little too easy and deep down I knew it wasn’t challenging me anymore after a few weeks. So, one morning I woke up and decided to attempt a 5K (which is 3.1 miles). I didn’t do so great but I tried really hard. I had the exact same problem I did back in 2006. About 2.5 miles into the run I’d simply give up and start walking. My legs would feel okay, my lungs okay, but I just decided I didn’t want to run anymore. I have no idea why I’d stop.

This went on for a few more runs. Finally I decided to ask my friend Sam to run with me. Sam is a machine. I have no idea where his motivation comes from but it is a much deeper place than my motivation does. Time and time again he has surprised me with his stamina. He’s also doing great on the diet. Anyway – that 5K was the best 5K ever. Since then I’ve been able to run 5K without even thinking about stopping. I even find them satisfying to run. In my mind the 5K distance is the runners stroll. Some people walk next to a lake or river to calm down. Runners take an easy jog for 5K next to a lake or river to calm down. Perhaps my perception will change, but that is how I feel now.

My 5K time wasn’t so hot when I compared it to the abilities of others (something I know I shouldn’t do but I can’t help it). I asked Jeff, someone who has ran the New York Marathon, what I should do to help improve my time. He suggested running a bit further will help shorter run results. The next day, Sam and I ran 6 miles, double that of my previous distance record. We both felt incredible (our feet didn’t though). I couldn’t believe that I had jogged 6 miles without stopping. Looking back at the challenge it was to push my body to 1 mile made me think of how many other people go through the same breakthroughs. The same challenges. The same mental fights. If you’re one of those people – stick with it and know that time and effort are needed to break down those mental barriers. There is no silver bullet solution. Just wake up every-other morning and jog as far as you can – oh, and bring a friend because it helps a lot.

This morning we pushed a little harder. Sam knew of a nice spot to run on a trail in our area that wouldn’t hurt our feet as much as the asphalt did. Chris decided he’d join us. Turns out the distance for that run this morning was 9 miles! Tacking on another 3 miles onto my furthest distance ever run without stopping. Running for nine miles was both mentally and physically challenging for me. By the end I didn’t want to give up in my head, but my body didn’t want to run anymore. So I think my limit for the time being is running 9 miles. I think I’m going to bring my distance down to something manageable (like 5 miles) and just stay consistent until I feel I’m able to push the distance again. By year’s end I’d like to run a half marathon (or 13+ miles). Where I’ll go from there, who knows.

Weigh in: May 19, 2009

May 19th, 2009

I didn’t weigh in last week. On Monday I was sick and the rest of the week sort of just ran away from me. This week I was really excited to weigh in to see how I did over the last few weeks.

Today I weighed in at 189 lbs. which is down three pounds since I weighed in 15 days ago. I was hoping I’d be 188 or even 187 (which would have meant that I’d have finally beaten Pat Dryburgh in our little challenge) but I’m willing to wait for next week for that to happen. And it will happen.

Overall I had two fairly good weeks full of activity, a decent food diet, and no major setbacks. Even though I missed basketball last week I still managed to run over 9 miles that week and 6 the last week with basketball on that Monday. I’m currently working on bringing my 5K (or a 3.1 mile run) time down. My current goal is 28 minutes. I’m hoping to hit that this week.

Today Chris Fehnel and I did the Plyometrics portion of P90X, an exercise routine that he’s been doing since we re-started the diet, and it was intense. Fun. But intense. It is definitely a much harder workout than I would ever put together for myself. I’m considering doing this workout either every-now-and-then or even each week. We’ll see.

Next week will, more than likely, end the competition between Pat and I but I’m not going to stop there. I’ve decided to make other goals, besides actual weight, for myself. My 5K in under 28 minutes is my first goal, and perhaps “bringing it” to an entire PlyoX routine would be my second (since while I managed to make it through the routine I definitely didn’t “bring it”).

I know that Eliza, Chris, and I are doing great on our diets. How about all of you?

Weigh in: April 14, 2009

April 14th, 2009

Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first? Ok, I’ll give you the bad news first. The bad news is that I didn’t have a great weekend insofar as the amount of food I ate. I didn’t eat anything bad. Just a little too much. (What can I say, I love food.)

This adversely affected my weigh in. The good news is that I had a really great week and so did many people on The Diet this week. I played basketball once, ran three times (all very good runs) and generally ate very well and stayed away from junk food of any sort.

Since I had to head to Viddler HQ yesterday I forgot to weigh in. Today I weighed in at 196 lbs. for a loss of three pounds this week. I’m very satisfied with this number although I know it could have been a little better if I didn’t overeat two meals on the weekend. This brings me to 11 pounds lost in three weeks. A great accomplishment to be sure.

My goals for this week, which I wrote about last week, were to watch my carbs more. I didn’t do this again. Maybe I just don’t have it in me to really watch the specifics of what I eat. This week my goal remains simple: lose two more pounds. I’m also going to do a little more to build some muscle this week instead of just running. Lets see how it all pans out.

Congratulations to everyone that lost weight this week. Lets keep it going!

Weigh in: April 6, 2009

April 6th, 2009

I’m happy to report that I did much better during this second week of the diet than I did during the second week of the diet back in June 2006 (Wow, has it been that long already?) when I gained 3 pounds. This week I’m down another four pounds and I currently weigh 199 pounds.

My goals, as stated last week, were: “… to cut down on carbs, eat more fruits and vegetables as snacks, go completely beer and wine free for the week, and lose two more pounds.” I did pretty well with trying to stick to these goals but I was far from perfect. While I didn’t drink any beer this week I did have some homemade pear wine last night that was given to us. I didn’t do very well on trying to cut down on the number of carbs I’ve had for the week. In fact, I didn’t measure the number of carbs I had at all. I didn’t play any basketball and only ran twice. I did, however, eat more fruit and vegetables as snacks and did well with not eating too much.

One of the things I find most challenging during the second week is getting over the “make it a habit hump.” It is said that you have to do something 7 times (I think?) in order to make it a habit. I don’t know how this philosophy fits in with the complexities surrounding diets, but I know that for me to truly change my eating and exercising habits I need to get through the second week. If you look at the arc of my dieting last time, you can see that from the second week on it was a landslide towards the finish. I was totally committed to my diet, did really well with exercising on a regular basis, and kept up with my weekly goals. I’m hoping the same is true this time around.

I’m glad to have this second week over with and to have a decent weight loss. Now I’m ready to really ratchet up my commitment to the diet until I get to my goal.

My goals for this week include: drinking more water, trying to measure the number of carbs I eat, playing basketball twice, running three times, and having only one glass of wine. (I don’t want to cut out wine completely but I’ll probably have it earlier in the week this time.) Also, I’d like to lose two pounds this week.

I hope everyone else on the diet had as good or better a second week as I had and that we all continue on to reach our goals.

One deer, one owl in flight, six or eight rabbits, and 17 miles.

August 27th, 2008

An inspiring story of a morning run by Dylan F. Tweney, whose training to run a full marathon and was having trouble getting passed the 14-mile mark.

“Training for a marathon, it turns out, is an exercise in mind control and reality creation. [...] To make it work, you have to play all kinds of games to keep yourself engaged and to make yourself believe that you can keep running. Like telling yourself that you are a strong runner, that you love running, that you really like those hills.”

In this account he recalls a particular morning run where he does get passed the 14-mile mark, recalls the finer details of the run all the way down to the various auroras he took in during the run.  He also talks about the mind game that running actually is, the wildlife in his California territory that he sees, and the way it feels to succeed at running.

Awesome.

Source: One deer, one owl in flight, six or eight rabbits, and 17 miles..

Weigh in: Week Fifty Five

June 19th, 2007

Lately I’ve been lax in my workouts. This is in part due to the fact that my schedule is not lining up with Chris Fehnel‘s schedule and so I haven’t been regularly hitting the gym nor running (though I have managed to play some frisbee and basketball).

I believe it is time to quit making excuses about scheduling problems and start doing things on my own. I’m going to start running, by myself, starting tomorrow. As for the gym I’ll have to create my own schedule (most likely Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday). I’d love to go in the mornings but that just doesn’t seem possible – I am not a morning workout person.

This week I weighed in within a few ounces of last week’s weigh in. Which is fine because I fully expect to be around 185 pounds for the rest of my life – so being 187 works just as well.

I hope everyone else had a great week on their diets.

Weigh in: Week Fifty Two

May 29th, 2007

Three hundred and sixty five days. Fifty two weeks. Twelve months. One year. No matter how it is said I can’t believe how far we’ve come. How much we’ve learned and lost and how excited I am to start another year!

Over the last few weeks I’ve had hundreds of ideas for how I’d write my one year weigh in. And I think the most important thing for me to do is to say thank you to all of those who’ve helped me over the course of the last year to be as successful as I have been.

Thank you Eliza for being my original inspiration for starting the diet. You’ve helped me on numerous occasions over the last year to stick to my goals. You’ve been amazingly supportive!

Thanks to Chris for pushing me during our workouts. I can always count on you to be my exercise partner which has definitely had an impact on me. Many people are not as privileged as I am to have someone to work out with consistently.

Thanks to James for showing me that this diet isn’t just about losing weight or that it isn’t a temporary action but this is a life-change and one that will last forever. You truly are an inspiration to many. (see James’ latest photo showing off his success on his diet, awesome!)

Thanks to Mike for being supportive as a friend and fellow dieter. Your unceasing schedule of getting to the gym every single morning has been inspiring. Hope you find a place in California to settle into and get that schedule back on track!

Thanks to Scott who has shown me that sometimes we need to do whatever it takes to stay on the diet even if it means doing things that we don’t like (like running or going to the gym).

Thanks to Larry who has, via our conversations, really given me great tips and inspiration for setting goals and sticking to them. I know Larry will be making his personal goals and I know how hard he is trying to do so – which inspires me to try as hard as he does.

And thanks to everyone else on the diet, those that read my weigh in entries, and those that congratulate me on my successes and pick me up when I “fail”, all of you have been a part of this last year and I can’t thank you enough for that.

Oh, I almost forgot – I weighed in at 185 again this morning which is no change from last week. For those that are unaware, I am not longer trying to lose weight but I’m trying very hard to maintain my current weight, gain muscle, and lose fat.

Weigh in: Week Fifty One

May 22nd, 2007

Just one week shy of a full year on this diet! This week has been a great week though at the moment I feel like I went a few rounds with the champ.

MeToday: May 17, 2007

I can has cramp

Last week was the normal exercise and workout activities but near the end of the week Chris and I, via my good friend Larry, discovered HIIT running. The photo on your right is the result of my first HIIT session wherein I got a cramp and Chris nearly showed his lunchables. HIIT running is addictive and a little bit insane. Once you’ve done it and the pain along with the throbbing head veins subside, you crave it. You are constantly thinking about your next session and how you need to add another cycle. Like I said, insane.

This weekend we hit a few wineries, as we tend to love doing so much, and enjoyed a massive amount of great food and wine. Picnics in vineyards people! Naturally I thought I’d overdone it. Come to find out I didn’t gain an ounce over the weekend. So just like last week I’m sittin’ pretty at 185.

Yesterday was our third round of HIIT running. However, since Chris and I are insane (as mentioned before), we decided to go to the gym for biceps, triceps, and forearm workouts before heading out to play basketball for a few more hours. But boy did it feel good (at the time). This morning I’m a little sore and a few of my joints are cursing me – but overall I’m in good shape.

I’m looking forward to making this a great week to end the first of many years on the diet.

Weigh in: Week Forty Four

April 4th, 2007

My weigh ins are going to become less and less exciting (as if they were riveting before right?) because I think my weight will begin to plateau now that I’m sub-190lbs and I’m actively working out.

So instead of just covering the amount of gain/loss each week I’ll also toss in some of my other goals that I am working on at the gym, on the court, or on the field. However, just to keep up-to-date I weighed in at 189.2 pounds for a loss of .8 pounds from last week. The amount of weight that I lost does not reflect well to how good of a week I had on the diet.

At the gym

I was able to cover a few goals that I had for myself at the gym for this week. The first was actually timing out a sub-10 minute mile. Although I had never timed myself running prior to this week, I already knew going in that I should be able to accomplish this. So, this I accomplished pretty easily (and by easy I mean sweating like a pig).

My next goal was to be able to run 2-miles, since that was something I had not tried to do before. For those of you that do not know, running and I do not get along, in fact – I loathe it. But, I have goals and I am going to make them. So I ran two miles but I added the goal of making it in less than 20-minutes which I just barely made it. I actually had the opportunity to do this twice this week and the second time I came in at 19:20. I’m looking forward to giving this another try and coming in under 19 minutes before moving onto my next goal.

In my I ran one mile post I said: “So, what is my next goal? I’m going to run a mile in the seven-minute range.” Well, that is kinda what I am working on right now. I’m slowly building up my stamina for longer distances while simultaneously going a little bit faster each time. My new goal is 1 mile in 8-minutes and 2 miles in 18 minutes. I’ll let you know how this goal goes.

In the field and on the court

A small group of us went to the park this weekend to play frisbee, a little tennis (I am absolutely horrible at tennis, and I do mean horrible), and basketball. The weather was great (though we’re expecting bad weather this weekend, ugh).

Picture description

Andrew and I playing frisbee – March 2007 – Photo credit: Eliza Devroe

It was nice to play at least a little frisbee again for the first time this season. One of my goals is to be able to play competitive ultimate this year sometime. I may have to find a local team or something since I don’t know enough people that would like to do this to create my own team. If anyone knows the best way to do this, hook me up.

Tennis seems like a pile of fun but I’m just horrible at it. Obviously it is because I’ve only played like 30-minutes worth of tennis in my entire life – but maybe I could try to play with Andrew a little this year.

The first game of basketball was a game of 21 with Andrew, Paul, and I. And I was shooting really, really well. Then, when we hopped into a larger game – my shot went into outer space for some reason. I was having trouble getting any type of rhythm back and I was starting to get frustrated – which is the worst thing to do. But I had a great time and it was good exercise. I love basketball.

That was my week of activity. Running, working out, some sports, and a fairly decent diet. The change in weather definitely helps me to keep on top of things and I’m looking forward to making and setting new goals on the scale, at the gym, in the field, and on the court.

[tags]weigh-in, diet, the-diet, andrew nelson, paul kozlansky, running, 2-miles, gym, ultimate frisbee, basketball, tennis, goals[/tags]

Weigh in: Week Thirteen

August 29th, 2006

Last week I was 192.2 pounds, this week I’m 192.0 pounds. Am I discouraged? Not in the least, listen to the week I had.

Tuesday of last week, weigh in day, Eliza and I drove to New Jersey to visit with some family. We at mall food-court food, and Friendly’s Ice Cream. Then on the way back from New Jersey, out of sheer desperation, we ate McDonald’s. This was the night I became ill from eating fast food for the first time in many weeks.

Wednesday rolled around, and we decided to drive to Allentown to visit her Mother who is doing training down there. We at at a Perkins, and I got a huge breakfast and a cookie! Also, remember that I usually play basketball on Wednesdays – so I missed that and ate instead.

Thursday was semi-normal, but still no basketball. By the way, some of these days Eliza and I did go walking/jogging – training for my goal of running a mile. But I don’t burn near as many calories doing that as I do playing basketball.

Friday I did get to shoot some hoops, then we came home and played Pictionary.

Saturday we ate breakfast at a diner, then I ended up running my mile with Chris and James. After that, we played some football (1 on 1 with full time QB). Then, we went to a fair and ate fair food. We had a bloomin’ onion (oh my god I love these things), a sausage and pepper hoagie, ice cream, and some funnel cake.

Sunday was our seventh wedding anniversary. Naturally Eliza and I wanted to have a nice dinner out somewhere, and we chose to eat Japanese at a Hibachi. We ate and drank until we thought we couldn’t anymore, then went and had dessert at Krispy Kreme Donuts! Hey, when the sign says “fresh hot donuts right now”, we go.

So now you are getting the picture why I am not upset, at all, that I managed to maintain my weight this week. This week was definitely not our normal, everyday, routine that we’ve been successful with. However, now we’re back on track, our lives are slowing down a little, and we’re ready to start our routines again.

Next week, I’ll hit my original goal.

[tags]diet, the-diet, weigh in, pictionary, basketball, running, walking, jogging, exercise, fair, food, anniversary, new jersey, allentown, football[/tags]

I ran one mile

August 27th, 2006

I set the goal to run a mile before today because I figured it was a good idea to set goals. If I didn’t make it I could have said “Well, I tried. And at least I’m a better jogger now than I was when I started.” And I kept telling myself that even up until the last step of the run.

Colin after running

Me, after running about 3/4 mile (taken by Eliza with one of her anniversary presents)

I’m really happy that I was able to do it, even though I’d thought it would take a bit longer than it did to get up to that point. Running is difficult, no matter what short music geeks from Seattle say, and I’m proud of myself.

I didn’t do this on my own either. Eliza encouraged me during each “training session” that we had. She and I walked three miles a day, for a few days, and each time we tried to jog as much of the last mile as we possibly could. On the other days I’d run to the Post Office and back to get the mail, which is about two-thirds of a mile. This helped a lot, because small successes can help you attain a larger goal.

Then, yesterday Chris and I decided it was time I try for the entire thing. He actually helped me this time by not talking. Normally he is screaming in my ear like a drill sergeant in a Kubrick film – but this time he let me do my thing and I succeeded. I even had enough oomph to sprint the last few hundred feet.

So, what is my next goal? I’m going to run a mile in the seven-minute range. I haven’t timed myself yet, so I am not sure how hard this will actually be, I might even be close now. Once that is accomplished, I think I’m going to add some distance. Oh, I turn 26 on September 30th, and so I plan on doing the sub-eight-minute-mile before then.

[tags]running, jogging, the-diet, mile, goals[/tags]

I am going to run one mile, without stopping, before my next wedding anniversary

August 14th, 2006

I’ve set and exceeded many goals over the last few months, why not add one more?

Last night Chris and I went for a run, and while he had no trouble with the effort at all, I had absolutely no desire to run the entire mile. My lungs didn’t burn, my legs didn’t give out, nor did my heart ache – rather I simply gave up. Call it a lack of motivation.

See when I play basketball I have a goal – win the game. After 3 hours of basketball if the game is tied with one shot to go, I have no problem exerting myself. When running, even though I have a goal to finish, I don’t have the desire to overly exert myself. I can’t quite explain it. So I’m going to ignore my own thoughts and works towards a specific goal.

So I’ve decided to set the goal of being able to run (read: jog) an entire mile without letup before my 7th wedding anniversary (August 27th). Where I’ll go from there, who knows.

[tags]goals, running, exercise, jogging, the-diet, diet, anniversary[/tags]