It Wasn't My Fault!

Driving home last night just after 8 pm when the only thing on my mind was food.  I had eaten dinner, but at 4 o'clock.  It had been small.  It's not an unusual situation on Mondays and Wednesdays for me.  I'd just get home, shower, talk with my wife, go to bed.

When I got home, before I got to the door, I could smell 'em.

Secret recipe chocolate chip cookies!  And by secret I mean that these aren't of the grocery store variety, or even grandma's type.  These are a bit ... better.  The texture, the flavors, you'd just have to experience it to know.

My wife made a batch of cookies to appease her grouchy boss.  Business is way down and he'll have nothing to do.  So she made cookies.  Now he'll have something to do with his mouth other than complain. How sweet?

But me...I had a cookie down the hatch before you could say "blubber butt."  I had another and another.  They were just the right temperature, having cooled enough to not burn my mouth.

SO GOOD!

But I've been running "cookie miles" this week anyway.  My calf is injured and so I'm just going however I feel I can, usually very slowly.

Monday was 5.45 in 55:03.  I took the dog, she bonked.  Dropped her off after 3 miles and went back for another two.

Tuesday was 3.07 in 33:07.

Wednesday was 3.29 in 29:48.

This morning was 4.13 in 36.57, but the last mile was almost normal in 8:17 (and climbs about 200 feet).

***

In related news, I had planned on participating in a duathlon Saturday.  But with the calf being not very good and my daughter has a track meet, I'm going to cheer instead of participate.  I'm very happy with how she's doing, she's having a blast running.  Before, it seemed like a chore, but yesterday, she even ran on her own (outside of practice)!

It's All About the Diet

I'm at the point where now I really want to lose weight.  I don't want to lose weight for any reason save one:  To be faster.

And at this point I know that It's All About the Diet. 

But I've been a bad boy over this holiday season.  I've been sick, and I've been weak.  However, I've been weak of mind, not body.  Over the past three weeks I've eaten fudge and cookies, drank a lot (not ever in one sitting) of beer, I've eaten too-large of servings of calorie-heavy food.  I've had late night snacks and have eaten not many fruits and vegetables.  I've been staying up late and sleeping in.  It's been a great vacation!  I really don't regret it ... but ...

I was afraid that when I got on the scale this morning it would say, "One at a time please."

My fears weren't entirely misplaced.  I had gained a pound from last week, which was a pound more than the week before.  That's four pounds less than the day after Thanksgiving, which is okay, but not what I had wanted at all!

I know, Call the Wahmbulance, right?  But you have to consider, I've spent two hours at the gym this week doing circuit training and between riding and running have covered almost 80 miles already this week. 

And that just goes to show, It's All About the Diet.

Monday I go back to work.  It's a lot easier to eat correctly (both in quantity and type) at work because I make good decisions bringing things to work.  I need a schedule!  That's really the only reason I'm looking forward to going back actually.  I love my job, but I could be a fitness bum provided the opportunity.  

That said, I've got a Duathalon coming up in about 60 days.  I'm STOKED.  Today I did my third quasi-brick.  For now I'm just laying the foundation and gaining experience running after riding.  Today I took a nice ride with my cousin that covered about 26 miles.  He's new to riding and while riding with him it was conversation speed for me.  But after I dropped him off, and before I met up with him, I had the opportunity to hammer down pretty good. 

When I got home my daughter met me at the driveway and took my bike to the house.  I threw on my shoes and ran a mile.  This was my fastest mile yet in this fashion, 7:31.  That's not a fast mile for just running a mile, but it sure felt fast after riding like I had!  Plus, that one mile has a sneaky hill in it.  The climb is 75 feet in elevation in about a quarter mile.  It's not crazy, but certainly enough to get your attention!

What a way to ring in the new year!

New Year's is our  holiday.  That is, my immediate family does whatever is easy, no pressure.  We usually run around here and there from mid-November until Christmas.  So, it's our time.

This year my youngest daughter spent the night at her friend's house.  My oldest daughter stayed home and played cards with my wife and I, and my wife's parents came over until about 10 pm.  We had ham, smoked salmon, some amazing pickled radishes and pickled papaya (Filipino dishes), some fancy cheese and crackers, homemade apple pie and of course guacamole!  Our plan was to play cards, snack from about 4 pm until whenever and burn stuff we've been collecting for the past three weeks in the fire pit.  It's how we roll!

My daughter is the "guac" expert. I bugged and bothered and pestered her all day until she made the guacamole.

Eventually my daughter brings me the bowl of guacamole and some chips for me to do a taste-test.  I was outside getting the fire ready. 

All was wonderful, it needed nothing but my attention, so I took the guacamole and stepped backwards, tripped and fell all the way to the ground, the arm holding the guacamole shooting up, sending the guacamole sky-ward. 

I landed, terrified!  I stretched out and got my hand under the guacamole bowl, but not with any dexterity, more like playing hot potato with a five year old.  The bowl flew back up, seemingly in slow motion.  But this time I caught it, open end facing down. Only about two tablespoons were lost!  I am so happy I had a witness! 

The New Year came as it normally does.  We were all tired.  My wife and I were watching stuff on Netflix, well actually I was watching, she'd fallen asleep, and my daughter was upstairs reading. 

This morning I got up and prepared for a 10 or 12 mile run.  What a way to ring in the new year, right?  I had eaten a lot of salty, rich, and fatty foods last night, not to mention consumed a fair amount of alcohol.  I didn't get drunk, but considering I was going to run for an hour and half minimum, any is probably too much.

Twelve miles would be cool, being 2012, I thought, but also, I've been sick and my knee hurts.  One of my resolutions is to be safe and while 12 miles would send the message that I'm serious, 10 is what was planned. 

I decided to run 10 and be smart.  The twelve would've been for show anyway. 

Also, I'd only run 10 or more miles twice, one time being the half marathon.  I ran slow and easy, trying to make the first mile slower than 9 minutes (it's down hill ad I'd have 9 more to go), and the rest around 9:30 or so.  But really, I was just going by feel. 

Check the link  here for some cool graphics Garmin puts together.  I made my last mile my fastest, 8:34.  The overall average pace was 9:47.  Not fast, but that's okay.  I was happy with the run, it felt good, especially since I really didn't want to run this morning.

On a side note, I ran with compression socks for the first time.  I run in toe-shoes most of the time, but also have a pair of racing flats I run in.  Today was the shoes and the compression socks.  I just bought the knee-high dress versions from Wal-Greens at $20 (can find them about half as much on Amazon I learned later).  They worked great, my legs feel good.  I'd recommend them without hesitation!

To all I wish a happy, healthy, and productive 2012!

No Fighting It

I give up.  It's no use.  I'm sick and no matter how I try to behave like I'm not, it doesn't change the fact.  I feel like crap.

Last week I forced myself to take a few days off, five in fact, from exercise, but I was going nuts. In the past few days I've taken a ride and a run.  But that's a drop in the bucket compared to what I wanted to do.

I'm on vacation.  I wanted to do two-a-days, run in the morning, ride in the afternoon and somewhere in between, a trip to the gym.  I can't make this something it's not.  So, for the rest of the week I'll take an easy ride or an easy run, if I'm up for it.

In the meantime, I'll give some focus to the Honey-Do list.  Last week I fixed a leaky bathtub faucet, yesterday I worked on the oven and broiler (the igniter was dead), and today I fixed a mysterious electrical problem in the house.  Suddenly an entire series of switches failed to work, and they were on the same circuit as other stuff that worked perfectly.  Nothing that three hours of experiencing the difference between combinations and permutations couldn't fix!  I have a degree in math and couldn't help noting that in this situation the order of the wires definitely mattered...making them permutations, just like a combination lock.  The order matters, making it a permutation lock, not a combination at all.  How could that be confusing?

Actually, the light situation has been broken for a while.  I've worked on it in the past with no luck.  My wife knew I was working on it, but when she came home and EVERYTHING worked perfectly, she looked kind of like this (actually I just wanted to come up with an excuse to post a picture of my nephews and their expressions of excitement and delight):

I still have the week after New Year's off from work, so hopefully I can get this kicked and get 100% healthy.  Then I can focus on some exercise, provided I don't prove myself too handy!

Now, how do I avoid the homemade fudge?  How do I convince myself it won't help make me healthier?

Approaching 100, Part 2: On Voodoo, Calorie Counting and Serving Size

Diet:  It's the prettiest girl at the dance...or at least the one with the fanciest dress.  People always ask, what are you eating?  Are you skipping green foods, or foods made in Iowa?  Do you eat tofu or avoid all foods with the letter "m"?  

Voodoo:  There are so many conflicting stories, fad diets, organizations with political agendas (both ways) and nutritional information available that it's easy to get upside down.  For example, there's the twinkie diet that suggests that a calories is a calories is a calories, with respect to losing weight.  That is, if you eat fewer calories than you burn, your body will find create the energy needed to function from your body fat, thus you'll lose weight.  There's Adkins, South Beach, you name it.

Then there is information that suggests that some people will not burn fat because of strange happenings with their body's insulin.  So for them, a calorie is not a calorie.  They need to be very wary of simple, processed carbohydrates.  
And this country is terrified of fat.  But not all fats are the same.  Animal fats, vegetable fats, processed fats, oils of coconut, olive, corn ...  What gives?!?!  It's hard to know what is right, what is wrong and who to trust.  Even the science of nutrition is changing quickly, as all new sciences do.  I'm willing to bet that a substantial portion of what is accepted as truth today will be famous examples of science being wrong in the future.  It's just how things work.
  
As before, just because I've done something doesn't mean I'm an expert.  I don't wish to say these things are definitive truths but merely to say, this is what worked for me.  Probably more so with diet than exercise, you have to find what works for you.  


Calorie Counting and Measuring Serving Size


First, if you don't measure your food, you're not counting the calories you consume.  What you're counting is the calories in a serving size, which you are probably NOT eating.  An example is rice.  The serving size for rice is 1/2 cup of cooked rice, and it has about 170 calories or so.  A half cup of rice isn't very much at all.  I found by serving and then measuring, that I'd eat one and a half to two cups of rice and would count that as a serving. 



Calorie counting is not something I do regularly, and I didn't do it for very long.  I started when I was around 270 pounds.  Only when I had to give up running because I was too heavy did I start counting calories.  When I did start counting calories, I also kept track of macro nutrients, protein, carbohydrates and fats.  I tried various percentages and monitored small changes over two week periods to see how things went. 
Calorie counting is a task!  I created an excel spreadsheet, and eventually menu items where I'd combined certain things that I often ate together.  The original motivation was to streamline the record keeping.  The upshot was that it further helped me make good choices.



Once I got the hang of what a serving size should be and I formed habits of eating appropriate amounts or appropriate foods, it became second nature.  By that time I was around 250 and never have had to do it since.  Once in a while I'll google a serving size of a new food and see how calorie dense it is.  Otherwise, I go more by feel than anything else, which brings me to my second point.

Athletes Don't Diet, They Fuel

If my goal was just to lose weight I'd eat salad morning noon and night.  I'd never touch high calorie foods bacon, and I'd never touch a beer.  But if I'm eating a lot of high fiber, low calorie foods I may feel full, but I bonk on runs and rides.  That sucks.



So I eat a lot of nutrient rich foods that come raw, usually unboxed and minimally processed.  Examples are beans, sweet potatoes, vegetables and fruits, nuts, eggs and oatmeal (all except eggs are high in fiber).  I have a very hard time passing a homemade cookie and really enjoy a good beer now and then.  About once a month I eat a fantastic cheese burger and have no problem choking down pizza.  However, most of the time I eat simple, whole foods. 

Here's an example of a typical day's food:

Breakfast: 

• Option 1:  Oatmeal with raisins, walnuts and honey, a whey protein shake and a banana
• Option 2:  Three scrambled eggs with green chili and a banana
• Option 3:  Peanut butter and jelly on toast and a banana 

All options come with coffee. 


Lunch: 

• Option 1:  A cup of beans and a half cup of rice, spiked with pickled jalapenos and hot sauce and a baked sweet potato.
• Option 2:  Chicken breast with veggies like broccoli and quinoa. 
• Option 3:  Left overs from dinner, provided it's an appropriate meal (Not too calorie laden).

Dinner:  For dinner I try and eat a salad first.  Then, I eat whatever we're having.  Depending on cardiovascular work load I will limit servings to one.  But often, I need two servings. 

Snacks:  I usually have to eat between breakfast and lunch and again between lunch and dinner.  I eat fruit or vegetables to my heart's content.  We now have a continually stocked fruit basket at home, and I have a supply of bananas, apples, pears and nuts at school for if and when I get hungry.  Creating an acceptable snack-menu has proven very useful.


The point is this:  I eat to perform well while working out.  I know that diet is a bigger component to losing weight, but I'm not on a diet!


Fast Food
A major pitfall is eating poorly when not in your regular routine.  I don't hit fast food restaurants hoping to make a good choice.  Instead, I head to a grocery store and pick something sensible from the deli, or even get some lunch meat and some fruits and veggies and have that for lunch. 


Treats and Rewards and Cheat Days

For a long time I had a Cheat Day.  On that day I'd not worry at all about what I ate.  I found this to be an effective way to help me forgo foods I knew I shouldn't be eating regularly.  I think that above many other things, this helped me form good habits. 


An internal conversation would often go as follows:


Bad Me:  "Beans for lunch, really?  At least I should buy a candy bar and a soda."


Good Me:  "Saturday, at the football game, you can have candy, soda, beer, whatever you want."


As it turned out, I began to crave those "healthier" foods and lost my taste for some things I used to enjoy.  Habits are about repetition and consistency.  This cheat-day helped me with that.


Soon I tapered the Cheat Day down to a Cheat Meal.  Now, I don't have a cheat day or cheat meal.  Sometimes I mess up and have too much of something I shouldn't have had, but all in all, I've got good habits now.


Summary


I needed to create a lot of structures to promote consistency.  That consistency helped me form new habits, and new cravings.  The food I crave most, now, is pinto beans.  Originally I had to be strict with myself about resisting "bad" foods, allowing myself to have them as reward at certain times.  Now I trust myself to eat them appropriately.  For the most part, though, there are a lot of things I will not buy, but will perhaps share if offered, like potato chips or boxed cookies.


Also, there are certain food items that are just not going to be cut from my diet, and I'm okay with that.  They include half and half (the real stuff, not non-fat), tortillas, and homemade cookies.  It all works out fine as I eat them regularly and have learned to adjust other things.


Last thing is that changes were small, usually one at a time.  If I change four things simuteanously and either gain or lose weight, which of the four is the key?  I have to remember that I didn't gain this weight overnight, I'm not going to lose it overnight either.   

Are you new?

What a weird day.  I put on a pair of pants this morning and they were tight!  I've been doing lots and lots of core work and I know that can actually cause your stomach to pooch out a bit.  Yeah, that's it!

The pants got comfy quickly and I finished dressing.  I walked out of my bedroom when my wife commented on my fancy new clammin' pants.  I looked down and the pant leg was a good 2 inches above the top of my shoe!  How did the pants shrink that bad?!?!  This is the second time this has happened since September.  The pants went in the always growing Donate Pile.

On the way to school my daughter and I were talking about compliments, how we appreciate being noticed, but aren't motivated by acknowledgement and how they make us feel awkward.  Ultimately, we agreed, we'd prefer to not be noticed.  (She's being recognized at school for academic success tomorrow.)

This morning I was walking around campus and some boys asked about my exercise program, saying that I looked like a stud.

At lunch a long time friend of mine said, "Wow, I can really tell how great of shape you're in."

During the afternoon I was in the copy room.  An office aid, a senior girl, asked if I was a new teacher. It's not a huge school, 1200, but not small either.  I'm pretty charismatic and well known.  It was a weird question.

"I've been here longer than you have," I said.

"Have you always taught seniors or something?"  she asked after finding out I taught math, thinking that maybe she didn't know me because I taught upper level stuff.

I informed her that I've taught everything.  She couldn't figure out how she didn't know me.

"I used to have a huge beard."

"Oh, I know you."  She said it as though she knew who had the big beard, but that person wasn't me.

I showed her a picture.

"Whoa...it is you!  That was you?  You're ... how ...  whoa!"

By this time I finished my work and was leaving, walking down the hall with this girl following, nothing better to do than share her discovery by pointing and commenting to anybody that happened to be around.

She stopped to discuss her realization with someone and I made my break away only to be stymied by running into someone that needed to talk to me.  The girl caught up ...  the two talked about me and then another person walked up and joined the conversation.  The funny thing is, the other two never knew me as fat.  So they really didn't understand the girl's shock, but out of politeness tried to match her enthusiasm. That was almost like watching a sit com and almost made it worth it.

After school I went to the gym to renew my membership.  The front desk lady said, who never says boo to me, said I was looking good.  After that I saw some friends who were roller blading.  I stopped to ask when the ER trip was scheduled.  Rachael rolled over, socked me in the arm, and said, "Whoa, you've lost a lot more weight!"

What had I been talking about with my daughter this morning?  How's that for ironic timing?   The only compliment that really bothered me though was the one from my friend at lunch.  It made me feel super awkward.

In other news:

• I'm not sure what the news on the scale will be tomorrow morning, though I suspect it'll be higher than last Friday (just a hunch).  I'm half way through the one month weight loss competition with my cousin and of course two weeks into my two month program.  Things are going well.  I feel good.
• Sunday I have my half marathon.  I just want to finish in under 2 hours uninjured.  I'm going to have a good time and enjoy the views!
• My oldest daughter asked to run a 5K with me, so the following Saturday we're doing one!  That's way cool. 
• My dad really wants to run a marathon.  My younger brother has taken up running.  My dad said it would be cool for the three of us to run a marathon together.  I agree...that'd be cool.

With all that said and shared, I hope you enjoyed reading and stay safe!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday

Gluttony is a certain aspect of Thanksgiving that I enjoy.  I love mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turkey, gravy, pies ... but most of all, stuffing.  Not the crap cooked in a pan, the stuff in the bird!  That's IT right there.

But what I really like about Thanksgiving is spending it with my family, in particular, my parents.  They nabbed Thanksgiving as all of their children were growing up and competition to spend ___ holiday at _________ house became difficult.

I'm glad they did.  I enjoy spending time with all of my family, in laws no exception.  It's just that I have a wealth of great memories around Thanksgiving with my parents.  That's what I love about Thanksgiving.  Remembering those things past and enjoying the present.

This Thanksgiving morning I find myself sad.  Yup, sad.  I had been planning, steeling myself in fact, to sell my guitar stuff and my motorcycle.  I never play anymore and I don't ride either.  When I was flirting with 300 pounds I did a lot of both, as well as a lot of other things I don't do anymore.  Too bad I threw the baby out with the bathwater there, but I did.

Yesterday I test rode, even throwing on my old pedals, a LaPierre Sensium 400.  It's their top of the line Performance Bike, like Specialized's decked out Roubaix.  The original sticker price was $3300 and it's down to $2000 and dust covered.  I've ridden my current bike well beyond its intended use.  While I could ride it more, it's a beginner's bike and I'm no longer a beginner.

The guitars on my wall look awesome.  The amp on the floor will sound awesome plugged in.  The pedals are amazing.  The cables, high quality.  Strings, best you can get.  The motorcycle is tricked out, but hooked up to the trickle charger to keep the battery fresh.

The bicycle in the corner is grime covered, beat, filthy and wearing out.

So it is the right decision to sell off one old habit to support another in this case.  While I'm truly sad to be sending off my prized possessions that took years to accumulate, I'm more excited about reaching new goals on a better bike.

Operation Final Cut

Since July 2010 I'm down from nearly 300 pounds to just over 200 pounds.  But, there's more work to be done.  I've learned a few things about weight loss along the way, the most recent is that one cannot seriously train for an endurance event and lose significant weight simultaneously.

My motivation to lose more weight has nothing to do with vanity, just as my original motivations had nothing to do with looking better.  I wanted to feel better originally.  Now I want to run and ride better.

So, starting Thursday, 11/24 (yes, Thanksgiving morning), I'm going to have a weekly weigh in ending in 1/26.  I'll be spending those two months focusing on building strength in my legs and core.  I'll maintain a weekly long ride and will work on progressively building a running base.  But, I will be hitting the gym three to four times a week.  Each trip to the gym will include a lot of core work and body resistance exercises and an intense 45 minute cardio workout.  My diet will have a substantial reduction in carbohydrates and I'll avoid sweets and beer.  (UGH!)

If I don't get into the low 190's I'll be terribly disappointed.  At best, I hope to be in the mid 180's.  I don't think I could weigh less than 180 pounds and be healthy.  Either way, I'll make a weekly post chronically what (generally) I ate (though I'll keep a detailed log), as well as exercise log, challenges I faced and, of course, results.  

My most immediate goal is to finish a particular 73 mile bike race in late April 2012 in under 3:00.  After that I want to complete my first marathon in the fall or early winter of 2012 in under 4:00.

Yup, Pride Cometh Before the Fall

My father, father-in-law, and brother-in-law have all recently begun riding road bicycles.  All have had incidents where they've been clipped into the pedals at a stop light and fallen over.  I had that almost happen once on a mountain bike, but never on my road bike.

I suspected the reason I'd never fallen over was because my bike was on the lower end of my size, where as the others bikes are all at the upper range of their size.  So, maybe I could stand over my bike more easily.  WRONG.

My daughters show rabbits in the county fair and had a rabbit meeting today in Sonoita, which is 40 miles from my house.  I decided to drive there with them and ride my bike back home.  So the ride was to be 40 miles and a drop in elevation of about 1500 feet, though far from a straight shot down hill.  There are a lot of climbs both directions.  I am working on becoming a faster rider and had a very lofty (unattainable I thought) goal of averaging 20 mph for the trip.

The majority of the down hill takes place in the first twelve miles.  I pushed pretty hard, but tried to maintain a pace.  My average speed was 24 mph, but after the 12 miles my mind began to wander a bit.  I was losing focus, dropping my cadence, slowing down and looking around a lot.  Those are all fine and dandy on a really long ride, but not for today.

At mile 13 another cyclist pulled onto the road behind me, a few hundred yards back.  He was gaining on me.  I decided that since I was pushing for a time I was going to do all in my power to NOT be passed.  We had another 3 miles of flat road before some hills began.  I picked up the pace but he closed a bit more.  I figured I'd slam it through the hills.

On the first major climb I slammed up the hill at 17 mph.  In the past I've been around 12 mph.  At the top I looked back and the gap between me and my chaser doubled.  After the climb the road flattens, but doesn't drop.  Instead of slowing down, I pushed harder on the flat.  I hit the next hill, which is about 4 miles long, with full force.  I never saw the other rider again.

A little competition is exactly what I needed.

I got through all of the big climbs and still was over 20 mph average speed!  YES YES YES!!!  SAH-WEET!

I had one more climb and it's a tough one to maintain speed because of the distance.  Also, at this point I was totally rubber legged.  By the time I finished the hill my speed was down to 19.5.  Still way higher than I ever really expected was possible.

There's a four mile straight and flat road before the final two miles home, which climbs about 500 feet.  The four mile straight away merged into an off-ramp from the interstate and ends at a stop light.  I was totally beat and not thinking clearly.  There's a left turn only lane and I belonged on the right hand side of that lane.  For some reason I went to the left hand shoulder of that lane, which meant that I was not on level ground (it's banked heavily to the left) and when I went through the intersection I would have to cross the traffic lane to get on the proper side of the road.

I rolled to a stop and unclipped my right foot, as always.  I stepped off and because of the slope to the left, I fell over!  Of course a lot of people saw me.  I have a minor scrape and a spot of road rash.  The bike is undamaged.  My pride, however, it's taken a hit.

At least now I fit in with the group!  I've got my scrapes of entitlement.

In other news, weight loss is going well.  I've pretty much given up bread.  I get plenty of quality carbs from sweet potatoes and fruit right now.  I'm down to around 205.  I'm excited and energized about breaking the 200 pound barrier.  My legs are still healing and I ran about 10 miles this week, pain free.

I am excited about beginning the half-marathon training.  I had hoped to have a good running base built by now, but am happy to just be nearly healthy.

I've got a should injury, hopefully just bursitis.  Rest, ice and compression...seeing the doctor about it Tuesday.

I know I shouldn't feel like a slug...

This was the first week back at school and I'm doing something new there.  A lot of planning, executing plans, adjusting plans and so on.  I have some high goals for the year and it's going to take a lot of work to reach those goals.

With that said, work can't be any higher than #3 on my list of priorities.  Yet, I feel that this week it got in the way of priority #2, exercise and health.  I didn't eat well, and didn't do all of the things I had planned.  I missed a run because of plantar fasciatis and didn't do a long ride this week.  Instead of riding a planned 80 at a slow pace, I ended up riding 22 at a high pace.

See, exercise and health is a priority just above work.  However, that comes in behind family.  I decided that since I wasn't training for a race yet that I should blow off the long ride and spend the day with my family.  They were heading to Tucson.  My daughter helps with Guide Dogs for the Blind as a puppy raiser.  There was a planned outing at Cold Stone Creamery (I didn't have any ice cream though). 

Before hitting the ice cream shop we stopped by my in-laws house where there happened to be my favorite:  peanut butter cookies.  I had like 6 of them or so!  That's why I skipped the ice cream.  In my opinion, that was well played actually.  :D

On the way home today I started thinking about the week's events.  Last Sunday I rode a very difficult 62 miles.  I ran 5 on Monday morning, followed by another 4 Tuesday morning.  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons I lifted weights for 45 minutes and then used an aerobic exercise machine for 30 minutes.  Thursday I used the elliptical machine for 45 minutes.  Friday was the day off.  Saturday I lifted for an hour then went on a two hour bike ride with my wife.  This morning, I slammed through a 22 mile route in an hour.  When I step back and look at it...that's a lot.

I just need to get back on the straight and narrow with diet.  I've found a good source of fresh cookies, $0.69 each.  I've also been eating too large of servings.  That combined with additional stress had made for no weight loss the past two weeks.

My family reunion is Labor Day and I'd like to break 200 by then.  I'm hovering around 205 right now.  It's going to take some discipline at the plate.  One big thing to help along those lines is planning.  I've got quinoa, lots of squashes and lettuce ready to go for the week.  We bought some wild salmon for dinner tonight and the week's meals are sound for balancing weight loss with fuel for exercising.

Unfortunately on the running front I've decided to give myself a full week off of running.  The plantar fasciatis isn't a big deal, yet.  I plan on keeping it that way.  In the mean time, my left glute/hammy is still sore and troublesome.  Between the two I think the best is to give it some more time.  The thing is, I am VERY excited about training for a half marathon, and I know I need to be healthy before I start.  That means I'll lift 4 times again this week, and if the weather permits (last week it did not), I should 140 to 160 miles on the ole bike.

Now, one of the things I plan on doing this year at school is wearing a tie everyday except Friday (I usually wear a school t-shirt on Fridays).  Tuesday was the first day of class, so I had 3 days of tie wearing this week.  Here are the proofs.  Quite a change from having a huge beard just a short time ago.  The pictures are in order, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 

 

Here I am at the Warrior Dash last April.

Some runs are special

Vanilla may be the least exciting flavor of ice cream, but it's the coolest color of sunrise.  I realized that this morning.  The sunrise was SPECTACULAR.  My leg was quite good too.  I was down the hill (3/4 of a mile) about two minutes faster I have been in the past few months.  Still, I know by sitting wrong, or stretching or bending over, that if I stretch it out on a run I'm gonna be in trouble!  P A T I E N C E

Regardless, it was awesome to run a bit faster.  I didn't set out to increase my speed, I just go by feel.  If the leg is fine, no complaints, then I'm fine, no complaints.

I explored the neighborhood, deciding at the last second to turn left "here" and then right "here," and so on.  Then, I saw something I never knew existed.  It was a triple rainbow...but not like this kind.  I didn't have my phone, so no pictures.  :(

I've seen double rainbows like in the video before, but this was different.  First, there was no space between the rainbows.  Normally you just see one spectrum, yellow through violet.  Here, though, after violet, was yellow again and it repeated.  The rainbow didn't go across the sky, I only saw a small portion of it, like a random swipe from a broad painter's brush.  Either way, the colors were extremely vibrant through the middle and it was PDN (pretty darn neat).

When the rainbow was gone I looked at my watch and I'd run 28 minutes.  From where I was I could've been home in about 4 minutes, but that wasn't long enough.  I explored some more, wandered around and figured out later I did about a 5 mile run in 45 minutes or so.

I stretched, put the leg on ice and chowed down.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes.  I'm trying to decide if I should run again tomorrow morning or not.  It's that or an early morning bike ride.  Hmmm, decisions decisions.

Anyhow, here's to seeing PDN stuff while running and recovery!

What an interesting week this has been so far...

Yesterday morning I went on a short and slow 2 mile run with my daughter.  My injured leg behaved as expected, a little sore, but loose and no further aggravation.

Saturday I went on a pretty tough bike ride that really kicked my butt.  Sunday I went clothes shopping.  I have now replaced my entire wardrobe.  I think I'll end up dropping another pant size, down to a 32.  I still need more shirts, but I all in good time.

Yesterday I went to move my classroom.  I've volunteered to teach math in the freshman academy this year.  That means giving up my favorite precalculus class.  Oh well.  I'll still teaching college algebra and calculus for the community college. 

Yesterday was HOT.  My leg was tired from running and I had to lug everything completely across campus.  Once I got everything moved, the maintenance crew just so happened to have my new room scheduled for carpet cleaning.  I had to move everything back out!  And I'm not talking a few notebooks, but desks, a large table, filing cabinets and so on.

My high school is undergoing some major changes and state involvement as part of a $3 million dollar improvement grant.  The thing is, we had to frame data collected from a group of students that represents less than 8% of the total student body to qualify for the grant.  The money is going to help, but all of the other successful programs (the other 92%) are being completely revamped.  There are a lot of new, aggressive people that are well-intentioned but completely misinformed.  To further aggravate the situation, a $3500 bonus I was promised last year is questionable ... well, let's just say I better get my money! 

Not all frustration though.  Yesterday I also found out that my parents, and perhaps youngest sister, are moving to Tucson (about 60 miles from me)!  That's very exciting news.  My dad house-shopped yesterday and drove to my town to spend the night at his mother's home.  My dad has had a renewed interest in running and he, my daughter and I, planned on a short run this morning.

Normally I would have taken my wife's car to our rendezvous point, but she had to leave early for work.  I was stuck with my old 87 Ford F250 diesel.  The truck has been protecting the earth beneath from falling debris for the past few months.  When I got in it the fuel gauge wasn't working on the rear tank.  It was pegged on E.  I know it had a quarter tank it in...no doubt in my mind, even now!  The front tank's gauge never worked, but I was sure it was empty. 

My daughter and I get a mile down the road and the truck dies...out of fuel.  Ugh.  All three runners are on tight schedules this morning, so there goes the run.  I thought it was going to be neat to have three generations doing a jog together.  We'll have to try again later!

To make matters worse, I left my cell phone at home, so I couldn't call my wife.  No problem, we've already got our running gear...we were home after the short jog.

Since the truck hadn't been run in a while, the batteries were a little low.  I put a few gallons of fuel in a tank but didn't have the power to get the stupid beast started.  I jumped it with my wife's car, no luck.  I returned the car, called my uncle to come give me a jump start.

In the end, it took an hour total to get back on the road.  Ridiculous.

I'll spare the details, but there is a lot of upheaval right now.  None of it is bad, just stressful.  Most of it is of the nature that will be forgotten in three years.  But for now, I need to concentrate on being patient and calm and letting things happen as they will.

Just like running with an injury, patience and time are paramount!  Gotta be cool in the face of uncertainty or else I'll make thing worse.  That's my mantra for the month of August.  Wish me luck!

Today is my NEW birthday. Now I'm undercover.

I'm going to share some stories from this week that a few months ago would've made me feel proud.  But now, they're just funny experiences.  I guess that I've really changed a lot.  I don't see myself as the person most people remember me as anymore.

From what I've read, people that keep the weight off for a year are the ones that keep it off for good (generally speaking).  Well, today is officially one year since I started.  A year ago today I vowed to exercise every workday.  I knew I'd lose weight that way.

No longer is weight loss my primary goal.  Now I want to qualify as a platinum cyclist and I would like to qualify for the Boston marathon.  Both are huge goals, but there you have it.  A lot changes in a year.

Before I share the stories with you, let me say that I finally feel like a responsible adult.  I've used an entire tube of lip balm without having it go through the washing machine or being lost!

Thank you, but please hold your applause until after the show!

Now it's official:  The plateau is BUSTED.  I've been stuck between 210 and 215 since April.  Again, I'm losing body fat and dropping clothes sizes.  But the weight has been stuck.  I finally said, "Whatever...I'm going back to work in a month (I'm a teacher).  Until then I'll workout hard but eat whatever comes my way."

Luckily for me, most of what comes my way is fruits and veggies, but I did eat out and ate a lot.  I ate cookies and cake, had some beer and pizza.  I haven't been able to run in this time period either.   

Tuesday I got on the scale for the first time in two weeks.  I expected to see 217 or so.  Nope.  205!  Two - Oh - Five!  I got on the scale the next day and was two pounds less...203.  Dang dang!  In the army I weighed 205 to 210.  Sah-weet!  Now if I could only run as fast as I did then I'd be set.


I started the whole ordeal on July 29th, 2010.  I wouldn't even allow myself to step on the scale until Labor Day (285 lbs!).  I had lost quite a bit of weight in that first month.  It comes off fast at first!  But now, I'm completely undercover in my new body.  Just for reference, here I am last September.  Keep in mind that at this point I'd probably lost 20 pounds, though I can't remember exactly when the picture was taken. 

 

Now, here I am about a month ago trying on an AWESOME jacket at a Goodwill.  I felt like I should've been in Dumb and Dumber in that thing...dang, I should've bought it!

Story Time:

Yesterday I was walking with one of the assistant principals.  I asked her to unlock a room for me.  We exchanged small talk about the coming year and so on.  I was softening her up before I went in for the kill.  See, I want another whiteboard in my room.  Teaching math requires a lot of space and I always run out.

Here's the conversation:

Me:  Were you able to locate a spare whiteboard?
AP:  Yes, but Mr. Brown already requested it.
(I am Mr. Brown.  There is another, but he's an ROTC leader and has 3 in his room...he doesn't use them.)
Me:  Ok...(thinking...)
A moment passes as we walk in silence.
Me:  Wait, who?
AP:  Mr. Brown...oh, um...
By this time I knew she messed up.  I gave her an out.
Me:  I bet he asked for something else and the two items have been switched.  Do I have a huge bundle of rope in my room now?

Later, I asked the other Mr. Brown and he said he had NOT requested anything from her!

--------------------------------

I'm walking on campus and see a former student that graduated last year walking the other direction.  He's extremely pleasant, professional even.  Quite an odd thing for a teenage boy (nice though).

I saw him and said, "Hello Raul."
He walked by and said, "Good morning."  Strange, he didn't call me by name.  No biggie.

We passed each other.  A few seconds later he calls out, "Mr. Brown?!?!?!?!"
I said yes.
He said, "Whoa, now that's a change!"

-----------------------------------
Over the past three weeks I've been working in a summer math academy to help incoming freshman prepare for high school.  I've gotten to know some new faculty and staff.  They have NO idea of the former me.  I'm walking with one of these people, a very nice woman named Bea.  Bea is extremely overweight (only mentioning because it comes into play).

We walk into the school's administration building where for the first time in a month and a half I see some of the older staff members.  They're huddled in an informal semi-circle discussing whatever.  Bea and I wedge ourselves into the group.  I nod at Eleanor, who is someone I've known for years.  Bea says her bit, then I say mine.  I didn't get a full word out when Eleanor interrupts me:  "Whoa, I totally forgot what you looked like!"

Bea says, "What did you used to look like?"
I showed her a picture.
She asks what I've done.  I give the standard response, "Diet and exercise, that's it."
She, true to the script, looks at me with complete disbelief.  It happens this way every time an overweight person asks what I've done to lose weight.  It's a look that says they believe I am hiding my secret so I can sell it later for great profit!

------------------------------------------

My oldest daughter is a senior this year.  She was to stop by my classroom and pick up some documents for registration.  She brought with her two former students, one that graduated last year and the other graduated two years ago.  I know both students well.

I step outside of my door (my class is working on something) and the oldest of the former students lets out a very loud gasp as her hand jerks to her face as though she's trying to shove the gasp back in!  She was literally speechless for a few moments before finally finding the words to express her surprise in my change in appearance.

My wife is disappearing! (and more MSPaint art*)

Yup.  She's disappearing.  I've known her since I was 14 and she's disappearing.  Yet, I'm seeing more and more of her.  It's awesome.

Today we had to go clothes shopping, for both of us.  Like many of us do when gaining weight, we often put off moving up in sizes even though we by all rights should.  It's like admitting defeat.  Well, today we went the other way.  Her work clothes looked huge and sloppy.  They were falling off!  That bike riding is paying off after just three weeks.  I'm so happy for her.

On running notes:  Today I went on an easy 2 mile run.  I left the watch at home.  I always worry about speed and time, but that's has its place...which is nowhere near the first outdoors run in almost a month due to various left leg injuries.

As I mentioned it was my first outdoor run since injuring myself.  I left at 6 am and it was a beautiful morning.  It rained all night and was cloudy this morning.  The route I took is along a trail and dry river bed.  Because of the rain, the river bed was like running on the beach, much more pleasant than normal.

It was such a treat.  To sweeten the deal my youngest daughter, 12, came along with me.  What a way to start a day!  Tomorrow I'm going on a short, fast ride, and then a slightly longer run Friday morning.  I'll continue to heal so long as I can be patient and measured.

Here's to losing weight and being happier for it!

Wait...yup, I did. I just had an idea. And some art work.

I've come to terms with the fact that exercise will help you maintain weight. But to lose weight, diet is more important. Ugh. That sucks because I have a sweet tooth. Today at a meeting the host brought out a bag of mini-snickers. I had two. They were only 30 calories each, but that's just junk food. Then, one of the principals made chocolate chip cookies last night and brought one for each of us. I ate that too.

I get from the gym today and was starving. I over ate an unusually unhealthy dinner and was still hungry. So, I made some air-popped popcorn and then had a few pieces of a melon. It's one thing to resist eating certain foods (which I'm actually pretty good at), but something else entirely when you're STARVING! Quickened metabolism and high volumes of cardiovascular exercise leave me ravenous. Remember the Jurassic Park where the T-Rex eats anything that moves???? Yeah, like that.Eating is tough. Oh well. I did spend an hour lifting weights (worked on my back and shoulders and as always core) and then spent an hour on the treadmill. I couldn't (or wouldn't allow myself) run much, so I just added time to compensate for the lower intensity.

Anyhow, my weight is dropping very slowly. VERY slowly. But, it's dropping and I'm feeling great, so it's all good. However, again, my body fat is really coming off. I can see it everywhere. If I sneak up on it, I sometimes even have the shadows of a 6 pack! I still have a pinchable layer of insulating blubber to get through, but last year at this time I had a full keg!

It's true that obstacles provided unexpected opportunities (the point, to me, of Lance Armstrong's book It's Not About the Bike). Since I'm injured and can't run, I've been riding my bike a lot more. I'm having a great time doing it...I realized that I was really burned out on it. Now, I'm thinking that I would like to participate in El Tour de Tucson in November. The potential problem is that I've already signed up for a half marathon that is on December 11th.

I'm researching and posting on message boards, checking out triathlon training plans and so on trying to figure out a schedule. The thing is, I don't want to participate in either just to finish. If I'm going to do something I want it to be at a high level (for me) or I will lose interest.

Basically the question is: How do you maintain two long workouts (one riding and one running) in a week, or do you even need to? Or, do you alternate weeks, one long ride, next week long run? Ultimately, there's only one way to find out that I know of...to try.

Either way, there's a family gathering about 80 miles from my home this Saturday and I'm going to ride my bicycle to it. It'll be my longest ride since April and I'm curious to see how it goes. I'm lighter and in better overall shape, just not sure I have the legs for that amount of time anymore. I'll just take my time and enjoy the ride.

I've added a map of where I'll be traveling, for your viewing pleasure. :D

Now you have to admit, even when you like your in-laws (like I do), this is a good distance for keeping the peace. I know that I can wear on people.

So, if you've made it this far, you deserve a reward. I decided to draw a little something using microsoft paint. It's my called losing weight. :D Hope you like it! I'm going to blame the crudeness of it on using a mouse to draw in Paint...but the truth is, it'd look like that on paper too. It's all for fun!

And finally some good news!

With all I've been reading lately on people's blogs about injuries, re-injuries and stubborn injuries, I thought I'd share that sometimes rest, stretching and strengthening really does work...at least a little.

I've not run for 3 weeks at all. It's been a month since I hurt my knee which lead to a hamstring/glute issue. I've been doing stretches and lunges and so on. I've worked on my core more than normal and ridden a bike and ... what's the verb to describe using an elliptical machine? Anyhow, that's what I've done.

Today I decided that if I could go through some strength training and stretching without any pain, I'd try a SLOW one mile (only) run on the tread mill.

All went well. I did the TM mile at a 10 minute pace with an incline of 1%. No problems. I stretched afterwards and felt good. It still doesn't feel healthy when stretching, but it's getting there. Tomorrow I'm NOT going to try and run, but will go for a long, hilly walk instead.

So, for those of you that are injured, I'm not gloating...I'm still a long way from healthy. I'm just sharing to say that you can't hurry the healing. Give it time and be vigilant.

For the rest of you, stay healthy!

Odoriferous Reflections

Fact: Athletes stink.

It's a simple fact. We stink when we exercise and our sweaty clothes can really make the closet hamper overpowering. That's pretty obvious to all involved, but something that takes some adjustment for those becoming more athletic.

There are quite a few olfactory stimuli that change when changing your lifestyle, many unexpected.

The most surprising is that when you lose a lot of weight and change your diet permanently, your body odor changes.

I'm not talking about how, when I first joined the gym, I'd be there when the opened at 5 am, slathered in icy hot. I'd workout for an hour and then rush home so I could be ready for work. Being as heavy as I was I'd be drenched in sweat. I'd wear warm clothes to sweat more in fact. I didn't have time to change or shower at the gym. I'd just let my icy hot-spiked sweat soak into my wife's car. (Her car is way cheaper to drive than my truck.) She'd get in the car shortly after I returned home and said it smelled like "old people" when she worked at a nursing home.

I'm talking about the inherent smell we develop over the course of a day due to our body chemistry. Mine, I've been informed by my wife, is now worse. And I have to agree with her because she's my wife and a wrong husband is a happy one...but also because I do smell worse. Mine is, well, I would say less pleasant, but that would imply that my funk used to be nice!

Now, smell is a big thing, especially to women, though many may not know it. Women are attracted more attracted to men who are significantly genetically different than those who are genetically similar. Also, mothers apparently can identify their newborns by smell alone (though I can't find the article at the moment). Also, mother rank their baby's #2, #1. I used to think my wife was nuts...she liked to sleep one of my dirty shirts if I was out of town. Apparently we our genetic differences are vast!

What do we men get out of smell? Well, I can sniff out a good restaurant or someone else's gym sock (not my own) from a mile away. That's about it.

What made me think of all of this happened this morning. I went on a ride with my wife. She's new to bicycling and doesn't have a lot of equipment yet. So, this morning she was wearing a pair of my riding gloves (they save the palms of your hands). Actually, she was wearing the pair I wear most of the time. I knew they stunk. They remind me to wash them each time I put them on. They're salt crusted to the point where they look grey on the back of the hands. She probably thought they were that color naturally.

We had been riding for about 20 minutes when I said, "Hey, I'll give you a dollar if you smell that glove."

She took a wiff and jerked back so hard that the other hand that was on the bike pulled back causing the front tire to jerk and shake. She almost went off the bike the other direction trying to correct the imbalance.

All from a stinky man glove. Best dollar I ever spent!

Food and Weight Loss

There are two key relationships between food and weight loss.

1. Calorie Total

2. Calorie Composition

1. If you have a deficit of calories, eat less than you use a day, you will lose weight, regardless of WHAT you're eating. That is, how much you eat is more important to total weight loss than what you eat.

There's no way around it. If you want to lose weight you have to consume fewer calories than you use.

The thing is, it's probably NOT just about losing weight. The goal is probably to lose weight permanently and to be healthier. They're not necessarily the same thing!

2. If you eat "healthy" foods your digestive system will function better as will your immune systems and probably every system in your body. So the quality and composition of the food you're eating is very important but without #1, it won't help you lose weight.

The best is to do both...eat reasonable portions of quality food. Then, you'll get the double whammy! That is, will you lose weight and be healthier aside from the weight loss.

For me this all has to do with Portion Control...that's my most difficult hurdle. Cutting out certain foods is NOT too difficult for me. Snacking isn't too difficult for me either, provided I get the proper amount (1) and type (2) of food at my meals and planned snacks.

One thing I've noticed is that the less prepared the food I eat is, the more likely I am to get both aspects honored appropriately. That is, if I buy whole foods and use them for my meals instead of buying processed food items, I'm going to consume fewer calories while eating better food. The kicker is that, usually, I will be more satisfied. That means, portion control is easier.

The thing I've noticed with portion control is that there are two motors at work. The first is hunger. If the portion is appropriate and I'm still hungry sometimes I ate too fast. Waiting 20 minutes or drinking more water sometimes helps. Sometimes, I'll still be hungry after both of those and will permit myself something else to eat. I am trying to get away from eating seconds because of the second driving force in portion control.

The second driving force is more difficult because it requires only will-power. The second thing that causes me to disregard portion control is desire...I like the food and want more of it because it tastes good. I'm not longer hungry, in fact, I'm full, but I want more because it's good. Ephemeral experiences are like this. We can't store them up for later. It's here now and then it'll be gone, so get while the gettin' is good!

This takes a philosophical approach. We must balance current pleasure with the prospect of future pleasure. So, perhaps knowing ahead of time that a meal is going to be delicious will help us to savor it and appreciate it while helping us restrain from gluttony.

So, portion control is a tricky thing. Having a game plan is a must!

Unexpected day off...

One of the many things I need to work on is listening to my body. In the past I've repeatedly pushed through warning signs headlong into injury.

The other day I fought through the doldrums and ended up having a good run. I believe that was the right decision. But each workout since then has been a battle (either physical or mental) and each has been less fruitful. (Usually I'm just excited to "go.")

I woke up this morning and felt hungover. I haven't had any alcohol at all, so I know that's not the case. I ached all over and was extremely tired, fatigued. After a full night's restful sleep, that's a sign that I need a break. I was supposed to do an easy run this morning, but that's postponed. Either I'll do it this afternoon or not at all.

Now, one other issue. I've been craving something for a few days. I think it's plain potato chips, like regular plain Ruffles, but not that brand (don't like them). I've not touched anything like that for months and months, don't know why I have a sudden craving for them.

I figured it out while standing at a store's register yesterday. There was a case of them on display. I didn't buy them and it wasn't very hard NOT to. Instead, for dinner, I thinly sliced some new potatoes and pan fried them (using only cooking spray in a cast iron skillet) with some onions. That kind of did the trick. But, not entirely.

Salty and crunchy elusiveness, why do you taunt me so?

Much Better

I was on the road at 6 am this morning. Much better than yesterday. In fact, it was a little cold!

Today was going to be my longest run yet, 7 3/4 miles. My previous longest was 6 1/2. In addition, the route is very hilly, with three 300 foot uninterrupted climbs and countless shorter climbs. My plan was to start slow and make each mile faster than the previous. If you start slow enough, it's certainly possible! The only mile I was worried about was the second to last as it had the second most difficult climb and was of course at the end.

Anyhow, I did well, each mile was faster than the previous, though they were all slow. Even so, at the end I was pretty tired. The last stretch was of course not a full mile, but it was by far my fastest pace, so I was very happy about how I finished.

But, wow, am I tired. Those nagging injuries become a lot more than nagging after an hour of running! It hurts to move right now.

On a side note, I was under 210 this morning on the scale, after my run, 208 to be specific. I wouldn't call myself as being out of my 21X plateau just yet, but there are some encouraging signs that I'm gonna break through. I've been stuck at 210 and 216 pounds for almost two months. So, this feels good!

Also, I weigh myself on the Wii fit because it keeps record of weight changes nicely. This was the first time I wasn't in the obese category, I was just overweight.