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.   

As I near 100

I don't know exactly when I'll hit the 100 pounds lost, or if, for that matter, I already have.  It's truly irrelevant because my original goal was never to lose weight.  But as I near the point where I weighed myself at my heaviest, which was after about two months of diet and exercise where I'd lost a very measurable amount of weight, I thought I'd share some things that I've noticed, learned and experienced.

Originally I started blogging to chronicle those very experiences.  But, now, in hindsight, some things are quite different. 

There is nothing special about me, save one thing:  I can pick a great wife.  That's the only thing I have that is truly superior.  I'll spare the details, but the point is, she's helped me a lot just by being supportive and patient with me.  I also mention it because there is no secret to losing weight.  This isn't something that just works for people in group A and if you've tried to lose weight and failed you're in group B.

In this post I'd like to share what I believed help make this attempt successful.  I'm not going to suggest or advise people on things in particular, I'm not an expert at all, but rather just share what worked for me in a general sense.  Also, I'd like to remind you that this is in hindsight.  I didn't know these three things would be important before I started.  But after talking with people and thinking about how things played out, I think these three things were key.

I think I was successful because of three major things.

1.  My goal was simple, appropriate and approachable.

My original goal was simple:  I wanted to be healthier and more active.  I wanted to run, always loved it. I wanted to feel better.

I had tried other motivations like looking better, getting recognition in contests and so on.  But the truth is, while I'm as conceited as the next guy, I'm not really motivated by those things.  The push wasn't strong enough to last more than a few months at the most.
 
2.  I had an easily executed plan.

My plan was to exercise every day I worked.  So, no exercising on the weekends or holidays.  But if I worked, I'd get up early and do something.  At first this consisted of just walking a few miles, though they're very hilly and even now are exercise for me.

After a few weeks I began to sprinkle in a little running here and there.  Not only was I way out of shape, but I was so heavy (started running at about 290 pounds), that it was murder on my body.  I'd run in the morning and could barely walk the rest of the day, knees looking like balloons.

It was only at this point that weight loss began to become part of my thinking.  And this time, opposed to previously, the weight loss was in support of my original goal, to be healthier and more active.

3.  I kept it to myself, kept it low key.

There is a small scene in John Steinbeck's The Pearl, where the natives are talking and the conversation grows boisterous.  The men are bragging, become full of themselves and their language grows to match how they're feeling.

Kino, if I remember right, thinks to himself that if he speaks his intentions, he'll certainly betray them.  I have found this to be very powerful and true of me.  I certainly can be full of myself, but am usually well-intentioned.  However, I find that if I speak my intentions, I am somehow relieved of the obligation to follow through.

It's similar to someone that says, "I'll be honest with you," or, "I'll do my homework today, I promise."  Most of the time, the people are true in their sentiments, but later their actions drift away from their intentions.   It's just human nature.

The point of it all is, I didn't mention anything to anybody about being healthier for the first month and a half.  I'd say that I went for a walk, or maybe that I was exercising.  I'd share with a friend that I wasn't going to eat a double quarter pounder with cheese today because I wanted to be smarter.  But those came up in natural course of conversation.  I never looked to share news with someone for a while.  I had to own it before I could share it.

There are other factors, of course.  My cousin had started losing weight before I started and I was able to use him as a resource.  I have friends that are athletes and I pick their brains time and again.  My grandfather exercised every work day.  He'd get up at 4 am and lift weights and go on a run.  Unfortunately I never really got to know him as an adult, but I remember how he'd go about his business.  But I had him as a role model.  These made things easier for me.  I didn't have as many things to figure out, no doubts that it could be done.

While I'm doing a lot more now than exercising every work day, and at the moment I'm aggressively cutting weight (for the first time), my goal is still to be healthier and more active.  Right now I'm chasing a weight because it will help me ride and run faster...and I want to race!

A picture is worth one thousand words...so...

I hope you find this informative and encouraging.  The key to losing weight for me is this:  The goal is to be healthier, the weight will follow.

Foam Roller, Where Have You Been?

I finally bought a foam roller.  With my gift certificate, I ended up spending less than I would've on gatorades and food on a solo century ride.  I only regret not buying one MONTHS ago.

I've been having ITB issues, compiled with other weird stuff.  The other stuff went away leaving just the ITB and its classic symptoms.  My very first experience on A roller wasn't too bad.  But, I didn't have any issues at the moment.  First time on my own roller...agony.  But afterwards the muscles were warm and felt good.

The next day I used it again and it wasn't nearly as bad.

Drink or Breathe

This is the week after El Tour de Tucson.  I love the picture with a mouth full of water and a head full of a battle...focus on cramps or pushing!

Anyhow, I mention it because I was very fatigued this week.  If I remember correctly, Wednesday morning I woke up and had a pulse in the high 60's!  It's normally in the high 40's when I'm walking around the store.  You know, we read about tapering and how that feels, about post-event lows and how that feels...but to know empirically is to really know!

This week I worked in three runs summing to 22 miles and all felt good.  The one that felt the best was today's, which was also my longest, 10 miles.  I shot for a mid to low 9 mm range (because of what I'd been told by "smart coach") and was right there.  That is my longest run to date and certainly the longest I've done in toe shoes.  My feet did hurt the last three miles or so.

As I was finishing I performed some self-evaluation.  I wondered how three more miles in two weeks was going to feel.  How was I going to be able to do it?  I think I'll be alright, as long as I can keep it at a similar pace to today.  My legs felt good, muscles a little tired.  Cardiovascular-wise, I had gobs left in the tank.  My feet hurt, but that's not new.  Each new distance provides new pain there with the shoes as I'm getting used to them.

The coolest thing about today's run was that my wife went with me, kind of.  She rode her bike about 20 miles while I ran.  We left and finished at the same spot.  That was pretty cool.  Nice to have her involved.

Regarding Operation Final Cut

This is week one of Operation Final Cut.  Over the next six months I am going to build my running base so I can begin, hopefully uninterrupted, marathon training...plus a Rim to Rim expedition with my brother-in-law.  I'm also going to really focus on dropping my remaining weight.  I think I could lose another twenty pounds, but maybe 25.  

To start the whole thing off, I have a bet with my cousin.  He's been laid up for a few months with a broken leg.  So our first weigh-in was the day after Thanksgiving (after some compromise).  So, on Thanksgiving, I loaded up.  Salt, fluids, food food food.  Friday morning I weighed a surprising 211.4.  Sweet.  I think a conservative 6 pounds of that was water retention.  :D  

I hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Whipping Post

My theme song for participation in El Tour de Tucson was Whipping Post, by the Allman Brothers, recorded live at the Filmore East.

I'm tied...to the whipping post, tied...to the whipping post.  Sometimes I feel like I'm dying.

Too appropriate.

Yesterday I ate so much food and drank so much I was rather miserable.  I ate dinner at 3:00 pm, hoping to have cleared everything by race time.  I didn't want to have to invoke Gandolf's fight against the Balrog, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" during the race.

But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I had it all planned out...what to take for fuel and when to eat it.  The only thing I wasn't sure about was if and when I'd have to stop for water.

But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I had also mapped out a cue sheet of when I expected to be where on the course, and what I expected to do next (effort-wise).

But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I did exactly what I didn't want to do.  I started out too fast because I was too far behind the fast groups.  I had to skip between packs and as a result I was cramping well before mile 50 (of the 111.7 mile ride).  I spent a lot of time punching and massaging my left thigh to get it to loosen.

That early start forced me to be very weak at my strongest point...hills.  In fact, someone I'd been riding with said he looked forward to the hills so he could catch up with me.  We were tooling up the biggest hill, I'm just trying to avoid hitting the cramp stage again, so I'm not working very hard at all.  We're talking and sharing stores, in particular riding experiences.  I mentioned it was my first tour.  He asked how long I'd been riding and I shared that about 14 months ago I was around 300 pounds.  That almost cause a small accident as riders ahead jerked their heads back to see me.  At the time we are pace for 5:20!

I caught my second wind and the cramps went away for a while.  I cooked along with a group for about 45 minutes and we smoked at a steady 28-30 mph!  That was freaking sweet.  During that portion of the race a young lady asked to buy me a beer after the race.

I stopped to get water and use the bathroom before the last 28 miles, which are always the toughest of this course, and in particular today because of a strong wind directly in our faces.

After stopping for water, a few of us rode a half mile down the road only to be stopped at the train.  Not a bad thing as a large group formed, which allowed us to make better time into the wind and up the hill.  The group proved very fast, almost 30 mph uphill into the wind and I soon began to cramp again.

I dropped out of the group after 12 miles.  I still had 16 to go and found myself facing the wind and steady climb alone with cramping legs and that internal heat that says I've redlined too many times already.  I rode along pushing as much as I could.  I looked for my last cliff bar...couldn't find it (it fell out in the car!).  I recovered on the bike and went along as best I could before eventually catching another group.

When I finished I had a decent push, pulling ahead of my pack for a while...but then the cramps struck again and I just coasted in, not pedaling at all.

My unofficial time was 5:49:20.  My chip time will be quite a bit faster.  Either way, I wanted to break 6 hours and even if I hadn't, my effort was superior.  I've never worked that hard at anything.  I pushed and pushed and had nothing left...then I'd push some more.

I didn't ride alone today.  My brother-in-law, whose company sponsored me, joined me.  He's been riding just 3 months.  He did the 111 mile route and completed it in 6:40!  Wow.  Quite a special day.

The highlight of the day:  Seeing my wife at the finish line.

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!

Disappointed my running partner this morning and a running documentary review

My youngest daughter received some running outfits from her aunt and uncle for her birthday.  She asked if I was up for running on Sunday, but I wasn't.  I needed a day off.  But, I was going running this morning, early.

She said to wake her this morning and she would decide then if she wanted to get up that early.  So, this morning, I tried waking her.  Normally, she's easy to wake.  But after 3 tries without response I figured I'd had my answer and went without her.

I explored the trails around a wash near my house and found a nice 4 mile route.  I am still nursing my injured leg, so I just went at a barely moving pace.  I really did what would be called a Zen Run on a show I watched last night.

When I returned home from my run my running partner came down stairs.  She slept in her running outfit.  She was so disappointed that she didn't wake up when I called her.  I felt terrible.  She was so cute all sleepy faced wearing her running outfit.  She came up with a contingency plan for the future...cell phone under her pillow.  I can call her in the future if she doesn't wake. 

Last night we watched The Spirit of the Marathon.  It followed six (I think) participants of the Chicago Marathon, all of various walks of life and ability levels.  The movie did a good job following each different person through their trials and background. 

One particular person had the best quotes, or at least, recited them.  Her name was Lori and she was a mid/late 20's woman (I'm guessing) that was running to raise money for an adoption agency.  She trained seriously and enjoyed running.  I believe it was her first marathon. 

One thing I really identified with was when she said people asked her if she was going to win the marathon.  To all but a very select elite, winning has NOTHING to do with participation.  So, not just people around me don't get that (though mine was on a bike race not a marathon).

Lori's boyfriend mentioned that he believed that the purpose of public transportation was to assist those needing to travel farther than 5 miles.  He also mentioned the insanity of running 20 miles when one ends up where they started.  Good points, both of them!

There was a couple who were serious marathoners trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  The women said that she admired those who ran without watches.  She called then Zen Runners.  They run for the pure pleasure of running.  Well, sometimes, they also run that way because they're recovering from injury (as in my case)!

There was an older man, close to 70.  He started running marathons when he was 65.  He helped a lot of first timers train and enticed his daughter and new daughter-in-law to run the marathon.  He said something that struck me, and I'll paraphrase.  He said something along the lines that, Running consumes you.  Even if you don't want to talk about it, it's what you think about, so it comes out.  You don't care if people get tired of hearing about running, it's on your mind.  

In all, it was neat to hear each runner's perspective, motivation and initial spark of interest in running.  It certainly made me want to run this morning! 

Today's art work is in celebration of one of my favorite foods...chili. 

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!

Day 1 Commuting Review

This week I am going to commute from home to work (vacation is over), to the gym, then home. The total trip is only 17 miles. The difficult part will be packing clothes and food and of course weather.

The morning's trip was uneventful. 6 mile shot, almost all down hill. I was at work, in my classroom, in well under 20 minutes.

I changed clothes and was glad to not have forgotten any garments. It was early, before the heat, and about as easy as a ride as I could hope for so I wasn't stinky...until I got to school. The air conditioner in my new room is DEAD. They couldn't fix it today either. I was stinky by the time class was over!

But, the stuff I was in charge of went well. Snacks, no problems. Fluids went well, no problems.

Right now I'm teaching a type of summer school that is from 8 to 12, Monday through Friday. I eat a banana and something light at noon, go to the gym and workout, then eat again when I get home.

When I got to work, I went to prop the outside door open with a large rock. Out from behind the rock jumped one of these:

When it's time to leave work it's lightly raining, but no lightning or thunder, so I'm good to go. A bit windy and wet for the 7 miles or so to the gym, but nothing bad. I worked out for 35 or 40 minutes working on core and arms (arms are my fun day), then headed home. Still overcast (thankfully) and humid (a nice treat sometimes) and done.

All in all, I'm all grins. I'm not sure this is something I'd like to do permanently here because there aren't any bike lanes and very few shoulders. But I'm going to give it the old college try for the week. That'll be about 85 miles of commuting, plus whatever riding for exercise I throw in later.

The thing that surprised me is how tired my legs are. I guess because each section is broken down into about 6 mile segments I feel like I don't have to pace myself. So, I'm zipping along on the flat stuff 20 to 22 mph and hammering out the small hills, up and down. Not sure that's going to be sustainable.

As far as running goes, I'm still on the shelf. :( I've got a 5K run on Saturday. I will go and at least walk. If I can run it was be a very light jog. The hamstring is just not right! Luckily it's something that isn't bothered by riding!

Until next time boys and girls, happy running!

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!

Phil Staples

I recently watched the docudrama "Fat, Sick & Half Dead." Basically, a 320 pound, 40 year old business man decides to reclaim his health. It struck me as he was about the same size and age as me. He went about things quite differently than I did though.

He loses weight like drug addict would enter a detox clinic. The man is Australian, but travels to America for 60 days (removes himself from his society) where he only consumes fruit and vegetable juice (goes cold turkey) from a juicer (not prepacked stuff). Of course he loose an incredible amount of weight and in a short time.

His hope is to restart things, drop a huge amount of weight in a short amount of time and then develop a healthy lifestyle. Though I wouldn't promote some of his drastic measures, I found his motives to be sound and his demeanor to be of someone who wants to help others as he helped himself.

In his travels he meets a morbidly obese truck drive named Phil Staples. Phil NEEDED drastic measures. It is Phil's story that got me. Phil was well over 400 pounds and could barely walk. He was literally killing himself with food. He was ashamed of himself and afraid of what was to come.

Phil lost an incredible amount of weight and went from walking 10 minutes (his total limit at first) to actually jogging! His reclaimed his health and became a huge motivation and influence to the people around him. He got his health under control and seemingly regained a reasonable grasp on his life.

What struck me was how happy Phil was just to be enjoying his new found health. He was happy running a post pattern while his son threw him the football. He was happy jogging and sharing his journey with others. He was a sad sack that turned into a very happy man. The human element of Phil captured in this film was priceless. Here's to Phil!

It made me think about throwing away my watch when I run. To run is a gift. Not everybody can run. When I start worrying about how fast I'm going or how far I'm going is when I injure myself. And my goals really have nothing to do with running fast or a certain distance. Sure, I have time and distance goals, but the real objective is to be healthier, enjoy the act of exercising and participating in physical activities. And truly, the goal for me, is to enjoy all of the other things that go along with it.

When I ran my fastest 2 miles in the army, 11:30, I wasn't at all worried about running fast. I had no goal other than to run. I felt good and pushed myself for the experience of pushing. That day I remember feeling great and really being in tune with myself. I noticed things about my feet and breathing that I had never noticed before. I wasn't worried about the clock. I beat my official PR that day by 35 seconds.

Now I'm not really going to throw away my watch. In fact this morning, I used my watch as a tool on my bike ride. I had a 10 mile loop with a few hills in it that I wanted to cover in 30 minutes. But, I really enjoyed what I was doing. I didn't complain that I'd rather be running. I went fast, averaging around 24 mph on the straight flat stuff and just enjoyed the morning and the experience of being able to be physical.

Again, I'm lucky to be able to ride, have a nice bike to ride and a great place to ride it. And I've put literally 10 times more miles on my bicycle this year than my motorcycle! Whoa! Who'd have guessed that!

In the mean time, I'm incorporating strengthening exercises into my routine to promote healing of the hamstring, but also to help prevent future injuries.

And...it dawned on me last night (bragging here) that my pant size is way less than my age! Eleven months ago I was squeezing into a 44 with a huge over-hang, and now I'm easily slipping into a 34 and probably need 32's! :D Ouch, I think I just strained something patting myself on the back.

Sssshhh. Don't look now, but ...

My oldest daughter has been running. I suspect she's secretly interested in running a 5K race with me in a few weeks. Yesterday she ran 2 miles on the treadmill in the morning, then 3 1/2 in the evening. I came come and she asked, "How long is 5K again?"

When I told her she said, "Wow, I was soooo wrong. I can run 5K."

Now, she's not setting any speed records, but this is the really the first time she's shown interest in any sort of athletic endeavor. She's a musician and will be a senior in high school this year.

Two nights ago we (my family) watched "The Marathon Challenge." (We got it from netflix.) It's a show put on by Nova where they take 13 sedentary people from all walks of life and see if they can run a marathon with 10 months of training. It was a neat show because you really got to see the human element of running. Why people run, to get away from things and somehow inside their own head.

I think this motivated my wife. She used the treadmill that evening more vigorously than normal. Poor girl is having some foot and knee issues though and I know they're painful problems! Shoes might help the foot (big toe joint), and the knees...tough one there as she's had knee pain her whole life.

My youngest daughter has been less interested in running as the summer has worn on, and that's ok. She'll run once or twice a week and has a great time doing it. She's active and healthy and not being a total vegetable watching TV and playing video games this summer. She's making wallets and jewelry from duct tape instead!

So, ssssshhh, don't look now but there are some intentional changes being made by my family members! The only verbalization or outward action I've taken in my lifestyle change has been requesting certain foods, skipping certain foods that are served, and throwing away a bag of potato chips that my mother-in-law gave us.

I never intended for my family to follow my lead, my motivation was purely selfish. I wanted to live healthier for my own health.

One thing I've learned is that if your intentions are true to your actions, ancillary positives can happen. But if your intentions don't align with your actions, futility is your reward.

Example: In teaching math when the focus is on learning math and promoting work-ethic, a lot of other positives are taken from the experience by my students. They come away with pride and accomplishment. This translates to other areas of their lives. But, my goal in the classroom is single-minded: To help them learn math by learning to work hard.

If my goal was to make my student feel proud and have senses of accomplishment, I'd fail at that and they'd not learn. I see it happen all of the time with other teachers. They want to help the kids, but aren't going about it correctly. They need to be in social services so their intentions match their actions.

The other day, CompulsiveRunner discussed how running isn't the best method for losing weight. Pennsy also mentioned that when he ran in college to lose weight there was no joy in it. It struck me that running for him then was more of a flagellation than exercise. He said, "But running to lose weight was just another way of affirming how fat and ugly I thought I was." In The Marathon Challenge, only one person lost weight and she was doing other things beyond running to do so.

With dietary and exercises changes, my goal is to be healthier. Turns out I get the bonus of being happier, more content, and my family is participating as well. Who knows what they'll get out of it. I am happy about it though because they're doing it on their own, for their own reasons, not to please me!

I just wanted to share these thoughts and observations with you and brag a little bit about my family. Thanks for reading and happy running!

New Shoes, New Trail, New Pain, New (first) Races

I bought some new running shoes yesterday, New Balance MT101's.

Here's a good review of them if you want to get the details. Basically, it's a lightweight trail racing flat.

Where I live and run there are three major issues for shoes.

1. Traction
2. Protection from sharp stuff
3. Keeping debris out

Traction was surprisingly good. The widely spaced lugs really grabbed rock, loose soil and all on inclines and declines.

The protection from sharp stuff is yet to be determined. But they have a rock plate which is a good start! While having basically no padding, they felt very comfortable even on unsealed asphalt. My other trail shoes have more padding and are less comfortable.

The third thing, keeping out sand, pebbles and other debris. I went on a short 2 mile trail run that saw just about everything there is to see...deep course sand, soft sand, rocks, hard packed dirt, weeds, hills and dry washes. Now the trail was very short but my feet were clean save one small pebble which worked its way out of my shoe on its own. That seems to be an improvement over my other shoes. We'll see on longer runs when I'm running more aggressively.

New Trail

When walking the other evening with my wife I found a new trail. Well, new to me. It's a four wheeler trail cut through the desert. It winds around trees along a dry river bed, up and over a small but steep hill and then loops back on itself. The trail starts about 1/4 of a mile from my door step. Out and back from my house and just a hair over two miles! I could easily add a little road to the path and make a nice 3 mile recovery run route.

New Pain

Yesterday I had a sore knee (left) that caused me to stop mid run. I walked it off and finished the run, about another 2 1/2 miles or so. As the day wore on, my entire left leg was sore, especially the hamstring and hip. I iced everything and used compression wraps and decided to take it even easier than normal on today's recovery run. I warmed up and stretched before running and stretched with greater focus after. Right now I'm sitting on ice, have the knee iced and soon will take a cool bath and then wrap up with neoprene compression wraps. I think I need a wet suit!

New Races

I've signed up for some races. In the past I've competed in a road bike race (April 2011) and a Warrior Dash (April 2011). The road bike race I took very seriously, but the Warrior Dash was just for fun. So, these races I've signed up for are new for me. I'm excited about it. The races alternate between 5K and 10K races, and end with the Tucson Marathon

1. July 16th, Breeze Through the Trees 5K
   
2. September 17th, El Tour de Tucson 10K
   
3. October 9th, TMC Get Moving 5K
   
4. November 11th, Veterans Day Trail 10K
   
5. December 11th, Tucson Half Marathon miles

Well, I had a lot to share today. Happy running!

Are You a Selfish Athlete?

On one hand, making healthy lifestyle changes is a personal responsibility. But if not to benefit those around you, then what good is it? Health is a long term investment. Who wants to live a long life of loneliness?

As we are living health-conscious lives, there are many things we will not leave to chance. We chose carefully at restaurants, cook more food and buy less pre-packed food. We act with intention regarding exercise duration and intensity and carefully plan out recovery time and methods.

In any of your relationships, you're a big part. So, as you're changing, your involvement in your relationships change. If you won't leave your lunch to chance, why would you leave your relationships to chance?

I am going to suggest that we act with intent and purpose in our relationships. First, as we change, our relationships change. Second, we steal time from our daily lives to exercise and often that time is taken from time spent in our relationships. And even if we don't take time away from our relationships, often our focus is bent so narrowly on running or a race, that when we're there, we're really someplace else.

We all have busy lives. The days are completely full. We will steal time here and there to exercise. We make a week's worth of lunches on Sundays because there's no time during the rest of the week to prepare them. But we're as good at squeezing extra time as we are at gauging our perceived efforts on a long run. The thing is, how many of us have intentionally scheduled daily activities to improve our relationships?

We have a lot of support for nutrition and exercise. A little community support here for all of us to be better in our relationships would be a good thing. Maybe you could respond with ways you've created to spend time with your families, or perhaps some ways that you could spend more time with them. I'm talking about small, day to day things.

A few ideas I have are to, doing chores together, evening walks, play games together, unplug the TV and see what happens. While my wife can't run with me, perhaps she could ride a bike along as I run once or twice a week.

So, please share any ideas or thoughts you may have along these lines. I know a lot of us here have families. How do you create time for them on a daily basis?

First Speed Work, Then Some Inspiration

This morning I was invited to a Rotary Club meeting by my uncle. The reason for the invitation was the guest speaker. She had written the story of the group of Boy Scouts that died when a freak snow storm unleashed itself on the the boys as they were climbing in the largest mountain in the area, Mt. Wrightson, also called Mt. Baldy. This story, as I'll share later, is something I was keen to hear. It was especially compelling as she is the brother of one of the survivors.

The problem with going to the meeting was that it started at 6:30 am, and I had my first speed work session scheduled. Yesterday was 104, today is supposed to be hotter. I decided to get up at 4:30 am and head to the track.

I did two easy miles, then two miles where I jogged and recovered on the corners and sprinted the straight-aways. I finished with a mile cool down. It was a strange morning, cold for here, this time of year. It was 61 degrees! The football field was being watered and spray was tickling the inside track and a slight breeze steadily spread mist where the spray failed to reach.

When I parked I noticed a leaking water main flooding the drainage in both downhill directions. It was so loud that it was the dominant sound of the morning's run. I had worried that it was change from a leak spraying down to something worse. I thought about calling somebody, but who, and at what number at before 5 am?

I started my run and saw a coyote walking across the neighboring soccer field. I did the warm up miles and the first of speed work when I saw another coyote following the same path of its predecessor. I whistled at it. The coyote just turned its head, looked at me, and went about his business without picking up its pace. I whistled again and was ignored. Man, I guess I'm not threatening.

About this time another person had joined me at the track and was walking around the outside lane. I wonder what I must've looked like to him. Sprint, then jog, repeat. I wonder what I would've thought before I knew about this type of workout.

After the run I had to drive home, take a quick shower and head back out to the meeting. There was breakfast served there! Oatmeal, fruit, juices and coffee. YES-SCORE!

When the author told her story, with an accompanying powerpoint, I was totally engrossed, as was the entire room. Before she spoke there were side conversations and clattering of silverware on plates, people getting up to refill their coffee cups. And it's not that she was a powerful speaker. She was a bit mush-mouthed, requiring the microphone which she often failed to project into. The people in the back couldn't hear her very well. But, the power of the story was immense.

Basically, a group of six boy scouts, ages 16 to 11, decided to climb Mt. Wrightson on 11/15/1958. They had been inspired by the climbing stories of Sir Edmond Hillary. The weather report was clear. One of the boy's fathers drove them to the base of the mountain and arranged to pick them up the following afternoon. That afternoon a freak storm rolled in and dump 3 feet of snow at the bottom and 7 feet at the shoulders and top! The conditions two days later were still such that several would-be rescuers needed rescuing themselves! It still stands as the biggest search and rescue effort ever in Arizona.

Anyhow, I've already had a full day and it's not even 9 am. Maybe I'll take a nap now. Vacation is great.

Anyhow, the book that tells the story is called Death Clouds on Mt. Baldy, Tucson's Lost Tragedy, and is written by Cathy Hafault.

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!

Week in review

I started the week with a stupid injury and ended it with an overuse injury. So, I've learned that I probably need to increase my mileage at a slower rate.

This week I did the pushup challenge twice, totaling 1220 push ups. (The challenge: Pick an easy number of pushups to do, like 10. Do that number at the top of every minute for an hour.) I worked out my core 4 days this week, and lifted weights twice. I played tennis for a few hours total, swam, did a 20 mile bike ride and ran 19 miles. I normally would've run more, but missed a few days because of a sprained left foot. It's getting better and is okay to run on now.

In the mean time, the 19 miles I did run were very hilly. I injured my big toe on my right foot about a month ago (slammed it into a tree stump on a trail run and took a nice spill). It's definitely effected my running form and I think hastened a soleus injury on the same leg. So, this week, I'm going to do two runs, 3 miles or less and all on flat ground, all easy exertion. That is, until Saturday morning, when I will run a timed 2 miles at the track. I'm excited to see what improvements have been made over the past 3 weeks.

Also, while I would not declare myself as having broken through a lengthy plateau just yet, there are significant signs that I have. I started the week at about 213 and this morning was 211, though I've been down to 208 during the middle of the week.

This coming week I am going to ride 70 to 90 miles on the bike and swim at least one day. Today I went on a 33 mile ride and had a good time. I saw 4 deer and a javelina and a dead hawk and a dead owl! Weird. I averaged 16 mph, but man, I've lost a lot of the juice I had on the bike since April. Still, all is good.

Too many hills, and a book review.

I went on an awesome run today. I ran the De Anza Trail from Tumacacori to Tubac (Arizona). It's 3 1/2 miles one way, and I went out and back. 95% of the trail is completely shaded and there are several plank-bridges, lots of twisty turns and great ground for running. One small section, 50 feet, is rocky, and a few portions that are too sandy for fun. The rest is soft, gentle and smooth. The trail is clean and easy to follow, undulating at times, twisty in others, and has fascinating things to see from cars formerly swept away in a flood to abandoned ranch houses to wildlife.

Today I saw a deer, she just stood looking at me as I ran. I saw countless lizards and three equestrians, tall and proud. I saw them on mile two and again on mile 6 1/2. On mile 6 1/2 they were impressed I'd been running the whole way and offered me words of encouragement and use of one of their horses. Very kind of them indeed!

About half way through the run my right Achilles really started hurting. I've been having trouble with my toe on the same side and it's definitely affected my running form. Today, the toe felt great and I made to sure to warm up by practicing my running form.

When I got back I did some research and found out that it's not my Achilles or calf, but the soleus. It's below the calf and does hurt at one spot on my heel, but it's distinctly NOT the Achilles. So, I guess that's good. Doing more reading I found out that it's an overuse injury often associated with a lot of hill training. Hello, HILLS! I ran hills, hills and more hills the past two weeks. In fact, I only had 2 runs that didn't have significant hills on them in the past two weeks.

I might be doing some bike riding this week. Luckily, this week is planned to be an easier week anyway.

I just finished reading Crazy for the Storm, by Norman Ollestad. The book, nonfiction, tells the story of how Norman lost his father. Norman was 11 when he, his dad, and dad's girlfriend chartered a Cessna that crashed in a blizzard in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Everybody but Norman died. That's not a spoiler, it's states as much on the cover!

Each chapter alternates time from before the crash to during the crash. As the book continues those times become increasingly closer until they're together. The strategy really made me appreciate what Norman went through. Each timeline on its own is interesting, but together, the way he told his story, was brilliant.

I'll say that Norman grew up in the early/mid 70's in a very different environment than I grew up in! He tells the events without judgement of an adult, though after the story reflects upon his experiences through the eyes of an adult.

While the book had nothing to do with running, Norman's father was an adventurer who had some sayings that struck me. One in particular I'll paraphrase. He said something along the lines that people quit too soon, when it gets hard, before the true beauty is revealed. He was speaking about fear while surfing or skiing. For running, it would be giving into fatigue and pain.

This book was powerful and spoke to me, even though I see the world quite differently than the author. Still, I thought about his story and experiences a lot. I especially thought about what he shared about his battles as a father now, how he tries to balance his parenting style between pushing his son and allowing him to discover things at his own pace.

He spoke about how he noticed as a child that somethings can be beautiful and dreadful, at the same time. When speaking about parenting, he states he is trying to strike a balance between honoring the benefits he received from his childhood while trying to limit the harmful effects of the same experiences.

Last thing: This is not a child-friendly book. There is a lot of language and a lot of naked people doing what naked people do. As I said, he grew up in a very strange time in a very strange place. Still, a great story wonderfully told. There are a lot of thought provoking things that happen in the book that I have not mentioned and will leave for you to discover on your own.

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.