B A C K

 

Incontinence aside, it was much like a Lincoln driving octogenarian in the fast lane on a Wednesday morning...but it was a successful run!

I'd forgotten the disparity between how good ideas sound at different parts of the day.  At 7 PM, running at 5 AM sounds like a great idea, romantic even.  But I got out of bed, wondering what I was doing, did some jumping jacks, 5 little pull ups, 25 itsy-bitsy pushups, 100 crunches and ran (loosely using the word here) two miles.  

The last two runs involved pulling a calf muscle.  Today, calf was fine.  The past month I've had a pretty severe chest infection.  This morning, I didn't choke on phlegm.  All in all, a good start to the day!

And yesterday I rode my bike.  That wasn't as slow, but still a bit slow.  Both cases, the idea was just to get back into the groove again.  

Yesterday I posted my ride on dailymile.com.  Then, I looked at the training profile for the past few weeks.  This is what I saw:

 

Nothing at all.  I'm pudgy, out of shape, still a little weak from illness.  But ...

It's

Great 

to

be

Back

It's good to be needed.

Up this morning at 4:30. 

200 crunches

100 pushups

30 minute run

Work at 6:30. 

Crazy day.

Meeting at 2:30.

3:00 in Nogales to sign papers for the community college

4:00 back at school preparing to teaching for the night.

8:00 finally done.  Best first day of community college yet.

8:15 I walk in the door.

My wife wants me to carry some heavy stuff...chickens are out of the water.

Before I can do that my daughter wants math homework...sit down she says, it's going to take a while.

I think of how I read on "the loop" about being an unselfish athlete.  Give up sleep, but not family time or needs.

Between math problems I carry the 5 gallon bucket of water to the chickens.

Helping with math.

My wife walks in and says, there's a leak outside.

Helping with math, running in looking for tools.

A few wrenches and a hack saw and we're patched until tomorrow.

4:30 is going to come real early tomorrow.  But, it's good to be needed.

It's not all sparkles and lollipops

Losing weight is great. You feel better, look better and it's a legitimate accomplishment. I mean, when you start to make changes, there's no guarantee that things will work out as planned. The biggest hurdle is yourself, but what bigger hurdle is there? And really, for most of us, our weight is a product of lack of personal discipline, so this is the cross to carry! This is my burden and I will carry it and be better for having done so.

But it's not all puppy dogs, fuzzy kittens, rainbows and sugar coated warmth. There are some problems. I'm talking about clothes. It's expensive, especially if you start rifling through a size once a month.

My solution: The Salvation Army, Good Will and other second hand stores. I started out wearing loose fit 42's (pants), and had a lot of 'over-hang' there. It took a while to get out of those because they went from tight to properly fitting to a little loose. But once the flood gates were opened...

Now I'm wearing 34's and will probably end up wearing 32's when I'm all done. Since January I've had to purchase 40's, 38's, 36's and now of course 34's. Then there are shirts. No way could I afford to keep myself clothed if not for second hand stores. I teach math for a living, my health insurance costs 2/3's of my mortgage. I do not have extra money floating around.

Why not just wear the too big clothes? Because I felt better and wanted to look better too. And wearing those old clothes was just, well, not me anymore. They once looked good, but not anymore. And they were a shameful reminder of what used to be and something I'm determined to never let be again!

What's as surprising as finding out that I like a lot of foods without meat in them is that I don't really mind buying clothes at these thrift stores. A year ago there's no way I would've eaten beans and rice without meat. There's no way I would've eaten ONLY salad for dinner, much less both of those meals in the same day. And, there's no way I'd consider buying second hand clothes.

But, it's okay. Here's me in a second hand suit I wore for high school graduation. Who cares that this was given to me?

Nutrition

My biggest challenge early will be maintaining a running schedule without serious injury. I'm overweight and have a surgically repaired back, so I'm a missed step away from being laid up for a few months!

This morning I couldn't run because my back wasn't feeling right. Depending on how it feels this afternoon, I'll run after work.

In the mean time I have purchased some boxing equipment and tried it out yesterday. Wow, what a workout. That'll help bring some pounds off in a low-impact fashion.

The other issue I have is nutrition. I really don't eat bad food, just too much of it. Also, I eat like a body builder...not enough carbs and too much protein. Not atkins diet style, but still. So I'm going to focus in on a more suitable diet, including proper portions. I've been reading that eating good carbs before and after runs helps with recovery and energy and found that to be true. I've never trained for running before and as expected, the energy demands are quiet different than from weight lifting! DUH!

Anyhow, I'm doing well, enjoying running and look forward to getting a good workout when I run. Also, I'm getting faster and faster each run, stretching the run out more at the ends (I mean longer, faster strides) and my recovery time is shortening. All in all, I'm feeling positive and am enjoying running.

Day Off, Unscheduled

In the past I've had a number of times where I was going to get back in shape. I usually start off slow and build momentum and right about then, I get injured. I want to avoid that mistake.

Last week I ran 10 miles, which may have been too much too soon. I don't believe I injured anything, but this morning I was still sore and my left knee and hip hurt. They hurt Saturday too, and I ran anyway, they were fine during the run. But today, I decided I'd take the day off. I've got 2 1/2 years to achieve my goal, so pace and patience will be important. Another thing to consider is that I can no longer take ibuprofen which is awesome for minor inflammation and so on. It would definitely help today!

In the meantime, especially until I drop a lot of weight, I need to have an alternate, low impact but high intensity cardio program for days like these. So I'm looking at elliptical machines, exercise bikes, real bicycles, and boxing stuff. This is also a cue to redouble my efforts on fixing my diet.

I have done better with serving size but have a long ways to go. I have done better with eating more frequently, but have a long ways to go. I have cut out sweets. I have chosen more appropriate foods, but have a long way to go. I have cut back on beer, but need to cut it completely.

Anyhow, this will be a tough week because of how it started...not running but thinking. When running, especially right now at the beginning, there are many victories which leave me feeling positive and charged. Today, no run, no victory. Time to get organized!

Introduction

I'm a 37 year old man that likes to drink beer and watch football. I like to eat hamburgers and play guitar and ride motorcycles and play video games with my kids. I like to take my wife out to dinner and eat awesome food. I like teaching math because I like the feeling of helping people accomplish something, that is, overcome a hurdle in their lives.

Here is a picture of my on Labor Day weekend, 2010. I'm sitting on the couch with a beer in my hand (what I do best). This, mind you, is after working out for five weeks, five days a week. I'm the one waving to the camera.
I'm very overweight. I have been for about a decade. A handful of times I'll decide to do something about the weight and cut back the beer, start working out and drop a few pounds. On a good run it'll last for three months. But, eventually, since I never had a goal other than to "be healthier" it fizzles out when something new comes along.

So of course, my question is, will this time be different? If history is any indication of the future, no. I'll stick with this until November and be back to my old self again.

The thing is, I wasn't a fat ass my entire life. Not until I was 28 or so. Before that, physical prowess had been a big part of my identity. I had won a strong man competition in high school, was a member of the 1000 pound club (weight lifting), had run a mile in under 5 minutes, but really stood apart from others when it came to distance running.

I'm 5' 10" and in the army I weighted 210. Not exactly a runner's build. But I never got tired running. I couldn't keep up with one or two people that could run 2 miles in the 10 minute range (although I smoked heavily then), but otherwise, I was so much faster than everybody else that it was what I was known for.

When I got out of the military I was married, had a family, quit smoking, went from a laborious job to a desk job and gained a lot of weight. I got back in shape and when I had a severe back injury. The doctor said I had a 90% chance of being permanently partially paralyzed in my right leg.

SCREW THAT!

So, I used that as an excuse, well the fear of it repeating, for a long time and did nothing. All the while life became more complicated and I settled into progressively worse habits. Now I'm 37 and about 280 pounds. I'm thinking that in 3 years I'll be 40 and will have likely lived half of my life.

My dad had told me about people that always relive their past through stories, but have nothing to be proud of in the present. By-gones is what I call them. People like me who can brag about past accomplishments but now ... well, I can drink more beer than most people. See what I mean. It's a sad commentary.

So here it is. In my 40th year, I want to run a marathon. At least, now that I'm in my 37th year, I think I'll want to in my 40th. I'll have lived half of my life if I make it to 40 and want to run a marathon to prove that I still have the desire and drive that I used to have.

You may wonder, as I have, "Why a marathon, why not just try and get to some former level of fitness?"

The answer is, "That's not how I work." If I set an easy goal, I'll lose interest. When I went to college, I picked the hardest subject I knew, math. That's what I majored in. I want a big goal because I want a big accomplishment. I don't want to brag about it, I just want to accomplish it!

This is something that I've been thinking of for several weeks. I'll post updates here to keep those that are interested informed of how things are going. In the mean time, I plan to do a lot of "road work," pickin' em up and puttin' em down. We'll see how it goes.