100 Push Up Challenge

BTW, Last Week I started the 100 Push Up challenge and now am on to Week 2 Day 2 tomorrow.  I felt I was losing some muscle and wanted to regained any lost upper body strength.  I'm hoping to transition this into a strength training program by August or September.  Right now I'm doing the lightweight version because I've always had a sensitive shoulder and quite honestly push ups at 283 pounds is still lifting a lot of weight.  Once I'm done with the lightweight version, I will either do the regular heavy weight version or a modified heavy weight version and by modified I mean starting at the week 3 of the heavy weight and creating my own additional weeks to push myself beyond  to keep adding strength.  I know I don't have many followers but Who is with me?  It's really not all that difficult and takes like 10 mins to do so why not.

It's been a long tough month

Just like the title says, its been a long and difficult month of May.  My weight loss slowed down significantly and I kind of started slacking in my running, not in being active just running.  One problem with summer and the nice weather is there are so many other things to do between yardwork, Twins games, walks around the lakes, etc.  However, it looks like I had a pretty good break through weight wise this week and lost 2.2 lbs which is the biggest loss I've had in a while and I'm happy to cross over the 40 lbs lost mark and set sights on 45 lbs.  My clothes are getting much baggier and my work slacks are almost to the point I can't wear them. 

When entering in my weight today I realized it was my 20th week on here and started to think back on the journey so far.  I'm happy to be where I am now, if you would have told me I would do this well back in January, I would take it 10 out of 10 times but I'm not satisfied with the end result.  I don't plan on just being happy where I am and settling in here.  I've got another 58.8 pounds to go to be where I really want to be.  The biggest things this journey has taught me is patience.  I don't have to get to that weight immediately but as long as I keep going in the right direction, I will get there eventually.  If it takes me a full year or more I'm fine with that.  Would I like to be further along, sure but I know I've been my own worst enemy from that standpoint.  I've made steps in the right direction that aren't drastic or impossible to maintain.  I can keep going forward on my journey because really its just the way I'm living now and hopefully the weight loss just keeps up.  If not I will makes changes but for now I like the way this is going.

Measuring Up

Well I haven't posted a picture in a while but I did take some measurements yesterday so I thought I would share them.

Neck: 17.5"  (18.5")
Chest: 47.5"       (50")
Shoulders: 56"
Waist: 45"    (49")
Hips: 46"         (49.5")
Thighs: 27.5"   (28.5")
Arms: 16"    (17.5")

Almost all of these are drops except thighs and neck since the last time I measured, but from the start they are all big drops.  My original numbers are next the the new ones. Total I've lost 16" (counting each thigh and arm loss).  Also this morning my weight was down to 282.4 which  always has me wanting to move my weigh in's to Tuesday because they are typically the lowest but oh well.  I'm getting close to the 270's and haven't been this low since late 2005.  I'm more confident about myself and happier.  Also an ex-gf of mine who is a really good friend now will be in town this weekend and she hasn't seen me since last November where I was either right around 325 or maybe even a little higher.  I'm excited to show off a little.  I also talked to a good friend of mine yesterday who wants me to be an usher in his wedding and I'm looking forward to where I will be at the time of his wedding and how I'll look in a tux.  Yesterday's run was good, 5.5 miles up some pretty terrible hills.  I wore the HR monitor for the first time in a long time and had some interesting results.  I'm not sure why but its seems that the HR monitor was reading much higher than it should.  I wouldn't expect it to be too high without proper skin contact more too low.  I check it to another HR monitor before I left and it was right but its says I was in the highest zone for 37 mins, the next highest zone for 13 mins and the last few for the rest.  My average HR was 169 so I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if I just have an extremely high HR while running.

Guilty Weekend

So running and working out did not happen at all this weekend.  But I'm still down weight for the week and I'm very happy about that.  I know I will get there eventually and there are times I wish it was faster but I had a great weekend so I'm not too concerned right now.  First Friday night was a great night on a brewery tour of a smaller brewery that my friend and I all love.  It was fun to listen to the owner talk so passionately about the business and about how they go about making their beer.  He was willing to answer every question with enthusiam as well.  I stayed out that night with friends and had a great time.  The running was really shut down this weekend by the crazy storms around the area.  There were major thunderstorms all day Saturday and Sunday including hail and tornados that destroy some areas of minneapolis.  Even where I work there are trees that are easily 50+ years old pull right out of the ground.  So needless to say I wasn't going to run in that.  I could have gone to the gym and maybe should have but didn't.  Instead I spent most of my weekend with someone I just met and really enjoy.  And so I decided to take advantage of the fact that at 40 lbs down, a better look, and a new sense of confidence, I could get back in the dating scene and try to find someone to be happy with.  It's only been 3 dates so far but I like where things are headed.  Getting back at it today.

A difference in thinking

Well the last few days have involved zero running.  This is probably not good considering I'm planning to run 12 miles this weekend and most likely a half marathon in 2 weeks.  However, Tuesday involved some pretty heavy yardwork for about 3.5 hours so there was plenty of sweating and exercise involved.  Today I have to drive my friend to the airport and immediately go to my softball game so it looks like I may miss today as well.  And yesterday I had a date which felt good and it went really well.  It's been over a month since my last relationship ended which I didn't say much about, but I'm back out there and hopefully it won't interfere too much with the running schedule.  (Thankfully this one is a runner so maybe I can make that into a date sometime.  5k around the lake sounds nice to me)

The best part about this whole thing is that in the past I would have easily drifted away from my program or been worried that I might not get it started again.  This time I'm not even worried.  I've felt bad about missing a few running days but I know I'll get right out there as soon as I have time.  Also on Tuesday I know last summer I would have been dead after about 1 hour of the work I did and I went 3.5 hours and really wasn't that tired, the sun was just going down so I ended because trust me I still have plenty of repairs still to do.

New to IKEA

Well my weight loss wasn't quite where I wanted it to be this week, but it's still down and I'm happy about that.  It may drop some more today as on Saturday I was out having a good time with friends, aka drinks, and usually after a day or two my weight drops off from the gain of all the liquid so it may just need some leveling.

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day but it was beautiful outside.  Really a great day when you can just open all the windows and let the crisp air in; very refreshing.  I also learned about IKEA this weekend.  Yes, I knew what it was and had looked online at it before, but had never actually been there before.  I've been missing out.  That place is fantastic and I was able to find a new bed frame and nightstand to really class up the bedroom and it only cost $300 and my other options at the typical furniture store was upwards of $800-900.  It's not as nice of material but for what I'm trying to get out of it, IKEA had exactly what I needed.  Looking forward to adding some additional furniture to my house from there in the future.

Crank it right past 10 to 11.

Yep you heard me.  I was going to do 10 this week because I did 9 last week but I found a group called Team Ortho that is organizing the Marathon/Half that I might run at the ending of my training that has training runs.  The setup on the long run of the week and people can come run on a new course each week and there are water stations along the way.  It was nice to explore a nice running area and not have to worry about needing to have water with me.  However, the run they were doing this week was 11 so I went with it.  It was terrible weather, 45 F, cloudy, windy, rainy, ie not so fun.  I kept a good pace and felt great until around mile 8 it started getting really tough and around mile 9.5 I felt like I hit "the wall" because all of a sudden I had nothing left in my legs, no energy what so ever and I thought I was going to have to stop.  The only thing that kept me going was the mental aspect and telling myself not to quit and then it was over and I had a new rush of energy which carried me to the end.  I finished in 1:50:39 and although my glutes and hamstring felt incredibly awkward and painful, I was happy I woke up early to do this run.

I cannot believe I ran that far for that long today.  Anytime I had ever heard someone talk about running 10 miles, I couldn't comprehend that distance on foot.  Hell until about 1.5 months ago I couldn't comprehend running for more than an hour.  Then today I put out almost 2 hours worth of running in terrible conditions and really only needed about 20 more minutes and I had a half marathon.  One step at a time, but this is somewhere I always wanted to try and get to but was always too scared to do it.  Not anymore.

Hail Storm

Well my run yesterday did not go very well.  The temperatures were in the upper 80's with high humidity and I am not acclimated to that at all.  I went for about 2.5 miles before I had to cash it in because I was totally drained.  I really hope it isn't this difficult running this summer or that I get used to it sooner rather than later.  A positive on the week is that my weight is down over 3 lbs so far since monday and I'm almost to the 40 lbs mark.  Something to note is that although my numbers for my sleep apnea have gotten better since I started running and I had been sleeping better, my sleeping this last week has been sub par.  I'm not sure if the sleep apnea is kicking in again due to the uptick in humidity meaning I need to change my settings or what, but it has been troubling that getting up in the morning has been a little more difficult lately.  Hopefully it will pass.  BTW tennisball sized hail showed up in our area last night.  Of course it wasn't anywhere near my house which could really use to take a beating because I'd be more than happy to pay my deductible to get my siding replaced but no such luck.

New Shoes

Yesterday I ate well and went running.  It was a first day in the new shoes and it was tougher than I expected.  I'm not sure why but my legs felt very heavy and my feet didn't feel as good as I'd hoped.  Once I finished the 3 miler, I rested for a bit and then started the 100 push up program that I found an Iphone app for.  It has you do multiple sets of different amounts of pushups and keeps track of the rest time for you.  Its a simple way to do some strength training at home.  Work is crazy and with the temperatures set to reach 80+ today, I'm not looking forward to a longer run tonight.

Mother's Day

Well let me say I had a great weekend.  I took Friday off and was extremely productive.  I got up and went to Home Depot getting all kinds of things I needed to spruce up my yard.  Then I went and got a sports massage and an oil change.  Then  I went to pick up some last minute mother's day gifts.  Finally I came home and went to work on fixing up the yard.  Friday night I kept it pretty low key and Saturday morning I got up ready to do the 9 miler.  It went well and I tried to slow it down some because I felt I was killing myself on my previous long runs where I came in at around 9:40 mm where this time I went for closer to 10 mm.  I came in right at 1:30:08 so almost on the nose.  The last two miles were still incredibly difficult and although the course feels flat for the most part, after looking at the elevation profile, it looks like it is slowly downhill on the way out and uphill most of the way back.  There are only a few parts where it is really visible but I'm guessing that is why the last two miles are so killer each week.  I felt good after the run but my feet were killing me and had some blisters.  I decided to go to the running store to see if it was time for a new pair of shoes and although I may have some mileage left on them, I did get a new pair of shoes which feel great.  When trying them on I put the new shoe on the left and the old on the right and when standing up straight, the added cushioning on the left shoe was making that leg about 1/2" longer so I figured my others were pretty worn out.

Sunday was obviously mother's day and so I went over to my grandma's house where everyone gathered to have some food and visit.  I haven't seen most of my family besides my mom and dad since christmas. Now let me just say I have the greatest and most supportive mom ever and she tells me all the time how great I look.  However, it felt great that everyone noticed at the family get together and were blown away that I had run 9 miles the day before and was alive to talk about it. 

The scale didn't drop as far as I had hoped but I didn't eat especially well over the weekend so it was somewhat expected.  I did do better so that counts for something and as long as I'm still going down I'm happy because I will get there.  Maybe not as fast as I'd like but I will get there.  I'm thinking about increasing my number of workouts just to give a boost to the calories and probably making them strength training to add some muscle to increase the RMR.  We'll see.

Spoiled with Energy

I was impressed with myself yesterday because my legs were very sore and tight and I didn't even think about it, I just got home strapped on the shoes and ran.  I went 5 miles yesterday at a slightly slower pace since the legs were hurting but not much 49:27.  The weather was awesome but after my 5 miler yesterday I figured I should bring some water so I ran with my camelbak on which helped.  I was psyched to run which quite honestly had been a struggle the last few weeks.  Not that I didn't enjoy running but back to back days had been tough to motivate myself for and yesterday it wasn't.  I felt great and I still feel great today.  My legs are still very sore but tonight I have a softball game so no running outside of that.  Tomorrow will probably consist of some light crosstraining of some sort and Saturday is going to be a 9 miler which I'm not sure how I feel about yet.  Nervous but excited, I guess.

All I want is another Good Time

Quickly, yesterday's workout involved a 5 mile run around the normal route but the farther I expand the normal route, the more of big hill I must deal with.  In other words I had to go down the backside of it only to come right back up to the top of it.  Good run though.  5 miles 48:16.

Something I was thinking about during my run yesterday is just how much I want this.  I want to be able to go out and not think about how I'm the biggest guy there or how it sure would be nice to be able to ask a girl out without trying to determine if my weight puts her out of my league.  I'm sick of being judged based on that and look forward to the day when I'm not.  I'm not mad at anyone that does judge me based on that because I let myself get this way and I'm going to be the one to end it.  I've got plenty of things to be insecure about as do all of us, but at least weight I can control and getting near the 40 lb mark I'm already feeling more confident but I still have a long way to go.  My weight loss has slowed to a crawl and I've got to change something soon to continue on my journey.  I don't plan on ever giving up running and I don't need instant gratification but I would like to at least keep up a 8-10 lb/month weight loss so I can reach my goal someday in the near future.  Hopefully I'll break this plateau this week at I'm shooting for 287 on the scale next monday.

10k Wrap Up

So Saturday morning I woke up around 5:30 and grabbed some coffee and a bowl of cereal.  After the previous weekend I knew I'd want to eat something.  The weather outside was awful.  It was low 50's and rainy but I had already made the committment and wasn't going to back out.  We headed down to the park at about 7:15 which was nice because even though we were early, we got a decent parking spot and just waited in the car since the rain was coming down pretty hard.  By the time the race began, the rain and slow to barely a drizzle.  The first mile was a little tough but I was starting to get loose and avoid all the people (I think there was something like 5000 people between the 10k and 1/2 marathon which started together).  By mile 2 I was feeling much better although I knew something was up and by mile 3 I knew I had no choice but to stop at a restroom (I'll spare you any further details).  I timed my stop because I don't really want to count something that has nothing to do with how long I was actually running.  It was 2:30 after waiting for a few people.  I got back out there and of course my legs had gotten stiff from wainting around so the next mile or so was spent getting lose again.  Once I began crossing the bridge to the finish line I got a boost of energy and began to up my pace and per the way I like to finish my run, I sprinted about the last 100 or 200 yards.  I finished with an official time of 1:00:38.  I was hoping to get under and hour and still almost did even with the bathroom break.  Now since I timed my stop, I know that my total running time was really 58:08 and since I'm not competing for any prize other than my own pride, that is the time I will be using. (Plus my friend who used his Garmin said the course was really about 6.27 miles and I'm not couting that).  My pace at the 4 mile point was 9:25 mm and at the finish it was 9:23 mm.  That means the last 2.2 miles I actually ran 9:19 mm which is about the best pace I've ever kept especially after running 4 to start.  Guess race day added some adrenaline.

Weight didn't move this week, although on Sunday morning I was down about 3 lbs but not today, I guess my body held on to everything I ate and drank yesterday to recover from the race even though I didn't eat all that poorly.  It ok because the other day I found some shirts on the other side of my closet I had been holding onto that I liked but didn't fit anymore.  I grabbed them and tried them on and they fit great now, even a little loose so it was still a victory.

I would also like to send out a big thank you to the troops for the last 10 years that have been fighting to find Osama Bin Laden and a big thanks to those who tracked him down and got rid of him yesterday.  The biggest bastard on the Earth is gone and I think everyone can rejoice in that today.