Friday, April 8, 2011
Space Brain
Well yesterday didn't bode well for my run. I had some personal things to deal with and I couldn't focus on anything especially on getting out and just running. I'm sure it would have helped me looking back on it but it didn't happen. Too bad because it was a beautiful day. Yesterday brought about a big change in my life and I need to focus and buckle down so it doesn't affect my new found "love" of running. I say it in quote because I obsess over it sometimes and sometimes it is just hell. I enjoy running most of the time but I still know I'm at the point where I could easily slip out of my running habits and I don't want that to happen.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Boring Day
Simple update as not much happenend yesterday. I swam for about 25-30 mins after getting a new swim suit that fits so I can turn quicker without them pulling off. Today is a 3.5 mile run. I'm looking forward to this week ending as I've got tickets to the Twins opener tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
About Time
Well it's quite an amazing thing to see, but the Twins finally came back and beat the Yankees. I can't stand the Yankees and I know it doesn't mean much but it was a lift up after a long stressful day. Work was rough and some other factors were chipping away at my sanity. I ran 3.5 miles in 33:30 which is pretty quick for me and I wasn't even trying to go fast. The run helped with stress and not for very long. I'm hoping today is going to better but it's not starting out that way. Scale is down some today which is nice and I'd really like to see the 280's by next week.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Terrible Game
Yesterday was a day off from working out according to schedule and I felt I needed it as my legs were sore. Today I'm suppose to do 3.5 miles and I'm looking forward to it since its in the 50's and sunny today. So yesterday I watched the Twins lose to the Yankees in usual fashion and probably the worst national championship for basketball I've ever seen. It was as if they installed smaller rims on the basket or something because no one could make a shot. I also downloaded an app in my boredom between the two games from calorie count to be able to better decide what I should eat or just how many calories I'm eating. I put down about 1900 calories yesterday and according to my BMR, I burn 3692 doing nothing but I'm thinking that is inflated. I'm happy to be under 2000 and that was with a poor choice at breakfast. I'm hoping the app helps me make better decisions.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Progress Photos
Ok here are some progress photos. The one with the shirt is February, the one without is March. I see it mostly in my face but probably because of the shirt.
Cherish your mental weapons
Today was one of those days where running was the last thing I wanted to do. I was lethargic and unmotivated. Go figure it's the day of my long run for training.
I stood up and just told myself, I gotta get out there no matter what. It was a mental battle from the beginning. The entire run I was doubting myself, after a half mile I was tired and sweating pretty good, I didn't hydrate very well before hand, and my legs were feeling very heavy. I just kept telling myself to push farther and that was already at 1.5 miles normally that hasn't been needed until about a mile left. Once I got to the 2 miles out distance, I was extending my normal route to a new area which seemed to give me somewhat of a boost or at least a distraction to my mind telling me to just quit. Then I got to 2.5 miles, all I had to do was turn around and go home, I knew where I had to go and exactly how far and what it would feel like. The last 2.5 miles wasn't bad at all, the mental wall had fallen down and I knew I was going to be able to do this.
I finished 5 miles in 50.5 minutes. My legs felt great afterwards, hell I still feel great an hour later. The sense of accomplishment is incredible. I'm not sure why but 5 miles just always seemed to be a distance that was way far out of reach. I always thought "I could probably run 3 miles if I had to", "4 is long but maybe if I walk I can do it", "Ha, 5 miles, not a chance." Well so long to that thought. Actually I've just pushed it farther out, there is something about 5, 10, 13.1, 20, 26.2 that just seem like roadblocks. I've crossed one off the list now its on to the next.
I stood up and just told myself, I gotta get out there no matter what. It was a mental battle from the beginning. The entire run I was doubting myself, after a half mile I was tired and sweating pretty good, I didn't hydrate very well before hand, and my legs were feeling very heavy. I just kept telling myself to push farther and that was already at 1.5 miles normally that hasn't been needed until about a mile left. Once I got to the 2 miles out distance, I was extending my normal route to a new area which seemed to give me somewhat of a boost or at least a distraction to my mind telling me to just quit. Then I got to 2.5 miles, all I had to do was turn around and go home, I knew where I had to go and exactly how far and what it would feel like. The last 2.5 miles wasn't bad at all, the mental wall had fallen down and I knew I was going to be able to do this.
I finished 5 miles in 50.5 minutes. My legs felt great afterwards, hell I still feel great an hour later. The sense of accomplishment is incredible. I'm not sure why but 5 miles just always seemed to be a distance that was way far out of reach. I always thought "I could probably run 3 miles if I had to", "4 is long but maybe if I walk I can do it", "Ha, 5 miles, not a chance." Well so long to that thought. Actually I've just pushed it farther out, there is something about 5, 10, 13.1, 20, 26.2 that just seem like roadblocks. I've crossed one off the list now its on to the next.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Falling Down
Yesterday was a stress filled day. I felt like Michael Douglas, an overworked engineer that was about to snap on someone, but I knew I had one exit for relief. As soon as I got home, I changed into my running clothes and hit the road. I had 3.5 scheduled and did 3.67 and it felt great. It let me forget all about work and just focus on me and the rest of the night felt good too. Granted I was a little sore but I wasn't going to rip anyones head off. My confidence has been growing all week for the 5 miler coming up on Sunday. What I'm not looking forward to is a party on Saturday that I said I would attend. I don't want to fall into that trap of drinking and eating stupid like I tend to do on the weekends but my plan is to stay sober enough to drive aka maybe one drink an hour and try to still stay social which can be a challenge at times when I want to unwind from a stressful week. Knowing I have the 5 mile run the next day should help that and give me a good excuse.
On a side note, the scale read 295 this morning. When I started my first job out of college in 2006, I weighed in the fitness center as a part of the fitness assessment required before joining the company fitness center. At that time I was 295 and I don't believe I have been below that point since. I flirted with it once when I moved back from AZ in Dec 2007 and was on nutri-system at the time but the food on it was so terrible I just couldn't stick with it. It feels good to know that I'm getting back to being me. When I went to college I was 245, but I don't think I've ever looked as big as I've actually weighed. None of my friends had a clue I was over 300 when I started this, most thought I was around 270 - 280, little did they know I was well over 300. Well not anymore. I want to get back to my college starting weight at a minimum because I know at that point I was in great football shape and liked the way I looked.
On a side note, the scale read 295 this morning. When I started my first job out of college in 2006, I weighed in the fitness center as a part of the fitness assessment required before joining the company fitness center. At that time I was 295 and I don't believe I have been below that point since. I flirted with it once when I moved back from AZ in Dec 2007 and was on nutri-system at the time but the food on it was so terrible I just couldn't stick with it. It feels good to know that I'm getting back to being me. When I went to college I was 245, but I don't think I've ever looked as big as I've actually weighed. None of my friends had a clue I was over 300 when I started this, most thought I was around 270 - 280, little did they know I was well over 300. Well not anymore. I want to get back to my college starting weight at a minimum because I know at that point I was in great football shape and liked the way I looked.
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