One Week Down......25 Left To Go!

This was my first official week training for my half marathon in the Spring. It went well. I still haven't mapped out my official plan...I am putting some plans together to form one that will fit me. But week one:

Monday-2miles
Tuesday - cross train
Wednesday 3miles
Thursday - cross train
Friday - 2 miles
Saturday 4miles
Sunday - OFF

What DID'T go well was my eating. I really didn't do anything too different to my eating habits. Next week my goal will be to do the same running/cross training schedule but eat better and drink more water. I am also working on some monthly goals to break down the 25 weeks to race time. I will post those later. For this month, I want to run the Springfield, MO Turkey Trot 5k. Last year, my time was 36:42. This year I hope to do it in 34:00.
Thanks for listening.

For Real?

Well, I have decided. I am going to run a half marathon. Training to start Monday, November 1st. HOPEFULLY, I will the weekend of April 30th off and be able to run the Kentucky Derby Half Marathon. 13.1 miles....whew! I am looking forward to the process though. The training, the runs, the diet. I think it will all work well together. I have 26 weeks before the Derby run. Should be plenty of time. I will let you know when the date is finalized and what my goals for the race will be. RIGHT NOW, my goal is to get an official race on the calendar, register, and then commit to the weeks of training. No going back, no slacking. I want to run it and say, no matter what my time, I did the best I could (okay, I will have more goals than that, but let's start there)

Sadly...

Sadly, my blog has gone as well as my training this summer. I gained a little weight back but not too much. I really wanted to use the summer to melt the pounds off but found I didn't make time. I am kick starting in the Fall.

I have set some new goals to be completed by October 14 (that was a month from when I set them a few weeks ago)

Lose 10 pounds
35 push ups
40 sit ups
running 9 miles a week
no soda
do a cleanse to kick it off

I did my juice cleanse. Nothing to eat but drank apple juice and water all day and 16oz of prune juice in the morning for three days. That will do the trick, friends. :) I lost some weight
although some came back, but that is okay.

I have ran but not 9 miles a week. I need to get on that. I have drastically cut my soda intake but can't say I did NO soda. I have probably only had it twice. I will renew that commitment and get off of it for the remainder of the time.

So not too bad. The best part is that my frame of mind is still positive and ready for action. Honestly, I'm tired of being fat. Yep, hate saying that....I didn't say overweight, obese, thin challenged...I am fat. I need to face the fact and do something about it now.

Thanks for listening.

Mindset is 90%

How you think about something is quite important. Could you actually make something that seems difficult or no fun seem enjoyable by just changing your mindset or attitude? One of my favorite quotes of all time is from a preacher by the name of A.W. Tozer. He says that, "What I believe about God is the most important thing about me." My thoughts don't change who God truly is but my thoughts of Him make a difference in regards to how I live my life for Him. How I view God is important.

Not to put running and theology on a similar plane, but making the point that our thoughts are important.

Amber and I were having a discussion the other day and I said, "I have NO hobbies." She told me that music is something I love and is a hobby. Yeah, I do and yeah it is, but it is also what I do for a vocation. I don't always want to go home and pick up a guitar and be creative. Then she said, "running is your hobby." At first I laughed, on the inside as to not laugh at her. :) But then I thought, yeah, that is right. Running can be my hobby. All the sudden it didn't seem like torture or a means to an end. It is my hobby. I might not be good at it but I am reading, reasearching, and most importantly running. It is my new hobby!

okay...so I haven't posted in 4 months!!??

Sorry that I haven't been keeping up to date with what is going on in my journey to weight loss. Just because you haven't heard from me doesn't mean I haven't been working.

I trained for a marathon relay (4 people split the full 26.2 marathon). My portion of the race was 6 miles. While training, I got up to running 6.2 miles, a full 10k. I wasn't fast but could complete it. The race was one of the best experiences of my life. So much fun to share with my wife and two dear friends. I ran the 6 miles in an hour and 17 minutes. Just in comparison, my first 5k (3.1 miles) a few years ago was 49:59. So that is good improvement.

Only problem with the race was after the race. I do have a IT band injury that will probably continue to nag me but through stretching and strengthening I can make it better. But the day of the race, I experienced some pain from it. So after the race I took a week off of running. Ice, Ibuprofen, and elevating my leg were my friends. But the week turned into two weeks off that turned into two and half weeks off. Leg was fine. Just couldn't find the motivation to keep going. I am told by my trainer, that it is common after a race to have a let down of sorts. With her encouragement, my wife cheering me on, and just the need to do something, I ran today for the first time. I didn't go too far. I ran 1.5 miles. I had planned on going 2 miles but knee began to hurt at the 1.5 mark and decided not to push it. I ran an 11 minute mile. Not bad. It felt good to be out. It was beautiful day to run alongside the Missouri River.

Not sure where I left off with my weight loss in the blogs. But I am down to 274. Yeah, lots to go still but that is almost 40 pounds lost. I have lost it slowly but surely. I haven't yo-yo-ed too much.

I am running 2.2 Friday or Saturday and then running again on Monday. I feel confident that I am back on track. I will write soon with some new goals. Thanks for reading this very long catch up blog. Thanks so much for your support in all this. Amber, Missy, and all my family and friends have pushed me in the right direction! Thanks!