Yikes!

288...Two hundred eighty-eight pounds was the number on the scale. No doubt, it was higher than that. It's frightening how fast it seemed to pile on. I know it was a slower process, but it didn't feel that way. One day, clothes were fitting a litter tighter. I told myself to eat better and exercise more. The next thing I knew, clothes simply didn't fit. It felt like one day everything was fine and the next it was all out of whack. Of course, there is more to the story. As I get more time, I will try to map out what happened in hopes that it will motivate me to continue and serve as a lesson so that I can take steps to avoid it in the future.

Right now, it is simply a new starting point. No use in getting all depressed and down. The fact is that I have done much to return to a fit lifestyle in the last few weeks. Since I hadn't given up all my fit habits, it hasn't been that difficult of a transition. Now the I have stepped out of denial onto the shores of reality, I look forward with great hope and expectation.

Thanks to all for your encouraging comments.

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Positive Step but still swimming in Egypt's River

Last week I did about 3 hours of weight training stretched over four different days. My plan is to do 3 days a week, but I missed one the week before and wanted to catch up.

I ran five days last week. Three at my speed. Twice at squishy speed. That equals 22 miles and five hours.

My eating habits are getting better, but still not where I would like them to be. Looking back, I had really fallen back into some bad habits. I need to be more patient with myself. I didn't turn my eating habits on a dime. I can't expect my eating, exercising, and metabolism to magically go back to where they were. I need to work at it. I do see progress.

The last thing I need to do is start my Monday weigh-ins again. I was in denial. I gained a lot of weight fast. However, I haven't been able to weigh myself on Monday mornings for various reasons. I haven't gained all the weight back, but I am embarrassed, sickened, and depressed by how much I gained. As much as my mind tells me that the scale in not as important as other aspects, psychologically it kills me. Next Monday I will post my weight. I will no longer be in denial.

To keep myself in reality, I am living a much more fit lifestyle than I was a few weeks ago. I am eating healthy. I am exercising. I am strength training. I am going to get this right.

I watched that new show with Jillian from the Biggest Loser last night. She said that "trying" is just an excuse to quit (or something like that). I think she is right. I am not going to try to live fit. I am living fit. I am going to continue to live fit.

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Beware! Increasing Activity Levels

I haven't had the laser yet, but I have been increasing my activity levels. I decided to simply start over with running. I went back to the beginning program in the Beginning Runner's Handbook. This gives me plan that is certainly not too ambitious, but gives me structure while not over doing it. On the off days from the program, I am running with my daughters which is hardly running at all. With warm ups and stretching, my tendon seems to be no worse, and at times feels better.

I have also returned to weight training. Over a year ago, I dropped weight training when I was training for the marathon. I simply couldn't do it all. I have tried many times to get back to it regularly, but didn't. I am on my second week now, and plan to keep going. This will go a long way to boosting my metabolism.

Now, I need to get my eating under control. I am fairly good during the day. After the kids go to bed, I seem to crazed sensation that I need to eat all sorts of bad foods. I just need to go a few weeks without eating after 7PM and I will be fine. I bought some sunflower seeds in the shells. This helped me before.

I hope everyone is doing well. If you read this, please comment, if just to say, "Hi."

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Ten Months Later

Bah, I feel terrible that I have neglected this blog. The fact is that I had to let other priorities take precedent over this blog. However, I will give a little run down of the past 10 months.

July 4th, dad died.

Late July, my 2 oldest completed a kid's triathlon as well as showed and sold lambs in 4h

Mid-August, I completed another sprint Triathlon. I did well.

Mid-September, I completed and olympic distance Triathlon. This was a lot tougher than I thought it would be.

I ran a few races since then. Last one was in January.

Summer and fall were spent working on dad's house and selling it.

Now working on his second house. Hope to sell it quickly.

I signed up for another marathon, but Achilles' tendinitis has sidelined me on that endeavor. It's just not healing. I am going to get some laser treatment or something this week. Not quite sure what that is all about.

This winter, exercise slowed down quite a bit, healthy eating went down the tubes bit by bit, weight was gained which I am sure contributed to my injury.

I have made several efforts to get back on track. I need to review my blog and get back to the mindset of Living Fit being my #1 Job!

Thanks for all the inquiries and good wishes. I make no promises as to when I will post again.

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Update

Sorry about my lack of posting and not finishing the marathon account. A lot of crap hit me at once. Yesterday, I had to put dad in a full fledged nursing home. Within two hours of my leaving, he had a violent episode and had to be given Ativan. Today after lunch, he had another episode. I suspect that he is going to spend the rest of his days as a drugged up zombie. I feel terrible, but I have no clue what else to do. It's all part of his Alzheimer's Disease. When things settle down, I will blog again and fill you in on all what has been happening fitness-wise. Keep my dad and my family in your prayers.

Bayshore Marathon Part 2

The temperature was in the high 50's and the sky was mostly overcast. It was ideal weather for a marathon. Yet, I was a bit cold for most of the race. I wore shorts, a short sleeved running shirt, running underpants, running socks, a running cap, and my running shoes. Basically, I wore no cotton; only moisture-wicking synthetic materials. However, there was a slight breeze coming off Lake Michigan. That breeze kept me slightly chilled.

In addition to the clothes, I wore a Spibelt in which I put my Shot Bloks and a cell phone. When I do a long run, I wear a water belt. I have worn both together. I decided against the water belt since there was going to be water tables every 1.5 miles. When the race started, I discovered that the water belt stabilized the Spibelt. The Spibelt was bouncing like crazy. I couldn't run 26.2 miles with that bouncing around, not mention what sort of chaffing it might cause. I took the cell phone out and shoved it in the pocket in my shorts. That did the trick.

I also wore a Road ID on one wrist and a Garmin on my other. I had the heart rate monitor around my chest. Finally, I had bandages over my nipples. Early in my running endeavors, I discovered that I get sore nipples when running. The shirt rubbing against them does bad things. I found little circular bandages at Walmart that are perfect for this. I know I am not the only runner with this problem. My wife said she saw a man come across the finish line with a blood stained shirt. It was obvious that the blood was coming from his nipples. On the other hand, I had no problem in that area at all.

After the marathon began, I resolved not to look at my pace (which my Garmin gives me). In fact, I only looked at my distance in order to determine how close I was to a water station. Everything went smoothly. The first mile came and went quickly. The second mile went by just a fast. It was interesting to look at all the different people. I like seeing what they are wearing. I like to observe their running form. I like to read their shirts. It's just a lot of fun to be out there with a bunch of people undertaking the same task, most of whom are competing with no one except themselves.

After the third mile, I began to feel something. It's a feeling I have had on runs before; particularly my longer runs. I thought I learned how to prevent this. The feeling was a slightly annoying pressure in my bladder. I tried to tell myself that it was just my imagination. Maybe I was hyper-sensitive. There was probably like a half ounce in there and that would be hardly worth stopping to pee.

There were porta-potties at every water station. Some runners couldn't wait or didn't want to stand in line. You would see them run off into the woods. There was one girl who was so desperate that she ran into the woods, but not out of view. She squatted, pulled her shorts down, and everyone who passed by could see her. I didn't do that. I passed the potties at mile 4.5. I decided to stop at 6, but it was occupied with at least 2 people in line. I continued even though the pressure had mounted with each mile.

By now, each step was jostling my bladder. It was unbearable. I refused to run some unknown distance off the road in order to find some place to pee. The potties at 7.5 miles had a line as well, so I kept going. Now, I was thinking that I needed to run off at the next patch of woods I found. There were none. It was a residential area. On our left were homes. On the right was the bay with beaches and docks. There was a 10 to 20 foot drop off from the road down to the beach. There were several wooden stairs along the way so that people could get to their beach. Suddenly, I noticed a porta-potty on the first landing of a set of stairs going down to the beach. Over the stairs was a sign that said, "Private Beach. No Trespassing."

I ignored the sign and bounded down to the potty. It wasn't locked, and it wasn't occupied. I peed for over a minute. Yes, I did time it.

The race seemed so much better after my pit stop. I forgot to mention that even though I had to pee, I took water at every water station. I still needed to keep hydrated even if my bladder was full.

Having relieved myself, I was better able to focus on keeping an even pace and better able to observe the other runners. I learned a lot about myself on that course...

To be continued.

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Bayshore Marathon Part 1

I will need to report this in parts as I am quite busy with the shortened week here due to Memorial Day. Memorial Day itself reminds me of the great sacrifice of so many for the country. What I did last Saturday is nothing compared to what is done by the brave men and women in the Armed Forces who put their lives in harm's way for their country.

The Marathon, pt. 1
Friday, I did not run at all. The kids had field day in Bay City (about 70 miles from home.) After we picked them up there, we headed to Traverse City on the other side of the state. It took about 2 hours to get there. After a little confusion with the map, we found the registration. It was well organized and not too crowded. I received a nice running shirt and running socks, my bib, and my timing chip.

Then we went out to eat. I had a chicken salad. That was my last solid food until after the race. I learned early on that if I run longer distances with solid food in my stomach, my stomach rebels. IN addition, I drank a lot of water and some Gatorade all day to make sure I would be well-hydrated for the race. After dinner, we drove to my in-law's house outside of Gaylord.

It's an hour drive from Traverse City to Gaylord. The race started at 7 AM. I wanted to get their earlier enough so that I would not be stressed trying to get there on time. That meant that we needed to leave at 5 AM. I planned to get up at 4 AM. Yikes!

When we arrived at my in-laws, I laid all my clothes out, attached my timing chip to my shoes, and headed to bed at about 9:30 PM. The next morning, I didn't roll out of bed until 4:30 AM. Oops. Before I put my clothes on, I lubed up with Body Glide. I put it on any part that might get chaffed. I even put it between my toes , as well as other cracks and crevices. We rolled out at 5:15 AM. My wife drove while my in-laws watched the kids. We arrived in plenty of time which was good, because I still had some solid waste to evacuate from my body. There were lines for the porta-potties, but I didn't need to wait too long.

About 5 minutes before the start, they played the National Anthem. How sad that so few know the words. I headed towards the back because I didn't want to feel demoralized by having tons of people passing me. The website now says that there were 1384 finishers. The race was capped at 1700 entrants. Anyhow, there was a crowd. Soon a cheer went up from the crowd as the race started. I couldn't believe that I was beginning my first marathon. I was choked up. I started to get emotional, but quickly pulled things together. I had a long way to go, and I couldn't waste energy on that sort of thing. I regained my composure and excitedly continued down the 26.2 mile path.

Soon, I would discover that it was nothing like I expected...

To be continued.