Week Four Recap

Week four was another great week. I ran my third longest run of my life on Sunday before church and am still injury free. My left foot has started aching however but it's not injured.

I have discovered what my "next big thing" is for after the marathon. I've decided to start a home based business that will help families clothe their kids...more to share on that later.

Until next time....

It's Official - I'm a Marathoner

Okay maybe just registering and paying the entry fee doesn't really qualify me as a marathoner yet but it was another step in the right direction. With a history of injuries, fee's that are non-refundable, and uncertainty as to who all might join me for the trip to Surf City... believe me this was a big step.

I'm doing well at keeping my calories under control as I work to get my body fat down. When I started the formal training I had my body fat checked at the wellness center and the nice lady told me that I was walking around with nearly 40 lbs of fat. Wow, and to think I was excited to get a new pair of shoes that cut out 10 oz's.

I was at 200 lbs (and those are not my feet) so I set my goal again to get down to 175 by race day. In 7 weeks I'm down 13 lbs (about a half a pound per week, nice a steady). As of today I have nearly 7 more weeks until my half marathon at the end of October so I'm shooting to be down to my goal weight by then.

Cutting my body fat is really my goal though and as I continue to lift I'm sure my weight will level off as I build more muscle mass. I'm just happy my pants are fitting better for the time being, and I'm sure they're happy to get a break from the stress testing they've been under.

So I won't really be a marathoner until I cross the finish line this coming Super Bowl Sunday but I'm living the marathoner lifestyle and it's suiting me well so far.

If you have any words of encouragement please send them. I may even have some encouraging messages recorded and strung between songs on my iPod for my race so I can get a little extra boost every few miles or so.

Well 5am rolls around a lot earlier than it used to so I'm going to head off for some actively rest now.

Scale by Digihuman at Flickr

Finish by Steve and Jody at Flickr

Week Two Recap

Today I wrapped up my second full week of marathon training. It's been a busy week at work and home, with school underway and after-school activities in full swing (piano, soccer, horseback lesson) and I ran more miles this week than I have run in a week for a very long time (19.4 miles).

Oh, and I booked a surprise trip to New York City for my wife's 40th birthday (by surprise I mean she surprised me by wanting to go to NYC to celebrate). I can't wait to go, so much to see and do of course, but also because we'll be there during the upcoming NYC Marathon weekend with thousands of other runners.

I'm happy to report that I set a new personal record running my fastest mile this week (8:43 was impressive for me given I usually run a 10 or 10:30/mile pace) and while I'm sore at the end of week two I'm injury free! One of the mornings I learned that even at the end of a long run I have more left in the tank than I thought being two blocks from home as it began to rain.

Foolishly, yet predictably, I was anxious to get ahead of my training plan mileage. It was all I could do to hold back earlier in the week, but after reading Tom about not overdoing it, I'm glad I didn't push too much. I'm also not as aggressive with my cross-training this time, preferring to stick to lifting and walking, rather than biking a ton of miles. I'm hopeful this will allow me to train without injury so I don't miss out on either of my planned races.

Changing topics now....this is my favorite time of the year. The humidity in Iowa moves out, the mornings are crisp and college football kicks off. With a full schedule ahead I'm hopeful for a better year from my Hawkeye's. Something very unusual is happening this fall however...it's September 1st and my Cubbies are leading the NL Central (very rare in my 40 year lifetime).

All is right with the world, at least for this morning. Hopefully the Hawks are successful in Chicago and the Cubs can sustain some momentum for the stretch run.

NYC by Captain Mayhem at Flickr
Wrigley Field by Damon Green at Flickr

First Official Training Week Highlights

Over the last 48 days I have really enjoyed running and getting my body used to doing more than pushing a stroller and climbing a flight of stairs or two. My 890 plan is at day 728, leaving just 162 days until I lace up the shoes for an early morning 26.2 mile run.

This morning I ran 5.2 miles, a route that I've made myself very familiar with over the last couple of years, but this morning was different. Recently I bought a new pair of running shoes, putting my Brook's Beasts aside for this Asics model saved me 5 oz per shoe and they feel great. Today on my run I felt stronger than ever, my stride was easy and the hills that I used to dread I climbed with much more ease.

All this had my mind turning toward my race and as I ran I began visualizing the course, the finish line and anticipating the sense of accomplishment I'm sure I'll have. When my wife ran the Rock 'n' Roll 10 years ago I was there to cheer her on at a couple points and the finish line. For my race I hope to have her and our two children there to root for me.

Up until earlier this week I have usually shied away from running with others out of fear of being so slow that I'd hold them back...but I discovered the perfect compromise. As we were visiting the kid's grandmother in Moline, IL I went for a run through the John Deere headquarters property (which I highly recommend, very beautiful, nice hills, two deer watched me as I circled the lake).

As I got back to the house I found the route wasn't as long as I was shooting for so I headed out again but this time the kids wanted to run with me...my 7 and 4 year olds. By this time in my run I was going slow enough for them to keep up with me for a bit.

My daughter ran .6 miles in flip flops and my 4 year old son ran .3 miles. They both commented that they could walk almost as fast as I was running (told you I was slow, but I wasn't going that slow, honestly). Anyway, bottom line was that this little part of my run was the best part of the whole thing. Running with them gave me energy and it was fun to see them enjoying running too. I'm going to try to have them go with me for short sections when ever I can.


Running Shoes by RLivsey at Flickr
Deere Aerial Shot borrowed from the John Deere Website

One Mile at a Time

It feels so great to be running again, I can hardly believe that I stayed away so long.

A little over a year a go I was celebrating achieving my goal of dropping from 197 to 175 lbs through exercise and watching what I eat (not a diet by any means), I ran the largest 20k race in the US (finishing third to last in my age group), and I was feeling great.

Since then I’ve been using every excuse I could come up with to not stay on that horse:

* I was injured (true but not for a whole year)

* I had too much work to do (ditto)

* the demands of a family keep me from fitting it in (how is it that my wife can get up at 5am every day to fit her work outs in then?)

* blah, blah, blah. (Maybe you’ve been there)

Well since I’ve laced the running shoes back up three weeks ago I’ve:

* been feeling great

* got my energy back

* reduced my stress

* gotten some of the best sleep I’ve ever had

* been able to focus better at home and work

* had one person tell me I looked like I am losing weight

* rediscovered that “I’m a Runner” again

I’ll be updating my miles walked, ran and biked on the left side of my blog under “890 Progress”. I’m nearing 1,000 miles (the equivalent of driving from Des Moines to Washington, D.C.). I’m planning on participating in two races in the coming months so I’ll be posting on my training progress as well, with the big race being on my 40th birthday, Super Bowl Sunday 2008 in Huntington Beach, California.

Finally I want to give a special word of thanks to my friends Amy and Tom at Runners’ Lounge for encouraging me daily and being the voice of the running community.

I'm going to take it one mile at a time, enjoy every one of them and visualize myself crossing the finish line strong.

Man Running on Flickr by Sansartore

Finisher on Flickr by Sosidesc

My Recent Journey

It was about two years ago that I was complaining to my wife about how I had no energy and how this and that was aching, and in a way that only she can, she looked at me and said "Don't you think you should be in the best shape of your life when you turn 40 years old?

She was right, and that night laying in bed a hatched a plan. An 890 day plan that would end with me running my first marathon on my 40th birthday....SuperBowl Sunday 2008. Being fairly sedentary at that point I started slow. I walked and cut out a few foods without really dieting. Then one day I decided to just run a block to see how I'd feel and to my surprise I felt great.

Long story short I set a few goals and tracked everything I ate, every mile I walked, ran or biked, every sit up and push up I did. It worked great, sort of. I ran a couple of organized races and lost 22 lbs overall, and got my body pretty close to high school shape.

Looking back I didn't set the right goals though because once I hit my weight goal and ran a few races I started losing interest. It's been a number of months that I've been off my 890 day plan and shamefully I have to admit that I've put all the weight back on and my pants are tighter than ever.

I've learned that for me to sustain long term success the goal can't be a number (goal weight or miles run, or goal pace - those are great milestones and reasons to celebrate but not much more), it has to be a direction. I've been back on my 890 plan for a week now, and I'm starting over again slowly. The test of my success this time isn't going to be if I finish a marathon (http://www.runsurfcity.com/site3.aspx) on February 3, 2008, it will be the next week when I'm sore and feeling proud and not so motivated to run in Iowa winter weather.

I know I'm not alone on this journey (I do have friends supporting me http://blog.runnerslounge.com/ ) and I'm hoping that by stepping out into the bloggesphere I'll meet others I can encourage. If you're training for your first marathon please write and let me know how you're doing, I'd love to visit your blog and share in your journey as well.