Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
I just did the final weigh in for Scale Back Alabama...I lost 44 pounds over the 10 weeks. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. I want to lose at least 20 more before August and then 20 more by the end of the year. If I do, it will be a total of 110 pounds lost from my heaviest about 3 years ago.
I also managed to be the "Biggest Loser" at the contest my company was having in conjunction with Scale Back Alabama and won an iPad.
I think I'll celebrate by going for a bike ride!!
I also managed to be the "Biggest Loser" at the contest my company was having in conjunction with Scale Back Alabama and won an iPad.
I think I'll celebrate by going for a bike ride!!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
First 5K is in the books! I didn't do quite as well as I had hoped, but I guess it wasn't too bad.
Yesterday morning I got up a little early so I could pack my bag before leaving for work. I packed up all my clothes, shoes, socks, etc.. and made sure I had my GU and my BLOKs. For those who are not familiar, GU and BLOKs are forms of quick energy boosts. I think they are both some mixture of vitamins, glucose (from rice), and other stuff. GU is kind of a paste and BLOKs are like fruit chews. I usually like the BLOKs before exercising and GU if I take it during. The drawback with GU is that you have to take it with water or you can't swallow the stuff, and BLOKs are like carrying big, sticky gummy bears which are hard to handle while you are moving. Anyway, I wasn't planning on needing to refuel during the race, but since I am on a diet, I thought a shot just before would be good.
For lunch I had a salad with some chicken breast and some crackers. ***MISTAKE NUMBER 1***. Even though I have turned into a couch potato, it wasn't always like that. I used to play football, volleyball, rugby, soccer. I even did a short stint on the Cross Country team in Junior High. So I knew better. Salad with chicken provided my absolutely nothing I needed before a race. Protein and fiber are not good pre-race food, at least for me. But I have been caught up in this weight loss thing and neglected to THINK. Somehow I thought the 160 calories from the BLOKs would fuel me sufficiently to expend as much energy as I could for 40 minutes...WRONG! To make things worse, all I had for breakfast was yogurt and I skipped dinner the night before.
When I got to work, I got my one cup of coffee for the day. Hey, I can't function without coffee in the morning. And I started drinking water. I have been drinking a lot of water anyway, but I drank a little more yesterday. ***MISTAKE NUMBER 2***. About 10 minutes before the start, I really had to pee. And of course, there was about a 15 minute line for the porta-potties. If there wasn't been 500 people there, I would have found a tree, but there was no convenient place, so I just held it. "Once I get going I will forget about it..." WRONG! That was ALL I thought about the whole time. I did distract me a little from the feeling that my knee-caps were going to pop off, but if you have every tried to concentrate on anything, like breathing, when you have to pee... you can understand how miserable it was.
About 4:00 I starting winding stuff down at work and getting ready. I stretched a little, pinned my number on my shirt, put my shorts, got some water, walked around the halls a little (since my butt hadn't left my chair in several hours), re-pinned my number on my shirt, got some more water. I was a little nervous. I don't know why, it wasn't like I was actually competing for anything. I knew I would make it through the run, sooner or later. My goal was 40 minutes, but really any time before they started packing up the tents would have been fine.
At 4:30, I gathered all my stuff and and headed over to the race. The race didn't start until 5:30 but I needed to get a good parking place because Abbie also had a softball game at 5:30 and I was planning on leaving right after the run to catch the end of her game. I also wanted some time to stretch and warm up. When I arrived, I eat my BLOKs and drank some more water, stretched, and jogged around a bit. I felt pretty good. My joints didn't hurt and my calf felt normal. I wasn't tired and felt like I had pretty good energy (recall the BLOK I just ate).
Just before 5:30, I met up with some people I knew and we made our way towards the back of the pack behind the start line. We were probably about 200 feet back from the start line. This race didn't have those little timing thingy's that some races have, so everyone started at the same time even though it took about a minute for the back of the pack to make it through the narrow, inflatable starting line. Not that it was a big deal to me, I just wanted to finish. At 5:30 the "gun" went off. Actually, it was some anemic sounding horn that I could barely hear. All of us "back-row" racers, started walking toward the start line as everyone herded through the opening. When I hit the line, I started my watch and started trotting. A friend of mine was next to me and we stayed together for about 1/2 a mile and talked a little (while I could still breath). I was feeling pretty good, not really breathing that heavy and no pain...yet. My plan was to run 1/2 a mile, then walk 30 seconds, run 1/2 a mile, then walk, etc... So at the half mile I started walking and my friend continued on. I did my 30 seconds of walking, then started running again. "Left, Right, Left, Right.....", "Trot, Trot, Trot....", "Boy, do I have to pee". Starting to breath a little heavier now and I am aware of my ankles and knees. The don't hurt, but they are definitely letting me know that they are there.
At the one mile point, or what I thought was the one mile point, I walked again. Ok, breathing pretty hard now. I had reverted to breathing every step. So I got my breathing under control and looked up and saw the timer about 200 yards ahead of me. "That's odd", I thought, Why wouldn't they put that at the one mile mark. Well...they did. My measurement on Google Earth was apparently short. (I seem to be having a problem with that lately). When I got the the ACTUAL one mile point, my time was 11:21. Not too bad. Keep this up and I will make my goal. So, I started trotting again. I could definitely detect a little pain in my ankles and my feet were getting warm. And let's not forget, I still had to pee. I passed on the water station ***MISTAKE NUMBER 3***. Even if you don't want to drink water (which you should), getting a mouthful and spitting it out helps, especially us mouth breathers.
Since my pre-race measurements were obviously WAY off, I switched to time. I was going to run 3 minutes then walk 30 seconds. Well, I didn't even make it one minute. You see, I was on a hill. Not a big hill mind you, but a hill none the less. Neither the greenway that I had run on or my treadmill have hills. One would not think that it would make that much of a difference, but apparently it does, because I was out of gas. My BLOKs were gone...my salad burned up. I was really regretting my lack of nutritional planning at this point, and... I STILL HAVE TO PEE.
So, now I am in survival mode. Running/walking at the best ratio I can muster. I am trying to stay ahead of the 60 year behind me, and keep up with the two girls in front of me. The next two and a half mile were torture. I do not remember seeing anymore timers, or water stations, or anything. My joints are really singing now, my feet are on fire, I am starting to get a headache, my mouth is dry...and yes, I still have to pee. The only good thing was it was pretty cool out. If it had been warm, I probably would have passed out.
When I made it to the final half mile which was this winding path fashioned into something resembling DNA (Double Helix Dash, remember), there goes granny passing me. Oh, SNAP, NO SHE DIDN'T!! I told myself as soon as I see the finish line, I am going to run as hard as I can. Granny is not going to beat me! We made the last turn and started up the hill to the finish line and I took off like the wind. Ok, it was more like a weak breeze. BUT, I did passed granny and even the two girls I had been following. As I approached the finish line, I noticed that I was getting light headed and my vision was starting to narrow a little, Oh SHIT, I am about to pass out!! I slowed just a little and managed to make it to the finish line and get into the cattle guides that narrowed the finishers down to a single line.
Well, a few of my friends that had finished before me were at the the finish line cheering me one. Don't remember a thing. I have no idea what I said to them, I don't even remember seeing them. They said I talked to them, but I don't remember. I do remember someone pawing at me trying to get the tag off my the number pinned to my shirt and someone else trying to shove a "We're glad you didn't die" participation medal in my hand. I was pretty unaware of what was going on. After exiting the cattle chute, I manage to find a banana, a piece of pizza, and some Gatorade, after which I felt a little better and my vision returned.
I milled around for a while talking to my friends, whom I was now aware were actually there. After about 15 minutes or so, when I thought I could drive, I headed to the car to try to catch Abbie's softball game. Caught the bottom of the last inning...they tied.
My goal was to finish under 40 minutes. My "un-official" time was 40:17. I didn't quite make my goal, but I survived. Even though the end was pretty tough for me, all in all, I had a good time..and I DID IT!!
And I learned a few things...
1 - You have to eat more than a salad before running a race.
2 - Energy boosters last about 30 minutes and are "boosts" not replacements
3 - Get water when offered
and last, but not least,
4 - Don't drink so much water before the race that you are going to have to pee during the race!
Cotton Row 5K...HERE I COME!!
Yesterday morning I got up a little early so I could pack my bag before leaving for work. I packed up all my clothes, shoes, socks, etc.. and made sure I had my GU and my BLOKs. For those who are not familiar, GU and BLOKs are forms of quick energy boosts. I think they are both some mixture of vitamins, glucose (from rice), and other stuff. GU is kind of a paste and BLOKs are like fruit chews. I usually like the BLOKs before exercising and GU if I take it during. The drawback with GU is that you have to take it with water or you can't swallow the stuff, and BLOKs are like carrying big, sticky gummy bears which are hard to handle while you are moving. Anyway, I wasn't planning on needing to refuel during the race, but since I am on a diet, I thought a shot just before would be good.
For lunch I had a salad with some chicken breast and some crackers. ***MISTAKE NUMBER 1***. Even though I have turned into a couch potato, it wasn't always like that. I used to play football, volleyball, rugby, soccer. I even did a short stint on the Cross Country team in Junior High. So I knew better. Salad with chicken provided my absolutely nothing I needed before a race. Protein and fiber are not good pre-race food, at least for me. But I have been caught up in this weight loss thing and neglected to THINK. Somehow I thought the 160 calories from the BLOKs would fuel me sufficiently to expend as much energy as I could for 40 minutes...WRONG! To make things worse, all I had for breakfast was yogurt and I skipped dinner the night before.
When I got to work, I got my one cup of coffee for the day. Hey, I can't function without coffee in the morning. And I started drinking water. I have been drinking a lot of water anyway, but I drank a little more yesterday. ***MISTAKE NUMBER 2***. About 10 minutes before the start, I really had to pee. And of course, there was about a 15 minute line for the porta-potties. If there wasn't been 500 people there, I would have found a tree, but there was no convenient place, so I just held it. "Once I get going I will forget about it..." WRONG! That was ALL I thought about the whole time. I did distract me a little from the feeling that my knee-caps were going to pop off, but if you have every tried to concentrate on anything, like breathing, when you have to pee... you can understand how miserable it was.
About 4:00 I starting winding stuff down at work and getting ready. I stretched a little, pinned my number on my shirt, put my shorts, got some water, walked around the halls a little (since my butt hadn't left my chair in several hours), re-pinned my number on my shirt, got some more water. I was a little nervous. I don't know why, it wasn't like I was actually competing for anything. I knew I would make it through the run, sooner or later. My goal was 40 minutes, but really any time before they started packing up the tents would have been fine.
At 4:30, I gathered all my stuff and and headed over to the race. The race didn't start until 5:30 but I needed to get a good parking place because Abbie also had a softball game at 5:30 and I was planning on leaving right after the run to catch the end of her game. I also wanted some time to stretch and warm up. When I arrived, I eat my BLOKs and drank some more water, stretched, and jogged around a bit. I felt pretty good. My joints didn't hurt and my calf felt normal. I wasn't tired and felt like I had pretty good energy (recall the BLOK I just ate).
Just before 5:30, I met up with some people I knew and we made our way towards the back of the pack behind the start line. We were probably about 200 feet back from the start line. This race didn't have those little timing thingy's that some races have, so everyone started at the same time even though it took about a minute for the back of the pack to make it through the narrow, inflatable starting line. Not that it was a big deal to me, I just wanted to finish. At 5:30 the "gun" went off. Actually, it was some anemic sounding horn that I could barely hear. All of us "back-row" racers, started walking toward the start line as everyone herded through the opening. When I hit the line, I started my watch and started trotting. A friend of mine was next to me and we stayed together for about 1/2 a mile and talked a little (while I could still breath). I was feeling pretty good, not really breathing that heavy and no pain...yet. My plan was to run 1/2 a mile, then walk 30 seconds, run 1/2 a mile, then walk, etc... So at the half mile I started walking and my friend continued on. I did my 30 seconds of walking, then started running again. "Left, Right, Left, Right.....", "Trot, Trot, Trot....", "Boy, do I have to pee". Starting to breath a little heavier now and I am aware of my ankles and knees. The don't hurt, but they are definitely letting me know that they are there.
At the one mile point, or what I thought was the one mile point, I walked again. Ok, breathing pretty hard now. I had reverted to breathing every step. So I got my breathing under control and looked up and saw the timer about 200 yards ahead of me. "That's odd", I thought, Why wouldn't they put that at the one mile mark. Well...they did. My measurement on Google Earth was apparently short. (I seem to be having a problem with that lately). When I got the the ACTUAL one mile point, my time was 11:21. Not too bad. Keep this up and I will make my goal. So, I started trotting again. I could definitely detect a little pain in my ankles and my feet were getting warm. And let's not forget, I still had to pee. I passed on the water station ***MISTAKE NUMBER 3***. Even if you don't want to drink water (which you should), getting a mouthful and spitting it out helps, especially us mouth breathers.
Since my pre-race measurements were obviously WAY off, I switched to time. I was going to run 3 minutes then walk 30 seconds. Well, I didn't even make it one minute. You see, I was on a hill. Not a big hill mind you, but a hill none the less. Neither the greenway that I had run on or my treadmill have hills. One would not think that it would make that much of a difference, but apparently it does, because I was out of gas. My BLOKs were gone...my salad burned up. I was really regretting my lack of nutritional planning at this point, and... I STILL HAVE TO PEE.
So, now I am in survival mode. Running/walking at the best ratio I can muster. I am trying to stay ahead of the 60 year behind me, and keep up with the two girls in front of me. The next two and a half mile were torture. I do not remember seeing anymore timers, or water stations, or anything. My joints are really singing now, my feet are on fire, I am starting to get a headache, my mouth is dry...and yes, I still have to pee. The only good thing was it was pretty cool out. If it had been warm, I probably would have passed out.
When I made it to the final half mile which was this winding path fashioned into something resembling DNA (Double Helix Dash, remember), there goes granny passing me. Oh, SNAP, NO SHE DIDN'T!! I told myself as soon as I see the finish line, I am going to run as hard as I can. Granny is not going to beat me! We made the last turn and started up the hill to the finish line and I took off like the wind. Ok, it was more like a weak breeze. BUT, I did passed granny and even the two girls I had been following. As I approached the finish line, I noticed that I was getting light headed and my vision was starting to narrow a little, Oh SHIT, I am about to pass out!! I slowed just a little and managed to make it to the finish line and get into the cattle guides that narrowed the finishers down to a single line.
Well, a few of my friends that had finished before me were at the the finish line cheering me one. Don't remember a thing. I have no idea what I said to them, I don't even remember seeing them. They said I talked to them, but I don't remember. I do remember someone pawing at me trying to get the tag off my the number pinned to my shirt and someone else trying to shove a "We're glad you didn't die" participation medal in my hand. I was pretty unaware of what was going on. After exiting the cattle chute, I manage to find a banana, a piece of pizza, and some Gatorade, after which I felt a little better and my vision returned.
I milled around for a while talking to my friends, whom I was now aware were actually there. After about 15 minutes or so, when I thought I could drive, I headed to the car to try to catch Abbie's softball game. Caught the bottom of the last inning...they tied.
My goal was to finish under 40 minutes. My "un-official" time was 40:17. I didn't quite make my goal, but I survived. Even though the end was pretty tough for me, all in all, I had a good time..and I DID IT!!
And I learned a few things...
1 - You have to eat more than a salad before running a race.
2 - Energy boosters last about 30 minutes and are "boosts" not replacements
3 - Get water when offered
and last, but not least,
4 - Don't drink so much water before the race that you are going to have to pee during the race!
Cotton Row 5K...HERE I COME!!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Today's the day! The 5K is here. I definitely do not feel like I have prepared enough for it. I am still not that comfortable running. It is still pretty painful on my joints, but I am getting better. I know I am going to finish, the question is how am I going to finish. The past two 5K's I have done with my daughter, we finished right at 55 minutes. My goal is under 40 minutes today.
In other news... I dropped a few more pounds and I am now one pound away from losing 40 pounds in 10 weeks. I should be there by Friday. I should weight in right after the race today, I will probably drop 5 pounds by the end of it.
In other news... I dropped a few more pounds and I am now one pound away from losing 40 pounds in 10 weeks. I should be there by Friday. I should weight in right after the race today, I will probably drop 5 pounds by the end of it.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Only five days left until the Double Helix 5K. Last night I decided to try out the distance and see just how long it is going to take me to run 3.1 miles. I went over to the green way by my house after work for the run. It is a little flatter than the course will be on Tuesday, but at least I would have an idea of what my time might be.
I have been trying out different iPhone applications to track time and distance. Yesterday, I used the RunKeeper application. I have used it before, but only in manual mode. I would get the route off Google Earth and manually enter the time. This time I let it do everything. I also have Nike shoes with the little sensor in them, but I did not turn it on this time. So I set up my iPhone and got my music cued up, AC/DC today. I pressed start on RunKeeper and started my run. RunKeeper calls out time, pace, distance, etc... So there I was lumbering along listening to my music occasionally interrupted by a sexy voice telling me how great I am doing.
I decided not to try to kill myself this time and be a little smarter about things. So I was going to run half a mile, the walk for about 30 seconds, run half a mile then walk, etc... That way I wouldn't totally be out of gas after a couple miles. Things were going pretty good, I was feeling pretty strong. "Hell's Bells" was jamming in the headphones and Samantha (my iPhone coach) called out the first leg "0.5 miles, 3 minutes 36 seconds, pace 7.<something>". I thought, WOW, that was pretty easy. I didn't really think about how fast a 7 minute pace was. I continued with my plan, when Sam (sometime I call her Sam), called out 1.5 miles, I ran a little further then turned around. "Halfway" I told myself. I was feeling a little less spunky as before, but still not too bad. When my walk portion was over, I started trotting again. Same story as before. Run-Walk-Run, Sam calling out time and distance. I thought "I got this!!" When I turned the corner and could see the parking lot, my AC/DC ran out and the Black Eye Peas came on. I guess I didn't have enough AC/DC songs in the playlist. I crossed the finish line and hit stop on RunKeeper. Sam called out the final stats..."3.28 miles, 24.26 minutes, average pace 7.28". "I am going to blow them away on Tuesday", I thought. RunKeeper poped up a message that said "Do you want to post your activity?" "HELL YEAH". I packed everything up and headed home. I was very tired, sweating like a whore in church, and my legs hurt, BUT... I was not completly spent. I actually didn't feel that bad. Well, let's say, I have felt worse.
Later that night I was on Facebook checking things out and I noticed a message from a friend commenting on my run. "Wow, that's fast!" I thought, surly we can't be talking about me. I scrolled down and saw the RunKeeper entry. It had added the average speed to the post -- 8.04 miles/hour. I thought, "wait a minute, that doesn't sound right". I haven't been calibrated to think in minues/mile yet, but miles/hour I understand. And that did seem fast, so I rechecked the route on Google Earth. "@!$%&#, SAM LIED!!!, That route was only 2.01 miles!!!" (Luckily, the kids were not in the room.) So, my pace was actually more like 12.2. I was a little disappointed. I pulled up the route map on RunKeeper and it bounced all over the place. "ARRRGGGHHHHH, piece of @%$!"
Oh well, 12.2 isn't that awful at the stage I am at now. And I feel I would have had enough left to finish the 5K at about the same pace, so it wasn't a complete disaster. But I think Samantha and I are over.
Needless to say, I will be checking out other applications and gadgets. So stay tuned if you are interested in my road tests.
I am going to miss Sam.
I have been trying out different iPhone applications to track time and distance. Yesterday, I used the RunKeeper application. I have used it before, but only in manual mode. I would get the route off Google Earth and manually enter the time. This time I let it do everything. I also have Nike shoes with the little sensor in them, but I did not turn it on this time. So I set up my iPhone and got my music cued up, AC/DC today. I pressed start on RunKeeper and started my run. RunKeeper calls out time, pace, distance, etc... So there I was lumbering along listening to my music occasionally interrupted by a sexy voice telling me how great I am doing.
I decided not to try to kill myself this time and be a little smarter about things. So I was going to run half a mile, the walk for about 30 seconds, run half a mile then walk, etc... That way I wouldn't totally be out of gas after a couple miles. Things were going pretty good, I was feeling pretty strong. "Hell's Bells" was jamming in the headphones and Samantha (my iPhone coach) called out the first leg "0.5 miles, 3 minutes 36 seconds, pace 7.<something>". I thought, WOW, that was pretty easy. I didn't really think about how fast a 7 minute pace was. I continued with my plan, when Sam (sometime I call her Sam), called out 1.5 miles, I ran a little further then turned around. "Halfway" I told myself. I was feeling a little less spunky as before, but still not too bad. When my walk portion was over, I started trotting again. Same story as before. Run-Walk-Run, Sam calling out time and distance. I thought "I got this!!" When I turned the corner and could see the parking lot, my AC/DC ran out and the Black Eye Peas came on. I guess I didn't have enough AC/DC songs in the playlist. I crossed the finish line and hit stop on RunKeeper. Sam called out the final stats..."3.28 miles, 24.26 minutes, average pace 7.28". "I am going to blow them away on Tuesday", I thought. RunKeeper poped up a message that said "Do you want to post your activity?" "HELL YEAH". I packed everything up and headed home. I was very tired, sweating like a whore in church, and my legs hurt, BUT... I was not completly spent. I actually didn't feel that bad. Well, let's say, I have felt worse.
Later that night I was on Facebook checking things out and I noticed a message from a friend commenting on my run. "Wow, that's fast!" I thought, surly we can't be talking about me. I scrolled down and saw the RunKeeper entry. It had added the average speed to the post -- 8.04 miles/hour. I thought, "wait a minute, that doesn't sound right". I haven't been calibrated to think in minues/mile yet, but miles/hour I understand. And that did seem fast, so I rechecked the route on Google Earth. "@!$%&#, SAM LIED!!!, That route was only 2.01 miles!!!" (Luckily, the kids were not in the room.) So, my pace was actually more like 12.2. I was a little disappointed. I pulled up the route map on RunKeeper and it bounced all over the place. "ARRRGGGHHHHH, piece of @%$!"
Oh well, 12.2 isn't that awful at the stage I am at now. And I feel I would have had enough left to finish the 5K at about the same pace, so it wasn't a complete disaster. But I think Samantha and I are over.
Needless to say, I will be checking out other applications and gadgets. So stay tuned if you are interested in my road tests.
I am going to miss Sam.
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