Play it again, Crook…

I started the 5k workouts this week and so far it’s not too bad. Although, I have been running for almost two months now. Tonight was my 2.25 mile run. It wasn’t too bad, but I’m running way too slow. My pace was 10:32, which is terrible, but I have to start somewhere - so I’m quite happy with that (for now hehe)! I will be running it again on Saturday, so I’ll see if I can pick up the pace a bit and get it under 10 minutes. I am using the 5k program that I have linked to this site.

I gotta tell ya, I effing love that GPS. I don’t have to worry about where I’m running because it shows the distance I’m running run real-time. It’s nice because I can switch up the routes so it doesn’t become boring.

Elevation and Pace:

So, I went on a walk last night to test out the GPS (Garmin Forerunner 205 - because Tenny didn’t read the information from yesterday…heh ) to see how it worked. Holy crap! I downloaded the data to my laptop with the software it provided and I was very impressed! I’m attaching a couple of screen shots. It was crazy accurate - it even showed the short burst when I ran across the road. Total distance, time, calories burned, pace, and even grade and elevation. There’s much more, but this window had a lot of the info on it. So, this will prove to be very useful on my runs and bike rides (and trips and motorcycle rides..hehe). The price on this puppy is $199. I got mine at REI.

Click the thumbnails below:

I also found out that you can export the data into Google Earth, resulting in this (which is pretty fricking sweet!):

My run today was 2.93 miles. I also decided that I’m going to run a 5k (3.1 Miles) Race on May 31st. If anyone is interested and wants to run with me, let me know. I’m going to sign up sometime this week. It’s in Madison and is $20. I’m doing it because I want to. I run slow as hell so I wouldn’t worry about me racing away from you…lol. Here’s the link if you want to check it out: Komen Race for the Cure

Slacker!!! Ok, I will admit that I slacked off this week. It was nice out and I was on my motorcycle more than I was at the gym….hehe I ended up eating out a couple of nights at some local restaurants with friends (hey it was the opening of bike night at Quaker Steak!!). So, I actually gained 1.5lbs this week. Although, Thursday night I ran 2 miles and then walked/ran an additional mile or so. So, I don’t feel too bad about it. Weigh-in is always Friday morning. Back to my normal schedule this week - I just hope to break even or maybe drop an additional pound.

Today We had the 2-mile Crazy Legs walk. It’s also the big 8k run. I just wasn’t ready to run in it yet, but that’s ok! I’ll get it next year! So, a bunch of us walked it. It ended up being about a 4 mile walk based on where we parked.

I also started running outside this week when I did work out. I’m trying to get a solid 2 mile course on semi-flat roads to start with. To accurately monitor my progress, I picked up a GPS (Garmin Forerunner 205). I’ll let you know how it works out and put a mini review on it after I use it for about a month. From what I’ve read, it’s pretty decent.

Due to the guilt I was feeling about gaining a little this week, I went for a 3 mile walk tonight.

It was a drastic change. When I started this quest I cut my caloric intake to about 2500 calories a day. The healthy way is to cut 500 calories out of your diet per week to minimize too much impact on the body, but I didn’t have any problems jumping to that. I also changed my eating habits. I ate and continue to eat 5-6 portioned meals a day. Two of my meals incorporate complex carbs and protein. The others are mostly fruits and veggies. I will outline an example meal day:

5:30am - bowl of All Bran / 1 cup of milk

8am - banana / handful of baby carrots

11am - portioned meal of 7 grain sketti, half chicken breast, mushrooms, green pepper, and Ragu Sauce

2pm - pear / handful of baby carrots

3:15 - 1 hour gym workout

5pm - portioned meal of 7 grain sketti, half chicken breast, mushrooms, green pepper, and Ragu Sauce

Again, this is just one meal plan… but it ends up being roughly 2500 calories.

Some easy things you can do:

1) High fiber diet to keep you regular and keep the pipes working.

2) Drink AT LEAST 64 oz of water.. this helps move things along and also helps your metabolism. Plus, it will keep you full and curb any potential hunger you might have otherwise.

3) Space out your meals and don’t gorge yourself. After a couple weeks, your body will tell you when you’re hungry and I’m not kidding. My body knows when it’s time to eat again. This is also telling you that your metabolism is working properly. When you have continuous meals every couple of hours it’s telling your body that you aren’t starving and it’s ok to burn off excess in preparation to the next meal. Your body won’t think it’s starving and store it as fat - which will happen if you only eat a couple of times per day.

When your metabolism is working properly you can look at it like this: You are making a deal with your body that it won’t store much of anything at all as fat as long as you feed it food every 2-3 hours throughout the day. You do that and I guarantee things will change for you.

2.5lbs lost this week! I’ve hit another milestone…..50.5lbs lost so far!!! Yay!!! That was really the one big one I was waiting for. I’ve been shooting for 50lbs to begin with. So, I started at 286lbs and now I’m down to 235.5lbs. I don’t even remember the last time I was at this weight.

This was also the first week I was able to run a solid 2 miles with no problems, which I’m stoked about. Last night I ran for about 50 minutes off and on. I ran one mile and then walked a lap and ran a fast lap for the rest of the duration. This kind of interval training will help me increase the mileage eventually.

The no smoking has been going great… it’s been about a month now. I really have not kept track and don’t think about smoking, which is good.

Now, if I can just get some frickin sun, I would be in good shape…. Mr. Translucent there…geez…hehe