Archive for July, 2009

Holding Steady Under 280

Friday, July 31st, 2009

I did a 1+3 today and holding steady under 280. 

I am going to Canada this weekend and although I am confident I can find a good route to run, I am not sure if I will bring my scale.  If I do then I will do an official weigh in.  Unfortunately I recall the scale at the place I am staying at only goes up to 250.  Maybe next summer or even during the winter holidays that scale will work for me.

Weight: 279.0

Not Tired… Exhausted

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

I’ve hinted that I have had server problems the past few days.  The critical phase is over… I know most VM’s will come up, the RAID array these were running on is OK.

But I did spend quite a few hours on this stuff.  You know I still ran my 1+3 yesterday.  But last night it all came crashing down.   I mean I was exhausted.  My body really wanted a break.

When I got home from work I ran a quick errand to the store for her but I then took a nap.  I wanted to walk an additional 2 miles yesterday but all I got up for was to eat dinner and back to bed I went.  No TV, no music, no computer.  Just deep sleep…. right next to the air conditioner.

I had about 10 hours of sleep.  A lot for a person that normally needs between 6 and 7.5 hours.  This morning I was feeling better but still tired.  I recall that its not the night before a day that matters, its the night 2 days ago.  So I will feel the benefit of my sleep on Friday.

Still feeling good that I’m under 280, but I know a lot of it is still fluids.  I will continue to rehydrate today and see what I am tomorrow.

Weight: 278.8

Wow…

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Hard to say much.  Also kind of late for work so need to make this short.

Anyway, I am late because I thought I could fit in a 1+3 before I go in.   At first, I thought it was a mistake, my run was slower than usual, my legs could not go, also other than hot weather, conditions were good.  I was breathing OK, maybe I did not get a good sleep.  I don’t know.  The were was not spectacular.

Then I got home.

Wow… weighed in and it is below as usual.  But I took off my sweat soaked shirt for an unofficial weight… 276.2

Yeah the official is higher, also I’m pretty sure a lot of it is water.  Need to consider that a gallon of water weighs slightly more than 8 pounds.

But here it is…

Weight: 277.6

My Feet

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

OK finally get to post this.  I have been wrestling with two failed VMware Servers.  Most of the critical VM’s are up, just got 1 VM I need to get up.

Anyway, as you know a major exercise I have been doign is running and walking.  It puts a lot of strain on your feet.  One day I was talking to my buddies at work Nate and Andrew and they said I should go see a store that will get me fitted for shoes.

If you guys know me, you know I came from a blue collar background.  Yes I do work in a white color field but I am used to going to Walmart or Costco and putting shoes on and if it fits… its good.

So when I went to this shoe store called Fleet Feet Sports in Bonney Lake, I was not sure what to expect.

But a gal named Linda really made me feel comfortable.  She made me run on a treadmill and recorded my gait.  She also measured my foot both sitting and standing.  I tried several shoes first, and settled on a pair of New Balance Shoes.

She let me run with the shoes on to see how it felt.  She then got me a pair of inserts that fit the way I walk.  She trimmed them to size and put them in my shoes for me.  Then had me pick out a pair of socks that will wick out the sweat.

I learned quite a bit there, how much my feet sweat, how to relieve that first step pain in the morning, how often to change shoes and how to tell when they are worn.

Overall she gave me an hour of her time to make sure I left there with the right shoes.  I don’t think Walmart or even Sports Authority would give me that kind of attention.

I would recommend people check them out.

http://www.fleetfeetbonneylake.com/

Humidity is really high lately

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

I just got done with my morning run and I am drenched.  The humidity is so high, I just checked Weather Underground and the humidity is at 81%.  These conditions are probably skewing my results.

Another cool thing is I was able to run a mile and a 1/2.  I been usually running only a mile.  It will be a good day when my morning run consists entirely of a running with the only cool down coming from the walk to and from the starting and end points.

You can tell that I may be hinting at a huge weight loss.  So let me tell you the conditions I weigh myself, I usually consider the weight I am in the morning after my workout (if there is one), after I use the bathroom, wearing my three pieces of clothing, shirt, shorts, and underwear.  The clothes are the same ones I worked out in.  It is also important that you know the scale can be flaky, but right now it is a digital weight watchers scale that I am using.  I hope to get one of those balance scales you see at the doctors office.

Anyway before my workout I did weigh myself and I was 283.6, which doesn’t meet the conditions I like to weigh myself.  Also after my workout, I removed my sweat drenched shirt and weighed myself.  This was awesome but still not official 280.6.  But alas, here is the official weight, oh oh so close to cracking my nemesis, still happy.   But remember a lot of it is probably water and I will be drinking at least a gallon of water throughout the day.  It is a 3 workout day.

Weight: 282.0

Getting Faster

Monday, July 27th, 2009

I still don’t time my runs and I should, but this morning I noticed that a got back from my morning run and walk a lot quicker than usual.

This gave me more time to get ready for work.

I think this is gonna be a good week.

Weight: 283.0

Had a busy day

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

This is a pretty late post.  I kind of wanted to get it in before calling it a day.

It was a busy day though, went to church, got new shoes, and celebrated a birthday with a friend.

I would like to elaborate on the shoes though.  I went to this special shoe store that helped me get right fitting shoes.

Watch tomorrows post.

My run today was interesting because it was at covington.  I was waiting for my wife to buy herself some stuff so I decided to mark a mile off with our minivan and ran that route.

Oh yeah as for today’s weight, this was already late in the day, no workout and no morning bathroom yet.

Weight: 287.8

Yes, I have met with my first wall

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Ok, so when I started my current job I was this weight.   This weight is significant because this is a wall I hit last year from March 16, 2008 to June 17, 2008.

It is a huge psychological barrier. This is my nemesis from last year. 

Also this makes it possible for me to make my goal of cracking 280 before my son gets back from Hawaii in exactly 2 weeks.  If I can crack 280 by next week, and make it stick the week after, I will be so happy.

Weight: 282.2

Interesting 26 hours ahead

Friday, July 24th, 2009

So in 15 days my son returns, I indicated that it would be awesome if I was at 275 when he gets back.  Those plans were dashed when for some strange reason the scale popped to 288 earlier this week.

I think today’s weigh in is an accurate reading of where I should be.  In order to crack that 280 barrier, I am going to seriously have to up my workout and lower my intake.

So here’s why the next 26 hours will be interesting.  This afternoon I have a gym workout.  I think this time I’ll make it an extended workout.  Instead of the usual hour, I am going to add another 1/2 and still to an evening walk.

Tomorrow morning I will do a 1+3 (I don’t think I will beat yesterday’s numbers).  I will still eat breakfast, lunch and dinner though.  But I will also keep myself hydrated.  I will try to drink 1 1/2 gallons of water between now and tomorrows weigh in so water weight loss will not skew the results.

Weight: 284.4

Found my legs!!!

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Wow, I am so excited, I hit another milestone.  I ran the 1+3 route in less than 1 hour.  So technically it wasn’t a 1+3, it was more a 2+1+1 where I ran 2 miles, walked 1, and ran 1.

I know I started my route at 7:40 (even a little after that) because I was carrying my blackberry.  After the 3rd mile I was thinking, if I kick it into gear I may be able to beat the 70 minutes I ran last time.

But as I was closing in on the finish line, I noticed if I pushed it more I could actually beat 60 minutes.

I passed the finish line at 8:39.

So what does this milestone show?  That I will be able to do those 4 mile lunch hour runs again.

Finally, the proverbial icing on the cake is my weigh in, which IIRC is a record since this blog started.

Weight: 283.4