It was AWESOME

I got an email from a director with Fox Sports South last week that told me they had read some of my story of weight loss and stuff I had given the Country Music 1/2 marathon. He asked if I could come by there room at the expo center and do some on camera interviews about it to be used in a telecast of the run on Comcast Sports and Fox Sports South in about two weeks. It was really cool, it took about 5 minutes and I just answered some questions, they asked some pretty good questions. The best one was, "how could someone else be motivated or learn from your experiance?" I had to think on that one for a while.

Then at the race expo I talked with John "the penguin" Bingham, a writer for Runner's World and author of a book that I had read a couple of years ago called "The Courage to Start" We had talked last year before the race and he said he remebered me, but I am sure he says that to everyone. Anyway we talked a little about my weight loss and running and he encouraged me to share my story with as many people as possible, because that is the obligation of someone who's life has been changed that much. I thought about what he said, and I guess I am kinda doing that with the blog.

On Yeah, I ran in Nashville too! I took 51 minutes off my time from last year going from 3:09 to 2:18!! I averaged 10:36 a mile. A whole 12 minutes better than my goal of 2:30 or under. I was very very pleased with the outcome. Greg ran the first 9 miles with me and Kim ran the last bit with me. I am so blessed to have such supportive friends and family.

This week I will be preparing for the triathlon on Saturday at Craighead Forest. I just hope I don't drown.

Feeling Great

I had my final run yesterday in preperation for the race Saturday. I ran 3 miles in 28 minutes and felt pretty good. I weighed in this morning with my lowest morning weight ever recorded during this process (I usually weigh a little less in the afternoons for weigh ins) So I will go into the race at my lightest, right around 235 or so. I have really taken the emphasis off of losing weight the last couple of weeks so that I could have enough energy for my long runs and the race. I am really happy to see that I have not gained any during this time, and have even lost a little. Next week is the triathlon and after that I am going to push hard to see the 220s by vacation on the 21st of May.

You can check out my race times at the 5K 10K and finish line on www.countrymusicmarathon.com

Thanks again for all the support and the well wishes. I look forward to shaing the experiance with you on the blog when I return.

This is the week

This week is the big 1/2 marathon in Nashville. I had a big workout weekend. I swam on Friday Morning, I biked around 40 miles on Saturday, and I had my final long run of 10 miles on Sunday afternoon. The eating has gone pretty well over the weekend other than the big big meal in Memphis Friday night, but I think I should for sure not gain weight this week.

They say you should always be planning at lest 2 goals ahead to stay motivated and this weekend will be the end of a goal I have been working out for the last 12 weeks or so, and then immediatley after that the next weekend will be the triathlon here in Jonesboro. So today I am posting the next goal. On Monday of last week I signed up Kim and me both for the 30th running of the Chicago Marathon on October 7th. This will be her second marathon and of course my first. I have hear there is a big difference in training for 26.2 and 13.1, I guess I will find out first hand. I will post a link to that training plan after in the next couple of weeks.

Big Week

This week it looks like I lost about a pound and 1/2 and in the 235 range, but I am really trying to concentrate on my long run this weekend of 10 miles and then eating well and getting all my short runs in leading up the 1/2 marathon next Saturday. I swam this morning, will bike tomorrow morning and run my 10 miles Sunday. Wish I had more time, but this week has been BUSY and I have some papers to write and get turned in by Monday.

11 Miles

Sorry I have not posted in a while. I was out of town on the weigh in day last week, although unoffically it looks like my scales are telling me I am still going down, I will have a new offical number on Thursday.

My trainging plan called for 9 miles Sunday and when I finished Kim showed up and wanted to run 2 with me, so since we don't get to run much together I decided to give in and it went well. 11 miles in all, and still one more long run (10 miles) next Sunday and the 1/2 marathon will be the next Saturday April 28. I am really looking forward to it. I ran 9 miles on sunday in 1:32, so I am just over 10 minute miles. I have told myslef if I can average 11 minute miles in the race I will be real happy.

Exactley the Same as last week

This marks my first week without a loss since before Thanksgiving. I weighed the exact same down to the tenth of a pound as I did last week. I was a little disappointed, but then I thought about how much more disappointed I would have been if I had gained and I was really happy all of a sudden. The weight loss instructor said that there is never anything wrong with maintaining especially since I am in the "maintenance" phase of the program. She also said that with the 1/2 marathon just a couple of weeks away (April 28) that I might should concentrate on eating well and getting as many calories as I can to keep my weight and energy pretty level till after the race, I would not want to go in on anything less than a full tank of energy. I can see her point, and I will not try real hard these next few weeks to lose, but I hope that just eating healthy and working out might result in a few more pounds,(the 220's) before the big race.

A BIG BIG WEEKEND

I did this weekend BIG both in a positive and a negative way. I ate a lot and I worked out a lot. I hope the working out will offset all the celebrating I did with Kiley over her 3rd birthday. Again on Saturday I went biking with my group that meets downtown at the coffee shot across from the bike store. This biking group is turning out to be kind of like a drug dealer. We started out the first week with an easy 20 and then 20 again, then last week they decided to go 40 miles. I made it and I was proud of myself. This week we start the first 20 mile loop and all of sudden we are going 4 to 5 miles an hour faster than last week and my heart is pounding. We went 40 miles again this week, but they pumped up the intensity big time. I made it and felt great all day. Then today I had 8 miles in my 1/2 marathon program and thought my legs would be dead, but to my surprise it was just the opposit. Today was the best long run of the training so far. I did the big paved loop around the lake twice (6 miles) and then the inside loop once (2.4 or something like that) so I made it over 8 miles today and felt really good. I usually really kick the diet in on Sunday through Thursday, but Kim is out of town today through Tuesday night and I never seem to eat really well when left to my own, so I will have to really rely on my working out to lose weight this week.

220 here I come!