Making the Commitment!!

Last week was a great week!  I know you were all as happy to see that 3.1 lbs. drop as I was.  This week I am focusing on truly making the commitment to my fitness.  Let's talk about how my week went and then we will get to that.  Time to hash out the details.

I was on a high from last week's loss.  I am enjoying running and after running once with my brother-in-law realized I could push myself to go a little faster.  Although he gassed himself by pushing too hard at the beginning of the run when he was with me, I am glad that I forced myself to his starting pace and never went below my original pace towards the end.  I learn new things about myself everyday.  I went on to decide that if I was able to push through that workout when the temperature outside was in excess of 90 degrees that I could push myself harder every workout after.  In my following workouts for the week I vowed not to let my pace rise above 13:00 minutes per mile (if you look at my workouts below it includes a walk warm up and cool down so the pace is not just for running times).  Amazingly I was able to do so.  I think that's pretty good for a guy that still weighs well over 250 lbs. On Sunday, I was even able to complete the workout after having mowed the yard in the morning!

If you remember back to June when I purchased my new pair of Brooks Launch 2 shoes I have been running in them and they are treating me quite well.  Remember, I fell off the running wagon for a while there so they still have plenty of miles left in them.  However, I was surprised to recently see that a pair of another Brooks shoes I own, the Glycerin 12s, was starting to crack around the sole.  I contacted Brooks on their website through a Defective product report and they replied within 48 hours that they would replace them for me with the same model shoe.  If I wasn't already happy enough with Brooks shoes for their comfort, I am now a lifelong customer because of their customer service. If you haven't tried their shoes, I suggest you at least give them a shot.

Over the past few weeks, I have been hinting at making a commitment to adding more Feet from my motto in to my routine.  I have been doing that through my workouts.  Well, after quite a bit of looking around on the internet, I have found a way to make that commitment even stronger.  I am going to participate in a couple firsts between now and my birthday.  I have decided I am going to participate in my first 5K race on Halloween morning.  This race is called the Brew HaHa in Carmel, IN and I found it interesting because it is far enough out from now to allow me to really work on my fitness for completing a 5K, but also because of the "swag".  When you complete this race the finisher medal is a bottle opener and you receive a micro brew from a local brewery.  Not a bad way to end a race.  If you are interested in joining me at this event simply click here to go to their website.

The next one is the biggest commitment I have ever made to fitness.  I have signed up for the 500 Festival Mini Marathon in May.  That's right folks... 13.1 miles!!!  I am nowhere near prepared for this race currently, but I know that this amount of time is definitely ample for training with that magic word commitment.  Not only did I sign up for the mini itself, but I also signed up for the miler series (virtually) as a way of testing myself to make sure I can finish like I want to.  The miler series is a group of three dates with three increasingly longer distances (3, 6, and 10 miles).  Although I can't actually attend these sessions in Indy because one of the dates I will be hosting the Jaycees Spaghetti Run, I can complete the runs on my own on the same dates and submit my times through either e-mail or social media.  If I complete all three miler distances on the correct dates and complete the Mini I will receive an additional medal and shirt for being a "Mini Maniac".  I am nervous now about completing all of these, but I have paid my entrance fees and I am COMMITTED!!  Chris Day, my former band director and the reason behind my Truly Inspired post from early on in this blogging experience, is an ambassador for the Mini Marathon this year and I took it as a sign that this was my year to participate.  When you sign up you can add him as your ambassador if you don't have another person that inspired you to run the Mini.  See you all at the finish line!  You know you want to join me!!

What's the weight loss this week, right?  Well I weighed in this morning at 265.3 lbs. for a weight loss of 0.9 lbs. this week.  It's a loss and I am happy with it.  I think through my upcoming training that I am going to annihilate that number, but even if I don't I am not going to get discouraged.  Here's to commitment!  Find something you are passionate about and commit yourself to it.  Until next week... Food. Feet. Water. Repeat!!