All About Pacing

With the BrewHaHa coming up this week, I figured why not talk about pacing.  Over the past week, I have had a great time with my workouts and a not so stellar time with my eating.  Let's talk about what has gone down.

To begin the week, I woke up with the stiffest neck I have had in quite some time Monday morning.  I took Monday as a rest day and tried to use Advil and a heating pad to help relieve it.  However, it lasted nearly the entire week, only in smaller and smaller levels throughout each day.  I can still feel a twinge of it right now if I turn my neck quick enough.  I decided on Tuesday that I definitely needed to get my runs in this week as I was quickly running out of time before my first 5K.  So, I hit the treadmill on Tuesday and Thursday.  I ran through the stiff neck and honestly it didn't matter that much since looking away from the TV isn't something you do that much when you are on a treadmill.  I had some good runs and sprinted it out at 6.0 mph for the last 2 tenths of a mile on Thursday.  I was feeling good going into my long run planned for Saturday.

We also had parent teacher conferences this past Wednesday at school after a full school day.  Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised to hit my step goal on Wednesday after having spent 12 and a half hours in the building that day.  Thursday, I was able to to take a bit of a break before my run as we had canceled Lego League for the day due to conferences.  On Saturday, I woke up excited to plan out a new route for my run for the day.  Then, I looked outside and saw the wind.  Let's just say it was a little blustery outside on Saturday morning.  So, I decided to look at the radar and see the rain situation. It also didn't look completely promising.  As I sat and pondered how I could set a course as close as possible to 4 miles, the skies let loose.  I am quite thankful I waited the extra hour before I headed out, because it was a pretty good deluge for about 20 minutes.  When I finally did head out, I managed to get in 3.71 miles.  That is another personal record for me.  The farthest distance I have run without stopping in my life.  And, I also had my fastest 5K time according to my Garmin during this as well with a time of 41:11.  Now, that is actually a little slower than I plan on running this weekend as I knew I was going a longer distance than a 5K so I paced myself out a bit slower accordingly.  I think my goal for this weekend will be to finish in under 40 minutes.  I will set a pace and stick to it with the hopes that I can still really push it at the end.  However, simply finishing and saying that I did it at an official race is the real goal.

Sometimes, the best laid plans for an evening turn out not to be the best option. Use Friday for an example.  Friday, was pay day and I always like for us to go out to dinner in Lafayette or Indianapolis on these days.  However, Mrs. Re-Dan-imation decided we should just stay in town this week.  So we went out somewhere local and then I remembered that our high school was putting on the play "A Few Good Men."  We decided to make a date night out of it and headed out to see a fantastic play put on by a high school with a fantastic theater, light/sound crew, actors, and stage crew.  I was throughly impressed.  I can't wait to see their next play.

For Sunday, we were lucky enough to receive some Colts tickets. Thank You!  I guess you could say we were lucky, even though the game was pretty terrible.  I got to spend some quality time with Mrs. Re-Dan-imation in Lucas Oil Stadium and the weather was perfect for football.  They even had the roof of the stadium open.  Needless to say, it would have been a little better if the Colts had come away with a win, but such is life.

This morning I hopped on the scale unsure of what I was going to see.  I knew I went over my calories a couple days this week, but I also put in three GREAT workouts.  I was a little disappointed when I looked down and saw 263.3lbs.  Another gain this week, of 0.7 pounds.  I have read quite a few articles that say you can't lose every week and that sometimes you have to put a little back on to fool your body and allow you to lose more weight.  Either way, I will be achieving a huge goal of mine this week and that is all that matters.  Next week you will get to see some pictures from the BrewHaHa.  I can't wait to finish that race and share it with all of you.  Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat!!

Down with the Sickness!

If you are a child of my generation, you may be familiar with the title and although Disturbed was quite loud and raucous when they performed the song, that is not how I felt this week.  I have spent a majority of the week trying out different cough medicines and trying to find a way to keep my voice working all day while at school.

There were some fun times mixed in though.  Don't get too sad for me.  On Monday, I got to play 9 holes of golf after school  and although it wasn't the best round of my life, I still had a good time.  I got to hang out with a couple friends and a couple former students of mine were also included in our group.  I managed to lose a sleeve of balls in the leaves already on the ground...ok so maybe they ended up in water or trees...but came home with a bit of dignity.

This weekend, my brother in law hosted an October Fest party.  I have been looking forward to this for a while, but this stupid cold has brought me down all week.  Well, I didn't let it keep me from having a good time.  I decided to use a little of Grandpa's Cough Syrup as it was the only cough medicine I hadn't tried this week.  We had some good food (probably a little too much on my part) and plenty of libations.  Mrs. Re-Dan-imation and myself even won the Drink-O competition and brought home some nice mugs as a prize.

These may have been the death of me 

With all the time I have been spending "getting down" with the sickness, I haven't spent much time up and running.  To be blunt, I haven't had a single run this week.  After last Sunday, when I ran through being sick, I wanted to let my body heal more before I got back out there and got discouraged with myself which resulted in me being discouraged with myself anyway.  I guess I am more discouraged with the fact that I didn't get better quicker.  However, today I had a major victory.  I purchased a North Face fleece on clearance today at Dick's Sporting Goods and it was an XL.  I haven't purchased an item of clothing that size in God knows how long.  It is a bit snug, but I bought it regardless, because I am going to need it the rest of the fall and through the winter.  Needless to say, I was a little pumped when I put it on and it zipped up without incident.

The scales this morning were about what I expected after a week without working out and having a little too much food at a party.  I weighed in at 262.6 lbs. for a gain of 1.3 lbs.  After the week, I am not surprised, but I am also not angry.  I just have to get back into the routine this week.  Until next week...Food. Feet, Water, Repeat!

2 Weeks Out

It's been an interesting week. I have been doing a lot with school as we had some higher up visitors coming to see the school. I have been focused on completing what I needed to get done for that meeting as well as being involved with Lego League. With that being said, I only managed to get in a single run, but it was my long run.

I managed to stay away from this case

Wednesday morning the news showed a new store opening up in Carmel called Market District Supermarket. The store looked enticing and we decided to head down on Saturday. The parking lot was packed enough that there were two police officers at the exits. We spent at least two hours inside. There were a lot of exotic foods and many things that were available that you can't get other places. For example, my picture shows the rabbit, boar, and python that they have available. 

My brother in law decided that he wanted to head out to his school to work out on Sunday. I decided to take him up on the offer. We started by running on the indoor track. Although the track was nice, I was having trouble keeping track of laps considering it took 12+ to complete a mile. When the weight room became available I decided to head in to run on the treadmill. I got in my total 3 miles and then even shot around on the basketball court a little...ok very little.

Maria...hope you don't mind I stole this from your Facebook.

Stole yours too Amanda :)

Also on Sunday, I spent a great deal of time sitting at my computer.  I wasn't sitting there spending my time aimlessly.  I was huddled around www.ironman.com  Turns out I had two people I knew competing in Ironman Louisville.  One competitor used to be a teacher and swim coach at Frankfort High School.  She is also a beast in the CrossFit Box.  The second is a friend I know from Muncie that isn't my former Band Director.  I was watching their splits update and watching to catch a glimpse of them on the live feeds online.  After quite a bit of watching, I witnessed Maria, the former Frankfort employee head out for the marathon stint after having already swam 2.4 miles and biked 112.  An ironman is no joke.  I didn't get to see her finish, but I was able to check out her results and her Facebook page.  No big deal...she just finished in 10:00:31 and happened to run through the tape as the first woman finisher even though the results list her as second, the pictures show her breaking the tape.  Amanda, from Muncie, finished in 14:56:30 with just over an hour remaining to officially be listed as a finisher.  This was her first time and she did remarkable.  Maria Gramelspacher and Amanda McKinley..."YOU ARE IRONMAN" and YOU ARE INSPIRATION!

My weigh in went as well as could be expected all things considered. I managed a 0.2 lb. weight loss after weighing in at 261.3. I am not displeased with that with the little that I did this week. I am two weeks out from my 5K and I am feeling pretty good. We'll see what happens on the 31st. Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat!

School Picture Day!

Today was picture day at school.  This is a day I didn't usually look forward to when I was a kid.  Some of my pictures turned out pretty good, some pretty funny, and some gave a false impression of my attitude toward school.  Today as I entered the building, I thought about what my picture might look like when I get it back compared to years before.  Obviously, the beard makes a little difference in comparison to the pictures in this post...but I am curious how my face will look.  Will I look younger and more rejuvenated or will I look the same as the past few years and not be able to tell a difference?  The answer to this question will be seen soon enough, but for now I will just be curious while I garner a few laughs from those of you that have never seen my school pictures through my school years. I wasn't always heavy, but I was never really thin.

Over the week, I made sure to get in my workouts.  The first consisted of a quick "short" run on the treadmill.  I decided that a short run was in order to pick up the pace and really see what I could hold on to for a full mile.  I warmed up for a few minutes, set the pace at 12:00 minutes and set off.  I managed to keep the pace for the entire mile and immediately followed with a walk.  I thought I would try to add in some slower running after a 2 minute walk, but increasing the speed on the treadmill left my legs really feeling like Jell-O so I decided to just complete a cool down for a total of 1.5 miles.

My second workout for the week was another Long Slow Distance.  However, I wanted to slightly pick up the pace for this long run to increase my ability to maintain a pace at distance and increase my "race pace."  I decided to run at 4.6 miles per hour rather than my usual 4.5.  That may not sound like a huge difference, but it took 18 seconds per mile off my time and over a minute off my total run.    I managed to get in a complete 3 miles at that pace.  I was quite proud of myself.  I completed my cool down yet again, stretched and hit the showers.  I still can't believe I am running 3 miles without stopping.  My goal for this week is to run somewhere between 3.5 and 4 miles on my next long, slow, distance run.  We'll see what happens.

The weekend, brought about time to catch up with family and friends on Saturday.  Although the weather left something to be desired I managed to get my oil changed in the morning, head to Indy to visit my mom and then head out to Avon to visit some friends.  All that time spent in the car and I still managed to get in about 9,000 steps that day through stopping to buy some things at Target and Walmart.  I know I was surprised myself.

Now, the moment you have all been waiting for.  This morning I weighed in at 261.5 lbs.  That's a great weight loss for this week of 2.4 lbs.!  I was a little surprised.  Usually I monitor each day or every other day so I kind of know where I am going to be on Monday morning, but this weekend I didn't weigh myself so the amount I lost was a bit of a bonus.  I now have a total weight loss of 32.8 lbs.  I will be back again next week with more...or maybe I should say less...Until then.  Food. Feet. Water. Repeat!!