Happy Re-Dan-iversary

Just under 1 year ago I wrote the first post in this still developing blog.  That day, I wrote what I considered to be the most honest piece of writing I have every put into words.  I was upfront with challenges and happy times.  I was blunt and I truly feel like it was actually well written.  Tonight, I went back to read that post again just to see what was going through my mind over the last 52 weeks.  I feel like I was little naive regarding the difficulty of this process.  I was by no means anticipating this to be easy, but I did expect to be a little further along than I am now.

I started out excited to be writing this blog.  I wanted to share things I was learning, recipes I had found, adventures I had been on.  What it has turned into recently is a few paragraphs about what I did or didn't do for the week that caused me to be pretty much the same weight as I was the week before.  I was so excited about learning to become more fit that I replied to an article on Runner's World and asked editor Amby Burfoot to use a phrase as my own personal motto.  I asked him permission to put it on a shirt.  That shirt design made it into this blog a couple times, but that is all it is, a design.  I never took orders, never made the actual shirt, and just left it sitting there.

It was my goal to share a new food item I found every week or two to give you an insight into what actually tastes good or not and how it made me feel.  I forgot about that part of my blog completely.  At least I kept using the motto in the blog even if it wasn't how I was truly living the week.  Food. Feet. Water. Repeat. Is a lot harder than it may seem.  When I write this blog every week now, I am hoping that you all don't think of me as a phony.

The point of writing a blog about yourself if to be reflective about your practices.  As a teacher we are taught to reflect about our lessons.  While working on school work the other day, I realized I hadn't written anything down in my notebook devoted to this blog since I jotted down that t-shirt design.  How can I keep my new ideas ready to share with all of you if I don't write anything down?  Here's the thing.  I know some of you are tired of reading the same thing over and over and I am sick of writing it each week as well.  I want to get back to being excited about this journey!  I am hoping that I am on my way to that.

I still have good things to share...but I need to regain focus on my research and sharing of this ideas.  I am going to be completely truthful that this process is much easier for me during the summer when I have time to not only complete that research, but also to get in my workouts and still enjoy myself as well.  I also hope that in the near future that you will notice I am trying to get this blog back to what it was in the beginning.

Don't think that I have given up on this process.  I have learned a lot about myself over this past year. I have learned that I am quick to revert back to old habits.  I have learned that milk and cookies/chocolate are my true weakness.  I have learned that there are more people that are interested in reading this blog than I thought (even though the number has dropped recently).  I have also learned that I appreciate health a lot more.  I am stronger and in better shape than I have ever been in my life.  My stamina in cardio activities has surpassed even my own expectations.  I have learned that I can be more dedicated to achieving certain goals that I have been in the past.  I have learned that people can once again notice me and that they truly care about me and my progress.

In regards to not giving up, let's talk about my workouts this past week.  That's right.  We are getting to the actual events of the week.  This week I completed one disappointing workout and another that truly surprised me.  My first workout I only ran for 20 out of 30 minutes.  I got off the treadmill upset with myself and a bit grumpy ( I was trying out a new pair of shoes and they weren't working out).  Yesterday was a different story.  Next weekend is the final training run for the Indy Mini and that run is a 10 miler.  Well, I am going to be busy that day freezing my butt off in Broad Ripple, and seeing as I am running this series of training events virtually anyway, I ran that training run yesterday.  That's right folks I completed a full 10 miles on the treadmill yesterday.  I spent 2 hours and 26 minutes on the treadmill!  And, I only had to walk a total of 1.35 miles of the ten including my quarter mile warmup.  I didn't take my first break until 7.3 miles in when I thought my legs were going to turn to mush and give out on me.  I was a BIT proud of myself.  However, if you ever want to endure pure misery, try staying moving on a treadmill for that long.  It can be mind-numbing even when you are watching TV.

I have also been playing around with my nutrition during a run as I will definitely have to eat during the mini.  I have tried a few things like CLIF Blocks, Honey Stinger Waffles, and GU Energy Gels.  Some of these things are great for before the activity like the waffles.  I actually like the texture of them and they come in some pretty tasty flavors like salted caramel or chocolate.  The CLIF blocks have been my go to for the shorter training runs I have been doing as they give me a little something to chew on for a few minutes like I am keeping a treat in my mouth.  But, moving on to the gels was a bit of an experience as they are an interesting texture.  During my run yesterday, I ate a half pack of CLIF blocks and two GU Energy gels (The vanilla bean is disgusting but the strawberry banana was pretty good).  The gels seem to have provided the right amount of energy and I didn't end up with any gut issues which is what I was worried about.  I have learned that the body can only take in a certain amount of carbs (65 grams) during an hour and I didn't exceed that.  I also managed to empty a complete 24 ounce bottle of water.  I probably could have drank a bit more water. One piece of advice I can give you is not to put off your nutrition training because learning what works for your body the best as well as what you enjoy is something to know well ahead of time.

I weighed in this morning at 265 lbs even.  That puts me at a loss this week of 0.4 lbs.  Again, not the most, and considering a 10 mile run yesterday, it probably could have been a gain.  But I will take it.  I won't complain about it.  I will look forward to this week.  I will anticipate having fun with friends next weekend in Broad Ripple.  I will look forward to eventually getting back out on the bike as well as being on my feet.  And most of all, I will look forward to becoming a better Dan. Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat.