Always Honored

The first thing I did this week was play a round of golf with a few friends.  Although i finished last, which I am used to, I sure had fun.  Time on the golf course is never time wasted unless you are playing with the wrong people.  A few hours in the sun attempting to force that little white devil down the fairway provided plenty of frustrations and laughs...maybe even occasionally a "good shot" from the group.  But most of all it's a time to catch up with friends and commiserate over your misfortunes on the course.

I only got in two other workouts this week with one of them being mowing the lawn in 91 degree heat.  I'll be honest, it's weird the times you can actually tell when you are in better shape than the past.  There have been times in the past where mowing the grass was a struggle in heat and humidity. This week, not only did I complete it without the self propel that has been broken since last summer, but after a short break I proceeded to organize the peg wall in the garage and then removed the doors from the Jeep.

You are probably wondering why this week's post is titled Always Honored.  Early in the week I received a Facebook message from a friend.  Turns out my old band director, Chris Day, was being introduced this weekend at a conference for Edward Jones.  I have spoken about Chris before in this post and you should be able to tell why this Facebook message brightened my day.  His wife asked me to write a little something about him as she has read my blog and remembered I had mentioned him as an inspiration before.  Without blinking an eye, I told her I would be honored.  As you and I were not invited to see him introduced at his work function I decided that including it on here would be appropriate.

"Dedica-spiration! Although not technically a word, it’s still the one I am going to use to describe him.  From the fresh faced band director my final two years of high school to the man I know today, I couldn’t think of a better way to characterize him.  As a band director his was goofy and over the top and it organized a group of kids into a true harmony of effort.  We would do anything for him. We couldn’t believe it when he decided to change gears to work for Edward Jones but none of us could do anything other than support him.  Turns out it was one of the best decisions of his life (besides marrying Molly of course). 

As his dedication to his job took hold he spent many hours at the office and you could tell in his pictures.  Then something clicked and he decided to begin running.  I had no idea until he shared a blog post one day chronicling in just a few paragraphs what took him a year to complete.  The man had lost 100 pounds and turned his life around physically.  How could you not be inspired by that?  He didn’t stop there though.  Since, he has finished countless 5Ks, half marathons, marathons (including the Boston Marathon when his attempt would have caused any sane person to call it a day) and longest, but not least a full Ironman Triathlon.  Not to mention that all those people he inspires everyday voted him into a sponsorship from Team Chocolate Milk so he could help spread his love of the sport with so many others. 

Most recently he was named an Ambassador for the 40^th running of the 500 Festival Mini Marathon.  He made the cut the first time they even had the ambassador program.  I can’t say I am surprised.  This race was my first half marathon and I have to say that listing him as my Ambassador was nothing less than an honor.

I consider this man to be one of the finest I have met in my life.  He inspired me to be better as a youth and still inspires me to be dedicated in everything I do as an adult.  He inspired me to start my own blog as I venture down my journey of weight loss through running.  He is a terrific husband, father, teammate, or any name you may know him by.  Knowing that the word Advisor is attached to his profession seems to fit him supremely well. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Chris Day. " (Show Chris some love and check out his blog too)

Thinking about his inspiration on my journey had made me consider my dedication to my journey.  I am spending too much time in my summer living like a college student rather than an adult that still has 80 pounds to lose.  What do I mean by that?  Well, being as though I don't yet have children, I have the ability to stay up late and sleep in as well.  I am always looking for ways to improve and this is going to be my next stop.  I will no longer be sleeping in as late.  I have written before about trying to get up early and get in my workouts in the morning.  This HAS to start soon.  It's not just about setting my fitbit to wake me up early in the morning.  It's about actually adhering to that wake up call and being productive as well.

So, How did I do on my weight this week?  Well the scale says I lost half a pound (267.4). Like always, I'll take it, but I wish it was better.  The goal is to get every workout in this week as well as do some yard work in between preparing for the fourth of July and our upcoming vacation.  I also have to get in a little school work time this week as well.  Wish me luck. Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat.

Run(317) Broad Ripple Race Recap

Welcome back...I decided actually posting on Monday this week would be a good idea.  A lost has gone on this past week including running my first race of the Run(317) 3 race mini-series that I signed up for.  I have lots to share about that as well as updating you on my progress for the week.

Let's start with the race recap.  On Thursday myself, my brother in-law, father in-law, and 2 friends all participated in the Run(317) Broad Ripple race.  I have been looking forward to this race as it is the first one I have taken part in since the mini marathon in May.  With this race taking place at 7:00 in the evening in Broad Ripple the schedule for the day was a little different than a normal race.  I have done many training runs in the evening but never a race.  I wasn't exactly sure what my preparation should be like for this race, but I have learned a little about that from this event.

We started out by meeting up around 5:00 to head down to Indy.  We tried to take a different route to avoid the traffic on I-465 during rush hour.  Turns out it didn't matter and we got stuck in traffic on Keystone anyway.  I could tell at this point that my nutrition for the day was going to be enough to set a PR for the day.  However, I did bring a GU Roctane Gel to take before the race so I figured I would be ok.  We parked about half a mile from the start of the race and walked to the start line as a bit of a warm up.  Hitting up Chipotle for a quick bathroom break was a great idea.  When we got to the start line we made sure we were all ready to go.  Mrs. Re-Dan-imation wished us all good luck and headed to a good photo vantage point.  While we were waiting for the race to start, I was looking for water so I could take my gel, but none was to be found...so no gel because I didn't want to cramp up because of it.  Oh well.  We listened to the Jennifer Hudson version of the National Anthem (turns out the scheduled singer was also stuck in traffic) and I snapped the picture below.

And the home of the brave!

We all made sure our devices were switched on and ready to go and I got into the zone with my headphones.  From this point on, all I ever hear is the music in my ears and my breathing.  I kinda like it that way. I did hear the count down to the start though because the speakers were rockin' and the crowd was counting down too. Here's us crossing the start line.

As I started the race, I was a little surprised at how quickly the first turn came up and how narrow it was.  I should have been prepared for this because we were running through Broad Ripple.  After the second turn like this, the roads opened up a little and we were on our way.  My in-laws started to pull away from me which honestly didn't surprise me.  My father in-law is in much better shape than he thinks.  I found myself settling into a pace and could definitely feel the heat getting to me.  I decided after the first mile that my goal was simply not to walk at all during the race.  I could tell I was not going to set a record today by any means.

The water table was setup right at mile 2 and I was definitely ready for it.  The cups were overfilled a little and they appeared to be out of gatorade.  I grabbed a cup and squeezed it to a point so I wouldn't spill any.  A lesson I learned after the mini.  I held on to the cup a little longer than normal so I could get a little extra water in the system.

The last mile went better than I expected.  Coming into the finish I could tell I was spent but I tried to push it a bit and finished strong.  My finishing time was nothing to write home about, but I didn't walk at all so that was a small victory for as hot as it was.  It could always be worse.  Mrs. Re-Dan-imation managed to get a picture of every one of us finishing.  She's good!

Finishing Strong!

I finished the race with an average pace of 13:28 per mile.  As I said, I wasn't blisteringly fast, but I finished.  I still have a LONG way to go.  But I am maintaining my training for my next half marathon in September.  I will be looking forward to see if I improve at the next Run(317) in July on Mass Ave.  Hopefully I take some time off this total.  Anything is an improvement, but I am hoping for quite a bit.

As for my weight this week.  There isn't much to say about what went down on the scale this morning.  When I looked down I say 267.9 lbs.  That's an increase of 2.6 pounds this week.  I have no idea where that came from.  My eating wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't terrible either.  I was a little weak when ice cream was in sight, but I still think I did much better than a two and a half pound increase.  I'm not going to be mad or aggravated about it.  But, I am going to do my best.  I had a family relative tell people the other day that I am too worried about weight and to keep doing what I am doing and the weight will follow.  I agree with that statement, but my dedication to eating healthy has to fall in line with my dedication to completing each run.  I will get there.  Until next week. Food. Feet. Water. Repeat.

In the Aftermath

Before, I get into my blog this week, I want to take a quick second to share my thoughts about the terrible events from this weekend.  The only thing I think of when I hear the word Orlando is the happiest place on Earth.  I have been lucky enough to visit this city on three separate occasions.  Twice in high school we traveled to Disney and once on our honeymoon when we traveled to Sea World.  I only think of happy times when I think of this city.  I will not let one person ruin a wonderful place in my memory.  Jimmy Fallon, one of my favorite celebrities put it a way that I like the most.  He said...

"As you certainly know by now, early Sunday morning there was another senseless shooting, this time at a dance club in Orlando, Florida. A dance club. It left 49 people dead, which is the largest loss of life due to a terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. I know everyone is angry right now and doesn't know how to react, and this is a time when people are looking to us as a country and how we will react. This country was built on an idea that we don't agree on everything; that we are a tolerant, free nation that encourages debate, free-thinking, believing, or not, in what you choose..."

"Maybe there's a lesson from all this. A lesson in tolerance. We need to support each other's differences and worry less about our own opinions. Get back to debate and away from believing or supporting the idea that if someone doesn't live the way you want them to live, you just buy a gun and kill them. Bomb them up. That is not OK. We need to get back to being brave enough to accept that we have different opinions and that's OK, because that is what America is built on. The idea that we can stand up and speak our minds and live our lives and not be punished for that, or mocked on the internet, or killed by someone you don't know. This was just one bad guy here. 49 good people and one bad guy, and there will always be more good than evil. When I think of Orlando, I think of nothing but fun and joy and families. If anyone can do it, you can. Keep loving each other. Keep respecting each other. And keep on dancing."

-Jimmy Fallon

Last week was a blur.  I spent the entire week teaching children how to build, operate and program EV3 Lego Robots.  This is my second year spending a week teaching students these skills during the summer. We even got to take a tour of a portion of the Purdue Robotics Lab and meet a robot named Darwin that is dedicated to his fitness as well.  Check him out in the video playing a little soccer.  Having spent so much time with these kids during the week, you may wonder whether or not I was able to get in my workouts this week.

If you follow me on twitter you will see that I got in at least one workout this week as I mentioned that it was a little rough.  Wednesday was a little chilly but I finished it up.  Thursday, Mrs. Re-Dan-imation and I got our workout in as well.  As for Sunday, well the humidity kicked up a bit and the temperature was up about 10 degrees from the Wednesday run.

Sunday was supposed to be an easy 1 hour run.  Well, I started out strong, but I could tell the humidity was playing games with me.  I managed to get my second mile down a little faster than my first one, but as I got about halfway through mile 3 I could tell I was beginning to struggle.  As I finished mile 3 I decided to take a quick walk break and take a drink of the water I decided to bring along today.  Gotta love my SPIBelt H20!  I'll still promote them here, even though I applied to be an ambassador of theirs, but sadly wasn't selected.  Maybe next year.  After walking for a quarter mile I felt I was ready to get back into my run and I finished my hour with 4.15 miles.

The fact that I was working all week actually meant good things for my nutrition.  I was required to wake up early, eat at least 3 meals a day, and spread out my calories.  I enjoyed some great fruits, veggies, and hummus.  I still went over my calorie allotment a coupe days, so I wasn't really sure what my weight had in store for me at the end of the week.

The temp may have been 90, but still a great day!

On MondayI woke up and stepped on the scale to find 265.3 lbs.  That's right folks....up 1 tenth of a pound.  I would rather be even.  I hate that I got in ALL of my workouts and my stupid eating (especially in the evening) caused me not to lose a single ounce of weight.  Such is life I guess, right?  Oh well, I still celebrated by taking the doors off the Jeep on Monday to drive around in the wonderful weather.  It took a while for Mrs. Re-Dan-imation to grow accustomed to the slight breeze, but it was a great time.  This week I will be participating in the Run(317) Broad Ripple event with family, friends, and even my father in-law participating as well.  I'm looking forward to having a big group of people there.  Also, tomorrow my brother and his wife will be heading to Seattle to enjoy a vacation planned around them both running a full marathon.  I am so excited to hear how it goes for them!  Lots of great things to look forward to this week.  Especially Food. Feet. Water. Repeat!

Another Year Older

This past week, I celebrated my 34th birthday.  I had a nice small celebration but nothing super exciting.  I did have more than one meal away from home to celebrate including my first visit to IHOP in quite some time.

Other than that quick bit of information I only have a couple short things to add to the blog this week.  I know right?! Boooooorinnnng!  You'll get over it.  The first thing I want to share is that I got both of my assigned runs in this week for the first time since I ran the mini!  That's right, I finally busted out the Run Trainer app and scheduled the workouts for my next half marathon.  It's always nice to see the little green checkmarks in the app after I check off my assignment for the day whether it be a run or a rest day.

Good Morning!

The second thing I would like to share is that I finally got in my first pre-work morning run in.  I have been wanting to try running in the morning on days besides race days for a while.  So, since I am teaching a one week summer class this week, I thought why not try it now.  Monday morning I woke up early, having already set out my running clothes the night before, had an energy gel, and headed out the door.  I'll be honest, it was a little different for me but it wasn't that bad at all.  Literally, the hardest part was getting out of bed early again.  I got my run in and showered with plenty of time before I had to head out the door.  I plan on trying it again on Wednesday and Thursday with my scheduled workouts.  We'll see how those go.

Coming up on June 16th, a group of my friends and my father in-law will be taking part in the Run(317) Broad Ripple edition.  It will be cool to have a big group of people involved.  My father in-law has even tried out some new running clothes for the day.  I will make sure to allow you all to follow my progress on that day as well.  Be on the lookout for the link.

As for the weigh-in this week...it went surprisingly well.  I looked down at the scale this morning and saw 265.2 lbs.  That's a loss over the week of 1.6 pounds.  I was pretty happy with that.  Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat.