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.