Day .:066

The pic to the right was me "post-run" drenched in sweat about to rub coke zero all over my face....And believe me. Sometimes that's exactly what you should do.

I'm about to hit the first major mile-marker in my journey to "non-lethargic freedom". The half marathon is this weekend, and I think I'm ready!

Yesterday I clocked in (survived is more like it) an 11 mi. run outside. It probably wasn't incredibly smart to run in the middle of the afternoon (87 degrees!), and it sapped me pretty quick. I was walk/jogging by mile 8, and walking at around 9. And ran out of gatorade by that time too. The sunburn wasn't too sweet either...But I did it!

This was also the "retirement run" for my old shoes. These guys have been with me for about 3 years, and are just wearing out. Tomorrow I go to pick up my new 9 EEEE shoes with arch support!

If you think of it, pray for me this weekend!

Day .:060

Well, the halfie is 11 days away, and I'm feeling pretty good. Last weeks recap:

- 2.3 Miles outside on Thursday
- 7.0 Miles inside on Saturday
- 7.5 Miles inside On Monday & 15 Mile Spin Class

Gatorade has now become my drink of choice, which is a tad better than all the soda, but still not quite where I need to be (water), and I think I just need at least one 11-12 mi. run before the halfie to feel I'm totally ready.

I also went to the outlets in Reho, and found that not a single store had running shoes in my size, which is a post unto itself.

you see, I have strangely shaped feet. My left foor is half a size smaller than my right. So, 7.5-8 EE on my left foot, and 8-8.5 EE on my right. Weird, right? So I'm going to check some online shops (read, zappos.com) for a quality shoe I can use for the halfie. My current shoes are wearing down quick.

Day .:051

Yay! New personal best. I ran 9.5 Miles today outside from the house halfway to church, to Ingram's pond and back!

Day .:048

Alrighty bedighty ladies and gents. Here's the lowdown of last week. I:

- Clocked 2 Miles last Saturday
- 8.5 Miles on Monday, followed by 13 Mile Spin class
- 4 miles on Wednesday
- Signed up for the VA Beach Rock n' Roll halfie Marathon!

So that means I have 3 more weeks to get up to par for running a smooth 13.5 Miles. No problem. I am way excited because it looks like, at my current training pace, I am seriously gonna do this piece!

August 30th!

DAY .:041

So I took Steve-O's advice and interviewed a friend who's run 3 marathons. He proceeded to break training down into more manageable "bite size" chunks. 25 Miles a week for the first 4 weeks. Starting now, says he.

He also said it's worth getting a good pair of shoes, and a personal suggestion for me to take longer strides. He observed me on the tready, and said that I definitely don't take as full strides as I need to, so widen it up like Tony Little on the Gazelle!

DAY .:040

Alright, Alrighty!

Last night I did a solid 1hr o' runnin' without any breaks at a steady 5.3 mph. 700 cals burned, covered 5.5 miles.

YEAH!

(I then proceeded to raid subway for a footlong meatball sub).

DAY .:038

Okay, so today I ran 3.5 Mile on a gym tready, and then did the ole' 15 Mi. cross-train spin class. I still need to kick things into high gear. I'm just not cutting it yet. I still need to hit an 8 mi. run (aka, "The Eminem Stride") and my diet isn't on par yet either.

*Sigh*

I know I can do this. But I think I need some solid guidance from someone who's done this before.

DAY .:031

Cross Training tonight: Spin class. Did roughly 15 miles biking in a sweaty gym!

DAY .:029

7 Miles on the tready yersterday! BOOYAH!

DAY .:024

Here's Today!

Man, oh man.....today was awesome...and painful. I did 5.6 mi. total. 4.5 without stopping outside, then it got dark. Then I came inside, and did another 1.14 on the tready.

As I was soaking the ole' legs in the tub, post-run....I felt my ankles aching up a tad, and I don't know if this is normal or a sign I should do a bit more stretching. Either way....great run, but holy canoley...My legs hurt.

Post Weigh-in: 162.4 lbs.

(Side note....I'm gaining weight! I wonder if that's normal too?!)

DAY .:022b

Went to a spin class...biked the equiv of 15 mi.

Burned 550 cals...

DAY .:022

Ran about 4 Mi. this morning.


See this run

Post-run weigh in: 161.2 lbs.

DAY .:020

Three Weeks ago tomorrow I decided that I wanted to train for a marathon. Within the course of those three weeks, I've:

- Done about 8 runs, with the top one being 6.1 miles. (still need to make it to 7 miles! TONIGHT!)
- Researched training schedules, and settled on this one.
- Decided that the marathon to run will be on November 6th, in Lewes, DE.

This week, I need to:

- Hit a 10 miler run.
- Register for the Lewes Marathon
- Find a Halfie Marathon to run somewhere in the meantime, just to see what I'm in for.

Sidenote: I also need to start looking into diet stuff, and what runners eat....(or maybe, more painfully....what they DON'T eat). Double Sidenote: I have a feeling the diet soda & mint fraps may have to go....and I ain't too happy about it.

I also want to schedule an interview with a coworker of my dads'. He does marathons, and is a runner's runner.

DAY .:017

Okay! I've found a marathon.

I'm running on November 6th in Lewes, DE. Thanks to Gilgal who found one for me...And then subsequently posted embarasing videos of me.

The 7 Miler I had scheduled didn't pan out...two nights ago ran 2 mi. And tonight is the 7 mi. reschedule.

Wish me luck!

DAY .:013

Well, things are going pretty well. I dropped a run yesterday because of the holiday, but am planning a shortie (3 Mi) tonight. Tomorrow's my next long run: 7 Miles.

I'm super stoked about all this, and may have a potential marathon in my sights. Any other runners out there? If so, any tips for running your first marathon?

DAY .:011

Holy cow!

Best run yet. Ran last night at 7:30 PM. It was nice and cool this time, so I was able to cover more distance. A personal best: 5.6 miles without stopping!

http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/de/georgetown/109283363830

Post-Run Weigh in: 158.8

DAY .:009

2:46 AM.

Can't sleep. Yesterday rested from the 6 miler. Today I do some cross-training (prolly biking / lifting) stuff. Looking into potential marathons. Right now possible winners are this fall's Under Armor in Baltimore, or there's another in Richmond I'm looking at. Any ideas from anyone?

DAY .:007

One week down!

Today I ran (read: survived) a 6 miler. It was like 90 degrees outside, and it took me 1.5 hours (stats read 14 min miles...awesome :) But I made it nonetheless, and just think, after the temps go down, running this far should be breezy cheezy.


Here's a pic of me in all my post-run glory (Pits McGee)



Post-Run Weigh in: 157.8

DAY .:005

Yeah!

Tiny victory here. Ran this morning for 3 miles without stopping. This cut 6 min. off of my total time.

This morning's run:


Post-Run Weigh in: 160.4 lbs

DAY .:004a

Over the last few years, my pastor made a lot of extreme, awesome changes in his diet, excercise and overall health. I asked him what makes the difference when you're trying to break an old habit or establish a new one. Here's what he had to say:
------------
Great questions about consistency, staying the course is hard for everybody. In complete candor let me say there are two aspects of what made me consistent. First I had to get to a point where I was completely sick of the direction I was heading; I hit that “enough is an enough” spot. Deep, deep discontent is what gives birth to change. Second I discovered the reward of discipline was indeed sweeter than the reward of indulgence, this I found to be absolutely true. This is what psychologists call “Operant Conditioning”. What that means is when we engage in certain behaviors we get either punished or rewarded. When we are rewarded we tend to repeat that behavior over and over again. The reward factor for me was I started looking less hideous, I started feeling better, people started complimenting me and those positive rewards kept me going. There are rewards for eating a whole chocolate cake – you get the sugar high – followed by the guilt and “why did I do that” record in your head. So the guilt for being undisciplined cancels out the reward for messing up, with the reward of being of disciplined- it is pure reward and it feels better than messing up ultimately. Any indulgence- sleeping in too long and not running give a short reward, doing the hard thing really brings a higher level reward.
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That about sums it up. Awesome.

DAY .:003

Today I did some heavy lifting at the gym. My "anaerobic" day. (Whatever that means)