January 19, 2011

Posted on January 19, 2012 by ronwright

What was so special about that day to the rest of the world?

Nothing.  It wasn’t a holiday.  It wasn’t anyone’s birthday that I know.  It wasn’t a record setting warm temp day, no, it was just another cold uneventful day in the rest of the world exactly one year ago from today.

 

What was that day to me?

It was a day I will never forget.  It was a sad day.  It was a solemn day.  It was a day of awakening.  It was the day that changed my life forever.

It was the day I weighed myself for the first time in years.  It was the day I realized I wouldn’t live much longer if I continued down the same path.  It was the day I decided to Start my Journey.  My Journey to lose weight.  My Journey to get in shape.  My Journey to eat healthier.  My Journey to change my life forever.

 

What is this Journey?

Well, Journeys are not about where you are going, but how you get there.  There is no, “Okay I’m done, what’s next?”.  It’s about setting a path that you can walk the rest of your life.  It is lifelong sustainable changes.  It is empowering.  It is confidence boosting.

I started mine one step at a time, one day at a time.  Never focusing on anything too far ahead.  Never worried about my end goal, because there was no end goal.  Sure I have goals, but none of them signify a finishing point.  I’m not going to preach about crazy Atkinsish diets or crazy P90Xish work outs.  It is so simple that once you figure it out, you will wonder why and how you ever did it wrong.

Be conscience of what you put in your body.  Food is fuel.  The more you work the more you need to eat, the less you work the less you need to eat.  Food is not a rewards program.  You don’t need to eat to celebrate something.  You don’t need a snack because you are stressed.  Those are unneeded bad habits.  Focus on what you eat and why you eat it.  Work on the root causes of why you are eating what you are.  Remember, food is fuel and leave it at that.  If you need a reward or a stress relief, find something else.

For me, my stress relief has been running.  Running does something amazing to your brain and body.  There is no lie about a runner’s high.

 

Can you run?

I don’t see why not.  I ran my first mile at 435lbs.  It wasn’t fast, nor was it pretty, but it was a mile.  4 weeks later I was up to 3 miles and down to 416lbs.  2 months after that I competed in my first race.

 

Where am I now?

A year later.  I have competed in 6 races.  My best 5k time was officially 32:32 just before my 32nd birthday.  I have a long run 10.2 miles.  I run 15 to 25 miles per week.  I have 317 miles of running logged.  I have 519 miles of biking logged.  I have 96 miles of walking logged.  I have 26 miles of hiking logged.  I have a 1000+ miles of exercise logged.  I love life again.  I can’t wait for new days and new challenges.

Oh yeah, the number I’m sure you are all wanting to know by now, weight lost.  As of today I am down 133lbs!!!  I don’t think too much about this number because it isn’t the import part. The important part is how I feel, and that feeling is one I could never write down in words.

 

So my question for you!  What day does your Journey begin?

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Under 360

Posted on November 28, 2011 by ronwright

I’ve been slowly fighting to get under 360, hovering at at 360.something for over a week.  Finally Sunday morning even after the holidays and not eating the best I manage to break into the 350′s with a weight of 358.0.  The weight definitely isn’t coming off as fast as it used to.  But at 126lbs lost this year, I can’t be too upset with the rate, just as long as it is still going in the right direction.

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Another Week Another Mile(stone)

Posted on November 28, 2011 by ronwright

Yesterday was a big day!  A planned 8 mile run which is a milestone in itself.  But I also managed to run a 9:52 minute opening mile.  No wonder the rest of the run was rough.  I did back way off after the first mile, it could have been because half of mile two and all of miles 3 and 4 were into decent headwind.  By the time I got off the flat trail to the downtown area I was pretty wore out and that is at mile 4.5.  I had no desire to run back up the almost 2 mile long hill of 10th street to take me back home.  So I thought I might just run farther north and stay in the relatively flat downtown area and just walk back home.  Then as I kept running toward Farnam Street, I thought there was no way I could walk back from anywhere farther north.  So I turned around to tackle the hill.  The hill on 10th Streets looks like a small mountain when you’re already tired.  When I started I could see where it crested and just focused on that point.  Then when I got closer to the top, I realized there was just a little relief before another short hill.  It was rough the entire way up.  Then it’s really steep downhill for about half a mile to the zoo.  And the downhill was almost harder at that point than the uphill was.  I reached 8 miles right at the bottom entrance to the zoo.  I could hardly walk when I was done.  I was wobbly and hard a hard time getting one foot in front of the other.  It was the slowest walk home ever from there.  But I survived, and just today a day later… I still feel sore haha.  But I do feel a lot better than I did yesterday evening, so I’m hoping to feel better yet by tomorrows 5 mile run.

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Turkey Trot 5k

Posted on November 28, 2011 by ronwright

It’s been a while since I had done a 5k race, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I was talking to my dad prior to the race and he said something about a goal he set for his 30th birthday to run 4 miles in 30min and he did.  So I thought it would be awesome if I could do the 5k in 32 minutes.  My previous best time was 34:55 in the Komen race back in early Oct.  I thought the Komen race was a challenging course too, at least until we started the Turkey Trot route.

The route took us around the circle drive inside the Midtown Crossing area and south to Pacific Street, then west to 37th, and back up to Farnam to Midtown again.  Holy Hilly route!!!  Right after the slight down hill around the circle and down Farnam we made the turn straight up the hill on Park Ave.  It was about the same pitch of hill that killed me on the Komen race and this was early on.  Then the hill only let up a little but continued to be a long slow climb for about the first mile.  I though great, now it will be all down hill the entire way back.  But nope, not today, it was rolling hills for all of mile 2 and just the little down hill back down Farnam to the end, which was back up the hill around the circle.  We decided the route designer must have had a bad day when they laid it out.  It was by far the toughest 3 miles I’ve done on a road race.

I didn’t pay any attention to my splits or time until I was on the final down hill back towards Midtown.  It seemed like I was going to be close to a 32 something minute time.  I reserved as much as I could for the last hill.  I pushed as hard as I could up the hill and it wasn’t until I was about to the top that I could see the official clock and it was still in the 32′s.  I kick with all I had left and crossed the line… 32:32 was my official time to celebrate my upcoming 32nd birthday.  I couldn’t be happier with my run.  Until I noticed my first mile split of 10:09… 10 seconds off a milestone mile.  Oh well, I will get it eventually.  I’m still getting faster!

Huge congrats to Jessie, Lisa and Erin who all set personal bests on the crazy hilly course!  Guess the training is really paying off!

Phone Times
32:37 – 3.11 miles
Pace – 10:28
Mile 1 – 10:09
Mile 2 – 11:11
Mile 3 – 10:18

Official Time
32:32 – 3.1 miles
Pace – 10:28

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Busy Busy Busy

Posted on November 17, 2011 by ronwright

That’s just the way life is sometimes, and the way it’s been for me for the last week or so.  The best part is, running is now one of the top priorities in my life, so it’s been really easy to stay on track with my running goals even though I don’t find time for much else.

We are getting up there in distances on our daily runs now at week 7 of the 1/2 marathon training program.  Last week I ran 4.2 on Tue, 5 Wed, and 6.5 on Sun.  This week it was 4.5 on Tue and 4.5 on Thur, with a 7 mile run on Sun.  Every weekend now is a new personal best in distance runs.  Along the way I’ve been finding a lot more speed on the shorter runs, yeah, those 4.5 mile runs that used to seem impossible are now a daily occurrence.  The runs that in the past I would have to psych myself up for are now just a leisurely jog.  It feels great to see the results and have truly measurable and attainable goals.

This weekend also marks my first 7 mile run.  This is the distance I chose as my committed distance to signing up for the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon in January.  While training is going great and I have confidence in making the distance.  I’m having trouble committing to the race financially, so I will have to hold off on my decision for a few more weeks until I see how some other things work out.  I still plan to keep training with hopes of being able to commit to it.

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Beer and Bagel 4 Mile Race

Posted on November 7, 2011 by ronwright

The Beer and Bagel off road race put on by Peak Performance was by far the best race of the year.  It was held on and around the extremely hilly terrain of the Quarry Oaks Golf Course.  The mostly off road course was a combination of mowed pastures, fairways, cart paths, and hiking trails.  It was extremely scenic and a nice change from the downtown courses of previous races.  Mile 1 was mostly downhill until the last little bit which was our first taste of the ridiculous hills that were there.  They weren’t very long, but steeper than anything I’ve ever tried to run so far.  I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t even attempt to run up some of them, since they were on narrow parts of the course and everyone was walking them.  The fun came somewhere on mile 2, I think, when we came to the first creek crossing.  It was a steep ravine down to maybe a 3ft wide by 2ft deep creek.  It was steep enough that they tied ropes to trees to assist your decent.  Some were jumping across, some were getting wet.  I grabbed one hesitant woman’s hand as she came off the rope and threw her across to the other side and then followed up by a giant leap across myself.  She laughed and thanked me several times for the assist.  The climb out was pretty killer on the legs and lungs and it was immediately followed up by an up hill run.  It was up and down a lot for miles 2 and 3.  Towards the end of mile 3 and the start of mile 4 were the other two creek crossings.  They crossed the same creek in two different directions, so you had a chance to see others coming back for a second time and a chance to yell and cheer others on as they entered the water for the first time.  It was hard to tell on the approach how muddy the ground was under the water, since the water itself was muddy from 2100 people coming and going.  There was a slight pause at the entrance, then with Braveheart type charge, I went for it high stepping all the way through.  The ice cold water was actually extremely refreshing on a rather warm early November day.  After all of the fun and excitement came mile 4.  The long ascent back to the top of the valley to the club house.  It wasn’t all that steep of a hill, but it was pretty much all up hill the entire last mile.  It was a good opportunity to see how my training was going, almost everyone I saw on the final hill was walking.  I was completely determined to run the entire thing, even it if it was slow.  And I did!  I finished in a respectable time of 48:45.  I am extremely happy with that time considering the circumstances.  It was impossible to run the entire thing, and it was extremely hilly.

The post race party made the torture completely worth it.  It was a great party atmosphere and the chili and bagels hit the spot.  The post race party lasted a good hour and half to two hours.  And the DJ had the crowd rocking the entire time.

This race will definitely be on my calendar next year!

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The Tuesday Night Ride

Posted on November 3, 2011 by ronwright

I think that is the official name of it.  A small group of regular Taco Ride riders started a Tuesday night ride out in west Omaha.  It’s similar in distance to the Taco Ride a shade over 9 miles one way.  It makes use of the twistiest section of the West Papio trail I’ve ever been on.  The overall route is fairly flat, but it starts and ends with some decent hills.  The pace is spirited but not insane.  And it’s a no drop ride, so the leaders regularly stop and make sure everyone is making it okay.  This late in the year and there were still a dozen or so riders on the ride.  It’s not quite the same level of drinking as the Taco Ride, but everyone still enjoyed a beer at the midway point and then pitchers and wings at the end at Brewsky’s west, which is also the starting point.  Overall it was a really fun ride.  Might have been a little more work than I wanted it to be, but still enjoyable.  Looking forward to making a few more of those rides before the season is over.  I don’t have an exact pace, since there were a few stops where I didn’t stop CardioTrainer, but it looks like our average speed was around 16-17mph.

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First 6 mile run

Posted on November 3, 2011 by ronwright

This Sunday was suppose to be my first 6 mile run, but the Beer and Bagel 4 mile race is this Sunday.  Today was suppose to be a 4 mile run.  So about mile 3.8 I decided to keep running and just swap distances and run my 6 miles this morning.  It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.  But my last two miles were on the dead flat Keystone trail.  So not sure how I would have done with more hills thrown in.  I’m pretty happy that it was still a sub 12 minute pace.  It’s nice to get the first 6 in the books, now on to making it faster!
The breeze this morning was extremely cold on my face.  Everything else stayed warm and comfortable.  I think it was around 32 degrees this morning and 18mph winds.

Time 1:11:38
Pace 11:55
Mile 1 – 11:50
Mile 2 – 11:27
Mile 3 – 12:03
Mile 4 – 11:57
Mile 5 – 12:11
Mile 6 – 12:01

 

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4 Miles – 46:16

Posted on November 1, 2011 by ronwright

Beautiful morning for a November 1st run.  It was low 40′s but no wind.  It was our most consistent paced run on the hilly route so far, no more than a 26 second difference between the slowest and fasted mile.  It wasn’t our fastest run, but it felt really good and was a decent pace.

Pace 11:32
Mile 1 – 11:32
Mile 2 – 11:47
Mile 3 – 11:21
Mile 4 – 11:27

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5 miles – 58:47

Posted on October 31, 2011 by ronwright

Why wasn’t I out partying with everyone else Saturday night for all of the crazy fun Halloween parties?  What was I doing up at 5am on a Sunday morning?  To prove my dedication to training.  It’s tough to want to wake up early on the weekends.  It’s even harder to skip one of more fun party nights of the year.  But that is exactly what I did.  I was in bed by 11pm and up at 5am to go running.  I must be about half insane at this point in time.  Or I was half insane when I started running and now I’m completely insane.  I’m thinking there must be a least a sliver of my sanity left, which I’m sure will be gone the first time we run in freezing rain or snow or sub freezing temps in 40mph winds.  Wait, wasn’t that last week.  I don’t know anymore, guess that really answers the question as to how much of my sanity is left.  Either way, there is something that is just driving me at this point that is beyond my control.  I couldn’t turn down a morning run if I tried.  My body needs it, my mind craves it.  It’s half miserable and completely enjoyable at the same time.  It’s doesn’t add up, I know, but nothing does at this point.  I guess I’m a runner now.

Back to the run.  Sunday we ran the usual Bellevue course.  Everything my phone track tells me it’s fairly similar to Walnut Creek in total amount of climbing.  So It should be fairly safe to compare the two runs.  I was a little hesitant to push too hard on this run, since the hills come so early they really seem to affect me a lot more and I’m still not completely comfortable with this distance. We were a bit slower on the hillier sections but pretty consistent on the rest of the splits.  Miles 1 and 4 were the more uphill sections.  With the others averaging out to be pretty flat or slightly downhill.  Overall I felt pretty good about the run.  I didn’t feel completely worn out after it, like maybe I could have run a bit further.

Pace 11:45
Mile 1 -12:23
Mile 2 – 11:27
Mile 3 – 11:25
Mile 4 – 12:09
Mile 5 – 11:23

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