In just a few hours I will walk in the annual CitiStreet Corporate Run. It's a 5K event that takes place in the area of the Jaguars stadium in Jacksonville. Benefits Girls on the Run, a group that encourages girls to increase fitness through running.
I read that there are 9,000 5K events in the United States every year. Why is this one so important? It's only important to a few, but for me, it's a big deal.
I've been training for about 13 weeks, following the 10-weeks to 5K program in the book "Running for Mortals." Loyal readers will know that I had a bad cold, then a lower back problem for about 3 weeks of that time, so the math does work, heh heh.
It's a big deal because I've reached a goal. A goal involving exercise and diet. Mostly, the amazing thing is the exercise goal. I've not accomplished an exercise goal in very long time. Probably since I rode my last century (cycling) in 1996 or so.
I feel like I am ready, the weather is gorgeous, I think I brought my all of my stuff.
My stats:
225 lbs, down from 260lbs at the beginning of the diet change in October 2007.
3 pants sizes, depending on the pants. 40 or 42 waist.
XXL to XL shirt
All of my clothes fit. Most are large.
Blood glucose, (I'm Type II diabetic) cholesterol, blood pressure all down significantly.
So all I have to do is walk 3.1 miles this evening, and then pick a new goal. I'm thinking the 10-weeks to a 5K Run-Walk from the book.
Unfortunately, getting in shape does not encourage reversal of male pattern baldness. At least so far!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Yesterday it rained.
Yesterday it rained. Like the day before, and before that. But I had time to myself, and I was healthy. The "cold" that everyone seems to have had this winter was past (3 weeks to full, total recovery.) Then last week, on my way back to exercising, I torqued my lower back. So, I sat in the house and watched movies.
Yesterday it rained. I heard about a new Rails-To-Trails (http://www.railtrails.org/index.html) project that recently opened in the center part of the county. I was eager to try it out, on my bike. There was lots of yard work to do, the good kind that shows results at the end of the day. Tasks like putting in mulch, flowers, etc.
Yesteday it rained. So I blew off all of that. I looked up the directions to the Rail Trail. 2 miles west of the highway on S.R. 207.
It takes a while to get ready to go biking. I don't know why. Filled the Camelback. Energy bar, bandannas, GPS, put the seats down, take the front wheel off bike, bike in car, wheel in car, Camelback pack in car. Ipod. I drove off.
Onto 207, watching the odometer. It's raining hard. 1 mile...strange little side road, no cars. Passed roadside ped path, the kind that large housing developments are forced to put in. At 2 miles, open farmland. Flat, Florida farmland. No idea what kinds of vegetables or plants those are, I can only pick out corn. Are they tomatoes? No, they grow those in greenhouses. Don't they?
At 4 miles from I-95 I turned around. 4-way divided highway, pouring rain, This Week in Science podcast playing, rain washing up against the rear wheel wells.
3 miles back, pulled into that side road past the ped path. Is this it? I can't tell. 500 yards or so to the end. Aha! There it is, a 10 foot wide black asphalt strip between the trees, perfectly straight, like a railroad track. There didn't seem to be any parking, just the end of the road, so I parked. And waited.
Yesterday it rained. In a short amount of time the sky brightened, then the rain slowed. I grabbed an "emergency" poncho out of the geocaching backpack. (You oughta be in plastics.) 3" by 1/2" into a full sized poncho with arm holes and a hood!
Out of the car, open the trunk, wheel out. Bike out. Wheel on. Lightly raining. Helmet on, gloves on, backpack on. Crap! Poncho off. Backpack on. Lock car. Go!
Thinking: Not sure I'd bring the kids here. They go slow on their little bikes. Water on either side of the path: snakes likely, mosquitoes certain, alligators possible. Although it is a smooth, straight path.
Raining harder. No thunder, no lightning. GPS says 14.2MPH, bike computer says 15.1MPH. That's good to know. Only recently got my GPS mount for my bike.
Still, having fun, pumping along, lots of wind noise on the Amazing Plastic Poncho, keeping my core dry and nothing else. 1 mile, 2 miles...
Something is in the path. It can't be this short, can it? As I get closer I recognize concrete railroad ties...and railroad tracks.
It was 2.5 miles each way. It was odd that my GPS and bike computer agreed on the distance but not the rolling speed. Bug in the bike computer? Effects of cloud cover on the GPS?
My car was no longer alone. There was a truck and a camper...a full bus-sized one, but they were not together.
As I opened my trunk I was now completely oblivious to the rain. I did meet a man named Chris, the one in the truck. He came to ride the trail in his recumbent bike. He has ridden the Jax-Baldwin Rail Trail for over 2000 miles! I don't know if he ever got out on the short trail because, well,
Yesterday, it rained.
Yesterday it rained. I heard about a new Rails-To-Trails (http://www.railtrails.org/index.html) project that recently opened in the center part of the county. I was eager to try it out, on my bike. There was lots of yard work to do, the good kind that shows results at the end of the day. Tasks like putting in mulch, flowers, etc.
Yesteday it rained. So I blew off all of that. I looked up the directions to the Rail Trail. 2 miles west of the highway on S.R. 207.
It takes a while to get ready to go biking. I don't know why. Filled the Camelback. Energy bar, bandannas, GPS, put the seats down, take the front wheel off bike, bike in car, wheel in car, Camelback pack in car. Ipod. I drove off.
Onto 207, watching the odometer. It's raining hard. 1 mile...strange little side road, no cars. Passed roadside ped path, the kind that large housing developments are forced to put in. At 2 miles, open farmland. Flat, Florida farmland. No idea what kinds of vegetables or plants those are, I can only pick out corn. Are they tomatoes? No, they grow those in greenhouses. Don't they?
At 4 miles from I-95 I turned around. 4-way divided highway, pouring rain, This Week in Science podcast playing, rain washing up against the rear wheel wells.
3 miles back, pulled into that side road past the ped path. Is this it? I can't tell. 500 yards or so to the end. Aha! There it is, a 10 foot wide black asphalt strip between the trees, perfectly straight, like a railroad track. There didn't seem to be any parking, just the end of the road, so I parked. And waited.
Yesterday it rained. In a short amount of time the sky brightened, then the rain slowed. I grabbed an "emergency" poncho out of the geocaching backpack. (You oughta be in plastics.) 3" by 1/2" into a full sized poncho with arm holes and a hood!
Out of the car, open the trunk, wheel out. Bike out. Wheel on. Lightly raining. Helmet on, gloves on, backpack on. Crap! Poncho off. Backpack on. Lock car. Go!
Thinking: Not sure I'd bring the kids here. They go slow on their little bikes. Water on either side of the path: snakes likely, mosquitoes certain, alligators possible. Although it is a smooth, straight path.
Raining harder. No thunder, no lightning. GPS says 14.2MPH, bike computer says 15.1MPH. That's good to know. Only recently got my GPS mount for my bike.
Still, having fun, pumping along, lots of wind noise on the Amazing Plastic Poncho, keeping my core dry and nothing else. 1 mile, 2 miles...
Something is in the path. It can't be this short, can it? As I get closer I recognize concrete railroad ties...and railroad tracks.
It was 2.5 miles each way. It was odd that my GPS and bike computer agreed on the distance but not the rolling speed. Bug in the bike computer? Effects of cloud cover on the GPS?
My car was no longer alone. There was a truck and a camper...a full bus-sized one, but they were not together.
As I opened my trunk I was now completely oblivious to the rain. I did meet a man named Chris, the one in the truck. He came to ride the trail in his recumbent bike. He has ridden the Jax-Baldwin Rail Trail for over 2000 miles! I don't know if he ever got out on the short trail because, well,
Yesterday, it rained.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Started "Running for Mortals" 5-K walk training program
I've been struggling with running ever since I started exercising again in October 2007. I tried to NOT run for a long while, then added it in. I thought I was being gradual, but by late December I had injured my shin muscles pretty badly. I stopped exercising.
(Note: I started this process at 260lbs on 10/12/07, and was 234 on 1/25/08. I'm proud of myself, but I have a long way to go to my first goal, which is 200lbs.)
During that time I talked to some friends for advice and keyed into the word "intervals." I had a gift certificate to Amazon.com to burn so I searched there for books on the topic that included the idea of adding running in intervals. Pretty esoteric topic, but I succeeded in finding not one but two books that had consistently good reviews from Amazon shoppers.
I bought "Running for Mortals" by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield. It really is quite good. There is a lot of coaching, no patronizing or cheerleading and lots of specific examples of what to do, what not to do and the information to explain why. There is a questionairre that leads to the program you should choose.
I was either going to do the 5-K Walk program or the weight loss program. It came down to the equipment that I had on hand, since the weight loss regimen requires some kind of strength training and I did not have any weights, nor a health club membership, and yoga classes were going to cost me $80.00 a month.
The 5-K Walk program required walking and cross-training, and biking was an option there. I have a decent bike, and all the gear for day or night riding.
I started the 10-week 5-K Walk Program yesterday. It's really gradual, and is actually less walking per session than I was already doing in my own. But I was only getting out there 2-3 times per week, and this is 5 times per week of walking or cross-training.
At the same time, I have been watching my diet very closely. This started in October, with Phase I of The South Beach Diet. I've learned a lot about eating and gave up fried food and sweets. I've ALSO learned that if I eat sweets, the weight comes back on. I was down to 231 lbs. at one point but can't keep out of the candy jar during week periods!
I'm using http://tweetwhatyoueat.com/ to track my eating. Food is tracked either online at the website or with a direct Tweet on Twitter. It's tedious, and I don't think I am going to track food long term, but I think I can learn calorie values of foods in 3 weeks, so my goal is to track food there for that long.
So, goals:
1. 200lbs. reward: weekend getaway with wife, no kids
2. 10 week 5-K walk program: 100% adherence to the schedule, barring injury. reward: new clothes at current size at the 10-week mark.
Still pushing outdoors,
Ivan
(Note: I started this process at 260lbs on 10/12/07, and was 234 on 1/25/08. I'm proud of myself, but I have a long way to go to my first goal, which is 200lbs.)
During that time I talked to some friends for advice and keyed into the word "intervals." I had a gift certificate to Amazon.com to burn so I searched there for books on the topic that included the idea of adding running in intervals. Pretty esoteric topic, but I succeeded in finding not one but two books that had consistently good reviews from Amazon shoppers.
I bought "Running for Mortals" by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield. It really is quite good. There is a lot of coaching, no patronizing or cheerleading and lots of specific examples of what to do, what not to do and the information to explain why. There is a questionairre that leads to the program you should choose.
I was either going to do the 5-K Walk program or the weight loss program. It came down to the equipment that I had on hand, since the weight loss regimen requires some kind of strength training and I did not have any weights, nor a health club membership, and yoga classes were going to cost me $80.00 a month.
The 5-K Walk program required walking and cross-training, and biking was an option there. I have a decent bike, and all the gear for day or night riding.
I started the 10-week 5-K Walk Program yesterday. It's really gradual, and is actually less walking per session than I was already doing in my own. But I was only getting out there 2-3 times per week, and this is 5 times per week of walking or cross-training.
At the same time, I have been watching my diet very closely. This started in October, with Phase I of The South Beach Diet. I've learned a lot about eating and gave up fried food and sweets. I've ALSO learned that if I eat sweets, the weight comes back on. I was down to 231 lbs. at one point but can't keep out of the candy jar during week periods!
I'm using http://tweetwhatyoueat.com/ to track my eating. Food is tracked either online at the website or with a direct Tweet on Twitter. It's tedious, and I don't think I am going to track food long term, but I think I can learn calorie values of foods in 3 weeks, so my goal is to track food there for that long.
So, goals:
1. 200lbs. reward: weekend getaway with wife, no kids
2. 10 week 5-K walk program: 100% adherence to the schedule, barring injury. reward: new clothes at current size at the 10-week mark.
Still pushing outdoors,
Ivan
Friday, January 25, 2008
Follow me at twitter http://twitter.com/ivn_d_trrble
For anyone that found their way here from my Twitter profile, thanks.
I'm interested in following people with like interests, particularly geocaching and walking for exercise. I'd appreciate some followers as well.
I live in the Jacksonville, Florida area and as far as geocaching goes, this is either micro hell or micro heaven, depending on your opinion. I am of the former opinion. I am very interested in hearing about finding geocaches in far off places. Everywhere is different than Florida, which is totally flat and completely full of bugs and thorn bushes. And if you need tips on some good caches to hunt here in NE Florida when you're driving through, ask.
I remain pushing myself outdoors.
For anyone that found their way here from my Twitter profile, thanks.
I'm interested in following people with like interests, particularly geocaching and walking for exercise. I'd appreciate some followers as well.
I live in the Jacksonville, Florida area and as far as geocaching goes, this is either micro hell or micro heaven, depending on your opinion. I am of the former opinion. I am very interested in hearing about finding geocaches in far off places. Everywhere is different than Florida, which is totally flat and completely full of bugs and thorn bushes. And if you need tips on some good caches to hunt here in NE Florida when you're driving through, ask.
I remain pushing myself outdoors.
Something changed!
No posts for almost a year, since I returned to the workforce last March. Still geocaching, not hiking at all. In October 2007 I started exercising and eating right and so far have lost 26 pounds. Most of the exercise is walking in the neighborhood. I was getting a bike ride in per week, but not lately.
My family and I geocache as much as possible, since the girls love it. We will hopefully break 100 finds this weekend. Recent cool places we discovered were Camp Chowenwaw near Green Cove Springs and we all returned to Bayard Conservation Area to find "In Bayard, Not Hard."
My family and I geocache as much as possible, since the girls love it. We will hopefully break 100 finds this weekend. Recent cool places we discovered were Camp Chowenwaw near Green Cove Springs and we all returned to Bayard Conservation Area to find "In Bayard, Not Hard."
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