Tis the (off)season

The Christmas season is in full swing with all its richness and scheduling craziness, but it many ways it is the off season right now. November and December are the two months where we get our reprieve from the tax season that somehow stretches into ten months. Even though the social calendar is filling up with festivities, there is a bit of peace to match the ideal of the season.

Wintertime is not only the off season for work, but it is also typically the off season for training. For those that have training cycles throughout the year, the winter months are generally when you take it a bit easy. Not only does your body need a break now and then to repair and renew, but you need to step back to give your mind a rest as well. You risk burnout if you go at it day after day, month after month, and I think time away allows you to pursue your goals with more energy and determination when you return.

Winter is an ideal time on the calendar for this. For most of us (ah to be in San Diego some days), the temperature drops and the daylight hours fade. Add to this the activity and temptations of the holiday season, and it is nice to not watch every calorie, and sleep in on those Sundays when you would be more typically rising early to run or ride. 

This year is a little different, though. For a number of reasons, I wasn't as active this summer. Injury and illness played a part, as did more finish lines on the work calendar than the running calendar, but if I am honest with myself, I lost that spark, that drive to take care of myself. As a result, I am carrying more weight these days, both physical and mental. That needs to change.

So I am getting back at it now. For the past couple of months, I have been getting out three times a week for a run or a ride. Things being slower at work makes it a bit easier, but the winter season makes it more challenging. I am running in the dark most of the time, so I am either chasing a little headlamp circle bobbing in front of me, or swapping out more scenic routes for ones with streetlights. 

And then there is the weather. It has bounced between drenching rain and bitter cold. A day after I sank into the saturated soil, the hole froze solid. 

But then it was 66 degrees on December 10th, the warmest December day recorded in Seattle since records began in 1945. There is nearly as much time spent wondering what I should be wearing as there is actually running. 

But I am finally moving in the right direction again, and the habit is starting to take hold. The other day when I was just about done, a red light delayed me. Even though I was ready to be done, I decided to turn right and add some distance rather than wait. I have also been running some 5ks lately, and it is nice to be toeing the start line again. 

The Evan Sebenius 5k Memorial Run

 The Green Lake Gobble

Turkey Trot

Holiday Fun Run

So it is sort of an off-season that isn't. I am hoping (planning damn it!) to carry the training dedication and self-care through the winter and into the April madness. I need to do a better job at prioritizing heath and well-being over deadlines that will be there no matter what I do.

One nice thing about the crossing of the off-season (that is or isn't an off-season) and the Holiday Season is having the time to be able to see friends and family. I look forward to the grand gatherings with the warmth of home and friendship, but there is something special about pinning on a race bib and taking on a challenge together. A bit of fellowship to add to the richness of the season. And burning a few extra calories before the roast beast doesn't hurt either. 

Walking path

"In the city, Harold's thoughts had stopped. Now that he was back in the open land, he was once again between places, and pictures ran freely through his mind. In walking, he freed the past that he had spent twenty years seeking to avoid, and now it chattered and played through his head with a wild energy that was its own. He no longer saw distance in terms of miles. He measured it with his remembering."

 ~ from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Work has been crazy lately. This was not unforeseen, as we have very defined deadlines we can mark out on the calendar at the start of the year. No matter how much we try to prepare, there is always a mad rush at the end. We can be seen skidding through then narrow opening as the heavy door comes crashing down a la Raiders of the Lost Ark, and we can only hope to have made it with hat and head intact.

Monday September 15th was the latest deadline, and we finished the last project around 9:00 at night, three hours before the midnight deadline. After a couple of weeks of long hours and working weekends, I was offered a random Tuesday off to recover and recharge. The clock has already started ticking on the next deadline, but sometimes you need to take a break to avoid breaking.

I slept in a bit, but my fried brain still had enough energy to chatter me awake too soon. I decided to go out for breakfast, and made it that much better by walking there. I have found that I need to get outside to balance out the desk time, but let that knowledge slip away as deadlines loom overhead like a guillotine. A walk in the sun would do more for me than the coffee waiting at the diner counter.

I slipped on some headphones and fired up the latest U2 album. The album had been given away free to all iTunes users as a promotional stunt at the latest Apple launch. I won't be buying an iPhone any time soon, but was happy to walk away with a little bystander swag.

Though I have been doing a bit of hiking and biking lately, I have really lost touch with my active self. A bout of Plantar Fasciitis in May kept me from running, and then the round of shingles forced me to pull back further to allow my body to heal. The shingles are gone, but the heal pain lingers. That has been discouraging, but more troubling is the loss of drive to recover my former self.

I have had a couple of anchors the last few years that have kept me (relatively) sane, and I have let them both slip away. Both writing and running help to keep my mind and soul clean. I have turned away from both, and I am dealing with the consequences. Netflix binges have pushed out time to write, and I have been filling in empty spaces with too much food and drink. I am fifteen pounds heavier than I was at the beginning of the year, but it is more than just a physical weight that I feel. I have known the solution, but at times those first few steps or words are the most difficult.

So instead of trying to run, I walked.

Forward motion. Music. Lyrics. A gift of a day unexpected. Sunshine. Fresh air. All had their part in shaking loose some of the jangled thoughts and emotions that had built up over the summer. Breakfast was served with a friendly face, and coffee and bacon did their own trick of service. Afterward, I wandered down to the river path and stood and watched the ducks preen and swim in lazy circles.

In the afternoon I would meet a friend for an impromptu hike, conversation and climbing peeling back another layer. In the evening, I would meet my two brothers for a drink, and find further connection and renewal there. We did not find the meaning of life as the subject line of the coordinating email implied we might, but we did find life at our booth on a random Tuesday.

I can get lost so easily on such a familiar path, especially in the busiest times when my head is down, just working to make it through the next real or imagined gateway. Running and writing have been my compass in the past. They don't always point me in a specific direction, but they definitely mark the path away from a place I shouldn't be.

Baby steps.

Running and weight

I have pretty much always been overweight. As a kid, I shopped in the "husky" section that had nothing to do with our local college team. Growing up, my brothers were taller and leaner, and I was the more round guy on the end, the 'o' to their 'i'. I was not particularly active as a kid, though I did play youth soccer for some seven or eight years. But when I tried out for the junior high team, I washed out in the first couple days of tryouts because all we did was run. We didn't get to soccer skills until the last hour of the second day, and by that time I was finished.

Fitness and activity didn't come until later. Most every job I have had required me to be on my feet, and my decade-plus in construction has made me stronger just by going to work. Biking was my first extracuricular activity, and two years after that I was running. I ran my first 5k in March of 2005, and my first half marathon that November. I hadn't prepared terribly well for the half marathon, but the experience of the day, and crossing that finish line hooked me. I wanted to take this more seriously and prepare for a full marathon.

I was still pretty heavy at that point, but far from my heaviest. Before I started running (I think I had just started biking), my former wife bought me a scale one Christmas. It was one of those fancy models that not only gives you your weight with half-pound, digital precision, but it also estimates your body fat percentage by sending a small electrical charge through your body. I don't remember precisely what it read that first morning, but the weight was north of 190, and the fat make-up above 30%. I had no illusions that I was skinny, but those numbers were pretty shocking. What was worse was when I plugged my numbers into an online Body Mass Indicator (BMI) calculator. I was not only overweight, but I had moved into the "obese" catagory.

Damn.

Back to 2005. Just after the half marathon, I started my plans to run a full marathon. Looking at some training plans, I would now be running 20, 30, or 40 miles a week. If I could stick to it, I knew I would be in the best shape of my life by the time I showed up at the start line. I imagined that the pounds would fall away as the miles went by. I even took a  "before" picture I could compare the glorious "after" person I would become. Shield your eyes, 'cause here it is:

For several months, I followed the training plan and slowly built up my fitness. Then a month or so out from the marathon, I got injured. I didn't know it at the time, but it was a classic IT band issue. I still showed up at the start line, but only made it 18 miles. I would finish a marathon five months later, mostly on grit and biking fitness.

So how about that physical transformation? I was definitely fitter, but the weight did not melt off like I had anticipated. I went back and looked at my running diaries, and I weighed in at the exact same 175.5 pounds a few days before the marathon, and I had somehow managed to gain a point of fat percentage. Over the next few years, the miles increased, but the weight stayed the same, or even climbed. In 2007, I ran 660 miles and I was carrying the exact same 182 pounds in December that I was on January 1st (that handy fat percentage meter kept me from believing that I was exchanging fat for muscle).

In 2008, I ran another 650 miles, but nothing much happened with my weight until the last two months, when my marriage frayed and I started running for UPS every day. After that difficult November and December, I finished the year about ten pounds lighter, I managed to maintain that loss for most of 2009. But after running a lifetime high of 928 miles, I was again back up to 176 on December 31st, a half pound heavier than my optimistic "before" picture four years earlier. What had become crystal clear is that exercise is not enough.

Not that this isn't completely obvious, but it comes back to calories coming in versus calories being burned off. I had been burning more calories for four years, but I was clearly consuming more as well. Part of the problem is the illusion that you can eat whatever you want after a long workout. Unfortunately, it doesn't add up that way. I would need to run about 28 miles to burn the calories in a single pound. By not paying attention to what I was eating, I was essentially running in place.

I heard on a podcast (can't remember which one) about combating childhood obesity. Today one in five kids are obese (triple that of 30 years ago), and many more are overweight. The study asked the question of where the best place was to start - exercise or nutrition. If you eat better and weigh less, you might be more inclined to move around more. The other side of the coin is if you move around more, you might be inspired to take care of your body and eat a little better. The study found that children were more successful if they started with the food side of the equation. Exercise is clearly important, but what you put in your body is even more important.

2011 was the year of the 30 day resolutions, and cutting out alcohol, fast food, meat, and making better food choices in general were some of the monthly challenges. As a result of those changes, I lost another 12 pounds during the year and I have managed to keep them off. Both the exercise and making good food choices are about taking better care of myself, and they were finally reinforcing each other.

160 pounds is now the number I dance around, and the 30 days of running helped push me below that. This is the "after" picture, about six years later than planned.

From this angle, the most noticeable difference is in my face (and of course my California tan lines). This is me at 155.5 pounds, and 21% body fat. Nothing like a Biggest Loser transformation, or even particularly skinny for my height, but still it is a difference of 20 or 40 pounds depending on the starting point, and 9 points off the fat scale. The miles of running, biking and that fancy scale have seen me move from obese, through overweight, and into the high end of normal on the BMI chart. At six years older, with the accompanying slowing metabolism, I'll take it.

There was no "diet", just dietary change. I still indulge, but the overall pattern is different. I understand that one day of exercise or one meal doesn't make or break it for me, and that it is how they all interplay over the long term.

Occasionally, the solution is very simple, but that doesn't make it easy. Even when you know the solution, you aren't always prepared to take action.  Running wasn't the silver bullet, but it improved my outlook and set me on the road to taking better care of myself. Everything played its part, but in the end it turned out to be a bit more about the meals than the miles.

Running past morose

As you can tell from the titles of recent posts (running on empty, relapse, sick), we have been rolling through a bit of a trough lately. Running is usually the antidote, but after getting re-energized at the 5k on April 1st and wanting to get back to running, I was sick for two and half weeks, and didn't run a step. At the same time, what I have been eating has been from the wrong side of the food pyramid, or plate section, or whatever (out of) shape it is right now. Though I haven't been running, it seemed I woke up sore more often, so even after finally kicking the cold, I was left feeling blah, overweight and out of shape.

I started over. 

Now that I was finally healthy, I had no excuse to prevent me from lacing up my shoes, other than inertia. I don't have a race on the horizon, but I plan to run three times a week as if I did. Part of starting over was checking how far I had fallen. The scale smiled sarcastically from the corner of the room. 

I hadn't weighed myself in weeks and was dreading what the scale would reveal. How I feel and move from day to day is a better barometer, so I try not to obsess over weight, but the plotting, tracking, and Excel side of my brain needs some hard data. I plugged in my gender and height and stepped on. This is going to be ugly.

If I had been drinking, I would have done a spit-take. The number that popped up was equal to the lowest number I have seen in a decade. Before I could finish my "Holy Crap!", my brain thought "Wait for it..." 

After alighting on the weight number, the scale counts down from five before showing you the estimate of your body fat percentage. Not sure why the countdown is there, maybe to give me an opportunity to brace myself. The surprising weight number was offset by an increase in the fat percentage number. In the past month, I had been trading muscle for fat. One number told me I hadn't fallen behind, and the other told me I still had work to do. I went for the first run in three weeks. 

It was a bit of a struggle, getting my body moving again. The corners of my lungs still felt a little gunked up, and my muscles creaky from lack of use. I planned to take it easy, and my body made sure I kept my promise. I ran three times this week, all on the same three mile loop. Though it was no easier to get out the door, I felt a little better after each run. 

I was looking at the stats on the Garmin site and for some reason zoomed in on the map of my route. I had never noticed the street name near the finish, but it seemed appropriate. 

Running past morose.

Leftovers

George Carlin once said, "...A leftover. What a sad word that is. Leftover. How would you like to be...a leftover? Well, it wouldn't be bad if they were taking people out to be shot!"

Well the four day eating marathon is over, but the food is not nearly gone. There were many hits, and only one miss.

As mentioned earlier, after going out for dinner on Thanksgiving, Kristy and I made a turkey dinner for two on Friday. Turkey, cornbread stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with horseradish, and pie for desert. Everything was wonderful, though I sort of missed the store-bought cranberry sauce in the shape of a can for nostalgia sake.

She bought the smallest turkey available, but even so there were plenty of leftovers. But of course this was part of the plan. Oh the turkey sandwiches! Saturday's selection was turkey, cranberry sauce and melted gouda on soft ciabatta bread. Sunday we had grilled turkey paninis with thick pickles and horseradish butter.

The only miss was when we tried to make Wassail. We forgot it on the stove, and it turned into this creepy oozing mass of black goo. It was bubbling and collapsing in on itself like something out of Harry Potter. I think the remains are permanently burned into the pan.

I think we have only put a small dent in the supply of turkey, but the leftovers keep coming. We had dinner with Matt and Holly on Sunday, and we did a full ham dinner with all new side dishes. I think we made it through most of the yams and veggie casserole (and the mulled wine), but there was so much ham leftover that each house now has a big Tupperware full.

George Carlin again - "Leftovers make you feel good twice. First, when you put it away, you feel thrifty and intelligent: ‘I’m saving food!’ 

Then a month later when blue hair is growing out of the ham, and you throw it away, you feel really intelligent: ‘I’m saving my life!’"

Somehow through all of this, I managed to not gain a pound. Inconceivable!

Resolutions and the scale

For the ongoing resolution a month thing, the plan for July was to make better lifestyle choices and try to lose 10 pounds.

Well, I got it half right.

I did eat better foods, consumed fewer liquid calories, avoided drive-thrus and late night snacks. I did really well the first week, and then undid the progress when I was on vacation. I did relatively well the last couple of weeks, and ended up losing five pounds.

Ten pounds was kind of a long shot, and I was hoping that the difficult goal would scare me straight on my food intake. Turns out I don't scare that easily.

I do feel better overall though, and plan to continue to make the changes necessary to lose the next five pounds by marathon morning. And August's resolution should help in that regard.


Hey, this guy stole my bit. Sounds more inspiring and clever at TED.

Next!

We've clicked over into another month, and it is time for another monthly New Year's resolution. Last month's goal was to write for an hour each day. It actually went reasonably well until the last week. Several days I was able to get in a few hours and make real progress on the book edit, but the last five days or so was pretty much a bust.

The goal for April is to avoid fast food. I have been eating on the run far too much lately, and my wallet is shrinking while my waist expands. When I have given up fast food for Lent in the past, I have exempted sub shops since they are not nearly as unhealthy as their deep-fried brethren. I will keep this option open if necessary, but I am hoping to cut way back on the money I spend eating out. I don't often spend money on a fine meal, but those too frequent $7 meals add up.

Another inspiring "loser"

I have been a fan of The Biggest Loser since it started. Beyond the game play, I find the journey and the stories inspiring. Holly has become a fan as well the last few seasons, so we are both on the couch Tuesday evenings to see how the contestants do each week. The recent season just ended, including the marathon episode where one of the women finished in 4:38. The new season is only a few weeks away, but in the meantime I thought I'd pass along a video.

The video chronicles the journey of an ordinary guy who loses 120 pounds and ends up becoming a runner and triathlete. He has been unhappy for some time, and something finally clicks inside to make him lose the weight. I haven't seen Tim recently to see if he has been successful in his own journey, but that is only because I have been lax at getting to the gym to swim.

YouTube link

The Twinkie diet

More evidence that it is simply 'calories in versus calories burned' when it comes to weight loss. Though the method and resulting cholesterol numbers were pretty surprising in this experiment. But you probably shouldn't attempt this at home (or let your kids see the article). Not that anyone would want more than one Twinkie every few years. Those things barely resemble food.

For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.

His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food.

The premise held up: On his "convenience store diet," he shed 27 pounds in two months.

Full article: Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds

A real loser

I don't watch much reality tv, but The Biggest Loser is one I try to catch each week. I find it inspiring to watch people tackle and succeed in a fight they have lost at all their lives. Even though the contestants are trying to win a contest, it is more about changing their lives for the better.

Of course they have the help of professionals, live in a gym, and there aren't many fatty temptations stocked in the fridge. They fight to stay on the show each week not only to try to win, but because it will be tougher to lose the weight outside this bubble.

But they are still doing the work (and lots of it) whether they are on the ranch or if they have been sent home. Not only the workouts, but changing their habits and way of life. These changes are difficult, even though they have sabotaged their health and happiness up until now.

I was at the gym Monday to get in a swim. I am in the two week taper period before my marathon - the time where you are working out less, and freaking out more. You question if you have done enough to prepare, so it can be tough to back off. I was planning on a leisurely swim, just to keep my body moving, but ended up pushing it anyway.

When I finished, a guy in the next lane commented that I was really 'tearing it up', and asked if I was on a swim team. Have to say it made me feel pretty good, and we got to chatting. His name is Tim, and he told me his story. He needs surgery on both of his knees, but his doctor won't do the operation until he loses 100 pounds. There is no reason to fix the knees if the additional weight is just going to damage them again.

He confided that he needs to go from 282 to 180 before the surgery. He is determined to lose the weight, and has even made $20 "bets" with friends and family that he will succeed. He said that he is already up to $500, and will throw a huge party for all his supporters when he succeeds.

He joined the gym 28 days ago - and has been to the gym 28 days in a row. And he has already lost 23 pounds. He was in the pool before I started, and was there when I left. You see these people on tv and YouTube videos changing their lives, and the stories are wonderful. But to be there in person, see the determination in Tim's eyes, and see how far he has already come, it makes it that much more real. And inspiring.

Weighing in

Weight has been a hot topic in the household lately. My housemates have a bit of a competition going to see who can be the first to lose a certain amount of weight. We have also been watching "Biggest Loser" and "Losing it with Jillian" on Tuesday nights for inspiration. The focus on exercise and eating better has been pretty successful. One of us has fit in a dress that has not been worn in a long time. I'm not saying which of us that is.

I have always been overweight, or "husky" as it was called when I was growing up. There was a brief period (about 9 months or so) when I was "thin", but that was fifteen years ago. I was down below 140 pounds, and I still keep that drivers license in my wallet. The thing that started me on my way to weight loss was a relationship breakup. My stomach was in knots, and food just didn't sound appealing. After some pounds fell away, I decided to start eating a little better.

Matt recently posted a shot of him 20 years ago, and what he looks like these days. Here is my own little version:

This is the picture on that 1995 drivers license still tucked in my wallet:

Me on the 2008 version:

And a picture taken at the end of June this year:

That 2008 photo was hardly my peak (low point?) for my weight. Looking back, I was only about eight pounds heavier than in the 2010 photo. Must be the terrible DMV cameras (or more likely my body fat percentage).

No, I think my highest weight was one Christmas a number of years ago when my wife gave me a digital scale as a present. The scale also measures your body fat percentage, and when a few of us stepped on to be measured, the results were pretty depressing. I don't remember specific numbers, but I was definitely over 190 pounds and 30% body fat.

I dropped a few pounds, but plateaued. Once I started biking, and then running, I was more concerned with what my body could do, than what it looked like. The next round of weight loss didn't happen until the end of 2008. The spark was two-fold this time. We had just started marriage counseling, so once again my stomach was in knots. The other piece of the puzzle was working for UPS for a couple of months, which meant I was running six days a week. I dropped 15 pounds and have been able to keep it off since then.

But I am on another plateau. I am so much more active now than when I was at my 1995 weight, but still 30 pounds heavier. It looks like it was all about what I was eating - diet vs exercise. But I wasn't doing anything all that special back then. The pattern I fell into was generally to have two "good" meals, and one not-so-good meal each day. I was working double/triple shifts at a restaurant at the time, so breakfast would often entail grazing at the salad bar as it was being set up, and dinner would usually be something sensible. Lunch was usually my splurge meal.

I am starting to think about looking into the possibility of making a decision about researching a strategy to create a plan...

Ah, I should just start eating better. Less late night snacking and empty calories. I'm not getting any younger, and I know if I fueled my body better my workouts would be more productive. That, and it is perpetual swimsuit season down here.

Sign of the day

There are usually some entertaining signs held up by spectators at marathons. The most memorable one from Sunday was:

"That isn't sweat. That's your fat cells crying."

According to my fancy scale at home, I lost 2 fat percentage points over the weekend. It is probably a dehydration thing, but it was great to see that number this morning.

Headline roundup

A few stories I clipped from the paper over the last week or so.

Art Studio Fills Empty Spaces.

In some cultures, you burn a smudge stick to drive out the evil spirits, the bad luck. The past.

But in these days of loss and worry, of pulling back, shutting down and starting over, it might help to put some art on the walls.

That's the idea behind artist Ethan Jack Harrington's traveling studio.

Harrington plans to move his work space from one emptied Seattle storefront to another each month, essentially chasing the bad juju of the recession away, and replacing it with creative energy, beauty and an eye to building and preserving community.

The article points out that it is a win-win situation. The artist gets exposure for his artwork, and the storefront gets some activity instead of remaining empty. Filling empty storefronts also benefits the neighborhood. The article goes on to point out this line of thinking could be applied to vacant houses as well. "someone keeping the home fires burning at a foreclosed home until things turn around."

There was a Stuff You Should Know podcast a week or so ago on squatting. It mentioned that in 2007 there were 672,000 homeless folks and 16.7 million vacant houses. The show seemed in favor of the idea of filling all these empty houses, but they also mentioned how hard it is to get a squatter out of a house.

Cut Your Calories to Lose Weight

For people who are trying to lose weight, it does not matter if they are counting carbohydrates, protein or fat. All that matters is that they are counting something...After two years, every diet group had lost — and regained — about the same amount of weight regardless of what diet had been assigned.

Kind of one of those common sense things, but the diet industry is a massive one selling the latest fad. The good news is it doesn't matter which program clicks with you. It is all about taking in less calories than you burn off. I'll be publishing my "Eat Less, Move More" book soon. Well pamphlet.

"Miracle" water a low-cost alternative cleaner to harsh chemicals

It's a kitchen degreaser. It's a window cleaner. It kills athlete's foot. Oh, and you can drink it.

Sounds like the old "Saturday Night Live" gag for Shimmer, the faux floor polish plugged by Gilda Radner. But the elixir is real. U.S. regulators have approved it. And it's starting to replace the toxic chemicals Americans use at home and on the job.

The stuff is a simple mixture of table salt and tap water whose ions have been scrambled with an electric current. Researchers have dubbed it electrolyzed water, not as catchy as Mr. Clean. But at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica, Calif., some hotel workers are calling it "el liquido milagroso," the miracle liquid.

That's as good a name as any for a substance that scientists said is powerful enough to kill anthrax spores without harming people or the environment.

It's green and it saves money - the mixture costs less than a penny a gallon. It isn't ready for the home yet as the machine costs about $10,000, but hotels, etc. can save money while getting rid of toxic chemicals.

The pound for pound challenge

This is one of those win-win things. When you sign up with The Biggest Loser online, for every pound you lose General Mills will donate a pound of food to Feeding America. The food will be distributed to 200 local food banks around the country.

I have pledged 12 pounds.

If it were only this easy, part 3

"Scientists have discovered what could be the ultimate workout for couch potatoes: exercise in a pill."

"The drug, according to the researchers, changed the physical composition of muscle, essentially transforming the tissue from sugar-burning fast-twitch fibers to fat-burning slow-twitch ones — the same change that occurs in distance runners and cyclists through training."

Full Story

Weekly numbers

Still holding at 179 pounds. It looks like publically posting my numbers has done nothing to motivate/guilt me into changing my behavior. From here on out I won't bore you with the weekly details, but will hopefully have something positive to report in the future.

I started my training up again after a week off post-marathon. I plan to include some biking starting this week as well. Last weeks numbers were:

Running: 12 miles
Biking: 4 miles (while following runners at Beat the Bridge 8k)
Swimming: 1/2 mile.

Weekly numbers

It was rest and recovery week after the marathon on Sunday. I tried swimming on Wednesday, and even that wore me out. It was also a week of indulgence on food this week, so I was pretty relieved to see just a half pound bump to 179. Back to training this week, and more of a focus on food as fuel (apple fritters are not a fruit).

Running: 0
Biking: 0
Swimming: 1/3 mile

If it were only this easy, part 2

The wife and I both noticed a billboard on the way to Eugene. On the billboard was a picture of a woman's ripped midriff. Something like this:

Was it an ad for a gym? Training program? Bowflex? No, it was advertising for liposuction.

The billboard not only implied that they could give you a muscled stomach like this. It actually spelled it out that you could get it "without sweating" by getting liposuction. Maybe it's that simple. Maybe we all have six packs hiding under all that insulating fat. Nurse, suction please.

Weekly numbers

It was taper week before the marathon, so the training was much reduced to save energy for Eugene. Fortunately I only gained a half pound during the week, up to 178.5. Training numbers (including the marathon) were:

Running: 31.2 miles
Biking: 0
Swimming: 0

Weekly numbers

Down a pound and a half to 178 this morning. My running miles are tapering off a bit in the next couple weeks so I did a slightly better job of watching my food intake. Training numbers for the week were:

Running: 20 miles
Biking: 16 miles
Swimming: 1 mile