Food: First and foremost

I have learned a vast amount this year about my own weight loss journey and possibly about other people’s journey as well.  With all the running I did late 2009 and early 2010 you would think that gaining weight would be impossible.  This is far FAR from the truth.  For someone like me, who loves to eat and also tends to the emotional eating side of things, excise may not make up the difference.  For me, lots and lots of running may slow down the gaining but it will not prevent it.  What I have learned about how much food plays a part in the whole weight loss game is contrary to what I thought originally.  My gain occured steadily while running lots of miles as well as 30-40 mile long runs.  Yup, that’s right!!  I had months where I still steadily gained weight despite the fact that I was run 10 hours a week or so.  In fact, the many hours of running in a way decived me into thinking I did not have to watch what I ate as much, and then my eating remaining faulty even after I got burned out on running.  This just multiplied the weight gain effect.

So my conclusion is that no matter what exercise we do, what we put into our bodies via our mouth is the most important aspect of weight loss or gain.  I understand more now that it is possible to lose weight without exercising but eating VERY well but pretty much impossible to be really successful just leaning on burning calories through exercise.  In my WW meetings they always said that you could lose weight without the exercise even though it was not recommended and the loss would not be as rapid but I always kind of doubted it in the back of my mind.  I don’t doubt this anymore.  If my eating had stayed healthy, balanced, and monitored I never would have gained any weight back despite the amount I ran.  So I think food comes first.  It is the main-stay weapon in our arsenal in the weight loss battle.

Very Tired but Happy Too!

Oh boy am I tired today.  I have been staying up pretty late but it has been well worth it.  So I am happy with it.  Lots of stuff has been happening of late and I really like it.  I hope to keep experiencing more and more of it.  On another note, I am totally seeing visible changes in my body when I look in the mirror.  Not huge ones but they are apparent so I feel good about it.  I am getting leaner and it seems to be working its way down from face to shoulders to arms but not to the stomach yet.HAHHAHAHA. That will come in time.  The resistance training is now cut back to two days a week becasue I just can’t do legs the way the trainer wants to and still keep my paces during my running since my legs are so tired.  Running is my first priority but I really like what the training is doing for me.  My eating is also doing well.  It’s not perfect and it probably never will be and I don’t even care if it is.  I have much more mercy on myself now.

Today I have a hard track workout.  It is supposed to be stormy, windy, and raining.  Fun huh!!!  I will be doing 20X400 meter repeats at my 5k pace.  I may not hit all the reps at that pace but will work my booty off to get it done.  These are always really hard workouts for me yet at the end I feel so good that I accomplished something hard.  Doesn’t it feel good when we accomplish something hard or difficult.  When I am done I will crumple into my truck seat and drive home feel exhausted yet exuberant about the achievement.  I will probably tell my friend and coach soon after that about the victory.  The cool this is, is that they will probably ask me how it went and to me that is special because someone cares enough to ask.  Knowing this, I also try to ask about what concerns the people I love and care for.  What they care about concerns me and what hurts them builds compassion in me.  Anyway, things are going well.  Keep on fighting the good fight of health guys.  It is so worth it.  So so worth it.  No need to give up, you CAN get to your place.

I’m hoping for the best!

Since I am working out using resistance training, I am hoping that it will make a difference in my journey to lose the weight I have gained.  So far I have not experienced much of a difference but I have not been eating that great either.  Eating is more than 60%+ of the battle if you ask me.  I mean heck, you can lose the weight without exercising if you have too.  I want to retain and even gain some muscle but also want to be as light as I can for the running.  I don’t really want the concentration camp look but I would like to make my running as easy and as effecient as possible.  So all in all I am hoping to shred the fat off my body, get down to a pretty low body fat %, and build up my running speed and endurance.  I think that this is all feasable but I am having a hard time being patient.  I think the fact that I know what it is like to be where I want to be makes it hard to except the fact that I am where I don’t want to be.  But I will make it to where I am going.  I will keep on keeping on.

Eating, running, and weight watchers???

Like the homing pigeons above, I need to come home.  I AM GOING TO GO HOME.  I am headed back to weight watchers again tomorrow.  I will admit, I have a sense of shame about going back.  Not because of the weight I have gained or anything like that.  I feel “worthy” of going back but what I feel bad about is stopping my meetings in the first place.  I love them you know.  I care about the people there and they care about me.  There is no reason but full on self-deception that has caused me to stay away.  So today I will make a grand entrance at my “home” once again.  I will go there head high and weigh in.  To be honest, even as I write this I am telling myself that I should not go back.  That I should just stay away and forget about it.  But that is my unhealthy side talking.  I know what works for me.  I know what I like to do for my body.  I have listened and listened and listened to my body for so long now there is really no arguing with what works for me and WW works.  And in fact, it works for an endurance athlete as well.  I have made WW work for ultras and marathons.  It will do the job.  I say “it” but really it is just eating healthy and eating the correct amount of calories.  “It” is like any other normal eating program.  The only difference from what I am doing now is that IT IS NORMAL. LOL. 

I am going to start training hard again with my running and on top of that I will be doing three days a week of resistance training.  I long for this.  I am in recovery from the Strolling Jim at the moment but I will be back hard at it soon enough.  I yearn for the self exploration that it all brings, and the self revelation that I experience.  I can’t wait for the sense of accomplishment DAILY knowing that I am doing the RIGHT thing for my body.  The right thing for my life.  I never would have guessed that running would have become such a part of my life.  I never would have dreamed that I would write a post about my third year of long distance running and that I completed my 22nd long race.  I don’t say this stuff to be arrogant and I hope you don’t see it that way.  As I write I am even humbled by the process.  The process of step by step growth.  The process of learning what and what not to do while running.  I am humbled that I can even call myself a runner and to be honest at this point in my running life I still sometimes don’t think I am a REAL runner.  Now that is crazy because a REAL runner is just a normal person who runs, jogs, walk/jogs, etc.  There is no distance that makes you a runner.  There is no magic number of races that changes your identity to be someone else so that you can finally be a REAL runner.  There is no days per week that you must run to be REAL.  All you have to do is get out there and do it.  Fast or slow, smooth or uncordinated, natural or unnatural.  So I am going to get out there and do some more running becasue I want to.  I don’t have to.  I am the same person with the same worth and the same integrity if I do or don’t.  But I want to run, and I want to experience all that it has to offer me in this short life.

Running through it

Over the last several months I have not done a whole lot of being consistant.  I have had a very hard time getting my life back together enough so that I can once again stick to a “normal” schedule of daily operations.  At least this is what I have thought……………………….but I have had a stroke of insight today.  I have not been doing ALL BAD!  So I will look on the bright side of things.  I have developed and implemented a new system at my work place that will change it forever and for the better.  I have followed my dreams of training for, and finally attempting to run 100 miles.  I have continued to eat ok enough not to gain ALL my weight back.  I have held it together in many ways but it still does not take away the fact that it has been really really hard.  And the hard stuff is not over yet either.  Sometimes I feel it is only getting harder.  But one thing I know for sure is that I have been running through it all.  It is the constant (other than God) that stands firmly in place.  Well, not always firmly but I have not let go of it.  I have cut back, gone hard, eased off, etc. etc.  But I have not turned my back on running.  I have pretty much stayed with at least two days a week of running.  My come back races were 32 and 41 miles. 

This tiny piece of consistancy, with which coach dean has helped tremendously, has helped me piece things together.  It has helped me have a foundation to build off of again.  I am back to exercising with cross-training.  I am excited once again about my running goals.  I am looking forward to doing more running in the very near future and Coach Dean will help me attain physically what I want to attain emotionally as a way for me to set a foundation for all that is to come.  I have to start somewhere.  Heck, I have already started long ago, but I have finally realized I cannot do this all at once.  I cannot go at this with an all or nothing approach like I normally can.  i just don’t have the mental nor emotional energy to do so.  So it will go step by step but I will keep on keeping on.  I will run, I will eat, I will workout, I will talk things out with people I trust, I will remember my blessings and……………………………………..things will become what I desire them to be.  I have learned a lot about being patient with myself and that has been hard.  But I am glad I have learned it.  VERY GLAD.

Still running.

I did 5 miles today.  My legs are having a hard time recovering from my last two long runs.  One was 63 that you all know about and the other was 25 last weekend.  My legs felt pretty good in the 25 miler but the runs this week were damn hard.  My legs felt like lead and they felt like that were straight all the time stiff like.  But I am still out there.  I am still going for it.  I am still in great shape.  It was a beautiful day this morning during my run.  The sun was in full effect, motorcycles were out enjoying the warmth, people were dressed in slightly warm weather clothes.   I saw each of them as I tromped on by them as I took one smooth step after the other.  The air was refreshing and crisp.  I listened to Mariachi music for the whole run which put a romantic touch to the time outside.  So although my legs are mourning the abuse for a bit, it was an extrememly great experience to have on this wonderful day

What is running? What does it mean to you?

I was thinking this morning about running.  While thinking on the subject, a grand vision appeared in my mind.  A wonderful and true landscape of beautiful running.  As I sat there in thought regarding why us adults hate exercise so much, I was reminded by the vision of a wonderful time in my/our lives. 

When I was young and in grade school, we had recess time.  I think we all must have had it.  In my little vision I recalled a most common phenomenon about recess.  IT IS THE SPRINT!  When we got out of class for recess, practically every kid big and small sprinted as fast as they could the short distance to get to the playground of the school.  It was only maybe 20-100 yards depending on what classroom you were in.  But we all ran together, we all ran hard, we all ran with complete and utter joy.  I remember running with everyone else.  I remember laughing histerically inside about all of us running.  I loved it but what was the point.  I even thought that as a kid.  Why were we in such a hurry to get to a place that was so close.  Walking could have gotten us there probably only one minute slower.  In fact, the teachers were probably yelling at us not to run until we got there.  But we did.  We ran because it felt good.  We ran because it invigorated us for more play and exercise.  We ran for the increased joy that it brought us for our short time at recess.  We ran because it gave us the most bang for our buck time wise.

Sometime later, as I/we got older and started going to highschool, all of a sudden this joyful activity seemed stupid.  It seemd uncool to run as fast as you could to go do more exercise.  But still, even at that older age, running was easier and not such an evil to trudge through.  And still as time passed us by even more, running became something of a long lost memory where I could only remember coming in last in the one mile trial with all my friends in P.E.  It became something you did as torture for football and basketball practice.  IT BECOME BORING AND TIDIOUS.  IT WAS NOT FUN ANYMORE.

What happened to the meaning and joy of running?  What happened to us is the real question.  Running has not changed really.  It is the same as when humans first started doing it to get food and what-not. 

Here is what running is to me when I can remember it’s novelty.

• Running is the great escape.  It was the release from the pressure of the classroom to start a fun filled 30 minutes.  It is still the wonderful release from a pressure filled adult workday.  It leads me into fulfilling thoughts and feelings.  It helps me, even if only for 30 minutes, to forget the junk and remember the basic joy of movement and life.
• Running is the opportunity to live right now.  When I am running, I am living right then.  Right at that moment I am alive.  I am not weighed down.  I am flying high.  Nothing else matters.  Just the pitter-patter of my feet taking me away.
• Running is fun and joyfull.  When the weather is nice and the spring times flowering is exploding, I glide along the country roads of my home town with a grateful heart.  I take in the beauty of it all.  In a sense, I become part of the big explosion of life.  I take part in the growth and the life.
• Running means “I CAN” more than “I CAN’T”.  No matter what the pace, running is an opportunity to know that I can and I did.  I got out there and did it.  Not because I had to, not because I am obligated, but only because I CAN.  Just like recess and the playground only being 100 yards away.  As kids, we ran because we could.  We ran because it enhance the whole thing of recess.  We ran because we wanted to.  When running to recess, we all went as fast as we could but there was not first or last, we all just got there and kept having fun.

My running workout today!

Speedwork is tough.  It is a great character builder if you ask me.  I have only had a couple of speedwork sessions that were kind of easy.  The rest are just plain hard.  Today I had 6×1000 meter reps with one minute breaks in between.  The laps are done as part of a 6 mile total for the run.  Here are my stats for today’s workout.

1st 1000 meters= 5:55 pace

2nd 1000 meters= 5:55 pace

3rd 1000 meters = 6:03 pace except I almost puked and had to stop at 600 meters and take a 4 minute break. HAHAHAHA

4th 1000 meters= 10k pace @ 6:28  minute miles

5th 1000 meters= 6:30 pace

6th 1000 meters= 6:30 pace

Overall pace counting running to the track and taking my one minutes walking breaks was about 8:04 average pace.

I was supposed to do the laps at 5k pace which is about 6:08 for me.  I went out to fast and this hurt me especially on these longer reps.  Usually I do 400 meters at this pace.  Needless to say, I could not keep that aggressive pace for all those reps.  Also needless to say though is that I built up mental strength (physical too I guess) because I did not quit and I just adjusted my paces so that I could finish.  My coach says that paces between 5k-10k are considered high quality paces for high quality workouts.  In two weeks,  have my last easy/slow marathon prior to my PR attempt at the Portland Marathon.  Hoping all will go well.

More on food, WW, life, etc. in the morning.  See you later.

Q&A Post: Weight gain after events, sore muscles, and hard efforts.

I was asked this weekend about gaining weight after an intense effort or an event.  This is an extrememly common question to me and one that I also hear in my WW meetings all the time.  Here is the basic question that I recieved:

“I read that one can gain 2-4 pounds in water retention when muscles are sore ……….  Do you have any experiences with how some of your hard runs/races have affected your weigh-in’s?”

Here are some simple points directly from my own experiences.

• I have gained weight after EVERY event that I have run in. 
• I have gained weight most of the time after HARD EFFORT workouts.
• I have gained weight EVERY time when I do my weigh-in with very sore muscles.

Now I don’t have a Doctoral degree in musculo-skeletal issues, but I do have some experience with the issue at hand.  I have found that hard efforts (that is whatever pushes YOU hard), your muscles get sore, and this translates (for me) into gaining weight on the very short term.  This NEVER ends up being permanent weight gain.  In fact, after a gain  at the school I will almost always post a loss the next week after the healing process of my muscles.  Hear is what I have heard as to the reasons a person can gain weight even after buring 4000+ calories:

• After are hard workout, glycogen is depleted and when you eat sugar (from simple or complex carbs) your muscles will soak up a fair amount of it along with some water right away.
• When you work out hard, you get tiny micro-tears in your muscles.  To repair, they retain some water to help the process along.
• Once your muscles get better even though maybe not fully healed, your body starts to move the water, waste, blood, etc. through you muscles much more normally causing you to “lose” the weight.

In reality, the weight gain is false.  It is part of it.  It is possible to lose weight after events especially if you get dehydrated but once you begin to re-hydrate you will gain it back.  This little yo-yo in your weight should not be taken to seriously.  I do not weigh-in anymore after most of my hard events just so that I don’t feel bad for gaining because I am pretty positive I will and I also know that it is essentially meaningless.

So keep your head up and don’t worry to much.  In this type of circumstancial weight gain, the weight will come off just as easy as it seemed to come on.

Running alone doesn’t keep the weight off!!

I know this might sound impossible but it is sooooo accurate.  Running/exercise will not keep you from gaining weight.  It can help you out a lot in the good fight for healthy but standing by itself it will not do it.  EATING! is the determining factor.  I mean you can gain, lose, or stay the same without exercise.  You might not be as healthy overall but your weight can be stablized or moved in the direction you desire.  Of course the best combination is using both exercise and proper eating to lose or maintain weight.  This is a hard lesson for me as a runner.  I dreamed of the possibility that running could offer me a carefree life regarding food and treats.  How far from reality my thinking was.

It is very easy to eat more than you burn while exercising.  Even after running 50 miles you can eat more calories than you burned even before you go to bed that night.  Here are some examples from real life calorie expenditures that I have experienced and what I could (and have) eat to still be able to gain.

• 6 miles @ 7:28 pace= 857 calories.  My normal is to eat 3 maple bars.  This adds up to 1,380 calories.  I actually do this too!!!
• Marathon @ 10:19 pace= 3,617 calories.  After this last marathon I ate: 32 oz of Mt. Dew @ 440 calories.  I then ate two sausages with buns: 1,100 calories.  I also had a two scoop ice cream cone at B&B: 565 calories.  So that is 2105 calories within about 2 hours of the marathon.  This does not include the 1,400 calories I ate during the marathon nor does it include my dinner and snacks later in the day.  So adding what I wrote up I have already consumed as many calories as I have burned just 2 hours after the race.

This are real life examples and it is here to prove to myself that eating is far more important in weight issues than is exercise for me.  I can do the exercise but I need to focus on proper eating again.  It is a myth that endurance  and vigorous exercise makes you hungry.  Good exercise actually supresses hunger.  It does not however supress the thoughts of entitlement to food though.  Hopefully you enjoyed a small journey into the depths of my life. HAHAHAHAHAHA

A new life of activity and eating.

Some people have asked me what the difference is between my life now and my life prior to weight loss.  A very significant difference between the old and new life is also the same factor that is essential in keeping the weight off.  It also is a big factor in simple enjoyment of life.  The main difference is ACTIVITY!

Let me take you through a typical week day prior to my weight loss.  I wake up breathing heavily and roll myself out of bed.  I hurry up to get dressed and ready to go.  I don’t really make a lunch I just through some salami and cheese in a bag.  On the way to work I stop and get 2-3 donuts and have a giant coffee with full fat/sugar creamer.  Then right before I get to work I stop and get some bisquits and gravy to eat at work.   I go to work for twelve hours and eat out for lunch.  When I get off I go to the gas station and get fried foods to eat on the way home before dinner.  When I get home I talk to my wife, play video games and then we watch movie.  I eat some more, stay up late, and start the whole thing over again.  Now for a day on the weekend.  The only difference between a weekday and the weekend as far as activity goes is that I don’t go to work on Sunday.  I get up early because I can’t sleep in.  I go out to eat a huge breakfast.  I lay around all day and maybe go visit my family with my wife.  Then we all go out ot eat or something.  I never ever worked in the yard, I never exercised no matter how much my wife asked me, I just didn’t do much I did not live.

Now for day in the present time.  My typical weekday is like this.  I get up early without breathing hard.  I make my lunch and get ready to go.  I typically make this high protein shake with instant coffee in it.  It is 4 points but it is actually eating breakfast while getting my cafeine going on. HAHAHA .  I go to work and pass up the gas station with the donuts.  I get to work and eat every two hours and usually never go out to eat unless it is subway.  Sometimes I go for a walk at lunch and sometimes I go for a run.  I check out my running schedule at work to prepare my mind for the workout afterwards.  When work is over I change into the running clothes that I brought with me.  I head out for a run that will last at least 45 minutes.  Once that is done I document the run and drink some fluids.  When I get home if it is light out, I will go outside and work in the yard.  If not, I will eat a healthy dinner with my wife and we will either talk or watch a movie.  Sometimes she will read to me from the book she is reading.  I love that.  My typical sunday.  Wow, this is really different.  I wake up early to go running.  I run for anywhere between 2-6 hours.  Sunday is my long run day.  Sometimes I run before church sometime I run home from church.  When I get back I try and work in the yard for a couple of hours.  Then I am off to have a healthy lunch with my wife and we go for a walk, go walk around the mall, visit family, etc.  In addition to these activities, I will go hiking, golfing, go for walks with my sister, and many other things.

THis new way of life is much more active.  It is funny.  I burn much more calories and I eat much fewer calories.  I guess that is what is keeping the weight off.

My first run since the race recovery

It felt so good to get back on the roads.  I took a decent amount of time off from running to recover from my 40 miler.  I am sure that I am not all the way recovered even now but I am good to go for easier running.  I was invigorated during my three mile jaunt around the lake.  I did the run at around an 8:55 pace.  It seems fast but for a three mile run, it is not really that fast.  For a 20 mile run that would be fast, but not for a three mile run.  I felt easy and relaxed throughout so I feel that it was within the limits of recovery.  I am not expert though but I do know how to listen to my own body when it comes to running.

Anyway,  just wanted you all to know that I am back in the game.  My new running schedule will be in my email box soon.  Who knows what is in store for the next four months.

Tired! Tired! Tired!

I am tired.  My legs are tired and a bit sore and they have remained that way since Saturday.  It is not a big deal but my body is definitely talking to me.  Last night I did 14×400’s at 5K pace.  What a great workout it was and I hit my pace very well for each rep, but I was tired.  I made the best out of a bad running day.  I accomplished much with the workout.  However, there were no good feelings, no runner’s high, no euphoric revelations, no sun, no scenery…………..

I still finished it up though and that is where character building comes into a persons running program.  You make the best out of a bad running day.

I have also woke up late for the last two days now.  I hate it when I wake up late.  I pack a crappy unplanned lunch, hurry out the door, and just tend to have an overall unorganized work day.  I think my tiredness is normal and it is coming from the cumulative effects of my training over the last four months.  I had a very good 4 months of running and now it is time to taper off until the big race.  I am glad to be in taper mode and I will be taking today off completely even though I have an easy 6 miler on the schedule.  It won’t hurt me and I need the rest.  I just need it.  I know I need it and my body knows I need it.  Taking today off I have 4 more runs before the race.  A 6 mile tempo run, two easy 3 mile runs, and a 1o miler at race pace.  Then I will have 3 or 4 days off completely from exercise.

Here’s to getting some rest.  See you later.

6 mile easy run

Here I am at mile 14 as Audrey joins in on my run with me.

Yesterday was my “easy” running day.  It is a day the seperates hard workouts with easier paced running that aids in recovery while maintaining fitness.  I enjoy the easy days.  I am thrilled to report that my “easy” pace is about 2 minutes per mile faster than it was about this time last year.  That is pretty cool.

I ran around the lake where I work.  My route is three miles exactly and it is very flat.  It is the perfect route for an easier run.  My legs were tired though.  Maybe it was from my 6 miles with 6 hill repeats from the day before.  I guess that is why I get easy run days.  Tomorrow I have 12×400 repeats at 5K pace at the track.  The run will also total 6 miles with warm up and cool down running.

Weight watchers and running weekend recap.

Winston Churchill

I did not eat on program this weekend at all.  I did do my run though.  I am hoping that my run cancels out my bad eating for the last two days.  The past week at work has been stressful to the max and it really took a tool on me.  I was also stressed out about things I wanted to get done at home but felt that I did not have enough time to do them.

Now to the long run.  I had to go into work on Sunday which sucked but at least I just had to show up and open the building.  Then I got to take off on my run while stuff was getting done.  I ran 35 miles on Sunday.  It was not easy to do this run.  I woke up Sunday morning with sore legs and back from working in the fire pit for the last couple of days.  My legs were tired from the very start of the run.  I never gave up though and the run took me around 5 hrs and 45 minutes to finish.  I was happy with that.  Since I was running in the town were my work is I had to do a lot of repetitive loops and that made the run pretty difficult mentally.  It was not easy to keep passing up my truck and not just call it a day.  My foot gave me no problems either.  Overall it was a true ultra-running experience laden with lots of physical and mental challenges.

The day before I ate bad with the excuse that I was going to burn it all off in my long run the next day.  So what did I eat?  I went to my old evil stand by of some donuts and I also ate a fast food bacon cheeseburger.  I have not had one of those for about 2 years.  It hurt my stomach a lot once I was finish and it was kind of disappointing in the end.  Before my long run I ate 1 banana and some coffee.  That is all I ate until about 3:30 Sunday afternoon.  As soon as the run was over I went home and mowed the lawn and sprayed for weeds so I never really wanted to eat anything because I was focused on getting a job done that really really needed to be done.  When I finally did eat, I had Caesar salad, two bread sticks, a small cup of chili, one cornbread muffin, macaroni and cheese, and a bowl of ice cream with nuts on it.  Later Sunday night I had pizza and chocolate covered peanuts for dinner.  That was it for the day as far as eating went.

I slept like a baby.  I am a little sore today but not really to bad at all.  Hopefully I won’t be more sore tomorrow.  I am usually the most sore on day two after a hard workout.

Can I climb out of the pit of bad feelings and food?

image credit: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com

So I am feeling like poooo today.  I was thinking that I usually don’t post about feeling like this but maybe I am always doing it but don’t realize it.  I did not really even do WW over the weekend.  I made the excuse that since my WW calculator broke and is not repairable that I just didn’t have to count.  Well, I could have done great without counting anyway but I chose to eat junk food quite a bit.  That had nothing to do with counting.  I did get my two longer runs in this weekend and feel that my marathon recovery is now over.  I am ready for a new week in training.  I am also ready for a new week in eating too.  I will buy a new calculator at my Tuesday WW meeting.

I am just feeling depressed.  Although my weekend was supposed to be fun and relaxing, it stressed me out a lot.  I do not do well at all when I am feeling torn in many directions while at the present I am limited on time to get it all done.  I tend to just give up.  There are several things I WON’T GIVE UP THOUGH!!  That is time with my wife, eating right, exercising, and keeping my house nice.  All other things must be side issues except this weekend those things were creeping into the forefront of my mind, time, life…..  I wonder if I will be able to crawl back out of the big sink hole of being torn.  This same thing happened when I was training for the 100 miler.  The great thing is that my wife backs me up all the way this time since our goals are much more aligned with each other.

Do you every feel torn between things that are not really that important and the things that you feel are most important?  Maybe the non-important things are being pressured on you by others, do you ever feel this way?

Best of both worlds.

As the good weather comes in, I am going to be burning some extra calories and getting fit in new ways with the help of my yard.  That’s right, landscaping.  I have a pretty big yard and a landscape plan that encompasses all of it.  It has been requested by some that I post pics of the work that I am doing so every now and then I will do so.  Today is one of those days.  I know it is a bit off topic but the simple fact is that yard work is fantastic for our bodies and it produces a result that improves our lives and the communities that we live in.  So having a nice yard doesn’t just affect me, it affects all the people who see it.  It has the potential to bring peacefulness and inspiration to those who pass by or visit.  This is not about impressing others or keeping up with the “Joneses”.  I truly believe that creating a beautiful scenery is a help to the surrounding community.  Landscaping is the best of both the exercise and community improvement worlds.  Here are some pics.

This is the plan on paper

 All in all, there are many neat things that I will be doing with my landscape.  Many wonderful native plantings as well as ALOT of lawn removal.  I have created all the planting beds now and with the amount of lawn that I removed I have reduced lawn mowing time from about 3 hours to about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

This is th flagstone path that I built

 This is the main flagstone path the I built that runs from my driveway to the rear of the house.  I did this all myself after work in one week.  This was really hard work but not near as hard as creating the beds by removing sod.

This is three of the six 10' cedars for screening

 These trees will provide screening of the neighbors for more privacy.  All in all there will be 29 new trees of various types planted.  I have planted 26 so far.  Trees add structure to a landscape.

This is my back lawn with additional flagstone paths that I built coming off the deck and through the trees on the right.

This is a view of my back lawn from almost the property line.  It is a vary nice and relaxing atmosphere which is my goal for the plan.  Providing beautification and peacefulness to my home is the desired outcome.  Oh yeah, and fun too.  I am hoping that it will be a great place for my future children to play and frolic.

I will keep updating pics as I move along.  My wife takes these pics as you can tell they are of a much higher quality as compared to when I take them. HAHAHA  HAve a great day

Calculating calories burned for running and walking.

image credit: graphics8.nytimes.com

So you go out for a run or a walk.  You enjoy the exercise and physical movement.  You feel better about yourself and the work you are doing to get healthy.  But when you get home you wonder, “I wonder how many calories I just burned.”  Well, I am putting this post up so that you can calculate this for yourself anywhere and anytime.  It is pretty easy to do and the formula is based on research performed on walkers and runners.  The link I am putting at the bottom of the post is from a Runner’s World article that a fellow WW attendee pointed me to.  The article is based on the assumption that walking a mile and running a mile burns the same amount of calories.  This is not true although they both do burn a good amount of calories.  And if you don’t or can’t run, then walking is far superior than doing nothing at all.  I personally enjoy walking very much.

During the research the scientists found the running burned 2 times more calories than walking.  They noted also that if you can run two miles in the same time it takes to walk one mile than running would burn 4 times more calories over the same time period.  They also found that walking would burn more calories than running once you reached a particular pace.  Any walking done at a 12:00 minute per mile or faster pace burned more calories than running because it was inefficient.  So speed walking is a very good calorie burning exercise.  Here are the equations for calculating your calorie burn and the link to the article.

Subscribe to my blog and take part in all the fun!

Running-  .63 x body weight= calories burned per mile running.  So when I run 5 miles I burn 582 calories.

Walking-    .30 x body weight= calories burned per mile walking.  So when I walk 5 miles I burn 277 calories.

Here is the original article from Runner’s World as well as the research bibliography.

Run4change review of V-moda headphones

From the time I can remember, I have always been a lover of music.  My first CD was Europe “The Final Countdown”.  I listened to that song over and over.  Then one day I got a portable CD player.  The only problem was that if you used it during any type of exercise it would skip like crazy.  Then on another day the Ipod came out.  Wow, what a revolutionary idea that was.  Now people could run and exercise while listening to music without this big heavy thing that skips.  The only problem is that the Ipod comes with these white yucky ear buds that just hurt the heck out of my ears and they don’t stay in very good while running.  Finally, one of my ear buds went bad so it was time to do some replacement shopping.  So off I went to find me some new headphones.

I ended up getting some pretty good “in the ear” headphones by V-Moda.  I got red “bass freq” ones.  These headphones are small just like the normal ear buds but they are far superior.  They have nice silicone covers in three different sizes to fit into your ear comfortably.  No pain, not much outside noise coming in, and the sound quality is great.  These tiny little things really do put out some bass along with some cleanly smooth mid’s and high’s.  I love them.  They were developed as an active lifestyle headphone so they made them specifically for those of use who listen to music on the run or bike or hike or weight lifting or even the evil stairmaster.  They are mid-level on the pricing.  Lots of others out there are cheaper and lots of them are more expensive.

I highly recommend these headphones.  Here is a short break down of the good things I have noticed while using them with some links to the competition so you can make your own choice.

• Comfortable- No more ear rubbing when you take them out
• Noise isolating technology
• Good bass for a small phone
• Secure in the ear
• Attractive color choices so you don’t have to be like everyone else
• Modawrap cable manager lets you keep the cables nice and tighty without the hassle of tangles.

Competition

JVC air cushion ear buds

Danon AH-c35

JVC HANCX77 In-ear canal buds (more expensive)

Future Sonics Atrio Series (VERY EXPENSIVE)

Otto V35

One of my favorite cardio exercises.

Before I started running and during the first stages of my running when it did not take up as much time, I used a rowing machine for cardio.  I love the rowing machine and would like to buy one.  I have not gotten around to getting one yet but I am pretty sure I will in the future.  It is such a good work out for the whole body.  Most people think that it is all back and upper body but that is not the case.  If you do it correctly you will use your legs to produce most of the power and that is a good thing because your legs and your butt are your biggest muscles.  They make up 50% of your body so they burn the calories.  Do you know of any activity that really burns the calories that does not use your legs?  Anyways, here is a video that shows you how to use a rowing machine the correct way so when you are at the gym you’ll look like a pro.