Today marks my 2 year anniversary of starting to run. Prior to January 3rd, 2010 I had never really run anywhere, certainly not because I wanted to. Maybe if you jump back 18 years to high school you can understand why I never liked to run, but I’m now proud to say that I’m a runner.
You know whats weird …
- I really enjoy throwing on my shoes for a run both outside or at the gym.
- I relish the mental calm I drop into while running.
- The pace, focus, and routine of running really relaxes and calms me.
- When I need to just shut off the interrupts or complexity of the outside world, a run is the perfect prescription.
- It’s not about the shoes, it’s about the runner (sorry I had to).
- And the burn, did I mention the calorie burn is awesome as well
Not everyone can run right away. If you’re like me you’ll need to start out small and start walking 2-3 minutes, run for 30 seconds, and then walk again for 2-3 minutes, repeat. I suggest you find a good Couch to 5k/10k application or program online, there’s a bazillion of them.
Next suggestion, don’t stress your body too much in the beginning, running is hard on the joints. I still have sore ankles and knees from time to time after longer runs or if I’ve run too much in a week. It’s certainly better than when I first started running when I pushed it too far too quickly and I even tried the whole minimal running when I first started, ouch! Try only running once of twice per week and certainly not on back to back days.
Whatever you do, I can say one thing … don’t be afraid to start running. It doesn’t matter how you run or what you look like while running. No matter what you might imagine people are thinking it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re doing it, you’re not on the couch watching, you’re in the game. You’re in the game of life, of getting healthy and fit, of breaking out of your comfort zone and pushing yourself to achieve new high points.
Now go run and don’t stop running … oh yea, and watch that form remember land softly.
I’m off to get in a morning run to commemorate this anniversary and hope you will to.
This holiday brought me a few cool gadgets to help with my workouts, I must have been a good boy or something.
He brought me a new Jawbone Jambox wireless speaker and a new Road ID Elite wristband.
The speaker connects to my iPad, iPhone, or Laptop via Bluetooth (or a cable if I didn’t have Bluetooth) and will play the sound that’s playing on my device … movies, music, or games. It can also double as a speakerphone when I answer a call from my iPhone. The other awesome thing about it is that it has a built in 10 hour battery which means it’s a stylish compact mobile speaker. I can use it in the basement on my trainer or doing weights, outside in the spring when I’m doing trainer / running intervals, or I suppose we could even use it on the jogging stroller while we’re running … I have a lot of options.
The Road ID is something I should have purchased a long time ago. It’s a band I can wear while working out, cycling, running, or really any time I’m outside the house exercising and I might not have my wallet or other easily accessible identification information. It’ll give both me and my wife peace of mind on my 50+ mile bike rides this year. Now she’ll have GPS to track me and I’ll have Road ID in case something happens to me.
Those are a few of the cool gadgets I’ll post some reviews on later this year after I’ve used them a bit more. I’m pretty geeked to use them in my exercising and other healthy activities. As a gadget nerd it’s these small things that make exercising even more fun for me.
How about you, did you get any fitness loot from Santa?
While 2011 was a great year and I accomplished many things it wasn’t without it’s problems. I did really well for the first 8 months of the year and then I fell off a virtual cliff the last 4 months. As you can see from my weight-loss timeline I started the year at 276 pounds, got down to 249 pounds, and ended the year at 294 pounds, talk about downs and ups!
I’m starting this year with a few resolutions and some bigger goals that I think will keep me on track and keep me motivated throughout the year. So here we go:
Stop finishing my kids foods — I’m guilty of not only eating my own meal, which might not be exactly healthy lately, but also of eating a bit from my kids plate as well. Those calories can quickly add up when I’m eating part of a sandwich and/or part of their side in addition to mine. Just because I paid for it doesn’t mean someone has to eat it. Maybe it’s that child in me trying to clean my plate to make my parents happy.
Eat healthier — A simple statement but not exactly easy to put into practice. We’ve been eating out a lot the past few months because cookings been difficult (insert it makes my wife nauseous). It’s really hard after a long stressful day at work to come home and cook or make sound decisions from a menu filled with scrumptious food, especially when I hadn’t been working out.
Get back down to at least my low of 2011 — I know it’s kinda weird but I want to get down to at least where I was at my low last year. That low was around May so I know it’s doable in a reasonable amount of time. Yes, I do want to get lower but my key is getting there and maintaining at least that weight instead of going right back up.
Blog more — I usually start out really strong in the first half of the year and then fade toward the end. This year I’m shooting for consistency all year long. That might mean me venturing into other topics a bit, maybe a bit nerdy so be prepared, but I’ll never stray from my roots of this blog … A healthy sustainable weight-loss and lifestyle.
Now to end with a meaty long term goal I can sink my teeth into.
Cycle 6,000 Miles — As long as I’ve been into cycling I’ve wanted to ride a substantial distance. What better distance than twice what RAAM (Race Across America) did last year? I know it’s not the 20,000 miles Gaz cycled last year (an amazing blog and inspiration I recommend you check out) but I don’t commute to work like he does. I think it’s a challenging goal that’ll keep me motivated for most if not all of 2012.
So those are my goals for the year, I’ll post in the coming days how I’m planning on accomplishing them. Everything from my workout routine(s), food (changes), to cool new gadgets I’m playing with.
What are your resolutions and/or goals for 2012?
2011 was quite a good year for me. I wanted to do my usual end of year post and quickly look back at some of the things I’ve done, shared, and accomplished this year.
- Shared some great lessons learned from new years resolvers, something applicable entering into this new year as well.
- I met Phil Keoghan and saw The Ride. If you’re looking for inspiration to ride or find yourself making an excuse to not go to the gym, try riding across America in 40 days, that’s more than 100 miles per day.
- Had a quick Doctors checkup and was diagnosed with high blood pressure. Later in the year I returned to the doctor and he decided to observe it for a while and not treat it with medications.
- Tried out the New Balance Minimus Road shoes for the first time. They worked out well for running under 5k and for all other forms of exercise. Any longer running and my ankles couldn’t handle them.
- We celebrated our children’s 3rd (Abby) and 1st (Brad) birthdays.
- Shared my beliefs that sometimes even fear can be motivating.
- Put together a really popular guide to LoseIt badges.
- Ran in Chicago Shamrock Shuffle 8k and faired pretty well.
- I did a look back at my transformation in pictures from when I started in 2000 to where I am today, wow what a trip!
- I finally found a cycling helmet and posted about my journey to choosing a helmet. It was my 5th most popular posting of the year which was kinda cool.
- I attended Fitbloggin, had an amazing time meeting some truly inspirational people, and did Zumba for the first time.
- Joined the Shrinking Jeans family and later in the year had to part ways due to time challenges
- Shared another really popular posting on fear and whether or not it overpowers you.
- Came out about my toilet breaking growing up.
- Was humbled in my first Horribly Hilly Hundreds 100k bike ride.
- DNS’d my first triathlon, participated in my first sprint triathlon, and later my first Half Ironman 70.3 (or Iron Duathlon as my wife calls it).
- Ran in three 5k’s including setting a new PR of 26′ 43″ and then later another new PR of 26′ 14″.
- Mourned the death of Steve Jobs.
- Flew over 25,000 miles for work including 1 trip to San Francisco and 2 trips to São Paulo Brazil.
- After nearly 2 years of inactivity I updated my first iPhone application, Fairway Golf, to version 1.5 and started working on another secret application I hope to release next summer.
- Rode my bike nearly 1,000 miles (981 to be exact) this year, not as much as I’d like but that doesn’t count the miles indoors on the trainer nor the miles on spin bike.
- Started the year at 276 pounds, got down to 249 pounds, and ended the year at 294 pounds. The last 4 months have been lazy to the max but I’m starting the year anew, more on that tomorrow
- Happily shared with the world the announcement that we are expecting our 3rd child in June of 2012.
Phew … that’s a quickie look back at how my year went. While did I accomplish a ton of my goals I had my share of ups & downs as well. Like everyone I’m only human but I’m a fighter and won’t be giving up any time soon. I’ll be posting my New Year’s goals soon, tomorrow perhaps.
I hope your 2011 was as amazing as mine … lets bring 2012 in with a bang!
Some amazing coffee from my last trip to Brazil. Yes, I tasted as amazing as it looked 
First, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays! I hope you and your family & friends have an amazing holiday season and that you get some quality time to relax and appreciate it.
Second … I feel weird about this but I have to admit something to everyone. There are a few reasons I’ve been in and out of blogging and working out the past few months.
There’s been two trips to Brazil for work and one to California for a conference … 25,000 frequent flyer miles for the win!
Another thing I’ve been trying to do, sometimes unsuccessfully, is play Mr Mom doing double duty. My wife Amy hasn’t been feeling very well the past few months so I’ve had to step it up a notch.
But wait there’s more …
You know how I like a challenge right? I really do love challenges in all parts of my life … work, kids, workouts, hobbies, kids, and programming. Well we figured our house was getting a bit too quiet with a 1 and 3 year old running around so why not add another?
Yes, that’s right … we’re expecting our third child next June
It’s been a rough few months for my wife with serious nausea hitting her almost instantly (that not feeling well I mentioned above), much like the last two pregnancies. She’s also had really low energy to add to the all day nausea, it’s not just “morning” sickness. We’re hoping she’s finally getting over the worst of it now that we’re out of the first trimester (we’re entering week 13) which is when it tapered off with our previous kids.
In case you’re wondering we have no aspirations for any more than three kids, we’ll be done after this one. We’ve been very fortunate to have 2 healthy and beautiful kids so far and always wanted three kids so this was completely in the cards, we just weren’t sure when. We really liked the idea of continuing to having them 2 years apart so figured we’d try it again and were fortunate enough to be successful.
Another fun thing happened a few weeks ago, I was reading Caitlins’ blog and saw her announcement that she was expecting her first little one. It was pretty cool seeing that she was expecting her first right around the time that ours was due in June. Congratulations to her and her husband on their pregnancy, it’s certainly a rewarding experience and a lot of fun.
As you can see 2012 is already looking to be exciting and game changing year for me and my family. Hopefully you’ll stop by from time to time as I continue this journey to a healthier life.
Happy Holidays!
I’ve really been trying to find a good race to train for next spring, I really like to set some solid goals to keep myself motivated throughout the winter. Last winter I signed up for Steelhead in August and the Horribly Hilly Hundreds in June.
Anyhow, I started by looking for a triathlon in the Chicagoland area but it’s pretty cold here in the spring and there isn’t exactly a ton of triathlon options that aren’t indoor that time of year. I tried moving on to running but lets be honest, I’m not a huge long distance runner and unless there’s a bike involved somewhere I’m probably going to have trouble staying motivated. Hey, don’t hate me for being addicted to my bike … it’s something I know I’m decent at so I want to leverage it.
So that means I’m either signing up for a Gran Fondo or an out of state Triathlon. Since most of the Gran Fondo’s seem to be out in California it’s kinda hard. So what’s a guy to do?
In steps a work friend who’s doing Ironman Arizona in a week. He asked if I was planning another triathlon and I mentioned my planning conundrum. What’s a hardcore triathlete friend to do? Offer to do a road trip of course, what else?
Turns out there’s the Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 in Galveston Texas and the Ochsner Ironman 70.3 in New Orleans in April of 2012. I know they’re both only 4 – 4.5 months away but I’m up for a challenge and I really could use some focus right now. I’ve been really struggling this week and I’ve only been about 50% successful at getting on track again.
So the question now becomes, Galveston or New Orleans? I started asking around on Twitter and apparently Galveston has some of the best roads in the Ironman 70.3 circuit, and you know I like my bike. Does anyone else have any experience with either of these races? One of the advantages of New Orleans is that it’s an extra 3 weeks of training but at that point who’s counting right?
Thoughts? Comments? Other race suggestions perhaps?
