As the long "essays" on this blog tend to take quite a long time, I have decided to switch things up a little bit as well and post much shorter updates and when I find the time maybe throw a bloated story in here every so often. Frankly the "essays" have always been just something I wanted to do for myself as I take this journey and decided to make them public for anyone that cared to read them and know I am still alive. I usually update the website (www.RunningForMyExistence.com) with developments but this may be a better and simpler format for updates.
Since my last post I have had a couple of somewhat significant events in my training, weight loss and Marathon prep schedule. again, I'll try to keep it simple...
Weight Loss - I had my second "weigh in" on August 7th and was extremely happy to discover that I lost another 17.4 pounds, dropping my weight down to 237.2! Therefore total loss for the two months since I started this is 39.5 pounds! Not bad considering that prior to starting this project, I had dropped ~25 pounds since the beginning of the year so the "easy" weight was pretty much gone. I have posted an updated picture at the bottom of this entry.
BTW, everyone normally reaches a "plateau" where the body adapts to the weight the body has lost and decides to slow things down to protect the body. Right now it appears I'm standing in the middle of a plateau so I probably won't be posting a double digit loss for September. If I was just in this to lose weight then I would probably be more bummed out, but fortunately I am cognizant that weight loss is only one component of the larger picture so I take solace in other developments. Sounds like justification talk but it really is pretty true.
Exercise - In addition to my other exercise routines (ie spin/bike class, swimming, weights) I have maintained my 3 mile/walk run everyday except on Sundays. I was starting to get a little concerned about my "running" as I was finding myself limited to running a maximum distance of 1/2 mile before I had to stop and start walking again - not good for someone who's planning on running 26.2 miles! I would actually look at other people running down my street and silently curse them. Finally, after some good advice from Rick (my trainer) who explained that I was wearing myself out just so I could finish exercising quicker, I decided to slow down a little and control my breathing better.
Last Saturday I ran my entire 3 mile course nonstop and I really felt great, both physically and emotionally. I actually screamed "Yes" as I touched the driveway which caused my neighbor two doors down to look at me with concern. I just kind of smiled and waved and then walked up the driveway feeling very content.
Although I'm sure many of you reading this would have no problem running 3 miles nonstop, consider this about me. In late May, I was barely able to walk ~2.5 miles during the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides walk. I actually had to turn around and come back because my legs and shins were killing me. In Early June when I started my 3 mile walk/run program, after one week of walking, I tried to run, but had to stop after 10 yards because I was completely out of breath and thought I was going to die. And just over one week ago, the most I had ever run nonstop was 1/2 mile and I had only done that twice! If you were in my shoes, I think you would have screamed "Yes" as well. lol
Well, as usual, this has become yet another blotted post! I was going to post some other updates like I have now increased my swimming from 8 laps to 50 laps (3/4 mile) but I'll save those for another day. Thanks for reading this and thanks for the continued support. :)
Roger
DATE: August 7th, 2008 WEIGHT: 237.2
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