Final Video

Below is the Final Video that I put together encompassing the last 10 months of my life. Rather than take up a lot of space, I will just post the video and let it speak for itself. Thanks.

Roger :)

Running For My Existence (Final Video)

April Update

Yet another "older" blog that I never got around to launching since I was swamped with work preparing for the marathon after I got the "OK To Run" from one of my doctors. First, I will get the update stuff out of the way.

Since I was not working out as much as I was used to due to my calf injury, I fully expected this to be the first month that I actually gained weight. I really wouldn't have a problem with a small increase since I was actually below the weight my doctor had suggested back in June (165). Also in my favor was the fact that I had reprogrammed my mind to eat healthier. Below are some pictures of me on April 7th.

I am going to end this post here so that I can move on to the Final Video blog that I have meaning to put since I created it. Thanks for reading.

Roger

DATE: April 7th WEIGHT: 163.6
LOSS FOR MONTH: 0.5 TOTAL LOSS: 113.1

After I took the above picture I decided to add a picture of me in my running gear and then I created a quick gif between my first picture in June 2008 and a new picture in my running outfit also taken on April 7th. It seems to do a good job of showing my transformation over the last 10 months although the morph I have on my website (www.RFME.org) is much better.

Roger Has A Bad Day Video

This is an older video that I never got around to uploading. It was recorded on March 30th.

To make a very long story short, I pulled my calf muscle while running because I was pushing myself too hard. I was training to run the Boston Marathon in under 4 hours as a friend had promised me an additional $250 to Cystic Fibrosis if I did it in under 4 hours way back in October of 2008. At that time I was shooting for a 6 hour marathon, stopping every mile for 2 minutes (Galloway Method) so I figured it was extremely unrealistic. That said, as I progressed in my training, I realized I was actually closer to a 4 hour marathon than I thought after I ran 21 miles in 3 hours 19 minutes in March 2008.

Below is the video of the day I hurt myself. I had asked a friend of mine to film me for a "Final Video" that I was putting together summing my past 10 months. At that time (when I got in my friends car) I thought I would be OK in a couple of days, but as I discovered later that day, I did some serious damage to my calf muscle and 3 days later, still was not able to run.

I was pretty depressed as I saw everything I had worked for over the last 9 months starting to fall apart and my worst fear that I might not be able to run the marathon was quickly becoming a reality. Sorry about the language but I was actually in some considerable pain and very mad at myself for pushing too hard.

Roger Has A Bad Day

If the above video doesn't work, here is a link to it on YouTube.

I posted the video on Facebook and within ~20 minutes or so, had about 10 friends tell me that I had already won "the race" and that I should focus on the positive aspects over the negative. I was really moved by it and I sincerely believe that it helped me recover from the injury. I rested for the next week and pretty much laid off of any running, although I did continue to swim and slowly got back into Spin class.

Here is the revised video after I got over feeling sorry for myself which is a little more upbeat.

Roger Has A Bad Day Updated

After several failed appointments, I ended up at a Sports Medicine doctor's office on Friday, April 10th. After a 30 minute evaluation, the doctor concluded that I could run the marathon but I really needed to slow it down or I would never make it to the finish line. He also pointed out that no one runs Boston for a personal best time, but rather just finish it. He made a good point that this was my first marathon and not my last marathon.

Since then, my calf has healed pretty well. Bring on the marathon!

Roger :)

March Update

I probably should apologize for the lack of postings but that really has gotten too old. Plus I have a couple of other Blogs I need to write up and it's 1:30 AM right now. Therefore rather than explain my reason for a lack of post in this blog, I will explain it in my next one.

Therefore I will just post the pertinent information and try to update it later. Thanks for reading this.

Roger :)

DATE: March 7th WEIGHT: 164.2
LOSS FOR MONTH: 5.4 TOTAL LOSS: 112.5

13. February Update

www.RFME.org

A couple of days ago I was completing a survey online. In exchange for answering 5 questions, I was promised a lifetime of grocery coupons delivered directly to my email. In hindsight, I probably sold out my virtual soul as I immediately started receiving emails for anything but grocery coupons. Really bugs me as I usually don't fall for those ploys but I was heading off to the store and thought I would give it a shot as it was hanging out on the right side of the web page I was viewing. Obviously I missed the shot but the website that got my email address certainly didn't. Looks like I'll be shopping for a new delete key for my keyboard sooner than I expected. lol

But I digress. The part of the story that concerns this post is the survey questions I was required to answer.

Frankly I'm not really sure how they came up with these questions but they actually appeared to be directly aimed at me like they knew something about me already. I'm not really so naive to NOT think that some people on the interweb are compiling information about every website I visit and what I purchased in the past. Call me paranoid but frankly I just don't know if I can really trust Al Gore and his creation right now,especially after the survey questions....

1) Do you have Diabetes?
Hmmm, interesting and a little confusing since all I wanted was some stupid coupons. Actually one of the reasons I started to get serious about my health and exercise was because my doctor told me that I was borderline Diabetic and if I didn't improve on my next visit, "something" was going to have to be done about it. This was right at the end of 2007 and I really did take it to heart (pun sort of intended) and decided to start exercising after the beginning of the year as well as think about cutting out some of that white powder that I had become addicted to as a little kid. Fortunately, as I am constantly being supervised by my doctor as I pursue this project, I was happy to discover about 2 months after I started my training that my blood work came back excellent and my blood sugar levels were all fine. I answered NO.

2) Do you have high cholesterol?
Come on, let's get off of the health questions and ask me something more relevant like "Do you buy ANYTHING as long as you have a coupon for it?" to which I would happily click the YES button so my inbox would overflow with coupons for everything. To me that would make a lot more sense. Again, thanks to adjusting my diet and exercise I hit the NO button as my blood tests would confirm. Also by answering NO I figured they wouldn't hold back any coupons that they thought might increase my cholesterol...

3) Do you have high blood pressure, and if so, do you take anything to control it?
What is this, Prevention Magazine? Again, 8 months ago I would have had to hit the YES button three times, once for each pill that I took to control my high blood pressure, but again that has changed as well. I really wish I could say that I have stopped taking all three pills but unfortunately I have only stopped taking 2 of the 3. That said, the last time I had my blood pressure checked it was 140 over 80 which is right on the border of normal. I could have argued "White Coat Syndrome" (higher than normal blood pressure due to the anxiety of having your blood pressure taken at a clinic/hospital/etc) but figured I would just wait until my next test and try to get it deleted from my diet legitimately. I hit YES.

4) Do you exercise?
Why, are you going to send me some coupons for some running shoes or maybe some protein bars? Hell yes I exercise, all the friggin' time! Even the people who fold the towels at my club know me and I'm sure that the people at the front desk have said on more than one occasion, "Here he comes again". I hit YES.

5) Are you overweight?
So this is where I make a mistake and I mean a legitimate mistake. You see, I have been answering this question Yes for my entire life. Just like the answer to "Who's buried in Grant's Tomb", it's an automatic without any additional thought required. I hit YES.

I was about to hit SUBMIT so the coupons would magically flow into my inbox when I stopped and looked at the question again: Are you Overweight? All of a sudden my thoughts raced back to my conversation I had with my doctor when I started this whole project. When I asked her what my ideal weight should be, she replied after consulting some reference material "Somewhere between 165-170". As of February 7th, I weighed in at 169.6 and even though math has never really been my favorite subject, even I know that 169.6 falls between 165 and 170. As strange as it sounds, it was only at that point that I truly realized that I was no longer overweight! After ~40 years of struggling with my weight, I finally made it to the "other" side. I revised it to NO and hit submit.

Even though the results of hitting Submit this time did not have the results that I was seeking, I really don't care as I obtained something much more important; A realization that if you put your mind to something and don't let excuses get in your way, you really can accomplish anything. Being overweight has been a curse for me my entire life. As I got older and older, I gained more and more weight and I just made adjustments, justifications and excuses for it so that I could continue to lead the happy life that I had. Was I happy? Absolutely. I have a great wife, a wonderful life and friends that I know will always be there. But beyond that, I am much happier with who I am now and what I have accomplished.

And while the ultimate goal I set for myself was not to lose all of this weight but to run the Boston Marathon, I realize that losing the weight was a necessary component of this goal. It gave me and other people something tangible to focus on and gauge how I was progressing. In addition, based on the incredible positive feedback from family, friends and strangers, I have shown people that ANYONE can lose weight if you just put your mind to it.

Below is the usual information I post each month regarding my weight loss. To be honest, quite a few people have been telling me for several months that I need to STOP losing weight. And while I sincerely appreciate their concern, I am also aware that as I continue to increase my training and endurance, I will more than likely continue to lose more weight as I will burn more and more calories. I have changed the way that I eat (as I have said over and over, I now eat to live versus live to eat) so my body will find a point where I maintain a normal weight which is more than likely right around here. Therefore this will more than likely be my final weight post and will now change my focus on other stories regarding my goal of running the Boston Marathon. As always, thanks for reading.

Roger :)

DATE: February 7th WEIGHT: 169.6
LOSS FOR MONTH: 5.4 TOTAL LOSS: 107.1

12: January Update

www.RFME.org

OK so it's now January 31st and I just realized that I have not posted a January update. I might as well file for an extension for my taxes as well as I know what is going to happen come April so I might as well as face the inevitable. That said, I did update my website, www.RunningForMyExistence.com in a timely manner (January 7th or 8th I believe) so maybe there is some hope for me...

In case you didn't see my updated website, here is a paste of the information I posted there that gives a pretty good update on what has transpired in the last 7 months:

To the left are two pictures: The 1st one was taken on 06/07/08, I weighed 276.7 pounds and had just walked 3 miles, which took me 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete. I tried "running" but had to stop after ~10 yards as I was out of breath and my shins and knees were killing me. I seriously wondered whether I would ever be able to run 1 mile, let alone 26.2 miles.

The 2nd picture was taken 7 months later on 01/10/09. I weighed 175.0 pounds (a total loss of 101.7 pounds in 7 mos) and I just finished running 14 miles, the majority of them on the Boston Marathon route. I wasn't exhausted and every part of my body felt fine. It took me 2 hours and 26 minutes.

Hmmm, unfortunately, I can't seem to get the flash files to load here so here are some quick new gifs just like I did for the October update. Let's try these:





Sure, some would consider it cheating that I just copied and pasted what I wrote on my website, but try and focus on the good rather than on the bad. I do and it really does seem to work for me. Plus I did just spend about an hour creating those gifs so give me a little credit there. BTW, I really don't like the "after" pictures too much but as February 1st approaches, I can't really be too choosy so these will have to do for the time being.

As far as my weight, a lot of people have told me to stop losing weight and at this point, I am really not concentrating on losing anymore weight. I have completely changed my diet to a healthy one that includes more fruits and vegetables in one week than I would have eaten in one year before I started this. In addition, I continue to take multiple vitamins and supplements and drink at least eight (8) 20 ounce bottles of water a day. For the most part I have cut out all fast foods and sweets like ice cream, candy and other food items that I ate on a daily basis. That said, when I do go out with Mary or socialize with friends, I will eat whatever is offered, but just not as much as I used to, which was usually enough to feed a small family.

As I now point out to everyone that asks, losing weight was only a means to an end and frankly my ultimate goal, and the one that I am constantly focusing on, is to run and finish the Boston Marathon and raise money for Julia. Don't get me wrong, losing the weight is an incredible and extremely welcome result of my training. But I have discovered that setting a goal of "losing weight", which is one that I have held ever since I was told "husky" when asked what size pants I wore when I was 11 years old, has obviously never worked for me.

Realistically, I don't really plan on losing any more weight but I suppose the body will do what the body needs to prepare me to run 26.2 miles. And in that regard, I am now concentrating on improving my endurance more and more each week, especially with only 78 Days, 12 Hours and 30 minutes to go at this point. Tomorrow, I will run 16 miles nonstop and I am confident that my body will be able to withstand the distance. Assuming no additional injuries or snowstorms getting in my way, I will run 17 miles the following week and so on and so on.

Well I need to post this before the clock strikes midnight so I will end it here. Thanks for reading and have a happy Superbowl Sunday!

Roger

DATE: January 7th WEIGHT: 175.0
LOSS FOR MONTH: 8.8 TOTAL LOSS: 101.7

11: December Update (6 Months to change my life)

www.RFME.org

Music for this blog (Coldplay - Life In Technicolor ii)
Press the white "arrow" to play music.

Mary Christmas. I'm one of those people who usually does the majority of my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. There's a bunch of us (mostly guys) who show up at a store around 3 PM on December 24th, smile and nod to one another like we know each other, and run around the store grabbing whatever is within arms reach that we are positive our "significant other" will be exclaiming "This is EXACTLY what I wanted!". And every Christmas morning, regardless of what Mary receives, those are the words I always hear coming from her mouth, accompanied with a smile that melts my heart.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I honestly consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth because I have such a wonderful and supportive wife. When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas she replied You have already given me the best gift in the world - your health. I really don't need anything else. See what I mean? How do you compete with that? My love for her grows stronger every day.

Deadline. Like my Christmas shopping procrastination, I always put off what I needed to do regarding my health until "tomorrow" which fortunately never arrived. A procrastinators dream. Unlike the definitive deadline of December 24th that I pushed to it's limit every year, my health really didn't have such a tangible deadline other than the quite apropos word "dead" from the word deadline. And though mounting evidence of it's early arrival always stuck in the back of my mind when I visited my doctor or even looked at myself in the mirror sometimes, I justified that I could do something about it later. But unfortunately, unlike buying additional Christmas gifts AFTER Christmas for Mary, bundled with a heartfelt apology, there really aren't any "do overs" when it comes to waking up the next day from life's final deadline. And as selfish as it may sound, I have given Mary what she wanted for Christmas: My Health. And a promise to be around for many more Christmas mornings with a smile on my face and love in my heart. And a bunch of "This is EXACTLY what I wanted" gifts. :)

Another Landmark. This December 7th marked another significant landmark in my journey to the Boston Marathon as it has been 6 months since I started my training and weight loss regimen. That's it! Six months and I have completely changed just about every aspect of my life. That equates to just 1.08% of my entire lifetime (6 months divided by 552 months). On top of that, it has been just about the best 1.08% of my life as every aspect has changed in such a positive way. In the grand scheme of age, it's a very short time.

And since nothing usually illustrates a change better than a picture, here's one for you...


Wow! How about that picture? That's the proverbial "I used to fit in these?" shot that they show on TV or in ads to get you to subscribe to some wonder diet program, miraculous weight loss pills, or magical exercise equipment. Now that I think about it, I could have created some type of "magic pill" made out of some protein powder and some crushed up red cherry Life Savers ("activation crystals") and I'd probably be a millionaire!

In such a short amount time, I have completely changed my physical being. I have lost almost 93 pounds since June 7th and have lost ~115 pounds since the beginning of this year! If someone had told me 6 months ago that I could lose 93 pounds without surgery I would have told them they were nuts. Even if I had surgery, I seriously doubt that I would have lost that much weight! The thing that continues to amaze me is that it hasn't been that hard. I still eat just about everything that I ate before, but it's just that now I'm aware of what I'm eating and how many calories I'm taking in and simply reduce the amount of food I eat. Sure, there are going to be days like today (Christmas) where I'm going to have a "few" more calories than I should, but I also now know that I can make up for those extra calories the next day and spend a little more time exercising to burn them up.

Speaking of exercising, this the part of my routine that I am really concentrating on quite a bit more. While I am obviously very happy with the weight loss, I continue to amaze myself as to how much my body is now capable of doing. Six months ago I could only run 10 yards (that is not an exaggeration) and last weekend I ran 11 miles, nonstop! I'm doing it and I really don't even know how it's possible! That said, this weekend I will do 12 miles and I have no doubt that I will do it and feel fine afterwards.

As usual, below is my monthly "picture in front of my front door". As you may notice, the outfit has changed a little from the other pictures that I have posted each month. When I posted it on my website (www.RFME.org) I told people that it was a Christmas Edition, but the truth is that I couldn't find the my usual gray t-shirt/dark blue shorts outfit that I normally wear on the 7th. Eventually I found and rescued them from the ever growing "Clothes to Salvation Army" pile that has taken over an extra bedroom but they really don't fit that well anymore (see above picture). The picture below is what I was wearing when I ran 10 miles, in 26 degree temperature as well. Me, in spandex? Who would have thunk it!

I should also point out that this will more than likely be the last of my double digit weight loss postings as my weight is getting pretty close to where it should be. I find it strange when the vast majority of my friends and other people that "knew me when" tell me I look great but I really shouldn't lose any more weight. Ironically these are some of the same people that were probably scared for my health when I weighed 300+ pounds! lol In any event I did visit my doctor a couple of weeks ago and she told me that my ideal weight should be somewhere between 165-175 so I can lose a few more pounds. At the next "weigh in" (January 7th), especially with Christmas (and all the parties) along with New Years thrown in, I'll be happy to break 180!

Thanks again for reading and have a Happy New Year!

Roger

DATE: December 7th WEIGHT: 183.8
LOSS FOR MONTH: 11.4 TOTAL LOSS: 92.9


Music for this blog (Coldplay - Life In Technicolor ii)
Press the white "arrow" to play music.