Carlsbad 5000

Can you say Personal Record! Yes, Carlsbad was very generous to me. My race time was 27:46, a sub 9 minute pace (8:57 to be exact). It was fun to participate in the 5K, not only because I have been so focused on endurance and distance running in preparation for my first marathon, but because my 7 year old daughter Emily walked in her first 5K. My wife (Jenn), her best friend (Kody) and husband (Brian), and myself walked with Emily. After running in my race with Brian, we joined the girls for their walk. By the time we caught up with the girls they had passed the first mile marker. Jenn mentioned she was getting worried about Emily, but when I arrived she got another boost of energy. As she continued to walk, running at times, she goofed around like any normal 7 year old. As you can see in the picture, Emily was very excited to cross the finish line. Mom and dad were really proud.

Busy, busy, busy...

Well, it's been awhile since I've updated my blog. I just got back from another business trip. Speaking of that, in preparing for my trip, I realized how running has become so much a part of my daily routine. When packing for the trip, it was automatic for me to include my running shoes and enough gym clothes for the week. When on the road, I don't have to feel guilty that the family is at home waiting for me, so I tend to run more often.

This trip instead of doing my usual 4-6-4 during the week, I ran a daily 5K, in preparation for the Carlsbad 5000 this weekend. I haven't run a 5K since November when I ran the Dana Point Turkey Trot (31:52). Since then, I've focused on distance runs participating in two half-marathons and training for my first marathon (which has been going really well lately). I am currently up to, and routinely been running, a 10 mile long run on the weekends. And after this weekend, I'll begin gradual increases to my long run to prepare myself for the Rock n Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 3rd. I think my speed and endurance have improved and I am anxious to see my results this weekend. My goal for the Carslbad 5000 is to come in under 30 mins. Wish me luck.

Plateau

As you may or may not know, my new found insanity for running was developed when I hit my first plateau back in September of last year. Everyone knows that during a long-term weight loss program, you are going to hit the wall every once in a while. However, it starts to get really frustrating when that wall is two months long.

In my first 12 months I averaged a weight loss of over 1.5 pounds a week. But since January, my one year anniversary, I have averaged a weight loss of ZERO pounds a week. Yes, you read that correctly, a big fat ZERO!

What makes this especially frustrating is that during this time I have continued training for my first marathon and reintroduced myself to the weight room (something I haven't done since I quit playing semipro football almost four years ago when my second daughter, Paige, was born.). My workouts these days are much different. I'm more focused on toning my core (back, shoulders and abs) where in the past I did nothing but meat-head workouts.

When you have an ultimate weight loss goal, you always want to see your progress at the scale. In the back of my mind, I know that I am doing good for myself even though the scale is telling me the same story week in and week out. But finally, this Friday, the scale showed me a glimpse of hope that the fruits of my labor are stating to pay off. A 5 pound drop on the scale. Hopefully, I have gotten over this wall.

On The Road Again

Well, I am on the road again traveling for work. The hard part about traveling is missing the family, eating right, and continuing my training routine. My company's corporate headquarters is located in Michigan and I tend to do the majority of my traveling during the winter months. Even though I am a California boy, trust me, I know how much it sucks to train during the winter. I can't believe I am saying this, but I truly miss my 60 degree late evening runs after work in the middle of winter. At the hotel I am staying at I am fighting for treadmill time in the exercise closet (it is pretty small). However, I shouldn't complain. It has a TV and I could be running outside in the snowy weather, up hills, both ways. The current outside temperature is 5 degrees. Going home tomorrow (weather permitting).

Pacific Shoreline

On Sunday, I participated in my second half marathon. The Pacific Shoreline was an awesome event. If you are looking for a full or half marathon, or even a 5K in February, there is nothing better than the Pacific Shoreline. They've got great weather, high turnout, an outstanding view of the coast line, unique surfboard finishers medallions, and top it all off with a beer garden at the finish line. The beer garden might have been the motivating factor for me to turn in a new personal best! I ran my first half a month earlier and finished with a time of 2:40:59. Four short weeks later, I cut over a minute off my pace and finished with a time of 2:26:22. I was very happy with these results and really enjoyed those beers at the finish line. I think that is my new prerequisite for signing up for races.

iPod Recycling Program

You know you have been training pretty hard when your iPod stops working. A couple of weeks ago my U2 Special Edition iPod started acting up. It was not playing songs in their entirety, a problem I have had in the past. So, it was time for the five R's. All iPod owners should be familiar with them. If not, you are very lucky. For future reference, I have included them below.

The Five R's:
1. Reset you iPod.
2. Retry with a different USB port.
3. Restart your computer.
4. Reinstall iPod and iTunes software.
5. Restore your iPod.

Well, for some reason the five R's didn't work this time. I had a feeling something more serious was wrong. It turns out, after two trips to the local Apple store, that the hard drive crashed. At first I freaked out and said, "I NEED MY IPOD!!!" That is when I learned about the iPod recycling program. If you give Apple your iPod, they will in turn offer you a 10% discount towards the purchase of a new iPod. Not a very big discount, but it beats a jab in the eye with a sharp stick.

Now I am the proud owner of the iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED. I decided on this nano because, if I had to spend money on a new iPod, I wanted to at least support Bono in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Also, since I am a tech-lover, I can now break down and spend over $100 on new the Nike+ system. There's something about GPS tracking and the ability to play a power songs at the push of a button that really gets my blood flowing.

My First Post

Growing up I was very active and involved in sports (football, basketball, baseball, etc...) In fact, I played semipro football until my 2nd daughter was born (time to align my priorities). Since then, I had truly become a desk jockey and packed on the pounds. In January 2006, at the age of 33, I was weighing over 340 lbs.

My wife and I decided it was time to for us both to make a life change and joined a weight loss program. We set short-term goals to keep ourselves motivated and made family members and friends aware of our goals (to keep us honest). My first goal was to lose 40 lbs for our summer vacation in Hawaii. By June I had lost 50 lbs. Hawaii was a great short-term goal, but I needed something else to keep me motivated so I would continue down this weight loss path. In September 2006, I decided I wanted to complete a half-marathon so I found a training program and began right away. I am happy to say that I just completed my first half-marathon a couple of weeks ago. In the process of training, I lost an additional 30 lbs and was really enjoying myself. So much so, that I plan on running my second half-marathon on Super Bowl Sunday.

Today I weigh 260 lbs and feeling really good about myself. But, I still have a long-term weight loss goal that I’m working on, so I will be training for my first marathon to be run in 12/07 or 1/08. I'm not sure how far this journey will take me, but David Fiduccia, "Ironman Finisher" has a nice ring to it.