Wednesday 2/20/2013

Well, I was working from home this wednesday and since my gym’s in the same town as work, I normally have to wait to drive over there after I get off at 4. This Wednesday? Just wasn’t feeling it. I was kind of tired, I was enjoying being home and driving back to work (gym’s across the street) just felt …blah. So, I ran instead. It was kind of a crappy run…slower than normal and my legs are feeling it this week. But, I got out there and I”m getting my mileage back up. Today though, I’ll be hitting the gym after work since I’m over here. I can’t go at lunch do to my weight loss group meeting, so evening workout it is! I’ll be bumping Friday’s workout to Saturday as well since I’m off this Friday due to….working all weekend. Yah, work kind of sucks lately. It pays the bills though!

On the bright side, I woke up this morning (writing this on Thursday) to 251.2 lbs on the scale! This means I’m back to -100 lbs for certain! I’m a bit of a pessimist, so I worry that it’s just going to bounce right back up to 257 again, but this gets me excited that the plateau is starting lose it’s fight. OH MAN let’s hope, cause that shit is demoralizing!

So to make it official;

251.2 lbs -100 lbs total

Running:
- 0:23:46.7 || 2.2 mi || 10:49.7 min/mi
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/150941002
fito2sa

Thursday 1/10/2013

So last night I got out for my run after work. The weather had warmed considerably and the snow had started to melt, so it was all in all rather nice! My legs felt were a bit sore for the first part of the run, the loosened up well. About the time I hit the 3 mile mark though, they turned to lead and really started to become achey as I went. I got my miles in though and after I got home and stretched out well, they were all right. That was day 4 of my attempted 6 days straight, so I was pretty excited to see that I could do it, even after squats. Today, I woke up pretty tired and I think I may have a bit of a cold bug, which would suck. I drugged up though and so far, so good. The snot went away at least! I’m still feeling pretty beat and I have been positively RAVENOUS all day, which is odd for me! My breakfast has changed up a bit today; same amount of calories, maybe not quite as much protein, but other wise it’s all been the same. I’m hoping that this is a sign that the ‘bod is starting to gear back up and screaming for fuel! I saw a bit of a drop on the scale this morning, so maybe so.

At lunch today, despite being pretty tied and feeling a bit under the weather, I hit the treadmill at the gym for two easy miles (it wasn’t actually as slow as run keeper states in there, I had a cooldown mixed in with that time) to make sure I hit day #5 of my 6 day hopes. I didn’t feel like running too much more on my sore legs, but the bike seemed reasonable, so I jumped on that for a bit. I used to ride the stationary bike pretty heavily back when I started this journey, so it was kind of cool to jump back on today to see home much my output’s changed since then. In the end, I burnt some calories, felt a bit spent and again…REALLY hungry! I supplemented my typical packed lunch with 2 hard boiled eggs for some protein and a 100 calorie cookie pack for this afternoon. That should help, plus i’ll still hit all my numbers.

Tomorrow’s plan a day at the gym, so more squats and bench press followed by day #6 in my running attempt. I think it’s quite doable, though this cold bug feeling worries me, so I’ll be sure to drug up some more tonight. I’m thinking soaking in a hot bath will help as well! This weekend, I plan on sleeping in good and late on Saturday and doing little else physical wise, (aside from walking the dog that is). Sunday is more podcast recording in the early morning, then I”m going to see if I can hit a 5-6 mile run to kick off the next week!

That’s all for now, I could sure go for a nap.

Here’s a two parter for ya…

Wednesday 1/9/2013

Running:
- 0:38:54.2 || 3.7 mi || 10:32.9 min/mi
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/140952923
fito2sa

Thursday 1/10/2013

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 411 pts Today
Cycling (stationary):
- 0:20:00 || 7.1 mi || 21.3 mph
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/141115070
Running (treadmill):
- 0:28:51 || 2.1 mi || 4.3 mph
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/141108969
- Comment Share
fito2sa

Wednesday 1/9/2013

Hey, I feel like a living human being today, which is more than I can say for yesterday! On Monday night, I got very little sleep. It was for stupid reasons (read: I’m a Notre Dame fan) and well…I was upset and wound up. So Monday night clocked roughly 3 hours of sleep. I got my run in yesterday and had a podcast to record last night and by the time that was done, I was spent. I made sure to get my stretches in then hit the sack early. Boy did I sleep. It was a good sleep too, deep, sound and long! I woke up this morning feeling completely recharged and ready to kick ass and take names, so that was awesome. I even woke up without the self doubt I had on Monday, with just a hint of frustration with myself for having to work off this vacation weight.

So far, 2013 is going well. I’ve got 3 straight days of running in and this evening, I’m hoping for a fourth. I did squats today, so it may not be a super long one, but I’ll get some miles in there all the same. As for weights, the workout went quite well though I dropped a rep on my Over Head Press, but I’ll attribute that to the poor sleep on Monday and still being a bit tight from starting back up last week.

Today I went back to squats, where I was trying to cut them back to once a week before. The thing is…I really kind of miss squats. They make me feel strongest out of all of them since it’s working legs/but/core a.k.a. the works. Plus, I’d really love to squat 300 lbs, just to say I did. My worry is how it’ll affect the running. With the way I was rotating the squats with deadlifts, this left me with back/chest day with no leg workout. I’m thinking this isn’t great. So, I’m just going to try rotating squats and deadlifts every workout. I’m thinking it’s important to have legs in there every workout, especially since I want to be some sort of runner, so we’ll try that out for a bit.

Finally, I”m just now starting to feel like I’m getting back to that well oiled machine status of my diet and exercise routine after the holiday break. I’ve had to fight off urges a lot even when eating clean and such, but that’s finally starting to subside. That helps to off set the self doubt I was suffering and finally feels like I’m getting back down to business. If I could just work off those extra vacation pounds, we’d be set! It’ll get there though, I just have to be patient. My Weight Loss group is starting up next week, so that will be a big motivator to get back into gear as well. It was kind of cool today too, as I’ve been re-posting these little blog entries on my corporate fitness site as well, and our HR department emailed me today to see if they could use a quote from my stuff about the weight loss program here to celebrate their first year with the on site clinic. That’s pretty awesome as well, considering that I moonlight as a podcast/blogger/writer!

Happy day, amazing what a good night’s sleep will do!

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 1,753 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
Standing Barbell Shoulder Press (OHP):
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
Bent Over Barbell Row:
- 70 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
Lat Pulldown:
- 55 lb x 5 reps
- 70 lb x 5 reps
- 85 lb x 5 reps
- 100 lb x 5 reps
- 100 lb x 5 reps
- 100 lb x 5 reps
Pull-Up:
- 5 reps || assisted || 100 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 100 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 100 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps

Tuesday 1/8/2013

Here’s a thing. I had a crap night and I’m pretty exhausted and well…just not feeling it tonight. More tomorrow maybe.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 184 pts Today
Running:
- 0:22:42.8 || 2.1 mi || 10:44.7 min/mi || flat
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/140605819

Monday 1/7/2013

Here we are on Monday. The workouts were good, both running and lifting wise. Yet, I still find myself filled with self doubt and loathing. My weight’s still up from my vacation excess, which sucks, but I have to remind myself it’s not the end of the world. I’ve been through this before and it always works out. It’s always hard to deal with the self doubt when it arises though. What this really needs to be is a lesson in that the old ways are still lying latent in the background and should be treated as proof that it’s easy to fall off the wagon. While I’ve been doing good since the vacation, I did snack more than I should have this weekend, unfortunately. I’ve got the taste for salty and sweet snacks and it’s been a challenge to fight off those cravings once again. I think it’s time to stock up on some chewing gum again, as that’s what helped me fight off the cravings in the beginning.

To think on the positive side for a change, my run felt really good today, so that’s a plus. As I said yesterday, I’d really love to start getting in some daily mileage 6 days out of the week, but those 18 degree mornings make it tough. Tomorrow will be tough to get out there too as my daughter starts back to school after break, so there will be total chaos for a bit. However, if I save the run for post chaos since I’m working at home on Tuesday, it will probably help with the de-stressing!

My bench press is coming along quite well; 195 went up really smoothly until the 5th rep of the 3rd set, which is to be expected. I have have Bench Press in my rotation twice this week, so I think next week, I will go for 205. Pretty certain I can do it! I cut squats today and got back to deadlift which I haven’t done for nearly 3 weeks and it felt great. It still felt good at 255 where I left off last, so here’s hoping I can still walk tomorrow! Today, I started adding in negative pullups as that’s one of my goals for the new year; to be able to do an unassisted pull-up. I hear that’s a great way to build them up. It felt goofy, and I only got 5, but hey…better than nothing!

Tracked a Workout for 1,979 pts Today
Running:
- 0:37:49 || 3.6 mi || 10:34.1 min/mi || flat

Barbell Deadlift:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps

Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 155 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps

Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps

Dips – Chest Version:
- 8 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 100 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 100 lb

Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps

Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 12 reps

Sunday 1/6/2013

Sunday, the start of a new week! I haven’t ran for a week due from soreness from the squats, but today everything was moving well and the pace dialed in quite nicely. This week I hope to start getting in daily miles (6 days out of the 7 at least) so I can really improve my base mileage, so we’ll see how that goes. The weight lifting is still progressing nicely, though I’m starting to get bored of Starting Strength, so it might be time to look for another program. Alfalfa’s programs look good, I may go for something more aesthetic building vs. power lifting base for a good 12 weeks as the weight starts to get closer to goal. It’d be nice to look all studly and stuff when I got down to 200 lbs!

Today I updated my running log which I haven’t done for a bit. I was able to finish December at 43 miles total. This was an increase over November’s 35 miles, so good good. I haven’t seen another month like August where I hit 65 miles, but I see that returning when the weather turns warm! What really blows my gourd is that I ran a total of 292 miles for 2012! Considering I was a 350 lb blob back in February who had a hard time walking up stairs, this is mind blowing. I started running in July of 2012, and wound up at 292 miles. With an extra 6 months to run in now, I think I can easily top 500 miles for 2013 and if I push myself, I can cross the 600 mile marker! In fact, I think that’s a long term goal; run 600 miles in 2013. How about them apples?

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 350 pts Today
Running:
- 0:37:20.2 || 3.5 mi || 10:32.8 min/mi || flat
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/140122813
fito2sa

Hey, remember me?

The holiday’s over and with it, so is my vacation! That means back to the gym, back to the regular runs, back to the food logging, back to the weight loss. I’ll be honest; as much as I enjoyed my week and a half of not thinking about weight loss? It feels good to be back. Which is something I never thought I’d hear myself saying!

I didn’t eat well over my vacation. It’s okay though. I’ve been grinding on my food log and calorie cutting pretty hardcore since February, so I think the brief break was well needed. Let’s face it, a week off isn’t going to destroy what I’ve made here. I’m hoping it’ll jump start the system though and prepare it to jump into this next 50 lb leg of the weight loss journey. What it did do is confirm the idea to myself that crappy food? It makes me feel pretty crappy. While I enjoyed the snacks and munchies and beer, I found myself last night kind of looking forward to getting back to my healthy diet again back into the routine. My energy levels were starting to sag a bit, I felt bloated and just not quite as ‘machine’ like and just plain off.

Today though, I was up early and ready to hit the bricks. I got my lunched packed and everything’s back to the tightly running ship it once was and it feels good. I was a bit apprehensive to head to the gym today; while I did run over vacation, I didn’t lift at all. So, I was expecting a loss in gains and a lot of soreness. What I got was a bit more work to lift where I left off at before the holiday but I got it. I wasn’t in terrible pain either! Another little personal lesson learned!

In the end, this past week left me pretty bloaty and up about 5 pounds, which I’m really not concerned with. I think the mental break was needed since I’ve been at it for 10 months. Plus, I know this is all water and bad food weight, so it will come off quick! For this week, I’m going to concentrate on just getting back in the groove. I’m look at running on the treadmill tomorrow, Plan B in the weight room on Friday and a long run on Saturday!

Feels good to be back!

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 1,918 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 155 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 105 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 9 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 10 reps

Saturday 12/22/12

Race day!

Woke up this morning ready to run. Felt good, felt cold, but felt good all the same! The race was in Carmel, right next to where I work so it was an easy 25 minute drive to get over there. I got up, had a small breakfast and a cup of coffee or two and put on my gear. It was about the time I got the truck started and was ready to pull out that it dawned on me…I wasn’t worried about this race in the slightest!

This being my fourth race, I knew what to expect. Normally, I get a bit nervous…”Can I make it all the way through?”, “What if I take off too fast?” “What if, what if, what if?” This time around? I was just excited and ready to roll.

The race it self was great! There’s a pretty awesome park in the middle of Carmel, IN with a converted railroad trail that runs through the middle of it. The course started on this paved trail, then cut off through the smaller trails that wound through the park. The big downfall; it was 17 degrees when the race kicked off! As a runner, the cold temps are great! When the park department didn’t clear the paths like they had said they would, that’s when the suck arrives! Ice was the big problem of the day, but we bore through regardless. It was a bit iffy here and there, I had to help a lady up after falling and I saw at least two or three other people with bloody knees from their own spills. There was a section in the final mile where we ran down a hill, into a tunnel that passed under a major through road, and back up the other side. That was near solid ice both directions, so that was an adventure as well. However, considering that I still had a 9 min 50 sec per mile time after having to slow to a crawl as we all tiptoe’d down the hill/got into single file to run into the narrow strip of grass on the hill…that’s pretty great!

The next race I’ll be eyeballing is this 6.55 mi nighttime trail race at the end of January http://www.planetadventurerace.com/trail/winter/ Looks pretty awesome! In the meantime, I’m going to see if I can log 22 miles between now and the end of the year so I can finish up 2012 with a whopping 300 running miles! (And if I don’t, that’s cool too, it would just be cool to finish on a round number!)

Running:
0:30:35 || 3.1 mi || 9:50 min/mi || flat (+328 pts)

http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFro…ivity/137341292

Friday 12/21/12

It’s Friday and the holidays are officially in effect! Prep for family visit limited me to just a run on Wed with no gym. Office Christmas party was Thursday, so I declared a cheat day and enjoyed myself while a midwestern snow storm cut off my post work gym visit! So today, I”m up a pound or two from bad food bloat, which is not the end of the world and it too shall pass. Despite what Gandalf says.

It’s funny though looking back on the office luncheon yesterday. I had mostly okay food diet wise but I had a piece of pie a couple cookies to go with it. I’ve been on this diet since roughly the end of February and it’s amazing how much my capacity and tolerance has changed! While I didn’t feel like I had to be rolled out, the hearty helpings of food left me feeling over stuffed and the pecan pie and 2 cookies (and a couple small chocolate candy/pretzel thingies for full disclosure) left me feeling queasy within a good half hour of the party! It also left me with an amazing sugar rush and fighting to stay away in my recliner by 7:30 pm. Proof positive of that whole ‘you are what you eat/food is for fuel’ mantra I’d say.

Coming up, we’ll have some good eats on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but not so many sweets. Mostly ham, lasagna and scalloped corn, so not the end of the world. I’m on stay-cation next week, but I’ll still be tracking and counting all my food so not too worried. Heck, I’ll probably be hitting the gym at least two of the days next week too, and I’ll be running for certain! As it stands, I have a 5k to run tomorrow morning (in the snow, sweet!) and then I’ll have about 9 days to try and log 22 miles so I can finish up 2012 with exactly 300 running miles!

Not too shabby for a dude that started 2012 at 351 lbs. if I do say so myself.

And I do. I do say so myself.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 1,095 pts Today
Standing Military Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 135 lb x 5 reps
Bent Over Barbell Row:
- 70 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 95 lb x 5 reps
Lat Pulldown:
- 50 lb x 10 reps
- 75 lb x 5 reps
- 85 lb x 5 reps
- 85 lb x 5 reps
- 85 lb x 5 reps
Pull-Up:
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
- 15 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
Chin-Up:
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 5 reps || assisted || 85 lb
EZ-Bar Curl:
- 50 lb x 12 reps
- 50 lb x 12 reps
Lying Barbell Triceps Extension (“Skullcrusher”):
- 50 lb x 12 reps
- 50 lb x 12 reps
fito2sa

So today I finally got back to my Tuesday lunchtime run. It’s been a good month or so since I was able to do this due to the soreness problems, so I was pretty excited. I knocked out 4.1 mi in 42 minutes, so not to shabby. I’m having one of those existential moments though where I find myself frustrated with my 4 mile run at lunch because I didn’t make it the full five miles. Existential because this time last year, I was pushing it if I walked a half a mile! So suck it up Sally, it’s all good.

I got a lot of good thinking in on today’s run. I’ve been constantly turning over all the factors in my head on what’s been killing my mileage here as of late and today as I walked back from to the gym it finally hit me; I thinking about it too much. I can run without the leg pain now, so that problem’s solved. I think the problem is one part psyching myself out worrying about every twinge and doubting if I can make the whole distance. That needs to stop. It’s time to get back to running simply for, “yay, I get to run again!” The other part of the problem is now that I’ve seen my self break a 10 minute mile more than once, I’ve been come all too obsessed with pace and times instead of just running nice and easy to see where I get to. Instead of being surprised by crossing the 8 mile marker and thinking that’s cool, I’m starting every run like there’s a starter gun behind and and going out strong at a 10 minute per mile pace. I’ve been told this before mind you, but ‘woo, speed!’ won out. Now that I’m thinking back on today’s run, if I start out closer to a 11 minute mile, I can pick up the pace at mile 5 and give no shits.

So, there you have it. My own little mental break through for the day. Feels good and I’m going to put it in practice tomorrow and see what happens.

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 426 pts Today
Running:
- 0:42:33 || 4.1 mi || 10:24.1 min/mi || flat
- http://runkeeper.com/user/CinemaFromage/activity/136835430
fito2sa

Weight today was up about 2 pounds which is annoying when so close to the milestone. I know what is is though, mostly water and other minor diet side effects, so no worries. Food was solid for yesterday, though one serving of hamburger helper probably would have sufficed. It all fit in my numbers though!

Monday 12/17/12

Screw you Monday, you don’t phase me! Feeling large and in charge today. The weight is holding at 253.4 this morning, but I’m not worried. That ‘down 100 lbs’ is going to happen this week, I vow it!

All the same, knowing that I’m within 2 lbs of a major milestone helped to push me on to a good, solid workout at lunch. I nailed 3 working sets of 195 lbs on bench press today which was awesome and seeing as I cut my squats to one day a week, they’re holding strong at 255 lbs which feels good. I seem to have have a lot of folks at the gym, trainers and other members and such, keeping an eye on my goals and progress and fit feels good to start drawing some attention from some good old fashioned hard work.

This week’s plan is to take advantage of my re-found running legs and pile on some miles! This Saturday I’ll be racing in the 5k’s of Christmas in Carmel, IN which will be fun. I’m seeing some awesome times on my personal 5k’s, so let’s see if I can clock a sub 31 minute 5k on an official timer! This will be race number 4; I’ve come to enjoy the hell out of running a race and being the guy that has to swerve around all the walkers! I’ve also set my sights on this Trail Marathon in Indianapolis in January. I’ll be entering in the 6.55 mi quarter marathon if I do it. It’s a distance I haven’t raced before, (I have run it) and I’ve never run on real dirt trails before, so seems like a good icebreaker. Plus, it’s in the dark, so being able to brag to my friends that, “Yah, I ran 6 mile race, in the woods, in the dark” sounds pretty bad ass.

So there you have it, a good Monday! Christmas Miracles DO happen!

Gooch2k2 Tracked a Workout for 1,933 pts Today
Barbell Squat:
- 185 lb x 5 reps
- 205 lb x 5 reps
- 225 lb x 5 reps
- 245 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
- 255 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Bench Press:
- 135 lb x 5 reps
- 145 lb x 5 reps
- 155 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
- 195 lb x 5 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press:
- 95 lb x 5 reps
- 105 lb x 5 reps
- 115 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
- 125 lb x 5 reps
Dips – Chest Version:
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
- 10 reps || assisted || 85 lb
Weighted Hyperextension:
- 10 lb x 10 reps
- 10 lb x 10 reps
- 10 lb x 10 reps
Weighted Decline Sit-Up:
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps
- 10 lb x 15 reps