"Hey, your buddies are beating you!"

- picture from the Tour of Eau Claire -

Motivation:

"Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress,
no matter how slow." -Plato

Diary:


So this weekend is time for another personal measurement and weigh-in. Results, as always, are listed on the sidebar. Note that I made it to another goal, and have set some new goals. Goals also are currently under development for the next stage - aka, what happens after the 5K is over? Questions remain. All will be revealed in late October, stay tuned.

I have been decluttering my upstairs (still). It is a very long process, and will probably go for awhile. It is fun to read and discuss this process with others. I found this article on a Martha Stewart site, Check out #50. Getting rid of clutter will reduce housework by 40 percent. It is sort of like weight loss, as the less stuff you have to care for, the less work it will be to take care of it. I am close to getting all my big clothes out of my closet. I might be done with this step this week. (Although, this is ongoing, as in another few months - deep into snow and cold weather - I will be re-reviewing my clothes and what fits/what doesn't.)

A tip that I have been finding at many resources is this: Start organizing from left-to-right pattern in whatever space you are in - home, office, kitchen, laundry, closets, desks, etc. If at the end something doesn't have a place, ask yourself "why" and if the answer is that you never use that item or doesn't really belong in this room, then get rid of it or move it to it's rightful place. Sometimes you have to be "the enforcer". Don't get rid of things that would cause you emotional or mental pain, as the goal isn't to be a communist regime, but there are thousands of little "stuff" that really, why do you need to keep that thing you bought at the state fair that one year, and thought it was cool at the time, but now is taking up 1/2 of your kitchen drawer? Seriously... Looking at an organized fridge just "feels" better to the eye and to the soul. Read this blog for pictures and see if you agree.


5K Training for Week 8 out of 9
This week do the following.

For those planning on running the 5K:

• Sunday = Rest
  
• Monday = Brisk five-minute warmup walk
  Jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
  Five-minute walking cooldown
• Tuesday = Five-minute walking warmup
  Elliptical workout - 25 min
  Five-minute walking cooldown
• Wednesday = Brisk five-minute warmup walk
  Jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
  Five-minute walking cooldown
• Thursday = Five-minute walking warmup
  Elliptical workout - 25 min
  Five-minute walking cooldown
• Friday = Five-minute walking warmup
  Elliptical workout - 25 min
  Five-minute walking cooldown
• Saturday = Brisk five-minute warmup walk
  Jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
  Five-minute walking cooldown
• Sunday = Rest - go to church or spend time with your family and friends. Have fun

For those planning on walking the 5K:

• Monday = Rest or walk easy
• Tuesday = 30 minute brisk walk
• Wednesday = Rest or walk easy
• Thursday = 30 minute brisk walk
• Friday = Rest or walk easy
• Saturday = Easy walk for 3 miles
• Sunday = Alternate 5 minutes of brisk walk & 5 minutes of easy walk for a total of 60 minutes

Notes:

At 500lbs, jogging was a real task. Getting the body to move in one direction for a sustained period of time seemed futile, and the thought of actually jogging for 3 miles straight - well that is just absurd. But it had to be done. I have to keep this memory in my head right now, to stay humble, to stay focused, and to continue to improve.

In 2004-2005, the challenge was being formed, by coworkers, by friends, and through reading magazines and papers. On September 1, 2007 I finished my first ever 5K run. Wow, huh. Well, lest I get to proud of myself, let's review the finish. I was dead last in my group. The rest of my age group was in from 19 - 30 minutes, and I rolled in 5 minutes after. Maybe I can find some relief by looking at the next age group up - no chance. They came in from 16 - 25 minute range! The best runner in the older range group was there in 1/2 time than me. Ouch!
Maybe that is a sign that there is a lot of room to improve.

Or, Maybe it is a sign that at this particular event, the majority of participants are people who just run all the time, so running a 5K Fun Run would not be a big deal for them? I don't know. What I do know is that the Monday morning after the race, I did a 2.5 mile practice run with Jman and my sister. For the first 1/2 mile, things were great, then Jman put the burners on and quickly was 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 blocks away from me, see you later.... Then the realization that I was still pretty tired from the 5K hit me, and I started to slow down. Soon, my sister pulled away.

About at the 1.5 mile mark, we passed through a residential area, and an older gentleman was sitting on his porch just enjoying the labor-day morning. He looked up and yelled loud enough that I could hear through my mp3 player - "Hey! Your buddies are beating you!" - then he chuckled.

It was out of the blue. That is when things affect you, is when unexpected things happen out of left field. It was odd, and I had a million thoughts at once. This guy doesn't know me? Doesn't he realize I am trying here?!? What is his problem? All I could do was lift my left thumb up in the air, signifying all was ok, and kept jogging. (Along with the "thumbs-up" I think I may have even bit my lower lip and squinted assuringly, sort of mimicking our forty-second president. )

It bothered me, and for some reason it still is bothering me several weeks after the little comment. That is strange. That thought/memory needs to be de-cluttered from my mind, hence I am blogging it to get it out there. There are two possibly conflicting quotes that I found since this happened that maybe help to sort it all out:

"If at first you don't succeed, you are running about average." M.H. Alderson

"Never mind what others do; do better than yourself, beat your own record from day to day, and you are a success." - William J.H. Boetcker

fast-forward one week....
2007 Tour of Eau Claire 5k Run/Walk
Overall Results

So I ran with Kurt, who was one of the people who started me down the whole 5K challenge. It was a really really fun place to run, Carson Park in Eau Claire. It was flanked with trees and parks the whole time, and was up and down - not as straight as the Grand Island run.

Kurt finished 13th overall! He was 4th in our age group. He is a star runner in my mind.

As for Me, well here we are: I was #181 out of 297 total runners. I came in 75th out of 99 male runners, and 18 out of 24 in my age group. My total time was 35:44.94, although Kurt says this was not an accurate time, as I was stuck in in a mob near the back at the start and didn't get to start running until the crowd parted, even though I was still "on the clock" the whole time. That may be true, as the start was confusing. Overall, this means I averaged an 11:31 mile. I think that I can cut this time down, and hope that my time at St. Olaf is at least one minute better. That would be great.


#Diet#

This week has been a change with the temperature going down and the feeling of fall in the air, along come with feeling of comfort food. Warm, good hearty foods that make you feel better even when the outside is gloom and doom.

I am looking for "comfort food" ideas, while still sticking to my diet. I made some cauliflower mashed potatoes and my apple pie recipe last night, and it was good. I may need to reread some recipe books to get some good ideas.

It is a time for will power and stick-to-it-ivness for sure. Maybe reviewing sites about real food and nutritional data will help to stay focused.


more later,

Chazz

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