Five Frogs

I struggled with the decision to write this particular post or not. I will be the first to say: I am writing this to myself as much as I am to you. I have been there and done that.

I read an article on Active.com a couple of weeks ago and it started out with a question. "There are five frogs sitting on a log. One decided to jump. How many frogs were left?"

I would have said four but that wasn't the correct answer. The correct answer is five. The fifth frog only decided to jump. That doesn't mean that he jumped.

We often times at the beginning of the year decide that we are going to do things different but then we never "get around to it". After we decided to do something we have to take action too.

One of the many excuses we make for not getting up and starting an exercise program is, "I don't have enough time." Have you made that excuse? I know I have. Let me ask you a question. How much television are you watching a week? If you skipped watching and went out and walked for 30 minutes three times a week, are you really missing something that important? We all have the number of hours in a day but how we spend those hours is determined by our priorities.

One other excuse that I've heard and have used as well is, "I'll start tomorrow." Today is today and tomorrow never gets here. There is no better time to start forming new habits that right now.

I had to decide to get up off my butt and start doing something about my health and I'm glad that I didn't wait until the new year. Why? Because I am three months ahead of where I would have been if I would have waited.

These principle can be applied to any area of your life. It doesn't matter if you want to start exercising, reading your Bible daily, eat healthier or any of a number of other things.

Yesterday when I got up to go for my run, I checked the weather and it was 45 degrees. I decided on a pair of shorts and a short sleeve t-shirt. When I walked out the door the cool air hit me and I turned around and put on a pair of sweat pants. I could have used the cool weather as an excuse to go back to bed but I didn't. I enjoyed my entire run and glad that I got it done.

This past Saturday was beautiful. I went to the walking track in my hometown of Walnut, MS, and got in four miles. I was sweating big time too but it was a good run.

This past week I only lost .4 pounds but I'm satisfied with that because I did eat quit a bit and had some longs days. I may not reach my goal on the date that I wanted to but I will reach my goal. My total weight lost some far is 30.8 pounds.

I had a great month on mileage too. It will end up the month of January with 57.9 miles. I'm still amazed at how much I accomplished this month.

That's going to do it for me this time but do remember that this post was as much for me as it was for you. I can't point a finger at anyone without pointing it at myself because I have been there. I have made excuse after excuse as to why I couldn't exercise but in my life I have no more excuses.

Two Milestones Reached

Yesterday I reached two important milestones in my journey. Before I share those I’d like to tell you about my run this past Sunday morning. I got up around 7:00am and ate a bowl of cereal and let it settle for a few minutes. I found that it doesn’t take me long to get ready to run after I eat a little something. The temperature was 28 degrees and I knew that I’d need to get bundled up to run outside. I was tired of running on that dreadmill and really needed some outside time.

I went to the local track and warmed up for about three or four minutes and then started my run. I finally got just over 3 miles in and then spent another three minutes cooling down. I put on a dri-fit long sleeve shirt and a running jacket and a pair of sweat pants. Also had on my toboggan and gloves. Right after I got the first mile in I had to pull the gloves off because I was burning up. After my run I posted on Facebook that the 28 degrees kicked my butt and it did!!!


Now to my milestones that I have reached. First, I reached the 50 mile mark for the month. This is the farthest that I’ve run in a calendar month. My total for the month stands at 50.8 miles and I will add on a few more this weekend, hopefully.

I have finally reached a total of 30 pounds too!!! I got on the scale this morning and was down another 2 pounds since last week and that makes my total 30.4 pounds. I only have 21 more to go!

One thing that I did fail to mention last time was that I was approaching 25,000 calories burned from exercise. As of today, I have burned a total of 26,041 calories according to RunKeeper. Those numbers are going up pretty fast. I use RunKeeper to provide me with the number of calories I’ve burned and also my total mileage for all of my activities, not just my running. My running miles are to the right and include only miles that I actually spend on my feet.

Thanks for stopping today and will see you again soon.

I Learned Something This Week

This week went by really fast! It seems like it just started. I am going to go ahead and share my weight lose numbers for this week. I am down another 1.4 pounds and that leaves me with just 23.4 more to go. I am lighter now than I’ve been in over ten years. I was asked this past week how much I had lost and I told them that I had lost a Lillie. Lillie, my daughter, weighs just under 28 pounds. I would hate to know that I had to pick her up and run with her for four or five miles.

Another question I was asked this past week was about my speed. I’m sure this is a commonly asked question for beginners, which I still am. As a long distance runner, five miles is long distance to me, you shouldn’t start out full blast like some tend to do. I know what my comfortable pace is and every runner is different. I know that a sprinter could easily beat me in a 400 meter dash but I could probably beat that same sprinter to the five mile mark. That being said, start slow and you will have enough energy to finish.

I did learn something about my body this week. It probably applies to everybody. Tuesday I ate about noon or so and that was it. I got home and then went to the gym about 4 o’clock. That was the wrong thing to do. I should have eaten a bowl of cereal or something before I went. I suffered almost the entire 2.5 miles. The first mile or so was alright but it was all downhill from there. I knew before I got finished what had happened and I won’t make that mistake again. On Wednesday morning I got up and ate a bowl of cereal just like I normally do and got in 5 miles and it was all good. So before you go out for your run, especially if it’s going to be over an hour, be sure to fuel up.

Thanks for dropping by and hope to see you again real soon.

A Myth Debunked

I didn’t think that the scales were very good to me this week. Even though I haven’t changed my eating habits this past week, I didn’t lose or gain any weight. I was a little disappointed but I am hoping that is just means that I’m gaining muscle and still losing fast. I have measured different parts of my body for the last month and a half and am losing an average of a half inch a week from my belly when measured around the belly button.

This past week I did run my longest distance but only by .02 miles (does that count?) but what makes it even better was that it was at my fastest pace ever. This past Saturday I ran 3.12 miles at a pace of 12:27 and on Sunday morning I ran 5.28 miles at a pace of 12:20. It felt great too!

Before my run on Sunday morning I posted on Facebook that I was wondering if it was worth getting up and putting out the effort. I got my answer at church later that morning. I got several compliments from my friends and that made me feel really good and knew that it was paying off.

I know you’re wondering by now about the title of my post. What could that possibly be about? It’s this: muscle weights more than fat. If you really read that it just doesn’t make any sense. A pound of muscle or fat both weigh a pound. The difference is that fat takes up more room than muscle. It’s like a pound of feathers takes up more room than a pound of lead but they both weigh the same. There are many things that we say that don’t make sense and my favorite of all time is “hot water heater”. It is really just a water heater because we don’t heat hot water.

Hope you all have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

How I Stay Motivated

Last Saturday I told you I was going to post about how I keep motivated. First off let me tell you, it is not easy. When I started on this journey back in October I had to make myself get up off my butt and go for my walk. Fortunately, during the month of October I was home every two or three days and it made it easy to go for my walk at home or at the park. When I wasn’t home I wanted to stay in the truck while I was getting loaded or unloaded and just sitting there and do nothing. After a few weeks it got easier to go ahead with my walk because I was feeling better. Also, my legs really hurt when I first started. I couldn’t walk a half mile without my calves burning and I wasn’t even walking very fast. Now I know that it was worth all the pain. I don’t mean to say that I don’t still feel pain because I do. It’s not really pain in the sense that it hurts but that I get tired and want to stop.

One of the things that keeps me motivated is how my body is changing. I posted a new picture on Facebook at the first of the year and a lot of my friends said that they could tell a difference in my appearance. One even said that I looked the same as I did in high school and wondered if I had a fountain of youth. I had to tell her that I didn’t. Not only have I changed in my face but when I look in the mirror from the waist up I can tell a difference then too. I’ve have taken inches off my belly and have slimmed up my arms and my legs.

Another thing is all of the runs in our general area. Some I will participate in and others I won’t but knowing that my first official run is coming up in April is enough to keep me motivated. I know that I can’t wait until the last month and start training. I have to do it now. I’m actually doing a training schedule for the Coca-Cola 10K that is going to be held in Corinth on May 7th. Right now 10K seems so far away but as I keep adding mileage on every two weeks I will get there and my endurance will be longer. I will be able to hang in there for the whole 6.2 miles. I guess I’m just throwing the 5K in there fun and to see what I have to look forward to in future events.

Reading other runner’s stories are very motivational for me too. When I see where they have come from and where they are today it make me want to do better. I want to be healthier, faster, and be able to run longer. Time and distance.

Last and certainly not least, are post on Facebook from some of my friends. When they were posting about the distance that that had run that day it made me want to get up and do it too. When Amy says she’s waiting for the start of a race, Chris post that he just completed a 5K on the treadmill, or when Koach post a running tip it motivates me. I went back and read a lot of the running tips and have applied some of them to my training because the guy knows what he’s talking about.

Thanks again for stopping and will probably see you again here in the next two or three days with my weigh in and thoughts on some of my activities.

Been a Great Week

Didn’t sleep as late as I thought I would this morning but woke up refreshed. It’s been a long week but I still found time to get in some workouts.

I think I’ve started out the year pretty good and I am going to keep the momentum going. As of today, it is only 91 days until the 5K in Jackson. I’m getting a little nervous about it as the date gets closer. I know that I’m going to be prepared but it doesn’t keep me from being nervous.

While I was on the road this week I was in Decatur, AL, and it was a beautiful day. I decided to get in a good run. I went running down the road next the the truck stop. I thought it was an industrial park but I was mistaken. Most of the time in an industrial park the roads are pretty flat but this was just a regular county road and it was hilly. I still enjoyed it and ended with 3.22 miles.

As you know, my weigh in for the week is something that I always look forward to doing. So after a good nights sleep last night, I got up this morning and stepped on the scale. I’m happy to say that I lost 3.6 pounds this week. This is more than I really expected and wanted but I will take it. That brings my total up to 27 pounds lost so far. I now have lost more weight than I have to lose.

Thanks for stopping. I will probably have another post this week with a subject matter that I’ve been thinking about this last week: How toI stay motivated? Hope to see you then.

Final Totals for 2010

I ended the year with my longest run to date of 5.10 miles. I was going for just four miles but when I got to the two mile mark I decided to go ahead and go the other half mile and then turn around and go back.

Here are my final totals for 2010:

Total Distance: 133.6 miles
Total Time: 35 hours, 58 minutes, 17 seconds
Total Weight Lost: 22 pounds