He’s going the Distance…. Not going for speed.

After completing my fist official 5K on Saturday I thought I would take a second to reflect on accomplishing the first of my fitness goals for 2011 with this race report.

So I got up at 5:30 on Saturday to get everything together and head to downtown Charlotte for the 7:30 start of the Carolina Panthers BluePoints 5K, to my amazement my wonderful wife woke up and told me that she and the kids would be coming down to cheer me on and witness my accomplishment.  I figured that my wife would make the trek with me but with a 5:30 wake up call I was not sure so this was a really nice boost to my day that I figured would help me get through this experience.  So we got down to the stadium, the race actually started and finished at Carolina Panthers Stadium, with tons of time to spare, I took a second to check the weather and the temp was 78 with 95% humidity so immediately I thought “oh boy this is going to make this so much fun” .

I got registered and pick up my chip and began what seemed lite the the longest 20 min wait of my life.  As the start time got closer I started to feel a little nervous and a bit overtaken by the enormity of the race.  I guess I had no idea what it would actually be like to run with about 700 other people with the added jitters from it being my first race.  With 10 min till start time I headed to the back of the starting line to do my best to not get caught up in the race and come out running too fast.  This had all the makings of a great plan.  When the race started I headed off trying to find a little space among the masses and to settle into a comfortable pace, I felt really good to start and found myself weaving in and out of the pack finding nice spots to run in and doing my best to concentrate on running my race.  As I approached the 1 mile mark I still felt good but noticed something that surprised me a little bit, on the 1 mile clock the time read 10:30.  After taking into account the difference between the clock time and my real time that I was keeping on my Iphone I realized I had just run a 9:40 mile which would be the fastest mile I have rum by about 20 seconds.  This might not have been a big deal but my legs started feeling a little tired and what laid ahead was the toughest part of the course.  To my dismay I realized that the entire second mile was uphill.  I did my best to trudge on slowing my pace closer to my training time but the hills were just too much and I ended up having to run/walk up the hills trying to regain some energy that I could use to carry me through the final part of the race that was down hill.  Once I hit the top of the hills and started down the other side towards the finish I did my best to pick up the pace and started running a lot more and tried to reel in the other runners still out on the course with me.  As I rounded the final turn I over took the last runner ahead of me, before anyone gets too excited I think the guy I over took was over twice my age however I’ll take it.  I pushed as hard as I could to the finish and crossed the line at 38:40 gun time, 38:05 chip time.

While this run did not go exactly as I had planned I was still able to finish and set my first office PR for the 5K at 38:05 and learned a lot about running road races.  First thing I learned is I need to do a better job adjusting to running in large groups like this race.  I think running in the crowds mas a bit much for me and made it really hard for me to concentrate on running my race.  Secondly I learned that I need to do a better job at judging my pace, to work on that I am going to get a GPS watch so I know what pace I am running all the time.  And finally I learned that if I work hard enough I can accomplish my fitness goals and it feels really really good to accomplish my goals.

So now that I have checked this goal off my list, whats next?

First I plan to continue to train to run 5k’s, while I was happy to finish this one I know I can do better and that is my new focus.  I plan on running another 5K at that end of this month and I am determined to better this run and set a new PR.  I think my focus for the next little bit will be to better my performance in the 5K distance and then move on to a 10K race.  So with that said I will take to the road tomorrow morning and start training for my next race, I will take the lessons learned on my first official run and make sure not to make the same mistakes again.

I will leave you with this, a wise man once said that a journey of a thousand miles starts with just one step, I have now taken my first step on this journey to a better me and this experience has left me with the drive to keep putting one foot in front of another and keep moving along on this journey of mine.  I am not sure exactly where this journey will take me but I will keep taking it as it comes and enjoy the ride.

Oh, one last thing here is a picture of my first race t-shirt and race bib, and a little musical recap of my race experience:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__PU5CVSegg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cause I would run 100 miles

So I noticed something kind of cool today when I looked at my DailyMile running stats… I hit 100 miles run. DailyMile shows that I have logged the century mark in the last 2 months, which blows my mind. If you asked me say 3 month ago I would have laughed at you if you told me that I could run 100 miles in two months. That is a really cool feeling to know that I could accomplish that.

Another cool thing going on is that I am already over halfway through the Hotter than Hades Virtual Half Marathon event that I am participating in. After my run tonight I have logged 7.5 miles in just over 1:28:00, that comes down to an average pace of 11:48 per mile which is really good for me. This has been a really neat event for me and has given me just a little extra motivation as I prepair for my first 5K in just a couple weeks.

At this point I am amazed how addicted I have become to running, 8 weeks ago when I started C25K and struggled to get through the short runs I never would have thought that I would end up loving running.

As an added bonus… Here is a pic of me after one of my sweatier runs that was part of my Hotter than Hades Virtual Half Marathon… enjoy:

Picture of the results of a Hotter than Hades Virtual Half Marathon

Gonna try my first Virtual Road Race.

So I found this virtual half marathon, Hotter Than Hades Virtual Half, online the other day and after reading what this entails I think I will give it a try.  The best thing about it is that you don’t have to run all 13.1 miles at one time, just make sure you log it between June 15 and July 15.  This should be interesting to see how I can measure up doing this a couple miles at a time.  If anyone is interested in trying this too check out the link below.

Signed up for my first 5k and hit one of my weightloss mile stones

So I took the plung and signed up for my first 5K yesterday.  I am going to run in the Carolina Panthers Bule Points 5K on Aug 7th.  I am really looking foward to putting my running training to a test to see where I stand and what I still can work on.  This should be really fun, if I enjoy it like I think I will I might just sign up for a couple more this year and work towards the next step, a 10K. 

In addition to signing up for the race I hit one of my major weightloss milestones today.  When I weighed my self in today I weighed 255lbs which is what I weighed my seinor year in High School.  This was always weightloss goal #1 and represented a loss of 34lbs.  So now on to the next goal 240lbs.  If I keep watching what I am eating like I have been and keep running I have no doubt that over time I will be able to hit is goal and move to another.

Week 4 of C25K in the books and looking foward to a nice beach vacation

So yesterday, Wednesday, I finished week four of C25K with a really nice run.  The first run of this week was really tough and I ended up having to stop a couple of times and walk a little more than was prescribed.  Not sure what was going on there but chances are it was all in my head.  However as disappointed as I was with my performance on that first run I decided as I was supposed to be finishing up to continue run/walking to see how quickly I could finish the last .6 of a mile that would give me my first unofficial 5k distance run.  I think going that extra distance made me feel a little better about my poor running performance.

My second and third runs went much better.  I was able to breeze through both of the three min run intervals and made it through the 5 min intervals with out too much of a struggle.  Both times I finished with that wonderful feeling of “I think I could have run longer” but I avoided the temptation to continue running, mainly because I had to get ready to go to work and stopped as the program subscribes.  It was a really positive way to end a week of running and gives me great confidence for the upcoming week.  Week 5 looks like it might be a bit more of a challenge and it looks like my first real mental hurdle is coming up, running for 20 min straight.

The fun thing about week 5 runs is that they for the most part will be taking place at the beach.  The family and I are off on our beach vacation this year and I am really looking forward to it.  The relaxing environment is exactly what I need to melt away the crap that work has been throwing on me lately.  I also am looking forward to running in a different environment, should be a nice change of pace.

How did I get here from there??

When I turned 30 in June of last year that was the exact question I was asking myself.  Here I was a 289 lbs, Husband, Father of two kids, stuck trying to figure out what life had in store for me next.  It was then that I decided it was time to take the reins and stop letting life take me and start taking my life in my own direction.  So I decided that I would try to change the one thing that I and struggled with for most of my life, my weight. I knew this would not be an easy fight and I had tons of bad habits that would be road blocks along the way.  I also knew I wanted to be here on this planet for my kids and experience what life had to offer so no matter the road blocks I was determined to get over them this time.

I started with changing my diet, I stopped drinking sodas all together, started taking my lunch to work, and really paid attention to the types of foods I was eating and how much of it I was eating.  This helped some but it was only part of my body renovation.  Next I started working out, I started doing P90X, or at least as much as I could handle, and boy did that kick my ass, but I kept at it, for the most part, and started to see some losses.  Then from out of nowhere I decided that I wanted to do something different, so I started to do some research and I found the Couch to 5K (C25K) program.  This is when I decided that I was going to start running with the end goal of running in my first (hopefully of many) 5K.  This was about a month ago, and since I have been working through the C25K program and with it have really developed an enjoyment of running.

So that short story brings you up to date on where “there” was, so where is here.  Well as of last week I have lost 30 lbs (one of my original goals) and I am registering for a 5k in August.

I am excited with my success over the past year and look forward to what 31 has to offer me.  As my birthday quickly approaches (6 days) it is also time for me to set new goals to keep me motivated through the next part of my journey to a healthier me.

Through the course of this blog I am sure you will hear more and more about my goals, my successes, my failures, some funny stories, and possibly witness the rebirth of a thirtysomething.