Week 22, Day 1

Today's weight: 201.2

Today's blood pressure: forgot

Today's food: orange juice, banana, arby's beef and cheddar with bacon, curly fries, teriyaki pork loin, mushroom cream pasta side, bratwurst, limeade

Today's exercise: rest

Week 21 Wrapup

I am very ashamed to report that I lost my footrace. Steven proved that although he's never run more than a mile before, youth and a thin physique are more than enough to beat an old fat man who's been running for 5 months.

I had a bunch of things going against me:

• I had only had about two hours of sleep the night before, and about three hours the night before that.


• I'm not used to running in the morning anway.


• My left tibia, which has been hurting for a while, hurt a lot that day.


• The course was hillier than I expected. The hills themselves weren't slowing me down much, but were exhausting me so that I was running slower overall.


• I had been trying to time my fluid intake well, but the race started 15 minutes late. That's 15 minutes I was planning to be sweating out water instead of sending it to my bladder, and 15 minutes sooner I would have been to the bathroom. Instead, I lost a minute due to having to duck out behind the bushes at the 5 mile mark.


• Again, because the race started 15 minutes late, I was just standing still for 15 minutes under the (really) hot sun. That's pretty draining in itself.

The "official" results for the 2008 Tanque Verde Tech Trek are here: http://tvseef.org/Tech%20Trek%202008%20Reg(6).pdf. Steven had just over an hour, I had 1:03:18 by my watch, and 1:03:17 by their time.

The word "official" hardly applies, because they had no timekeeper, just a handful of watches and cell phones. We lined up at the start line at 8:00, but it wasn't until about 12 minutes later that someone finally let the runners know that their timekeeper hadn't shown up. The race finally started at 8:15.

The whole thing seemed really disorganized. When I went to pick up our bibs, we got them all handed to us together, but they had no names on them to indicate whose was whose. So, I had to ask them to look up which was which so I could put our names on. I heard one race person mention to another, "See, that's where those labels would have been handy". Duh.

So then, right before the race finally starts, someone announces that everyone needs to make sure their names are on their bibs. Everyone collectively looks at that person like, "Huh?", because this is the first they've heard of this, and nobody mentioned that when they picked up their bib, and they've already been waiting almost 15 minutes for the race to start, and nobody had a pen in their shorts. Nor were they happy to see the person who had just announced that.

Also, the "breakfast" afterwards was gross. They had oatmeal, toast, trail mix, and oranges in the school cafeteria. I generally like oatmeal, but never at a school cafeteria. If they had a pancake breakfast or something, that would have been worth sticking around for, but as it was, I would rather have had the normal post-race food like at other races.

It's possible that it was actually well-planned. They did go through the trouble of getting their course USATF certified this year (although that's pointless without a timekeeper). Still, the whole thing is a lesson that no matter how well you've planned an event, let a few key details go amiss and the whole thing is ruined.

As for me, I can try again at the next local 10k on May 4th, but whether or not I do that is going to depend on what happens with my leg. I'm going to take the entire next week off to rest it, then see if it's still hurting after that, and plan my training accordingly.

Week 21, Day 7

Today's weight: 200.6

Today's blood pressure: forgot

Today's food: toast, tuna melt, banana, orange juice, chocodile, bratwurst, potato chips, beans, pasta salad, watermelon, peanut buster parfait, popcorn

Today's exercise: day of rest

Week 21, Day 6

Today's weight: 200

Today's blood pressure: 134/86

Today's food: cracked wheat, half a mini clif bar, sausage mcmuffin with egg, ramen, pei wei (honey seared shrimp), 1/2 chicken breast, popcorn

Today's exercise: 10k

Week 21, Day 5

Today's weight: 200.2

Today's blood pressure: 134/85

Today's food: sweet tomatoes (salad, cornbread, clam chowder, muffin, macaroni, linguini, cookies, ice cream), cracked wheat

Today's exercise:

Week 21, Day 4

Today's weight: 201

Today's blood pressure: 156/83

Today's food: rice krispie treat, beef with broccoli, chicken and rice with peas, graham cracker frosting sandwich, ham sandwich, jellybeans

Today's exercise: run 2 miles; 40 pushups

Week 21, Day 3

Today's weight: 201.2

Today's blood pressure: 148/84

Today's food: turkey sandwich, three pieces chicken, beans, tortilla, 12 ginger snaps

Today's exercise: run 2 miles; 40 pushups

Week 21, Day 2

Today's weight: 200

Today's blood pressure: 139/91

Today's food: shrimp topopo salad, chips and salsa, pancakes, hash browns, cinammon toast, popcorn

Today's exercise: none

Week 21, Day 1

Today's weight: ?

Today's blood pressure: ?

Today's food: don't remember for sure, but I did have a great seafood ravioli

Today's exercise: run 2 miles; (2:00 near sprint) x4; 40 pushups

coming back from mexico

Week 20 Wrapup

This week I was mostly in Mexico (Rocky Point), so I was eating about three times what I might eat at home.

I had to modify the running schedule a bit, first to match the travel schedule, and then because I was hurting too much. The pain has now become more specific and localized to about a six inch long area on the inside of my lower left leg. I have no idea what kind of muscles or ligaments are running through that area, so I have no idea what I may have pulled or torn or broken or what kinds of things may be done to alleviate it. All I know is that I ran a little less than I wanted to this week, and ran it all a lot slower.

It was nice to run in Mexico, though, because it was all dirt, so it was easier on my legs. Plus, the road was hilly, but not too hilly, so it will be a good approximation of the race course next week. Plus, I was able to do my running with Becki and Carson, so that makes it more fun. The one day that we ran in the middle of the afternoon really sucked, though. It was really hot, we sweat a whole lot, and my mouth was really dry by the end. The long run on Saturday was much easier. It was in the evening, and I felt great doing it. After about 5 miles, I was feeling great, and felt like I could have easily gone another 5.

I got the new shoes on Monday, but only got to wear them once before going to Mexico. I took the old shoes to Mexico since they're already dirty. So, I don't know if the new shoes are going to be any better yet.

Speaking of shoes, one member of the other family that was with us is also a runner, but forgot to bring his shoes. He went to town to try and find a cheap pair of shoes, resigning himself to the fact that he would most likely end up with a cheap Chinese no-name pair that gives him blisters or something. He went to one store that was exactly what he expected, but they directed him to another, even smaller store that just happened to carry real name brand running shoes. He got a pair of New Balance racing flats for like $59. Quite a deal.

So, the race is next week. If my leg still hurts, I will have to decide between trying to run through it and risking not being able to run the race, or resting it and being not trained enough to meet my goal. So, because of this, I'm only giving myself even odds on meeting my 1 hour goal.

Week 20, Day 7

Today's weight: ?

Today's blood pressure: ?

Today's food: easter dinner, fish tacos, a huge amount of easter candy, an even huger amount of other things

Today's exercise: day of rest

in mexico

Week 20, Day 6

Today's weight: ?

Today's blood pressure: ?

Today's food: fish, pasta with scallops, quite a large amount of other things

Today's exercise: run 6.5 miles, 40 pushups

in mexico

Week 20, Day 5

Today's weight: ?

Today's blood pressure: ?

Today's food: A large amount of steamed clams, among many other things

Today's exercise: none

in mexico

Week 20, Day 4

Today's weight: ?

Today's blood pressure: ?

Today's food: hamburgers and many many more things

Today's exercise: run 4.5 miles; (200 yard sprints) x6; 40 pushups

in mexico

Week 20, Day 3

Today's weight: 199.2

Today's blood pressure: forgot

Today's food: biscuit, yogurt, mars bar, orange, peanuts, quesadilla, sun chips, corned beef and potatoes, tootsie rolls

Today's exercise: run 2 miles

traveling to mexico

Week 20, Day 2

Today's weight: 201

Today's blood pressure: 137/74

Today's food: yogurt, denny's fried chicken salad, 1/2 of the bread that comes with it, banana, biscuit, fajita burrito, hot chocolate

Today's exercise: run 2 miles; (1:30 near sprint) x6; run 2 miles; 40 pushups

Week 20, Day 1

Today's weight: 201

Today's blood pressure: 137/82

Today's food: yogurt, corned beef & cabbage, corned beef & cabbage, banana, hershey's bar, corned beef & cabbage, popcorn, hershey's bar

Today's exercise: None

Didn't run today. It was cold and rainy, plus I wanted to shift my schedule back a day since I'd be traveling Wednesday.

Week 19 Wrapup

The running went well this week except for the fact that my legs are still really sore. They have this biting sort of pain in the shins that kicks in with every step I take, although it goes away when I run. It's hard to really tell from the pain if it's muscle or bone, or which particular muscle or bone it would be related to, since it's so generalized to the whole area underneath my knees.

It's clearly the result of overuse, though, and were it not for the upcoming 10k, I'd rest for a week and let it heal or something. As it is, I'll try to finish the 10k training as scheduled, but maybe modify the schedule to do it a little easier. Then, after the 10k, I'll take a week off before starting whatever's next. If I don't make my 10k goal, I'll jump back in to training for another 10k. If I do make my goal, I'll start looking for something else to do.

I'm starting to think that it's possible that my shoes are worn out already and that's the cause of at least some of my pain. There's not too much visible tread wear, but it's possible the cushioning is shot already. I've only had this pair since the end of November, but I've been averaging 15-20 miles a week since then, so this pair could have 250-300 miles by now. I had hoped they would last a lot longer, but in their defense, I've been over 200 pounds this whole time. My limited knowledge of physics is enough to guess that 200 pounds has got to put a lot more force into each step than, say, 150.

I went ahead and ordered another pair of the exact same kind I've got (Mizuno Wave Rider 10, regular width, size 12), except a slightly different color. If the new ones feel noticeably better, I'll just assume that the old ones wore out kind of soon, and maybe look for another kind next time. If there's not a big difference between the new and the old, I'll be able to rotate both pairs and prolong the wearing out of the old pair. Then, at some point, I theoretically should be able to see a difference between the two. I should be able to more directly gauge how they're wearing since I'll have sort of a "control shoe" to compare to.

Since my legs were hurting so much, I took Friday off to let them rest. Then, on Saturday, I disregarded all of my previous good intentions about resting, and decided it would be a good idea to do an actual dry run at 10k. I ran 10 kilometers in 1:01:30, just a minute and a half shy of my goal. I did feel like I was holding back a little because I didn't want to be in too much pain the next day. But, I also felt like if I didn't care what I felt like afterwards, I would have been able to beat an hour with no problem.

This bodes well for the race in two weeks. However, the big differences between this run and the race are that the race course is a little bit hilly and my running path is not, and the race is 8 AM. I'm used to running after having already been awake and moving around for many hours. This makes no small difference for me.

The other item of note this week is that I slipped under 200 pounds for the first time. By the end of the week it was over 200 again, but that's been fairly typical for me. Going back over my logs, I'm seeing a lot of big jumps forward followed by a couple of days of small slips back. My theory is that this is mostly relating to what's in my bowels at any given time, and that a great momentous movement must surely coincide with all of the large drops in weight. However, I have not kept detailed enough logs to know if this is true.

So, it's not a big deal to slip back over 200, but it is unfortunate that I'm going to Mexico for most of next week. Trips to Mexico for our family mean large all day meals and never ending food, so it's entirely possible for that reason alone that it will be a couple of weeks before I see the underside of 200 again.

The 200 pound mark is notable because it's the first time in 10 years that my weight has been that low. A (not so) brief history of my weight follows:

My first driver's license said 150 pounds on it, and for some reason, that didn't get updated on there until about 8 years later. In actual reality, I was probably about 180 by the time I graduated from high school. When I went to college in 1991, I put on several pounds of dorm food, and by my third semester in the dorms, had gone over 200 for the first time.

In early 1993, I was out of school for a while and trying to live and work on my own. I had no car and no money, so I walked everywhere and ate either ramen or whatever I could scrounge at the fast food place where I worked. I lost a lot of weight in a couple of months, so much so that I got flagged at the plasma center where I was selling my plasma for having too quick of a weight loss, and had to get medical clearance so they could be sure I didn't have some nasty disease. If I remember right, I got down to a low of 182 or thereabouts.

When things got more stable, my weight went back up so that by 1996 I had settled into my norm of 220-230. In 1998, I made my only serious effort to lose weight. My sister worked at Jenny Craig and could get the food at a significant discount, so I decided to try that for a few months. In 3 months, I went from 225 to 193. It was a loss of 32 pounds, which was quite remarkable. But then, the company I worked for was sold and I moved to Arizona for a year, and put some of the weight back on. By 1999 I was back in Provo, but my diet was mainly fast food, and by 2000, I was back up into the 220s.

In 2001, I ran for the summer, which you would think would have a positive effect on my weight. However, this was while I was at the company with the unlimited free candy and pop and the daily free lunches out. So, any running I was doing was just slowing the inevitable weight gain.

In 2004, I tried to lose a few pounds because the otolaryngologist who was going to do surgery on my nose and throat wanted to be sure my problem wasn't weight related first. I got down to 209, which I gather was enough for him to go ahead with the surgery. Somewhere in 2005 or 2006, I clocked an all time high of 233. Late summer of 2006 was the lightning strike that started the chain reaction that led to the whole business you're reading about now.

Again, this isn't a weight loss quest. It's a general health and fitness quest. Any weight loss is just a positive side effect. That said, it does feel good to hit that magical 200 pound mark, and I am very pleased.

Week 19, Day 7

Today's weight: 201

Today's blood pressure: forgot

Today's food: 2 pop tarts, little baguette sandwiches, grapes, croque monsieur, yogurt

Today's exercise: day of rest

Week 19, Day 6

Today's weight: 198.8

Today's blood pressure: 135/92

Today's food: biscuits and gravy; granola bar; 6 ginger snaps, french onion soup, french fries, mini chocolate bar; yogurt; t-bone steak

Today's exercise: run 10 kilometers; 40 pushups

Week 19, Day 5

Today's weight: 199

Today's blood pressure: 138/82

Today's food: biscuit, yogurt, banana, chicken caesar pita, potato chips, pepsi, little chocolate bars, peanuts

Today's exercise: 40 pushups; skip running to let leg muscles feel better

Week 19, Day 4

Today's weight: 199.2

Today's blood pressure: 131/84

Today's food: yogurt, orange, fajitas, peanuts

Today's exercise: none

Week 19, Day 3

Today's weight: 200.8

Today's blood pressure: 129/88

Today's food: yogurt, leftover fish, orange, 4 small pizza slices, peanuts, 5 ginger snaps

Today's exercise: run 2.5 miles; 40 pushups

Week 19, Day 2

Today's weight: 200.2

Today's blood pressure: 125/87

Today's food: yogurt, rice krispie treat, orange, dinner at las cazuelitas (chips and salsa, fries, half of an entire deep fried red snapper, flan, fried ice cream), popcorn

Today's exercise: none

Week 19, Day 1

Today's weight: 202.2

Today's blood pressure: 139/77

Today's food: yogurt, seafood risotto, orange glazed chicken breast and rice, steak sandwich, apple chips

Today's exercise: run 2 miles; (1:30 near sprint) x4; run 2 miles; 40 pushups

Week 18 Wrapup

I ran really fast this week. My short runs were all under my 9:39 target pace. However, my legs started getting really sore, especially from my knees down. For my long run, I deliberately tried to go slower to take it easy, but I still ended up at just abve 10:00/mile. I guess I'm just so excited to be able to run that fast that it's hard to slow down. Plus, it's just more fun to run fast than run slow, and you finish sooner.

I'm going to have to make an extra effort to run slow next week to save my legs from getting worse. Besides saving my legs, there are apparently other reasons to run slower. Almost every training article I've ever read says that you vary your pace, and not just to prevent injury or fatigue or anything. You actually train your body differently at a slower pace than at a faster pace.

Take, for example, two identical runners. They're both running the same race 12 weeks away. Train them both for 12 weeks doing the exact same runs on the exact same days. However, the first runner always runs at the same fast pace. The second runner runs some of the time at that fast pace, and some of the time a minute or two per mile slower. Come race time, that second runner will do better, and not because he's less fatigued or less injured or anything like that.

It's totally counter-intuitive, and I'm still not 100% sure I believe it, but I'm still at the stage where I trust the experts over my limited knowledge, so that's what I'll do. The 29th is coming quickly, and I'm still unsure if I'll be fast enough by then to make my goal of 10k in 1 hour. However, there's still a couple of races after that if I don't. Besides the 29th isn't about me, anyway. It's all about beating Steven.

Week 18, Day 7

Today's weight: 202

Today's blood pressure: forgot

Today's food: 2 pop tarts, orange juice, hamburger, homemade french fries, 2 pieces of chocolate, peanuts, yogurt

Today's exercise: day of rest

Week 18, Day 6

Today's weight: 200

Today's blood pressure: forgot

Today's food: ham sandwich, apple, orange juice, hamburger, steaks

Today's exercise: run 3.5 miles; 40 pushups

Week 18, Day 5

Today's weight: 202

Today's blood pressure: 137/70

Today's food: banana, yogurt, 4 samoas*, chili cheese burger, crisscut fries, snickers

Today's exercise: run 5.5 miles; 40 pushups

* The Girl Scout cookie. Not to be confused with actual Samoans.

Week 18, Day 4

Today's weight: 200.8

Today's blood pressure: 144/90

Today's food: banana, yogurt, potatoes and gravy leftover from roast, mcdonalds chicken sandwich, popcorn

Today's exercise: day off

Week 18, Day 3

Today's weight: 200.8

Today's blood pressure: 121/82

Today's food: banana, yogurt, ham sandwich, steak, apple

Today's exercise: run 4 miles; (200 yard sprints) x3; 40 pushups

Week 18, Day 2

Today's weight: 202.2

Today's blood pressure: 139/89

Today's food: italian/mexican buffet lunch, banana, popcorn, hot tamales

Today's exercise: day off

Week 18, Day 1

Today's weight: 203.2

Today's blood pressure: 153/85

Today's food: yogurt, rodeo burger, 1/2 biscuit with gravy, ribeye steak, 3 eggs and cheese, root beer

Today's exercise: run 3 miles; 40 pushups

Week 17 Wrapup

The running went well this week. I ran fast, and I ran far. On Saturday, right after I ran, I had to go to my brother Steven's high school. I was playing keyboards for their production of Little Shop of Horrors. Steven played Seymour.

At one point before the show, I tell Steven I just ran 5 miles. Steven says, "So? I hate running. It's so terrible." I said that it's good exercise. He turned around so as to show me every angle and said "Do I look like I need to run?" I asked how far did he think he could run anyway, and he said, "Pretty far." I said I don't know, and that it's taken a lot of hard work for me to get to the point where I can run this far. He said, "Yeah, but, I'm young and in great shape, and you're old and fat." I said that regardless of the truth of that fact, long distance running depends on a lot more than youth and shape, and requires things like lung capacity. He said "So? I play the tuba."

While this display of Steven's hubris was entertaining, it needed to be kept in check lest it grow to destroy him. So in the classic spirit of men proving their relative worth through athletic competition, I challenged him to a footrace, specifically a 10k. Steven accepted the challenge and publicly announced his strategy for winning. He said all he needs to do is run along with me until we get close to the finish line, then run faster. I've developed a counter strategy, which is to run until he starts walking or falls over (probably around mile 2). At that point I will continue running.

I found a 10k in Tucson on March 29th. We decided that we will race and also wager something on the race (to be determined later). I, of course, will beat him and win whatever it is that we are wagering. Since the gauntlet was thrown down, I've enlisted Becki, my brother Carson, and my sister Elizabeth to enter the 10k as well, because at this point I'm curious to see just how many of us will be able to beat Steven. If I could be sure that Joey (my 3 year old) would stay on task for the whole race, I would enter him just to see if he could beat Steven.

Week 17, Day 7

Today's weight: 203.6

Today's blood pressure: forgot

Today's food: banana, ham sandwich, coke, filet mignon, mashed potatoes, salad, almond roca, tostitos

Today's exercise: day of rest

Week 17, Day 6

Today's weight: 202.4

Today's blood pressure: 118/82

Today's food: banana, pork roast, apple, coke, mcdonalds double cheeseburger, brownie, cookie, popcorn

Today's exercise: run 5 miles; 40 pushups