Countdown to Half Time!

Current Stats - N/A

I am on one week reporting hiatus since I am focused on the race this week and once again my weight was varied up and down six pounds this week. Next week I will do a reset and start the last leg of the weight loss journey.

I have been trying to decide if I should run a marathon. My decision will be based on two things. 1) How I feel after completing the half-marathon this Saturday. 2) If I am going to to run a marathon, I need to be at least at my goal weight. I think it would be too taxing on my body if I trained at a heavier weight than that.

Last Thursday, I did my last long run for training. It was 12 miles. I had a better perspective of how far 12 miles is because I decided on the fly to take a different route. I headed down 8th East and then ran down University Parkway. I turned back north at the intersection of University Parkway and University Avenue and headed over to the mouth of Provo Canyon. I still had about 3 miles left to do after all that distance! It made me appreciate how far 12 miles is when you are running.

My long run was a bit early in the week. That's because we took the Scouts to Goblin Valley. It was fun to be in shape to explore and have fun with them. There was also a ultra-marathon going on and a 10K run as well. We tried to encourage the runners as we encountered them. It was extra hard among the hoodoos because recent rains had turned the clay in to a slick and sticky mess. I slipped once just walking and can imagine that the runners really had to watch their steps.

Wish me luck for the run this weekend. Excited and nervous all at the same time. Shout outs to all those who ran the race down at Goblin Valley! What an inspiration! Thanks to Andy who came with us on the Scout trip and gave me lots of great pointers for the upcoming half! Hang in there and I will too!

The Long Haul

Weekly Stats
Current: 204.0
Weekly Gain: .4
To Go: 29.0
Total 121.0

Bad news on the scale again this week, but the gain was not as dramatic as last week. I am still focused on the training for the half on the 30th.

I ran 11 miles for my long run on Saturday. It was a tough run, but I made it and am optimistic for success when I run the real thing. I need to run a 12 miler for my last long training run. I would normally do this on Saturday, but we are taking the Scouts out this weekend and won't be getting back until early evening on Saturday. I would be a mess if I delayed the run until then. So my plan is to do my long run early Thursday morning.

I almost signed up for a marathon last week, but it filled up 6 hours before I was ready to click the button. There is another marathon a few weeks later, but this one doesn't fill up as quickly. I will make a decision on whether to run a marathon or not after I have run the half. Anyone out there had any experience running a full marathon?

After the half, I am going to focus on getting the rest of this weight off. It will be good to get it off. I feel so much better now having over 120 lbs off and I know that getting the last 30 off will be even better. It is weird to say, but I am actually looking forward to losing the weight in spite of the pain involved.

A shout out to Janet and her husband for getting back into getting the weight off. It's hard to start back up after a diversion! Way to go! Bill ran the St. George in spite of an injury! Nice Bill! Hillary is looking great after her weight loss! Whooohoooo! Hang in there and I will too!

Nothing to Lose

Weekly Stats
Current: 203.6
Weekly Gain: 1.8
To Go: 28.6
Total 121.4

I am still up and down on my weight. Can't seem to get down below 200 again. Though I am looking forward to the half marathon in a couple of weeks, I will be glad to get back into an increased emphasis on getting my weight down. I seriously will bounce up and down from 5 to 8 lbs each week since I started training. You would think with as much work as I am putting in that the pounds would melt off, but it's not the case. I have a feeling that once I get back into my previous training and mix it up a bit that things will be more consistent.

I was going to hike Timp once last time this last Saturday, but we had a cool-down in the weather. Timp has had snow on the top for several days, not a whole lot, but it would probably would have been a bit sloppy. I decided to hike Big Baldy going up Dry Canyon and coming back down Battle Creek. I estimated about 10 miles and it ended up being over 11.5 miles. I think that this hike is harder than Timp. Even though it is less mileage, it is quite steep and the heart rate is high most of the time.

Thanks again for the encouragement. Keep up the good work everyone! Hang in there and I will too!

Hiking in Circles

Weekly Stats
Current: 201.6
Weekly Loss: 0.6
To Go:
26.8 Total 123.2

I have to make a disclaimer on my weight. It is still jumping around quite a bit, so I am taking my best weight loss day over a four day period (Friday - Monday). I have logged my food intake this last week and it has really helped.

I ran 10 miles on my long run on Saturday. I was concerned going into this run weather it would be tough like my eight mile run or great like my 10 mile run. It turned out to be a mixture of both. Between mile two and three, I did not feel good and thought it might last the whole time, but as soon as I hit the canyon and headed up things started getting better. By the time I hit my turn-around point and was able to go downhill from there, I felt pretty good. I even had an eye opener for me.

I had been reading some other blogs and saw how many focused on just the physical challenges of losing weight. Many challenged themselves to a certain amount of miles over a stated period of time, but not many set many dietary goals over the same period. I had a epiphany about when people get lost, they tend to travel in circles. This happens because we usually have a dominant leg. One leg is usually stronger than the other and without a sense of direction the one leg over the course of time leads us back to where we started from.

I think this is true if we dominate on either diet or exercise without setting goals in the other. We can make great headway with our health and fitness by lifting or aerobic exercise, but if we don't watch our diets, our appetites increase and it doesn't take much to undo the calories we burned while exercising. The opposite is true as well. If we just focus on dieting, we lose weight, but we suffer physically because we lose not only fat, but muscle as well. When the diet is over, we can gain the fat back, but not much muscle in the process so we are worse off than when we started. We need to stay balanced on both fronts. We need to have good physical goals and challenges, but we need to watch what is going into our bodies as well. Feed your body what it needs, in portions that are appropriate for you height and weight.

Shout out to Hillary who reached her weight goal. Great job! Bill H. completed the St. George Marathon (his 7th!) in spite of having a recent injury! Wow Bill, way to go! Thanks Mom for the great article on Drew Carey! He is inspirational in what he has done. Thanks for keeping mee motivated Mom! Hang in there and I will too!