June Boom - Week 4 - What's Up Doc?

Checking in a bit early this week.  I am taking my Scouts to scout camp.  Lots to worry about but at the same time, we should have fun.  This year we are going to an organized camp so a lot of things are taken care of for us.  I plan on getting my exercise in this week.  Fortunately it is a taper week for my 10K on the 4th so I don't have a long run scheduled in my training this week.  I will probably run an extra day since the 10K is on the following Monday instead of Saturday.  After the 10K, I jump into the middle of the training for my August half-marathon.  It worked out well meshing with the 10K training because the distances are similar.

June Boom Report
Date -- Minutes exercised / calorie deficit or surplus
June 20 - 49 / -1182
June 21 - 71 / -1625
June 22 - 68 / -1364
June 23 - 47 / -1202
June 24 - 95 / -361
June 25 - 60 / -588
June 26 - *  / -325
Totals 390 / -6647


So after being up 4 last week, I said I wasn't worried because the numbers said I should be good.   As of Friday, I was down 8 lbs from the previous weigh in!  That is also what I am down this month with all the ups and downs.  I committed to track all though June, but it looks like I should keep it up and keep the weight coming down.  In July, we have a lot of family coming in with a bunch of great food being planned.  I think I will be a lot better off if I keep tracking.

I forgot to mention that in getting ready for summer camp, I had to get an annual physical.  I used to dread getting even a physical because I knew at my previous weight that I was a mess.  This time was nothing but good news.  The PA who gave me the physical is quite a bit younger than me and is dedicated to being fit.  He looked at my numbers and said that my stats were better than his.  He patted me on the back, shook my hand and told me how proud he was of me!  I didn't ever think I would hear that in a doctor's office!  Big score on that one!

Shout out to Todd who is piling up some great miles.  He is training hard for a marathon and wants to BQ.  The rate he's going, it's looking good!  Keep up the great work everyone, especially you June Boomers!  Hang in there and I will too!

June Boom Week 3 - "Exercise is better than medicine"

Nancy Clark M.D. wrote an article for active.com that I found interesting and I also believe that is true.  The quote that stuck out was this:

Exercise is better than medicine

June Boom Report
Date -- Minutes exercised / calories deficit or surplus
June 13 - 44/-1062
June 14 - 74/-1390
June 15 - 77/-1474
June 16 - 50/-649
June 17 - 81/-931
June 18 - 120/+485
June 19 - */+527
Totals: 446/-4494


I started out the week with a bang.  Had a good calorie deficit.  On Saturday, I took my granddaughter to an amusement park and spent a lot of time on my feet and we walked all day.  Went swimming for the first time in years.  We had a great time together.  I had a surplus on calories, but wasn't too awfully bad, but I think I had some food(s) that caused my body to say, "I am going to hang on to every piece of food and water you put into me for the next two days."  Even though I should have lost a little over a pound, instead I was up 4!  Once again I am not to worried because these things take care of themselves, but I was totally surprised this morning.  I can already tell a difference between this morning when I weighed in and lunchtime.  My ring is already quite a bit loser than it was this morning.  We'll see what happens over the course of the next few days as I get back into my routine.  I am still on track for June Boom.  I have exercised as much as I committed to,  I continue to track my calories and I am staying accountable in this blog.  Hope the rest who took the challenge are doing well.

The bright spot of the week was my long run on Friday morning.  I knew I would be busy all day Saturday, so I moved it back a day.  All week long, I didn't take my iPod with me running and it helped me focus on my running.  Friday I went 7 miles and just made sure that I didn't push too hard.  I got into a good rhythm with my breathe and pace and I was able to maintain a pretty good pace (11:29) for the mileage that I put in.   I keep seeing my times inch down which is nice.

Shout outs to many of my friends who ran the Utah Ragnar this weekend  Bill's team took 9th overall and 1st in his division!  Wow!  Hang in there and I will too!

June Boom Week 2 - One 2011 Goal Checked Off!

June Boom Stats


Date --- Minutes exercised / calories deficit or surplus
June 6:  47/-768
June 7:  68/-1815
June 8:  79/-1725
June 9:  42/-518June 10:  63/-1152
June 11:  73/+449
June 12: */-606
Totals: 372/-6135


Other than Saturday, I had a good calorie deficit week.  My problem on Saturday was a good, hard workout in the morning, followed by a couple of easy to go over events during the day. But the great news is being down 3 pounds.  The pound I should have lost last week carried over and added to the 2 lbs that my calorie count said I should be.  Yippee!  Loving the June Boom so far!


My running last Monday and Tuesday were great!  I haven't felt so good on a run in a long time.  The mileage is increasing at a reasonable rate as well.  Even my long run of 6 miles on Saturday was good.  My pace has dropped almost a minute and a half in the last month.  The training is paying off.  I still am not really fast, but I am seeing improvement.   I also got the time from Camie's run and am now able to check off one of my 2011 goals. I finished a 5K under 30 minutes.  My time was 29:41 and change!


My sister Chris sent me an article about counting calories.  In summary it stated that all calories are not equal.  I find that is true.  When you are watching your calories, you can help yourself in may ways by making sure that you are getting the most bang for you buck in the calories that you choose to eat.  For example eating an orange is much better for you than drinking the equivalent calories of orange juice.  When you couple fiber with carbs, it is a slower burn of those calories.  Your body can handle the carbs much better when it doesn't get a super dose all at once.  Read here if you would like to know more.


Had a good laugh this week when I read this facebook status from Melissa:

It's all fun and games until someone poops on the trampoline.

I nominate it for one of my top five favorite statuses.  Thanks for the laugh Melissa!

The shout out of the week goes to Bill H.  He always amazes me.  On Saturday he paced the Provo River Marathon.  He paced group was 3:50.  He was only off by 16 seconds!  Then to top it off, he added another 14 miles later in the day to make it an even 40 miles for the day to celebrate his upcoming 40th birthday!  How amazing is that!  Another shout out to the above mentioned Melissa who has lost over 30 lbs since having her last baby!  Way to go!  Hang in there and I will too!

June Boom Week 1 - Camie Run Report

A quick update on my June Boom progress.

Date --- Minutes exercised / calories deficit or surplus
June 1:  81/-546
June 2:  56/-1183
June 3:  32/-784
June 4:  30/-248
June5:   */-953
Totals:  199/ -3714


I'm happy with both my minutes exercised and my 3700 calorie deficit for the partial week.  If a pound of fat equals 3500 lbs, I should have lost a pound, but I stayed about the same.  But I don't let that bother me too much because I feel a bit leaner.  I definitely ate better quality and quantity because I was tracking.  Logging my food was something that I have been putting off even though I know it helps me to see where my problem spots are.  Thanks Alan for setting up this challenge and getting me back into this good habit.  In case you are curious, I have an Android phone and use Calorie Counter.  I really like it because it has a great food database, remembers frequently eaten foods, supports bar code reading of food and also tracks your exercise calories.  It syncs up with the fatsecret.com web site which has lots of stats. And it's all free!! Just look for it in the app store if you are interested.  I have no affiliation with the developer or the website.  I just appreciate the great software.

Now for a quick report on the Camie Run.  I have not raced in a lot of organized races, but I knew going into this one that it would be a different race.  One street up and over from me live the Jacobs family.  I have known them for quite a few years and they are a great family.  Andy and I work together in Scouts and I have seen first hand how great Andy is with young people.  His wife Camie is equally influential with young men and young women.  She has had a personal impact on my daughter Emily as well.  Besides being busy with their own families, Andy is the cross country coach at Orem High School.  Both he and Camie have had such a positive influence on the cross country team.  Not too long ago, Camie received the devastating news that she has colon cancer.  As you can imagine, it sent a shock wave through the community.  There was a write up in the local paper about how the cross country team, especially Taylor Charles, rallied around Camie and her family.  The Camie Run was born as a result.  Read the details here if you are interested to find out more.

Andy and Camie

For me this wasn't so much a race, but a way to support Andy and Camie.  I wasn't the only one.  Over 400 racers pre-registered and many more signed up the day of the race.  There was also a lot of support from friends and family.  I have been to a few races and have seen a face or to I recognized, but this was much different.  There were so many people from the community that I knew that came out.  Most were local, but many came from out of town just to support Camie.  Many were there for their first run ever.  My brother Gordon was among the first time runners.  My heart was full in so many ways to see friends, family and so many young people come and race.  It was a beautiful day to top it off.  Considering that this was organized by a member of the cross-country team, it was amazing how well things went.

It was so much fun to race with my brother.  For his first 5K he did great.  He stayed with me for most of the way and was less that 30 seconds behind me at the finish.  I kept pushing because I was trying to break 30 minutes.  I know I was close, really close, but the official times have not been posted yet.  If I did, I made one of my goals for the year.  If not, I know with just a bit more training, I can do it.

The shout out today goes to Camie, Andy and the Orem High Cross Country Team!  Way to go!  hang in there and I will too!