I Can't

Last March, I read a post by Big Daddy Diesel how he can get motivated by someone telling him that he can't do something.  I think I have some of that in me as well.  But I think that there is one person that can tell you that you can't do something that has a big effect on you.  That person is you!

When you tell yourself you can't do something.  Like in "I can't do _____ because ______.", we too often listen.  Maybe you've told yourself you can't do something because you are too old, too heavy, too ...., you get the point.  Too often we limit ourselves because we believe what we tell ourselves.  I am not advocating doing something that is unwise or unhealthy for us, but too often the excuses we give ourselves are given too much credibility.

Too old?

Photo by Andrew McClanahan, PhotoRun 

Ed Whitlock finished the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 3:15:51!  He set a record for an 80 year old.  Pretty amazing.

Last year a 100 year old completed a marathon!  Age isn't necessarily a limiter.

Too Tired?

Fibromyalga can cause your muscles and joints extreme pain.  It can keep you up at night dealing with the issues.  Jo Nodell found that exercise helps her.  It may be hard for the first 30 minutes, but by the time she has done an hour, she feels better as she warms up her muscles.  The pain is less severe and her attitude is lifted.  She even walked a half marathon in about three and a ahlf hours!  Not a bad time for walking!

http://www.realage.com/walking/fibromyalgia-exercise

Too Big?

Just watch Biggest Loser to debunk that myth.  It's amazing how people transform in a manner of a few weeks. 

 Bob "Motivating" a Contestant (nbc.com/thebiggestloser)

I'm not advocating that you try to lose 150 lbs in 12 weeks.  I'm not saying it doesn't matter what your doctor says, you should go out and run a marathon.  I'm not telling you to go run some 800 meter intervals.  What I am telling you is to not limit yourself by telling yourself what you can or can't do.  Most times, you don't know until you try (and try and try).

Hang in there and I will too!

Reaching for the Stars

Thanks for you many encouraging comments last week.  I have updated the stars and hope to get those blank stars filled in here this year.  I have been bouncing around 100 and 110 lbs lost for the past couple of months.  I have been much better the last couple of weeks eating healthy, but the scale hasn't reflected it yet.

Marathon Training Schedule

Jeff Galloway

I think I have decided on my training schedule for my first marathon in May.  I have heard about Jeff Galloway and started doing a little research about his training methods.   He contends that you can actually improve your times by including walk breaks.  This might work for me because I have a tendency to tank at the end of a race, especially longer distances.

The Long Run
Saturday was a long run and I put this to the test for the second week in a row.  I was able to go fifteen miles.  I was slow, but I don't think I could have done it at all without the walk breaks.  This was quite the jump in weekly miles which has it's risk.  The reason that the mileage was so high is that his training schedule is much longer than the other two I was looking at.  If I was going to do his schedule, this was the mileage I needed to do on Saturday.  I felt that if I could get this long run in without killing myself that I could continue on from here on out with his schedule.   This week backs off the mileage to recover from the run so hopefully I will recover and will be in sync with the rest of the training schedule.

I had my first slip of the winter season.  A few weeks back, I posted pictures of where the Provo Trail was covered with ice.  I should have used my head and realized that the ice was still in the same place.  The deception was when I walked over that part of the trail, there was a layer of snow on top.  I had been running up the canyon in the snow without problems.  Having a false sense of security, I was walking over the before mentioned section when BAM I was down.  I wasn't even half way through my run.  After taking a quick inventory, finding all my parts still in one piece, I continued on.  I am a little sore by my knee where I hit, but nothing that should stop me from training.

Here is a picture from a couple of weeks ago.  The ice was still there but the whole path was covered with snow.

You can see the ice just past the bridge.

I tried to take pictures.  I had my phone with me.  There was a place where I crossed over the river, on a bridge, to a closed off road to avoid the ice on the way back.  It was really pretty because the road was covered with snow and no one had been on the road. It was pretty cold, but I fumbled my phone out, tried to snap a picture and as I did my phone crashed.  I was too cold to stop and wait for the phone to start back up.  I have become disenchanted with my EVO.  It was a great phone at first, but the battery doesn't even last half a day with minimal use and it has become tempermental.  I will have to take my point and shoot with me next time.

I hope you are keeping appropriately busy and healthy this winter.  What have you been doing to keep up your fitness?

Hang in there and I will too.

2012 - Looking Forward

Like a lot of you,  a new year gets me thinking about what I want to accomplish this year.  We often hear of resolutions, but to me a resolution has to do with something that we are determined to do.  It can have a negative connotation to it.  To me it sounds like something that we think we should be doing and by will power we will get it done.  I can get excited to do something and make a great start at it, but it's easy to start when enthusiasm is high, but when the adrenaline wears off, will power seems to wane.  The concept of  New Years goals seems more on how I am geared.  It is usually something that I want to do and it will help me in some way that I want.  Not just something that I should.  I won't lay out all of my goals here, but here are my health and activity challenges I want to at least start this year.

Seven Peaks Challenge

Mount Nebo (http://utahpictures.com/images/atlanta_salt_lake/smPB190101.jpg)

I live in Utah County.  Most of the population in the county lives in a geographic area called Utah Valley.  It is lined on the east by the Wasatch Range which is part of the Rocky Mountains.  We have a local resort called Seven Peaks.  I have been trying to find out what those seven peaks are that they refer to and finally found out which of the mountains are part of the "seven."  I have written several post about Mount Timpanogos and had my trash kicked by Cascade last year.  I knew that Lone Peak and Mount Nebo had to be part of it as well as Provo Peak.  I just wasn't sure what the last two would be.  I found out that they are Santaquin Peak and Spanish Fork Peak.  Mount Nebo is the highest at 11,928' and Spanish Fork Peak is the lowest at 10,192'.  At first I was going to make it a goal to climb all seven this summer, but I don't want to over reach here.  I have only been to the top of two of these (Timp and Cascade).  They are all a challenge to climb so I get to the top as many as I can this year and hopefully finish up next.

Ogden Marathon

Ogden Marathon

This is the granddaddy of all of my goals. My goal is to continue to train for this marathon to put myself in a position to finish my first marathon.  It still scares me a bit to think that I am already registered.  But with my other races that I have entered, I trusted my training plans and they all got me to the finish line.  I am still trying to decide which of three training plans I will follow.  I am building my base back up, but I need to make a decision soon because some of the marathon training plans kick in in a couple of more weeks.
One more thing about this marathon makes me nervous.  This statement on the website.

For safety reasons, runners that have not entered Ogden Canyon by 11:30am will be required to board the bus and be transported to the finish line - No Exceptions!

But then a quick calculation says that would be a 15.40 min / mile pace.  I would deserve to be taken off the course I guess.  More on my marathon goals and concerns in an upcoming blog.

Earn Those Stars Back (and then some).

I do not want to go back and do this all over again!

Michele left a comment last week that made me realize that my sidebar wasn't accurate any more.  About a year and a half ago, I made it to within 20 lbs of my goal weight.  Many factors including (surprisingly so) training for my first half marathon chipped away at that weight loss.  I need to update those stars by taking a couple away and working to fill them back in.  I will get that done by next week and make some definite plans on how I will get those stars back.  It is really hard for me (and for others I have talked to as well) not to eat more as the miles start increasing.  Sorry about not keeping that up to date.  I will think this through a bit more and post on my plans to make this a highlight this year.

How About You?
I have read some of your goals for this coming year.  Please comment on what some of your plans are for the year.  Let's make 2012 a great one!

Hang in there and I will too!

2011 Retrospective

Sorry to be slow posting again this week.  I had a nice (in my own humble opinion) all typed up on my iPad but the app crashed and I lost all my changes!  I am retyping a slightly varied version with another app (Blogsey) and hope it does better.  If you have any suggestions on any experiences you might have had blogging on an iPad, let me know.

I thought for my last post of the year, I would look back on the year.  It helps me to realize what progress I have made and be greateful for how the year went.

Kiwanis 5K

This was my first race after working back from an injury.  It was a wet slushy run but I came in third in my age group.  And in case you were wondering the we're more than three people in my age group. :)

Kiwanis 5K

Several Great Hikes

I had a great time on several hikes this year.  With all the snow we had this spring, we had to be creative on our hikes, but all of them were great.  The highlights were:

July Uintah Hike with Troy, Mike and Gordon

September Timp Hike with Paul and Gordon

Kings Peak Hike with Evan and Gordon

The Kings Peak hike was the highlight because it completed my Three Peak Challenge that started me on this journey.  If you noticed, my brother Gordon was a part of my hiking.  He's a great brother and we've had some great times together.

Two Half's Don't Make a Whole

At least as far as a marathon goes.  I ran two half marathons this year.  Hobble Creek and the Halloween Half.  Both were a challenge to complete, but I was able to finish both of them.

Halloween Half

  Hobble Creek

I have had a lot of positive experiences this year.  More than I could have ever imagine!  Thanks for following along with me!  I would be interested to hear of some of your highlights of the year.  Feel free to comment.  Next week a look ahead as we celebrate a new year!  Happy New Year to you all!

Hang in there and I will too!

Merry Christmas

Things have been busy this week. I kept hoping to post something longer but it will have to wait until next week.

Have a Merry Christmas and I will too!

Catching Up

I thought I would do a little catch up on what has been going on.


Thanks

First of all, I enjoyed your comments about running from your monsters! Makes the blog worth writing with the such great comments! Thanks!


Earn Your Turkey Run

This was a 4 miler on Thanksgiving morning. I have not been running for speed lately so I didn't expect to be fast. I thought if I finished up between 45 and 55 minutes, I would be happy. I finished up at 44:29 so I was quite happy. I didn't start out too fast, I stayed steady through out the race and had just a little extra in the tank at the end to finish strong. I was really happy with the way it turned out.


Accountability
I said that I would be accountable about my weight over the holidays.  I am down a few pounds from my initial weigh in from just before the holidays so that is great!   I need to be careful because I have let up a more than a few times. I don't want to gain weight over the holidays. I think the running is saving my bacon here!

A Little Bragging

My daughter Sarah had her first baby during the last week of November.  He is a cutie and it is fun to see Sarah and Mike as first time parents.  They are doing great and my new grandson is (of course) a cute kid.  That puts us at 14 grandkids! Holy cow! The two youngest and I are getting by as my wife is back east helping out. Yesterday I got up at 5, sorted and started my laundry, ran 7 miles, made sure the kids were out the door OK and went to work. I don't know how single parents do it!  Helps me appreciate my wife!

Goal Accomplished

I was hoping to get in over 2000 miles for the year and I turned over the odometer in the last couple of weeks. Yes!!!

Saturday's Long Run
The mileage for my long runs is nudging up  This Saturday was an eight miler. Most of the trail was ice free until I got up to Bridal Veil Falls. The water from the falls had overflowed onto the trail and iced over. Baby steps! Baby steps!

Bridal Veil Falls Starting to Ice Over

Ice over the Trail

Biggest Loser

I am a big fan of The Biggest Loser. Tonight is the finale! It's always fun to see the changes that the contestants make in a relatively short period of time.  I don't know who is going to win but I am glad Ramon is in the mix because I have always enjoyed his upbeat attitude. This interview with him shows why exercise is so important in a healthy lifestyle. As he mentions in the video, he was diagnosed as the most unhealthy of all the contestants who competed this year including those who were in their 60's. Ramon is one of the youngest! As he pointed out, he had diabetes and sleep apnea but in a few short weeks of eating right and exercise, he has not only lost over 135 pounds, he was told that he no longer has diabetes! Physical activity is not just a weight loss tool. Exercise is the best medicine we will probably ever find.

nbc.com

A lot of you are doing great on not gaining weight over the holidays.  Keep up the great work.   Hang in there and I will too!

Running from the Monster

When I was young, I spent many of my summer weeks at my grandmothers house.  There were many things I like about her staying with her.  A creek split at the top of her property and surrounded her house that my grandfather built.  There were fish to be caught, trees to climb, cherries to eat and most importantly someone who really loved me.  It was an acre of paradise.

Another great thing about spending my days there was the fact that two of my uncles had homes on adjoining properties.  So not only did I get to spend time with my grandmother, but my cousins were close at hand.  Those growing up years were filled with many fun filled memories.

One memory that I had wasn't pleasant though.  Sometimes I would be at my cousins' house until after it was dark.  That meant when it was time to go back to my grandma's house, I had to go down a dark driveway.  This wasn't just a short driveway, but more of a dirt road that connected their houses.  It was a long walk down that road.  But usually it wasn't a walk, it was a run for my life.  I would pause at the top of the drive, screw up my courage and then run like crazy.  I ran past the trees, the duck pen and the unseen monsters that lurked waiting to grab me.  I raced as fast as I could go and then make a sharp left, head for the porch and burst through the door out of breathe and grateful that I made it home alive.  I'm sure my grandmother knew why I was a little wild-eyed and breathing hard but she loved me enough not to say anything.

Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I don't think I realized at the time that there was a monster.  But it wasn't in the trees or the duck pen.  The monster was inside of me.  I had created it and hid it along the drive.  I couldn't outrun the monster because it was running right along inside of me.

I think we all have a monster or two inside of us that keeps us from doing what we would like.  They freeze us into inaction or get us running off in the wrong direction.  They cause us to place the blame somewhere outside of us.

I had one of those monsters that was keeping me for living a more healthy life.  It was making me believe that it was to late for me to make a change and lose some weight.  I'm glad that I had something give me hope that that mosnter wasn't real.  I could make a change, I could be fit again, I could lose weight.

I've still got some monsters that I need to quite believing in and quit avoiding the fact that I am that I am the one I am running from.  One of them is this last thirty to thirty-five more pounds I need to lose.  Why am I not willing to quit running from it?  What's it going to take for me to get rid of this monster?  I hope I can face this monster soon and get it out of my life!

You got any monsters you need to get rid of?

Hang in there and I will too!