Speed intervals & a full moon? No way I was gonna miss that! #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Not even if I was dealing with what appears to be the stomach bug that kept James home last week. I barely had to stop. Of course the added incentive of needing to get home and close the bathroom didn't hurt ;)

Sunday's Run

I am definitely feeling that these building blocks are starting to stack up. Sunday I had my best running distance in several months. Even though I was feeling the effects of some added stair training on Saturday night at the hockey game (top row is great for viewing, but sure is a lot if stair climbing.)

I've had better eating weekends, but hey. it's still good, I think that if I stick to the spirit of the Skinny Rules 80-90% of the time and keep up the exercise in this cold time of year it will pay off. Because I know that I will be getting more exercise as the weather improves, between Scout hikes, family hikes, trips to the parks, yard work. All that will add up, so what I am doing now is all about building that foundation: strength for running, wind for endurance, habits for healthy eating.

No run today, but have some thoughts to share on exercise, eating and habits

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

No Run Today

Sadly the snow came in wet and heavy last night. And even sadder I run too heavy for that kind of snow, it just cakes on like mud, making my footing just too treacherous. So I slept in. But I still got in a workout as I spent a good 30 minutes shoveling snow and clearing snow off cars. So the storm wasn't a total loss.

But I have a few thoughts on health matters that I will share here today.

1. Faced with a quandary this week. I have a night out to myself, which I choose to take for sanity reasons. But the question is what to do? Normally I would go out to eat and then maybe go see a movie. Or just go see a movie. But there is no movie that really interests me. And one of my points of emphasis is not to focus on eating as an end to itself, especially not a dinner. If I want to stick to the spirit of the Skinny Rules when I eat a dinner it should be light and/or small, and there are not a lot of dining options that meet that criteria. I will probably pick a movie to go to, and stick with my practice of having a good lunch and then something light for dinner.
2. Just made a personal commitment on the dining out front. No Fast food burgers & fries until I come under 190. And no Western Omelette (favorite breakfast) out until I crack 200. The first one is what I want to focus on. I have done real well on the fast food front since January. I haven't had any burgers or fries from fast food since the beginning of the year. And only a couple of light meals from Taco Bell over all. That's not ideal, ideal would be no fast food at all, but that's not feasible with 3 kids in the house. Of course the extended ideal would be to not go back to the Wendy's, McDonalds, Carls Jr diet at all. And that really is more what I want. But I do crave the stuff from time to time and I think the best approach is to set a goal/requirement before I can eat it.
3. James has been under the weather this week (again.) This time it's a stomach issue. But if there is one upside to my having gone through all of my own digestive issues is I know what is good and what isn't. So I talked with him a little this morning and stressed that this is a sign that it might be time to start making some changes. Not big ones, because he is really our best eater. But just a few simple changes. Getting away from the bland marshmallow white bread and switching to more wheat bread, and decent wheat bread. Finding better quick meal solutions for the kids in general than chicken nuggets, corn dogs and ramen noodles. It sure would be a hell of a lot easier for Kim and I to eat better if we could get the kids to join with us to a greater extent.

Habits are starting to stick, and glad to return to weekday running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Glad to get back to the weekday run today. It's been a little hit and miss since changing up my schedule. Which fortunately has not had a negative impact, as my weekend runs are getting stronger, especially the long runs. But it would be nice to have a complete week.

My eating habits are slowly taking root. Yeah I still get tempted by the late night snack, or a sweet afternoon snack. But overall I have done quite well to deal with them. And it is all beginning to take effect. Not everything has come together yet like it did the first couple of weeks, but the overall progress has been positive.

Last, I want to discuss weather and cold. Unless my footing is affected I have developed a general resistance to bad weather while running. I don't mind running in the cold, in fact it is kind of nice because it keeps me moving. But one of the things that age and weight loss has done is that my general resistance to the cold has disappeared. For example, Saturday we were up in the mountains, outside with the kids while they played. I had on boots, heavy coat, hoodie and gloves. And yet I still got cold. In fact, while I got a little warmer during the car ride home I still felt cold until I cuddled up with a hat on. This is just damn annoying! I know that it comes with the territory, but still, it would be nice to not feel frozen all the time. And this has a negative effect at work, where I get colder as the day goes on, while some of my coworkers walk around in shorts! This is one part of aging that I would just as soon skip, if that were possible.

A week on hold, but other pieces fell together

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

No running this week :(

That cold I was catching over the weekend hit me hard on Monday so I chose to skip Tuesday so I could sleep. Then I missed turning my alarm on last night, or I turned it off this morning because I needed a little more rest. Mainly due to the dog driving me crazy last night, very restless. Anyway, I now feel back to normal, the cold has run it's 7 day course and it appears to be done.

But, I did stick to my Skinny Rules for the most part, so my loss continued, or at least no ill effects from a couple of missed workouts. Which is the best case I can get out of missing those runs. And also means that sticking to the eating plan works. Which should help me do a better job this weekend, no reason for a 3000 calorie lunch to celebrate, just stick to the plan, and resume running this weekend, and maybe I will achieve One-derland by the end of the month.

Can no longer picture life without running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Trying to get back into this format. Which is easier with a T TH Sa Su schedule, as Mondays are normally reserved for my other blog and pictures.

Anyway, had an epiphany this morning as I staggered through my morning ritual at 4 dark thirty. Despite the early hour, and what that does to the rest of my life (falling asleep watching TV before 9:00) I just cannot really picture my life without this any more. Like the fact that I can only barely remember life without the kids, and have really blanked out on my life without Kim, I have slowly arrived at the point where my memory of a routine that does not include these dark morning runs is pretty hazy. Obviously I think it involved a lot of fast food and big breakfasts (or second breakfasts.)

But it feels so much better to have this routine. Even if the price is struggling to stay awake past 9:00. Or sleeping past 6:30. 

I am beginning to have fun mapping out new long run routes. Part of my general plan to get the kids to see other parts of the city with my weekend visits to different parks is to see different places I can run. And with that I think I have come up with what I think will be a fun new long route to try.