Time Flies. Or does it crawl? It seems that four years have slid by while I lived my life and didn't think much about this blog.  During those years a lot has happened, as will be true in any life. I am mostly in good healthy and happy.  Currently back in the weight loss world as I prep myself for a minor surgery coming up later in the year.

Nothing much else to say for the moment except that I've gone back to this blog to steal my own recipes and get some reminders and self motivation.

Maybe I'll get back into the good habit of posting here, as it definitely makes for a good motivator. Over 'n out!

2 new critics at my place. Yep.

So I haven't written a post in this blog in about a year.  I'd say it safely mirrors the amount of time in which I haven't thought about this sort of stuff, and that has had consequences for me.  I've put weight back on and slid right back into poor dietary habits, and less exercise.  The time has come for a redirection of things and to get back on track.

I'm planning to cut all the bad habits right off again as I did last time, and in fact, I am re-reading my own blog going.. yeah, I'm bad again, time to take my own advice.  For health, comfort, and emotional reasons I need to shed weight again and use the good tools I learned before to do it.

It's also taught me that I wasn't quite as changed as I thought.  It's a lifelong commitment to become healthier and when life got harder, I went back to the comforts of sitting at home, eating too many snacks, going out to eat vs. cooking, etc.

I think new year resolutions are gimmicky but it is a good time of year to get a clean start on things.

My near-future plans:

• Get some new walking shoes, and new walking-compatible work shoes
• Toss the existing snack food at home
• Budget, eat out rarely, cook more
• Make this a priority, not a "I should do this.."

Fact is I am very healthy apart from the number on my scale, but to stay that way that number and the physical fitness I will develop reducing it are important.

Nothing is certain in life but I know I FELT so much better when I was on the right track.

I doubt anyone is reading this any more and I likely won't push it to people but I am going to write here now and then to keep myself honest and we'll see.

If you DO read this, leave a comment and let me know.

Bye, all. ;)



Adios, 2012.

Our place, Xmas'd up.

We've reached the end of what has been a very tumultuous year for me.  There has been a very even mix of good and bad, and I am ready to move on to 2013 and get back to a more normal pace to things, if possible.

I started the year by heading out to Hawaii for the first time in my life with my Wife and 3 friends, enjoyed a lot of sunshine and sandy beaches while it snowed back home.  It was a fantastic start to the year.  I was down to my goal weight (for the time being) - and very healthy, and things were going amazingly well.

Not too long after we got back from that, we got the unexpected notice that our then-landlords had failed to pay their mortgage for the past several months, and it was quite likely they would foreclose.  It put pressure on us to make a quick decision about where to move - rent, buy?  We'd been living in the same townhouse for a very long time and were quite settled in.

In brief - we went with buy, and our real estate agent, a family friend, helped us patiently find a great house we've been in since May.  The combination of people who came together to help us make that transition between family and friends has been extremely touching, most definitely the highlight of the year for us.  I feel extremely lucky to know so many awesome people.  Extremely lucky.

Unfortunately, not very long after making our big move, we went through a quick-fire series of unhappy events.  We lost both of our cats for varying medical reasons.  My brother had to go to the hospital.  Several friends either let us know they were moving away, or went through troubling problems of their own which separated us for a while.  Our year which started in turmoil just developed more and more.

Things have thankfully calmed down in recent months, and we enjoyed a pretty awesome Christmas at our new house, with friends and family, as is our tradition.  We even attended a neighborhood cookie exchange and got to meet some of the neighbors, it's a good little community we've managed to settle into here.

The confessional part of this blog post is - I've put a few pounds on this year.  Not too many, as I've been pretty good about my diet and I do get out walking on a regular basis still - including numbers trail runs this year and a hike or two.  And oh yeah - a half marathing in the middle of the year!  But, I have gotten back to eating some things I shouldn't, and returned to a few bad habits I ought not have with food as well.

As cliche as it seems, my new year's resolution will of course be a return to good eating and exercising, and hopefully to updating this site on a more regular basis as well. There are a lot of great opportunities in our new area for walking and I plan to explore more of them.

Thanks to anyone who actually reads this stuff, I mostly do this to help keep myself honest and on track.  I hope everyone has a happy new year and that 2013 is a little more stable! The world didn't end in 2012 but it sure got shaken up a bit for us.

Evergreen Trail Runs

My most recent foray into the world of walking has been participating in a series of trail runs.  It started with a 5 mile trail run at Soaring Eagle.  These are held by Evergreen Trail Runs, who do this sort of thing all the time.  I went with Leslie, and we finished up the 5 miles (walking) - in about 90 minutes. Meanwhile, Parul ran the 10 mile version.. the bum. 

Here's a couple of mugshots for ya from the first trail run/walk.





Five miles on a trail isn't like five miles on pavement.  It means much more frequent elevation changes, winding paths, and obstacles like roots, rocks, fallen logs, etc.  This particular course started out on a broad well maintained trail which you can see in the second photo (which was taken as we finished, actually).  About a half mile in, it veered off into the woods though.

I found myself breathing harder, but we kept up a pretty good pace. Our official finishing time was 1 hour 45 minutes, but we started about 15 minutes late, thanks to traffic. It meant we were all alone for most of the course, too.  I peg us at 90 minutes, then, averaging a 18 minute mile. Not bad for tough terrain.

Every time I go on an adventure like this, I learn something. This time it was:

Carbs near the end = turbo boost.

Now - I'm not generally supposed to have carbs while on the Dukan diet at this phase. Then again, Dukan wants you walking 20 minutes a day.. I was above and beyond that a good bit (considering I'd already done 30 minutes earlier in the day before the tail run).

I was feeling pretty tired by the time we hit the aid station at the 4 mile mark.  When we got there, a really nice guy was manning the station with a friend of his. He said they both belong to a blues rock group called Ravenwolf.  I got some water, and then Leslie asked me if I wanted some M&M's.  My first thought was..

Candy, er.. no.  Then I asked, do they always have these? Leslie said yeah - it's quick carbs, it'll give you an energy boost in about 3 minutes. Prior to that, I was feeling worn out - I'd worked all day and then been walking 4 miles in the woods.

Sure enough - about 3 minutes after I had some, I got a definite energy boost. Leslie cracked at me, "Sure, sure, NOW you take the lead." Hey, Leslie - if you read this.. you know how you keep asking me if I want to go faster? You walk at my pace and above. If anything, I'm slowing you down.  As they say in that one place... you go, girl. 

There's also a fellow who goes on these runs all the time who is legally blind - and he completes them mostly without trouble. I really have no excuses for not doing these on a regular basis. :)

Consequently:

I went to the Dash Point 10K (About 8 miles) a little while ago, and completed it in 2 hours.

I am going to the Steilacoom run (See here) - on 10/21, another 10K.

OK, long post, sorry for the potential 'TLDR' here.

Monday Check In

Mornin, world.

Just a very short blog post today to check in and keep on track. After being back on plan for a little while, I'm seeing my weight creep slowly back down a bit, as expected.  Returning to better eating habits means shedding some water weight right off the bat. The trick now is to keep on target again and keep motivated, exercise, walk, etc.

I'm hoping to have some new recipes up online to share soon too, as we have a beautiful new kitchen at the house and I am eager to get into more home cooking again.  We made a fish recipe recently that was good apart from me underestimating the power of the new oven and overcooking it slightly.

I've got a whole new set of walking routes now that we moved too, so I'll have some photos of that to share as well.  I am going to get a post up in the next few days talking about some of the other things I've been up to lately.

Haven't got much else to say today so.. here is a pic of some clouds. Kaybye.



Dukan Reboot!



Click for Ze Big Version



Last week I started the Dukan Diet all over again, from the ground up.  Since ending my strict adherence to the diet in January this year, I put about 10 pounds back on and knew it was time to get back on track.

I didn't weigh in yet this week but expect to see that number dip down lower as I shed water weight, since I am back on a no/low salt diet.  I'm  not worried about putting 10 pounds on, since I know I have all the right tools and motivation to be able to lose it.  I also have the privilege of a lot of support from family and friends, and my very small number of blog readers (thanks for being here, sorry, there's no free beer.)

Putting things back into perspective is a good start for me.  I weighed 340 pounds at one point. Now I'm 260, and slowly falling. I've still managed to shed 80 pounds.  That's nothing to sneeze at.  Let me see.. how to best put that into perspective? The average weight of a thanksgiving turkey from the store is about 15 pounds. Let's call it 20 to be generous. That means.. if I wanted to replicate what it was like to be me at my heaviest right now, I'd need to..



Pick up 4-5 of these at once and lug them about 24/7!!!

Alrighty!

I feel sufficiently motivated now. :)

I have another tool in my arsenal, a new grill we bought after moving. I'm learning my way around it still - it's much better than my trusty ancient one I ditched during the move. Grilling is a fantastic way to cook healthy veggies and meats, no matter the time of year.  This one took about 4 hours to put together, has a nice little side burner. Nothing fancy, but it makes me happy.

We also haven't quite gotten to housewarming yet and a grill is downright necessary for that IMHO.

Over and out - wish me luck in round 2!

Some guy

Rock and Rolling it

The start line.. dun dun DUNNNN

Saturday, June 22nd I participated in the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon.   Click here to see my finishing time and stuff.. got it done in just under 4 hours.

Leslie and I walked the half-marathon, and Parul (who has been training like a monster) ran the full marathon.  The half is 13.1 miles - the longest uninterrupted walk I have done in my entire life, to date.

My journey to this event has been the work of several years, and if you asked me if I'd ever even go and WATCH a marathon at the start of that I'd have laughed at the thought.  Getting in better shape this past year and dropping a bunch of weight has been a huge help - and the motivation I have had from my friends and family and especially my wife have really carried me to this point.

I blame Leslie and Parul for the Marathon - they signed me up and then as an afterthought, let me know I was going. ;)

The rest of this post is going to be a combination of photos I snapped with Leslie's camera while walking, and me discussing the walk itself in detail.  For those of you who might not want to read all of it, here's a short summary:

This was very difficult, and I wasn't fully prepared.  I did it anyway, and was proud of the blisters and aching feet.  Dawn watched me limp for a week.  I'll do it again sometime!

Now, on to the good stuff.  First, a photo of me taken at about 5am, driving down there. As you can see, I was thrilled to get an early start!




To get good parking - we had to be AT the garage at 5:30am.  That means I got up at about 3:30 in the morning, and was in a car an hour after that heading down to Seattle.  The race started and ended at the Seattle Center.  It is an iconic part of the city, and launching into this event from the shadow of the Space Needle seemed very appropriate.  There were approximately 18,000 people in the marathon.  Yeah, 18,000!





Here's a photo for reference, as we queued up to get going. File this image under 'collective insanity'. We were in 'corral 42' - which means 41 other groups of people started before us. That's why my 'chip time' for the race shows 3 hours 54 minutes, but the 'clock time' is higher - we didn't get going right at the start.  For this event we tied plastic ribbons into the laces of our shoes containing a disposable microchip - so when you walk through checkpoints, your progress and time is tracked automatically. Pretty slick. No need to turn it in later - just toss it!

I've done a handful of 5K walks before, including the MS Walk up in Bellingham several times and the Jingle Bell Run last December. 5K is about 3.5 miles.  It's a decent walk - enough to get your heart going.  It's also about about 1/4 the distance of a half marathon.  I got a brand new pair of Brooks walking/running shoes not long before the marathon (love them) - and I dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

Here's something people do at Marathons - I had no idea:

Wear an old coat you don't want so you are warm in the morning. Then when the race starts - people toss them to the side, and they are collected and donated to those in need of clothing.

Accordingly I wore a huge blue coat which.. used to barely fit me, and now, I could smuggle a stillborn elephant around in it. When we started, I tossed it to the side after a half mile or so and never looked back.  In a way I was tossing a reminder that I used to be a lot larger.  Maybe a bit contrived.. but it felt damned good.

We got lucky with the weather - it was cool and overcast, no punishingly hot sun on us, and no drenching rain.  There was a morning fog gently clinging to the building tops as we got going for real.  If this isn't Seattle weather, nothing is.

The other thing that makes the Rock and Roll Marathon.. well, Rock and Roll - is the music. They station bands along the course, every mile or so, on temporary stages. Some of them were pretty good! Some others.. were groups of people, with instruments.. and a singer! Yeah. But they added a cool added zing to things and something to look forward to.  There were also tons of people watching, all along the way - groups cheering, people with inspirational signs. The all-important tables with people handing out water or Gatorade along the way, naturally.

Here's an example of one of the bands - it's also just amusing to see them.. well, here:

The marathon is tough stuff. Even people who do them all the time know you have to really be ready for it and expect it to tax you.  A lot of doing this - especially for someone like me, who isn't in peak physical condition - is willpower.  I have that in spades these days, thankfully.  So here is a chronicle of the rest of our journey.  It is surreal and fascinating to walk the closed-down streets of Seattle, and along the freeways.  Being me, I couldn't help thinking - this is what the zombie apocalypse is always like in movies.. a bunch of people trudging down the freeways, while eerily, there are no cars moving in sight.

Enjoy, Enjoy. Rememebr you can click these to see bigger pix.



Coconut man says.. this way, citizens!



The sun is trying to break through...



Mile 3 - almost 5K down. Still feeling good.



First big hill. Here, people falter for the first time. This is tougher.



No time for love, Dr. Jones. Drink, toss your cup and get going!



Seattle's finest.. playing Angry Birds, probably.



Awesome mural artwork.



Even awesomer, more mural-ier artworks.



This is where it really started to get hard. Conversation dwindled.



A somber memorial guard near the water...



DJ at the end of a tunnel section



You wouldn't think so - but walking banked corners sucks more than hills. :|



Passing cars honked at us and people waved.




Very strange to walk on the raised freeway sections!

 

Hardest mile in the course. At least at mile 12 we could go, "Just one more.."



Some last-minute motivators near the end!



Finish line - beyond this, we were handed an assortment of goodies.



Gear check after the finish line.


Part of walking the marathon is a free beer at the end.  What really happened though is.. we crossed the finish line, got our medals for finishing.. got handed water, Gatorade, bananas, bagels, chocolate milk, energy bars.. and then found the beer tent was down a staircase and said, "Screw that, let's go sit in the car. Parul isn't done yet and will be a little while." ;)

As we were picking up our gear bags from the fleet of handy-dandy UPS trucks it cut loose and started to  pour, and I do mean pour. In seconds the whole Seattle Center was absolutely soaked.  Parul ran  his last 2 miles in the rain while we limped back to the car and hung out.  I wasn't there to see it - but I like to think he Shawshanked a bit at the finish line.

This was a very emotionally and physically taxing thing to do for me. By mile 7 I was tired and starting to hurt.  By mile 8, as we headed uphill again, I knew it was going to be very hard to finish.  My feet were killing me, even in new shoes and socks.  My left smallest toe was blistered badly.

As I mentioned above.. Mile 11 was the killer. At Mile 11, mentally, I was wondering if I could get through this thing.  It was the longest mile in the course, hurting, sweating, tired, and seeing that sign and saying.. "It isn't even the last mile yet!"  Then, of course.. a couple of grandmotherly woman walked past Leslie and I chatting about what sort of burgers they were going to make for dinner, as if they were just out on a casual stroll.

At the start of the year - I was down to 250 pounds, and on track. I went to Hawaii on vacation, and life has been a massive whirlwind since then which has seen me lose both of my cats, move into a new house, and walk 13+ miles in one go.  I'm up at about 260 pounds right now, because my eating habits have slipped a bit.

It's time to Dukan all over again - I am getting ready. But this time, it sounds like I might have a bonus player involved. Dawn is considering joining me - my vegetarian wife, contemplating a mostly-meat diet.

Life has endless surprises this year.