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.

Prepping for a half-marathon.



Howdy, peeps!

I'm hoping to get back into a more regular blog update schedule now that my wife and I have mostly finished moving into our new house.  We're in lovely Kenmore, WA now which gives us some great opportunities to get out and about in a new community.

Most notably, I am close to the Burke-Gilman trail which  I can reach on foot with about a 1.2 mile walk. From there the trail goes all the way to Seattle, giving me plenty of walking path.. or biking, if I decide to evolve into that at some point. It is tempting.

This past weekend Leslie, Parul and I walked about 6 miles, starting at my house and hitting the trail, then a local bookstore and a grill for lunch, before rounding back home. It was a nice walk down - but the way back was loaded with hills, both  up and down.  It was tough - I was sweating and my heart was pounding by the top of some of them.

Leslie had a laugh at my tactic for hills.. put my head down, lean into it and just go. ;)

We're preparing for a pretty big event for all three of us, which will be on June 23rd.. we're all participating in the Seattle arm of the Rock and Roll Marathon.  Leslie and I are walking (13.1 miles!) and Parul is running the whole marathon, double the distance.



The chart showing elevation changes for the half marathon route. Hills ahoy. :)



It'll be the longest continuous walk I've ever done in my life.  A year ago? Just walking from home to someplace a mile away would have been daunting to me. I thought walking 5 blocks down to the grocery store on the corner and back was a pretty decent hike.

Since we took our trip earlier this year to Hawaii, I have been a bit off-plan with my eating, and I have not been out walking much on weekends. My weight has remains at or very slightly over 250, which was what I got down to in January.

It's time to get the ball rolling again. This marathon is my catalyst.

After that, I plan to reset to phase 1 of my mostly-Dukan diet, and get back to work.  I'm drawing myself a new line in the sand:

200 pounds by Thanksgiving. That gives me 5 months.

During that time I will:

• Walk on weekends - preferably both days but at least one day, at least 3 miles.
• Walk 30+ minutes during workdays at minimum.
• Stick to a high protein diet with low fat, salt, sugar and carb intake.
• Set walking goals - places to reach on foot from my current residence.
• Locate & participate in local health-related events.

I also ordered a pedometer, so I can do some basic step tracking. I thought about one of the fancier ones and decided I don't need all that.  Alrighty, over 'n out. 

Moving on and moving in!

Good morning, fellow humans.

I have some spectacular news - we've emerged from the other side of the house buying process and located a new home in Kenmore, WA! It cuts out work commute down by 20 minutes and keeps us close to family and friends, we're absolutely thrilled to become first-time homeowners.  Let me tell you - being in better shape is a good thing as soon I will be taking on more physical tasks around the new house and yard.

OK, before I go further here are a couple of pictures of the place - the outside, and the kitchen, which will obviously show up in this blog often. ;)



It is going to be a very busy month for us as we finish packing, organizing all of the things associated with moving like calling utility companies, and settling in.  The past few months have been ultra hectic for us as we have been out looking for places and trying to figure life out in general.

As far as my health plan - I'll admit I've paused a bit on that, as finding the time to cook properly and be out exercising has been a challenge. I haven't put any weight back on though - just haven't made much further progress. Post moving I have pretty easy access to the notorious Burke-Gilman Trail and can make use of that. :)

My use of the Dukan Diet started out very strict and I altered it over time - the original timeline expected me to hit my 'true weight' of  230 pounds in June of this year, which I can still pull off.  They also think that's where I am staying for the long haul - which I disagree with, I plan to push it further and try to get down to 200 or so, which is going to take some serious dedication.  I've shown myself that thanks to my better eating habits and regular exercise, I am not going to pack a bunch of weight back on.

Now I need to get back to business and shed the rest of the chub, and achieve my goal of 200.  I am going to aim for doing this by August 29th.  I'm sitting at 250 right now - that gives me 4 months roughly.

Why August 29th?

Because that's the day I started this whole thing up last year, 80+ pounds ago!

Life is a busy thing.

Potential new kitchen? Hmmmm...

I've really been pressed for time lately, and the blog has fallen into a lower priority as a result. Sorry about that, my few reader peeps.

We did go to Hawaii and have a hell of a time and when I get a few minutes I'm going to share some of those pix and stories. It was amazing.. first vacation we managed to do which didn't involve the words Las or Vegas.

Recently, life took an unexpected turn for us when we found out the landlords we lease our townhouse from decided, "Oh, we won't actually bother paying for the building we own any more. Nobody will mind... right?"

We were sitting at home a few Fridays back and saw a camera flash on the front porch - and then discovered a private notice that they defaulted on their payments for this building three months ago. I'm still not entirely sure what the process is - but it'll be months before they either succeed or fail to make amends - worse case scenario, they foreclose, the bank sells the place to someone else.

We want to be out of here before that happens. Less headache.. we wanted to move anyways.

So we're looking into the possibility of becoming first time home owners, working with an agent who is a family friend of a few years and who is helping us freak out a little less - we've been out peeking at a few houses, the picture up there is the kitchen in one of them.

More on that as we go but this is why I am busy lately and don't have much time for blogging!

Meanwhile, we've also been enjoying ourselves out and about.  My diet is still on cruise control - I'm not gaining weight but not losing anything, hanging out between 250 and 252 for a month or so now. I can live with that for the moment.

We found a fantastic place in Edmonds called The Loft.  I indulged in pancetta, walnut and wine-sauce prawns, asparagus and roasted potatos.

Here you go, enjoy my sinful feast. I promise to get back on track and blog more productively soon as I can. ;)

Still at it!

Good day, humans.  I haven't put up a blog entry in weeks - for a few reasons.

Primarily I was out of town on vacation, and writing a blog did cross my mind, but we also had a malfunctioning internet connection at the rental house.  It's also difficult to think about writing a blog when you can walk 50 feet and sit on a beautiful beach. O:)

I never blogged about Christmas, either. What a slacker!  I'm sure my Hawaii photos are more alluring anyways, so stay tuned. 

While down in Maui, a sickness hopped from one of us to another and I was down with it for a week or so upon returning home.  It was bad enough to lead to pnuemonia for my friend Leslie, but I somehow dodged that bullet.  My wife got it next, and is just recovering. We haven't had much ambition to sort through lots of photos and write blogs, etc -- but we will! :)

In the meantime, here is an ultra compressed summary, from my diet standpoint, and in general:

I ate what I felt like. Including the Loco Moco (last day!)
I walked, but not a great deal. Mostly around the beaches, and aquarium.
I swam and snorkeled. Fighting the waves was awesome.
I drank. Mostly longboard and pipeline porter. A bit of whiskey. OK, maybe more than a bit.
Speaking of drinking... at one point, Jason pan fried a Twinkie™.

We had an incredible time and, all told, despite it all - I only gained 5 pounds, and most of that is just water weight. Already back down to 253 and now that I am recovering from collective sickness, it's time to see about fighting the second half of my weight battle, the tougher half as I push down first towards 221 and my 100 pounds lost marker, but then hopefully more towards 200. 

I have already lost 70+ pounds. I can sure as hell do this. :)

But seriously.

Pan fried twinkie.

It was

DELICIOUS.

Two Fiddy

Mark - Minecraft style.

I have a very short blog post today - but a very important one to me.
I hit my first major long-term goal on this plan, this morning.

250 pounds. :)

Since embarking on this change, I have therefore dropped 71 pounds - but it's more like 90 since I really started attempting to lose weight by joining my sister at a local gym way back in January of 2010.

It's been quite a journey the last four and a half months.  I've had so much support from friends, family and co-workers and I can't thank people enough for all of it.  I am feeling very good and looking forward to the rest of this year, and hopefully achieving my next big goal - losing a full 100 pounds on this new plan, which I'll do when I hit 221.  I'll call it 220 just to round things off.  That won't be the end, but it'll be what I initially set out to do.

Apart from numbers on a scale, I have learned to respect food in a new way, and to be selective when shopping, snacking and going out to eat.  With a better understanding of nutrition I don't feel like I am 'on a diet' any more.  I feel like I am in control of my eating habits, for the first time in many years.

This is the last blog post I am going to be making for awhile, too.  Dawn and I are off to Maui this Sunday and gone for a week.

Anyone who wants to see where we'll be can check this out:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=221+S+Kihei+Rd,+Kihei,+HI+96753&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.621153,113.818359&oq=221+S&vpsrc=0&hnear=221+S+Kihei+Rd,+Kihei,+Hawaii+96753&t=h&z=17

Aloha.  I'll be back with more recipes, inane antics, and such when we return.

I never made a blog post about Christmas day, even.

Such a slacker, sheesh. ;)

-Mark

( -__- )

Pre-Vacation Weigh In

Click for Ze Beeg Version™

I can't claim to have been particularly attentive to my diet the last few days - I had french fries a couple of times, and some biscuits the other night, and even munched on some french toast with syrup. Somehow, I've still managed to lose a couple of my holiday pounds and that's a good thing.  Down to 252 this week, lowest I've managed to get yet.  That puts me one pound shy of losing 70 pounds since the start of my Dukan-based diet.

Next Sunday, we're headed out to Hawaii.  It's the first time we've been and we're both super excited about it and making all sorts of plans.  I'm sure while I am there, I'll sample assorted foods and do some drinking, but hopefully the damage will be minimal. We'll see.  Leslie was all excited about trying 'Loco Moco' which is a dish they have all over that sounds like someone's focused, deliberate attempt to put every single thing I have avoided eating on this diet onto one delicious, fat, carb and calorie-clogged plate.

I'm so looking forward to it.

Here's the first image you get from google if you look for "Loco Moco"

Eggs, Beef, Gravy, Rice, noodles, mac salad... and red dye #3

Apparently in Hawaii, everything you eat also comes with a scoop of macaroni salad.  I was somewhat familiar with this thanks to the local presence of L&L Hawaiian BBQ in Lynnwood, which has very tasty mac salad.  Curious about this, I tapped into the mighty power of the intertubes and asked, "why is macaroni salad so popular in Hawaii".

This is what the intertubes taught me.

I'll sum up for you though. As with most comfort foods - that shit was easy to make, and cheap, and abundant, so now it is everywhere.

Alrighty, over and out.