30 days

333 days 14 hours and 9 minutes.  That is what I have left.

Time seems to be passing much faster than I'd like to get ready for this event.

In some respects things are going very well. In 30 days I have been on the treadmill 20 of them. I logged over 49 miles, representing just under 7100 calories burned in 11 hours & 24 minutes.  All are good numbers.  Even today I did my longest run 4.66 miles in 60 minutes. Still I have concerns.

I need to work on upper body more than I do, and I intend to, but not quite yet.

First I think I need to get my diet in order.  And I hate that. 

I really want to lose weight, but I also dont want to give up food I like. Sure the reason I got here was every day burgers, large fries, sodas & foot long subs. And I have cut that down, but still I have not made the progress I would have liked to with my weight. My weight last week was 191, higher than when I started all this July 1. So a little depressing.  Sure one could say I am building muscle. Although I doubt really I have put on that much of it.

No, I think it is still my diet.  I came across two different articles this week, both basically saying the same thing. You cant work off bad diet.

That is a depressing concept.  Even though I am working out, and eating at least OK, I am still taking in too much soda & chips & other 'bad' foods so I am having a negative impact.

August, with some exceptions (like a trip & a wedding), will be spent doing what I am doing now exercise wise but also attempting to get my calorie consumption in a bit more order.  Hopefully it helps, so I can move on to more upper body strength, and then w/ the cooler weather combining it all in one program so I can achieve my goal of beating the spartan beast in June.

333 days 13 hours and 55 minutes. 

Week 3

So this is a little late. in part because I dont have much to say.


Although I did achieve a major goal this past week. I was on the treadmill at a jogging pace for 3.5 miles. It was exhausting, but it is the first of many milestones to cross to be ready for the 12.1 mile race coming up in June.


Additionally I think I am back on target (for a couple weeks) with my workouts. Week 3 saw me complete 9.58 miles in 131 minutes to burn 1353 calories.  Week 1 saw me on the treadmill longer by 15 minutes but due to the lower speeds I only burned 1100 calories.


All in all Id say good progress.

Week 2 & slacking off

So, 2 weeks in & I think I am doing OK.  I will admit I am in the process of slacking off for several days in a row. The last time I used the treadmill was Wednesday (Its also when I stopped the Burpee Challenge).  The reasoning for the break was the reason I started this endeavor - I'm old, or getting older.  This weekend I turned 40.  Part of the celebrating meant not being at home & trying to relax and NOT working out.


I knew going in to this I'd be taking this time off, but it will be one of only a couple anomalies where I dont workout for several days over the course of the coming year. (And at 4 days in a row, the longest) .


As such, on Monday it begins again.  Although I will most likely not make up the Burpee Challenge days I missed, I will pick up from what my current number should be and doing more exercising. Like trying to figure out a way to do the 'Hobie Hop' with out hurting myself.


On a plus note I have made progress, Pants that were 'comfortable' as a Large are now a slightly snug Medium.  And since July 1, if the scale is to be believed I have lost 3 lbs.

End of week 1 & Shoes

Week 1
So 1 week done and I am still alive. July 1 to July 7 I had gone 9.85 miles on the treadmill. 
(14.23 if you include the test mentioned below) 


Pretty much the most I have walked/run/jogged in just about ever in a week. 
 Granted the vacation we took in Portland earlier this year we walked significantly more than that, but it was walking & lots of stops, and lots of eating. 


FYI the treadmill issues were erlated to poor installation by the guys.  But the warranty people were very nice & came out Friday & repaired it to a point were it could be used. We should have it back up to 100% by Wednesday, providing the parts get in at a decent time.


Yesterday I did a 1 hour test, to see how far I could get in 60 minutes. I think this will be a good baseline test to do every couple weeks to see if I have any improvement.  The baseline test put me at 4.3 miles in 60 minutes.  SIGNIFICANTLY better than I had done in any event.  Of course due to injuries I mostly walked through events, plus when I am running I know I will be held up by exhaustion & obstacles.  Still it would be nice to get that to a 5mph average or more for the races, so that I am not out there for 3 hours when trying to complete my 12 mile race.


Shoes
I had purchased for this endeavour a pair of Saucony shoes over the internet at a decent price. (thanks Zappos) Before the purchase we went to a local sotr to be fitted & determine what shoes would be best for me.  I really would have liked to support the local guys & bought there, but  the color schemes they had were hideous.  I went home & was lucky to find that last years colors were not near as bad. I had asked in the store if they could have gotten other models of shoe, and they said no, so I made my purchase online.   What is with all the use of silver? Let alone neon colors.  


here is an example of this years Saucony offerings:

ok the grey/black/yellow is not THAT offensive. But check out the orange ones. 
I am a simple man.  My running shorts are black, shirt- black, socks -black. Yet when I look for shoes my options seem to be more of the 'which power ranger do you wanna be' variety. And to make matters worse, it seems the average shoe lifespan is 300-500 miles from what I have read. Meaning at the aforementioned 9.8 miles/ week I will definitely go through one pair of shoes before my races are completed & be on a second pair.  And that is IF I don't run further than I did during my first week of training. Sure the treadmill is probably not as bad on them but It will mean in a few months I will have to spend more money so I can dress like a happy clown for my races.  


Good thing I know where they sell black Krylon.

Several Items

OK a few things of note for this post.


1) So last night I decided to try & see how far I could go on the treadmill in 70 minutes.  I was hoping for 5 miles, as it seems my previous uses of it had me at a 4.3 avg mph.  It was at 4.4 when something went wrong.  I had upped the speed at times faster than i hd it before & had been on it longer than ever. Judging by the sound/feel, I have think the belt has slipped, probably part of a break in period. Normally I would pull it apart & diagnose the issues.  But as it is under warranty we will see what happens when I get the call back on it tomorrow from the service dept.


2) Today the email came about the Spartan Beast I have been waiting on.  The wonderful world of the Discount Code. 30% off on the Utah Beast.  Of course the first heats are already sold out.  Clearly they picked a good place for the race as only a few days after posting the date and a year away heats are selling out.  I have now signed up officially & updated the image at the top of this blog to represent that. 


3) In reading about this past Utah Beast, from Dirt in Your Skirt, it seems the folks at Spartan Race HQ are changing things up.  Target shooting was included in this past race, along with the traditional spear throw. I am a little apprehensive about this but mostly because it is something I have not done in a race before. 


4) Current work out status.  Today was day 4 of the Burpee Challenge, and to make up for the lack of treadmill I did go for walk. Just as well, several days in a row on it has put me in a bit of pain in the shin/ankle area & last thing I want is a repeat of the issues that plagued me when i originally signed up fr my first event.

Current treadmill only totals since July 1
8.75 miles
1070 calories
4.3 mph average


Not a bad start, but would like to get back on it tomorrow.

Time

I dont plan on posting daily. I just do not believe I have the time or enough witticisms to keep anyone interested if I did that. The plan is to post periodically over the next year, generally when I hit a milestone, do something interesting or have a comment I want to make.


A quick note. In a previous life I worked at seasonal events dealing with volunteers, marketing & promotion.  It mean working pretty much everyday for 2-3 months. Sure there were 'days off' like the time I had to be up & on site for a TV appearance at 4am (until 9am), on the first day off in weeks.  In consideration of this my boss said he handled some of the leg work. But mistakes were made & I had a black eye for a passport photo later that day due to an irate person who was unaware of the noise that would be produced.


When I quit that job I though about all the free time I would have to do other things.  But I had not realized that working on an event had advantages.  Like with all the walking I did daily I did not gain weight from all the fast food I ate (only thing I usually had time for). So I went to an office job, supposed to be 8-5 M-F. And it was, at first. As time passed I gained more responsibility and the small company I worked for became smaller & I did more.  Fast forward to today. The office that had 5 people in it has 2.  The 11 people working from home is now 6.  My day starts at 5am, generally I am done by 5pm depending on daylight savings time & deadlines.  But I am also customer support, web development & more, so not necessarily true.


I have had desires to work out more in the past but 'life' gets in the way. More often than not that life is one spent sitting at a desk doing items for work.I envy people like Chris Davis, who have coworkers & a boss that will allow him the time off to accomplish his goals. 


I know in time I will get better, stronger, faster & can do more with the time I have. But I read the Spartan Race Workouts of the Day and wonder how people have time for it all.  I recall seeing a video once w/ the Spartan Race founders Joe & Andy (and you can correct me on this) where they felt people were getting soft and that was part of the reason for the races. I dont disagree.  But I also can see where that being soft has come from multiple reasons, when one works 2 jobs to make ends meet, or has to work & go to school, and cant afford to buy healthy foods it takes its toll on a person.  When the get home exhausted going for a run or doing squats or burpees is not usually high on a priority list especially when one has kids to care for, meals to prep, bills to pay, etc.


Yes you have to make the decision & set goals & work towards them. This is my plan. But it would also be nice to have more time to put towards those goals.  

Day 1

Training day 1.


So last week in preparation of this we purchased a treadmill.  between Erika & I wanting to get in better shape, needing to work on speed & endurance and of course i being about 2 degrees cooler than the sun outside it seemed like the best possible purchase for the endeavor. Over the last week I have used ti a lot more than I thought I would.  but of course today is the Day 1.


I was surprised to see I am weighing just under191 lbs. Recently I weighed just under 200.  That was about the time I had gotten the news from my doctor about the high cholesterol, vitamin deficiencies and other ailments that made me really consider doing this to get in to a better shape.


In addition to trying to use the treadmill most days of the week at least to walk a bit, I have also instituted a version of the 100 day burpee challenge.  So far so good.  1 down.


Treadmill today was 30 min @ about a 4 mpg average. not too bad.


I have also signed up for my 'other race'  called the ToroLocoChallenge, it will be in September and I think a good gauge to see where I am after a few months of getting ready for my Spartan Races.


AS for the Spartan race next June 29, it looms in the back of my head.  A 12.1 mile race was run there yesterday & I looked at the results.  Sure my goal is to complete it, but I WOULD like a decent time too. The average completion time for this race was 3 hours & 5 min, this is just better than the time it took me to complete the shorter Spartan Race I was in back in February.  I have a ways to go.

Preface

So a long time ago I saw a video on the web about an event in the UK called the ToughGuy. In spite of it being an outdoor/active sort of thing I was drawn to it & wanted to participate. I know That may never happen so I have decided to do the next best thing and participate in local obstacle races in the U.S.  Dear reader please note I am an out of shape computer geek who is more versed in Halo than in real any kind of physical activity. (I actually failed basic PE in high school)


in 2011 I signed up for an event called the Warrior Dash in Florence, AZ.  Summarily I injured myself & hobbled through it against doctor's orders.  Later I walked an event called the Mad Mud Run w/ my girlfriend.  Early in 2012 I signed up for an event called the Spartan Race, thinking it was similar. it was not.  instead of 3.5 miles it was over 8 miles. Obstacles were harder & failure meant calisthenics.  Still, once again injured, I completed the course in about the longest time posted.


Well I have decided 2013 WILL be different. Not only will I be in better shape in my 40th year, I intend to complete 3 spartan races, a 3.5 mile, a 8 mile & a 12.1 mile - called the Trifecta if one can complete this in 12 months. Due to the locations of the races & money constraints I will be doing them all in 6 months.


This blog will follow my training & thought processes as I try to get in shape & complete these 3 events (and one additional) in the next 364 days.