I’m Done With Fat

Well, I am feeling great.  I started at 285 lbs and am currently at 258 lbs, I started the blog at 275 lbs.  I am feeling great, still looking like a phatty.

Monday I decided I needed to buy some new running shoes.  I have been running in these old tennis shoes I wear everyday to work and just around town.  While running I was getting shin splints and ankle pains. I always figured it was because of all the weight that was being tossed around on it, but I figured I would try running with some new shoes.  So I ran to my favorite running store (meaning the only one I knew about) to get fitted.

I walked into the Second Sole, and asked the store employee if he could fit me for some running shoes.  Now I never have been fitted for running shoes before so I am not sure if what I am about to tell you is an actually shoe fitting or if I was getting hit on.

He told me to roll my pants up and take my shoes off slowly and bend at the hips… Okay just the first part not that second part, but I was just embarrassed because I was a virgin to shoe fitting.  He told me to walk around and he said “My what wide feet you have” and disappeared into the back room.  He emerged with 3 different style of shoes.  The first shoes Asics were too lumpy, the second pair shoes New Balance (usually my shoe of choice)  were too loose.  But surprisingly the last pair of shoes were just right.  Nike.  I have never been able to fit into Nike, they usually make their shoe way to narrow.

So I bought them and like a new kid on Christmas eve, I sat down in the middle of the parking lot and proceeded to unwrap my gift and try them out.  I started to run in traffic I was so excited.  After I came to my senses after nearly getting to meet my new friend pavement via semi truck I walked back to my car.

I ran my C25k that day and my ankles and shins still wanted to find a way to detach from my body in search of someone who actually took care of themselves for 23 years.  So I was kind of depressed at my purchase.

But I decided it was simply because I did not break in my new appendage.  So I gave them another chance on Friday for my big 20 minute run.  By the way, what kind of sick and sadistic person thought it was a good idea to jump from two 8 minute runs to one long 20 minute run can kiss my ass.

After getting past the initial shock factor that I will be trying to run for a 20 minutes straight, when 5 weeks ago I was crawling across the pavement looking for nurses after 1 minute of running.  Anyways I was pumped to actually try it, and with my Tweeps behind me I was determined to finish it.  One suggestion was to slow my pace, but if I had to slow it anymore I would be walking backwards.

So I started out determined not to even look at my watch until I felt like 15 minutes have past.  So I started out, wind in my face farts behind me.  It felt great, so after my 15 minutes when my body was saying ‘Okay you proved your point you want to be healthier, I get it now stop before we have a heart attack.’  I decided to look at my watch and realized that only 2 minutes have passed.  I wanted to just kick the next small creature I saw running in my path.  Good thing for them, and probably for myself as well.  No small creature walked   of me.  Just saw people walking past laughing and followed by a baby who couldn’t even walk yet crawling past me in diapers.  So I proceeded to kick the baby and tell myself that I WILL finish this.

Well all in all I did.  I finished.  I completed my longest run EVER.  My football coach in middle school would be furious with me right now.  ‘Why the hell couldn’t you do that in the game, when they ran right past you to score the winning touch down in the big championship game and started dancing on our own football field and started dancing in our stadium and stole all our middle school cheerleaders and then…’

Woops sorry off track. Anyways, I did it and I can’t wait to do it again.

Day 14 went smoothly enough.  I was able to easily get through my push ups.  My C25K was easier than Monday and Wednesday.  I can tell that the program is working.  I am running a little bit faster and my legs are hurting less and less.

Day 15 My run went great, absolutely great.  I started off real strong and finished my first 5 minutes real strong and felt like I could go a lot longer.  The second 5 minute run was over when I saw the 1 mile mark and sprinted until I was past it.  I do not know how but I did. It felt great.  I finished the last 5 minutes strong and was ready to go home and crank out my push ups.

Over the weekend I did my exhaustion test and managed to pump out 36.  36, my initial test was 7.  I added 29 push ups.  I was so ready for week 5. Got home after my great run did the first 4 levels and got to the fifth  level and failed.  I collapsed, I was done.  I fell to the ground and could not push myself up.  I couldn’t believe it.  To come so far and just fail like that.  Oh well though, it happens.  I will finish this week and restart Monday on week 5.

Today is usually my off day but I am starting to feel sluggish and also feel like I accomplished nothing on the days I do not work out. I am finding myself with a lot more energy that I can’t extinguish by sitting down and watching t.v. like I used to. Each day I find myself becoming more and more ancy the longer I sit and I just want to get out and do something.

So today I was sitting there at work itching to do something so I figured I would go walking. Not on my normal flat piece of land that I usually pick, that’s littered with nurses who walk up and down who could easily save my life after I pass out on the track from lack of oxygen.

No I decided to hit the up and down and rugged trails of Mill Creek Park. Not very hard trails, but not smooth flat and level pavement. So after work I headed down to meet my buddy at the trails. Just for the record he sucks at directions. So after he finally shows up to the place he told me meet him at we head out.

It was a very nice day out.  We started out at a brisk pace, and when I mean we I mean myself, as he was trying to walk slow enough so I could still see him in the horizon.

After a few moments I was sweating but this is normal for me as the most minuscule tasks make me sweat pretty good.  The trail was a lot more fun than just running on a flat pavement.  I think I ended up sweating more on the trails today then I did running yet.  It was like any other trail I guess

Lanterman's Mill

, it had its ups and downs… seems like more ups though.  The trail basically ran beside the river and the view was pretty nice the whole walk.

At one point the trail led up to the pavement where my buddy suggest we run around the bend, even though everyone suggested I leave the running to my running days to avoid injury I decided to run a little to get my heart rate up.  The run felt fantastic, I wasn’t worried about speed or time, I was just

running to run and it felt great.  I see now why all you runners choose to run.  I can not wait until I am done with the Couch to 5k so I don’t have to worry about time.  I just want to run.

Half way through we stopped at his grandmas house for a break.  It was only 1.5 miles according to my Nike+ and took us only about 32 minutes.  So we left after a little bit and headed back to our cars.  I was pretty drenched in sweat at this point but I felt great, looked like shit, but felt great.  I think I will be doing a lot more walking on my days off.  I also can see a lot more hiking and possibly some camping in my future.

Here is me after I drove all the way home.  I really broke in that free Gyminee shirt.  My girlfriend didn’t want to give me a hug for some reason when I got home… still cant figure out why.

I was bad over the weekend, I tried to make up for it with a walk on Sunday which seemed to help I only gained .4 lbs.

Couch to 5k
On paper I didn’t think I would be able to do this, before today, the longest I ran was for 3 minutes and that was a record that I set for myself on Monday of last week!  I was determined to give it a try.  At this point I want to give credit to the pod casters I listen to who run and record a podcast.  The only words that seem to be able to come out of my mouth while running is a mix language of grunting and cursing.  So I started out my run while at a slow pace, staring at a snails butt while I did this little half run walk combo that looked like I must be the cousin of that big foot creature they claimed to have caught last week.

After three minutes I felt better than I did after any previous run.  I only had a minute and a half to rest before the devil of a website said I had to run 5 minutes.  I tried to slow my walk before the hellish run, the timed seemed to fly.  After that short 5 second break I started to run, now looking like that cousin but with a cast on my leg and my hair on fire.

Somehow after only what seemed like a few moments I looked at the time and magically the time said I only had 30 seconds. I felt great, I was about to finish (sadly) my longest run ever!  With about 10 seconds left I noticed on my left that snail slither beside me but that didn’t matter.  I still made it and I can’t wait for Wednesday.

Yesterday I bought a new Nike + sports band to start tracking my runs.  I wanted to see the data about how far I ran and pace and also keep some sort of graph.  So starting at the end of this week and from now on I will post my embarrassing runs for the world to see.  Also I am putting the shovel gloving on hold due to a suggestion from Rachael.  She said the push ups were probably getting way to hard way to quick was because my muscles weren’t getting enough time to rest and she is correct I will tell you why later.

Couch to 5k
I did it! I finished week 3 day 3 of the C25k at first I thought I was not going to complete this week at all but after the third day I think I am ready to move on to week 4.  I just got to keep in mind that I am not trying to run for speed right now, just trying to get my body used to running, the speed and distance will come in time.  Below is my week 3 day 3 run.

Push Ups
Thanks to Rachael I was able to get over my hump of only doing the min-max of the push ups.  I stopped doing the shovel gloving for 2 days and was able to push my max push ups to 21. So week 3 maxes are

Day 1: 15
Day 2: 15
Day 3: 21

Alright I am going to go hop in the shower and head to a rib fest to stuff my face!

First off I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who reads this and everyone who has left or gave feedback of any kind, I really appreciate you guys keeping me in check and motivating me.

I finally left the 260s and hit the 250s, albeit only by .4 lbs at 259.6 but its a step.  Today I am rewarding myself with some new running shoes and the Nike + sports-band.

Couch to 5k
Last night it rained as soon as I got to the park to run but I was going to run even if I was drenching wet.  I tried stretching before this run to see if it would help with my shins and legs hurting afterward but it only helped a little so that is part of the reason I will be shopping for new shoes today.

Push ups
I must be getting weaker and weaker because these push ups are killing me.  Its harder then the last day to do push ups.  I know what you are thinking it is supposed to be.  But this is different I was able to pump out 20 push ups the end of week 1 and now for my tests I can’t even pump out 15.

I still do… I think.  Wow I was bad over this weekend increasing my beer intake and eating badly a couple of times.  I also only managed to pump out 16 push ups in my exhaustion test.  So I started today badly by waking up late and not being able to get any type of workout or breakfast in.

Couch to 5k
Today was really hard for me.  I went in thinking I wouldn’t be able to do a whole 3 minutes because the longest I ever ran before was for a minute and a half.  Well with the encouragement of a friend not only did I do it once but twice.  My right leg was killing me, I will have to do some work to stop these shin splints.

One Hundred Push Ups
Well I only did 16  for my exhaustion test so I was in column 1 of week 3.  Why does it seem like every push up I do is harder than the first one I id when I started this program?  My max today was only 15.  I am very disappointed in myself for how slowly I am progressing.

Shovel gloving
Well I still feel really stupid swinging it around but it is getting a little easier and my strength is increasing so I am assuming it is helping.

I am now done with my Week 2 of Couch to 5k and one hundred push ups.

One Hundred Push Ups
Well I didn’t do as many max push ups like I did last week.  But maybe that was because I was doing more before my max?

1. Day 1 Max 9
2. Day 2 Max 11
3. Day 3 Max 14

I still have to do my exhaustion test which I will do sometime over the weekend.

Couch to 5k
This week was tough, my legs are starting to hurt worse and my ‘running’ is about as quick as a mall power walker in the mall.  I started Day 1 off with slow runs, then Day 2 the first run was quicker and Day 3 I got through half the runs quicker yet, so I guess its working.  I am not trying to force myself to go fast, just as fast as my body is capable of.

Shovel Gloving
I really can’t say much about this other than I do it everyday.  It is still prettying tiring to swing the sledge hammer around for 15 minutes straight.

Results?
I started doing the exercises two weeks ago at which I weighed roughly 275.  I am currently at 263.8 which is a drop of about 11.2 lbs which isn’t to bad.  I am noticing increase in my muscle mass as well as my arms and chest getting more solid.  I am finding it easier to do certain activities such as walk up steps and just walk around longer with out sweating and getting out of breath.  So far I am very pleased with my results and its getting easier to ‘WANT’ to work out, it doesn’t feel like such a burden.

I missed day 7, oh well I am right back on track with day 8.  Woke up this morning and did my push ups, only did max 11, I wish I could repeat the 20 I did last week on Friday.  The couch to 5k week 2 is kicking my  butt, I am able to finish it even if I am going as fast as someone who is speed walking.  I am getting bad shin splints and my ankles are killing me for the last couple of runs, my sides are also killing me but I am able to lessen the pain if I take deep slow breaths while running.  Any advice here would be much appreciated.

I got home and did my shovel gloving and that is still making me sweat a lot.  I will do some Wii Fit after the Barcelona / New York game.

Couch to 5k
I did  not wake up at all in time to do anything.  So after work I went running, man week 2 of the couch to 5k was really tough for me but I truly think that, sadly, the minute and a half run was the longest I ever ran for with out stopping or walking during it.  It was tough but I kept pushing myself I was determined to finish.  Half way through when I thought I was seriously going to die I saw a man in a wheelchair coming the opposite way, and as we passed he said hello and continued to go down the trail.  I started to think how fortunate I was to be able to get out and run, where most of my life I have spent indoors and on a computer, where this man obviously like to be outside and active.  He really helped inspire me to finish the last bit of week 2 day 1.

On the way back to my car he was along the side of the trail, my buddy went ahead and was waiting for me (way better shape than I am) and said common and the man in the wheelchair said, he’s coming just give em a minute and was basically just saying words of encouragement as I dragged myself across the path to my car.  This man was an inspiration to me and I doubt I will ever forget that moment.

Push Ups
Anyways I got home and still had my push ups and shovel-gloving to do.  So I started with the push ups and I was beat but I managed to finish it but my max was only 9 push-ups.

Shovel-gloving
I was pretty tired at this point but I managed to swing the sledge hammer around my apartment with out breaking anything other than a sweat.  I was dripping but I felt like I accomplished something and later that night before I went to bed I did about 45 minutes on the Wii Fit.