Satan girl

A few of you are new to my blog and don't know my story. Don't hit the back button this could be a little interesting - okay downright boring, but listen anyway. For the rest of you bear with me. In the past I was a good athlete, somewhere along the way of life I become a slug and allowed my parents bad "genes" to have their way with me. I started on my journey of rediscovery in July of 2007. By the end of last year I had lost 100 lbs and began showing remanants of a runner. I rededicated my healthy lifestyle and set some new goals for 2009. As of yesterday, I 've lost an additional 25 lbs to make a grand total of 125 lbs lost! I signed up on a website at the beginning of the yr as a goal to lose 25 lbs by April 25th (Nashville half.)
Goal accomplished!! The equation is simple. Healthy diet + exercise = Joy (no, not that one.)
I had another killer workout with Satan girl today. I don't think it was a good idea to make a deal with the evil one's daughter. She's alot like her father. She lulles you into thinking that everything's okay then slaps you in the face with pain. After the pain is unbearable she says, it's okay take a break. So then you take a break. She shutters, " Did I say you can take a break? Give me 5 nonstop minutes @ 4% and 7.5 mph!" Then she stares around the room with her sheepish evil eyes and grins. "Does that hurt? Are you gonna die?" *I say to myself, I'm dying* "I'm good" I say. She says, "What did you say?I'm good!?" *Oh no* "Everyone. He says he's good. Up your speed to 8.0mph!" *holy mutha* After the killerworkout, she says, "see you next week?" *Ummmmm* The devil is at work here. Beware of his daughter.
1/2 mile warmup, 7 miles @ 9:28 pace avg @ 3 - 15% incline, then 1/2 mile cooldown.
CONTEST
I have 2 items to give away. All you have to do is make a comment on my blog over the next 2 weeks. I will draw 2 names randomly and announce the winners. The contest ends on Monday April 27th(after my race.) If you win, you will have to give me your address so that I can ship it to you. Easy right?

1 black and 1 pink ZEN Stone

These are much like the Ipod Shuffle. They are each 2 GB's of memory. They come with earphones, USB cable, and a mini speaker built in. They are small-about the size of your car's remote lock/panic. 20hrs of battery life - rechargeable.

Here is the direct link if you want more info. Creative Zen Stone

I'm hoping that my drawing will be for one guy and one gal. If 2 guys are drawn?(someone is getting pink..) haha

If you know anyone else that can use a mp3 player then kick them over here.

Peace

Just Sayin

My normal babble - no need to comment.
This is one of those deep posts again but I'll be quick this time. (Yeah right?) You can always count on one of these posts at least every 3 months from me.
Reveal the secret..
I have you hooked, don't I?
Start off by saying that I weighed in on Monday and gained a crappy 2.5 lbs. What the heck happened? I ate pristine last week watching everything . Along with 20+ miles of running and another 2 hours of upperbody and core workout. Doesn't make any sense. Oh well.... keep on keeping on.
Secret Dave? get on with it already!
Of the many blogs that I read week by week the staple of all blogs is family life. It's who we are, it's what we live for. Not our jobs, not our friends, but our families. Of course the other things are important, but it's our fam's that keep us going. Even though this is your blog, I pretty much know if you have kids and if you are married and EVEN their names. I think it is great!
Hell one of these days(you just don't know it yet) I may be in your area running a race with you, going for a hike or maybe you'll be at my house eating supper. When you are going South on vacation and have a 15 hour drive and you have to pee real bad whose house are you going to use. Mine you fool - you don't want to use that nasty old gas station, do ya? I'll even let you borrow a towel to wash your hands.
I often talk about my 3 wonderful kids. I've shown many pictures because I am proud but a certain question has never been brought up before. So what Dave, get to the freakin point.
Are you married? Is there a Mrs Dave? You killed her, didn't you?

Yes I killed her. This is my confession.

You guys aren't stupid, so I won't go into details, but I am married and have been for 17 years and we are a couple again. There you go.

Is that the freakin secret? Holy crap Dave. Is that all? You suck! I thought we were going to find out if you were the second shooter on the grassy knoll.

Her name is Beckie.

And of course the rugrats

Family's are a blessing. I am proud! Mine and your's..

Next deep post will be sometime in May. Stay tuned.

Please wash your hands after you go pee in my bathroom.

Confession:

I did kill her. I just dug her back up and put some makeup on her. I did a good job didn't I?

Crash Bang Boom

I've had a crazy week - good and bad in many ways, but a week I would not like to relive. I'm always a bad news first kinda guy.
I was in a horrendous traffic accident. I'm obviously okay or I wouldn't be posting this, but my truck is toast and a few others. Driving down the highway approaching a stoplight which was green. A car darted across my path-STUPID!! I didn't even have time to hit my brakes-KABOOM!! My vehicle struck the mid-back of the car cutting it in two. There was a car merging onto the hwy that my forward momentum brought me into. After plowing through the second car and taking off the entire front end of it ,I came to rest on top of a guardrail after I took out the entire guardrail. The intial vehicle went into an uncontrollable spin taking out 2 other cars. 5 cars in all! It was one of the scariest moments in my life! Can you believe noone got hurt? A matter of inches is the difference between life and death. It was that close! God was watching out for all of us. I am thankful to be alive. I'm posting this a few days after the accident as my nerves are now calmed. I have played the scenario over at least 100 times in my head. You had to be there to see the carnage- it was devastating! The most important thing is that everyone is okay. If I get the opportunity, I will post a few picks (when I get em.) Also, very sore - but back to normal..
Running - Yesterday my soreness disappeared and I went out for my long run. It was unseasonably warm (50deg) and I was able to wear shorts and a long sleeve technical shirt during my run; nice change.. The run went great! I ran 10.02 miles in 1:42:55, a full 7 minutes faster than last weeks 10 miler. Last week I had to walk multiple times and stop to stretch my lower back and hamstrings. Yesterday went so much smoother. Only once for about 10 seconds did I have to stretch.
Weigh-IN/Eating - Of course we all know what yesterday was - The SUPERBOWL! Wasn't that a great game?! I wanted Arizona to win, but I knew that Steelers were a more rounded team. I wasn't dissapointed in the game one bit. I hosted a small get together party and served a ton of fattening, high calorie, unhealthy food . I quote my brother, "Dave I swear if you serve that fat-free, green, healthy crap, I'm not coming over." "Just because you are a health nut now, doesn't mean that we have to live it to!" ahahaha. After eating crap yesterday, I was a little weary about by weigh-in today. Then again, other than yesterday - I've have been watching everything that goes into my mouth.

My motivation is strong(feel the force young skywalker) and nothing is going to sway me right now(okay maybe some hot wings and a beer, but nothing else.) Just kidding - don't drink... but the wings , hmmmm? I lost another 2.5 lbs! - WOOT! WOOT!!
January Review - I managed 66 miles this month after the first week of only 9 miles - good recovery. 14lbs lost for the month.. I finely got consistent about strength training and haven't missed a workout yet. Lastly my food choices have gotten so much better. I'm eating a small countries worth of vegetables a day. Moderation and refocus on my goals is the key.
So bad, ends with good and it's ALLGOOD....

Pacing

I left a voicemail on Mother Nature's answering machine today and told her unless it warms up that we weren't friends anymore. She called back and left a message that said, "bite me!"
I really can't complain much because I'm not having the extreme cold like you peeps in the North. It's really starting to suck and sadly we won't see warm weather until March at the earliest. Spring where are you??
I know that everyone has a different philosophy on running and training. I loosely use Mcmillan's running paces to calculate my paces for the day. Along with a mixture of various plans that I have read. The most important aspect that I "try" to do is listen to my body. Easier said than done! I have a hard time doing that due to my competetiveness and my "hard-headed no pain-no gain." My thinking stems from playing football and basketball in high school and college. There was days that I didn't want to do anything, but when practise time came you just had to "suck it up." Hard to lose that mentality. For example: Long run days. They are designed to be slow and steady while working on form and keeping a lower HR. Most of us screw those up! I refuse to run 12 min miles - don't care what plan I'm following. (stubborn aren't I?) Here's my plan that I try to follow from week to week.
The pace ranges are calculated from my recent 5K, 5 mile, and 10 mile races.
Estimated VO2 max: 32 {my VO2 max at age 19: 69!}
Easy Run: 11:15 - 11:45 pace Ain't gonna do it!
Long Run: 11:15 - 12:15 pace [>8 miles] Upset if over 11min pace
Tempo : 9:48 - 10:15 pace Okay with that...
Speed(800m): 4:15 - 4:26 pace Okay with that..
Goal: 1 easy, 1 long>8 miles, 1 speed or tempo,1 medium length of 5-8 miles per week. Anything more than that is an easy run.
I 'm already slow as a snail, so anytime I see >11 min pace I hate it!
I found a neat little website for running paces. It's called runningforfitness and it has various running calculators. There is a calc where you can input your weight and recent race time and it will estimate a pace that you can run if you lose lbs. cool huh? Nice for people trying to lose weight. I figure if I cut off both arms, both legs, and chop off my head that I'll surely be able to run a 3 min/ mile.

Weigh-in is tomorrow. I hate scales! Fingers crossed..

Day Of Reckoning

Can you believe how quick 2008 went by? Here and gone..
Well I believe 2009 will be a great year. I've been thinking how I'm going to plan this year and plan I will. I've always been a "fly by the seat of your pants kinda guy", but this year I'm going to try to be a better planner and to not procrastinate as much. I'm not perfect, so try I will. I've got my calendar next to me and I've already jotted stuff down for the year.
My first race of the year will be the Strawberry Plains 10K on Feb 14th, Knoxville 5K on March 29th, and Greenway 5K on April 5th and possibly the Country Music 1/2 marathon on April 25th. Not sure about the 1/2, but we'll see?
Besides the racing, I also have an early goal of 750 miles this year. My super-duper ultimate goal would be 1000 miles, but 750 for now. That should be doable. If my running goes well in the Spring, (barring the injury bug that seemed to hit every running soul this past year) I will sign up for more races and maybe another 1/2 marathon.
Now the Day of Reckoning!
On Andrew's blog the other day, he posted a weight loss challenge hosted by Robert . Since this year will be the year that I drop more poundage(I will, darn it!), this is just the motivation I need to get my butt moving or should I say stop feeding my face.
So glad the holidays are over! One of the tell-tale statistics that I noticed from my post the other day was the amount of calories I burned while running. 40 lbs worth! If I would've ate properly, I would be at least 20-30lbs lower than I am now. Right? Not upset because it was a good healthy year, and it really was in so many ways. I weighed in today for the 13 week challenge and am highly motivated. I actually turned down my mom's homemade potato salad and cookies today. hehe
Wish me Luck!!!!
This is going to be a good year guys!!
Peace

Dissapointment and Disgust

****WARNING****
*This is a b*tch session*
*Please cover your childrens eyes*
This is more for my motivation that anything, so ignore this post. If you can't then ,Reader Beware! This is not my normal demeanor, but I must open a can of "whoop a**" on myself..
Now that my weekend runners high has wore off and Monday is here. I have this overwhelming feeling of disgust and dissapointment in my weight.
I wonder how much I have really "learned" about my big weightloss when I find myself going back to the "old crappy eating routine." When I weighed myself today, I had a 1 lb weight loss from last week. Great right? Look deeper.. In the last 3 months, I have been averaging nearly 20miles a week of running. There is no excuse as to the reason why I should not be losing more weight! I have been at a 6 month plateau.. LOL, there is no such thing!! maybe 2 weeks, not 6 months! Stop eating garbage Dave!
I love running, it is my drug.. BUT, I have taken away too much attention from my intial plan which was weightloss. I've given myself the excuse that since I run I can eat whatever the hell I want to. (Can you tell that I am angry!!!?)
Do you know what my BMI is? 34! I am just a hair under the "excessively obese", and am currently in the "obese" category. If I lose 35 lbs I get upgraded to the humbling "overweight" division.
With my intial weightloss there was satisfaction, mucho compliments on my appearance, new clothes, new outlook. Now it just reality.. Long way to go.
This weightloss thing is such a daunting task. It takes my full attention, attention to detail. Yes pain, yes suffering, yes agony. Anyone tried to lose weight and not felt hunger pangs?
Am I setting myself up for failure again, dont know? But I will keep trying...

I feel motivated today to eat good. Today I will be a rock!

Weigh In and work

Can you tell that I am back to 70 hour work weeks? Suckola!! Luckily I am off the weekend.
Went to Boomsday on Monday, I'll post a few pics this weekend. I've been way to tired to run after work, but I did manage 2.5 miles yesterday evening, ran out of light though. I feel like I am in a running deficit for the week- catch up this weekend?
One good thing about work is that I haven't thought about eating too much, too busy to. Weighed in and I'm down 6 lbs- yahoo!!! It's about what I expected, but something deep inside hoped to have lost more.

Weigh in and Grief

You can proably tell by the title that I wasn't too happy with my weigh-in on Wednesday. I put back on 12 lbs over the last few months. I haven't been eating too bad, but a few bad choices and my fear of the scale has caused it. I just need to weigh myself at least every 2 weeks and remember to be more diligent with my food choices. I'm glad that I have stopped the bleeding and have refocused my attention to my diet.
Weighed in this morning and have already lost 2 lbs. The early few pounds is usually water loss, but I don't care - I'll take it. I have never had a problem losing weight when I have been consicious of it, but gaining it back has been the problem. I love food - all kinds. You name it and I'll eat it. I think if I just remove the portion of my brain that likes food., I'll be alright.. hehe
I admire people that are able to stop eating when they fill that "full" sensation. One of my problems has been the inabitlity to stop when full. Our society encourages it. Look at all of the buffet restaraunts out there. 75% of the people at a buffett will say when done, "I shouldn't have ate that much."
Good run yesterday evening. My legs have felt light lately - hope it is a trend. Over the last few months I have been running for enjoyment with no set goals in mind and consequentily have gotten slower on my runs because of it. The running with "no pressure has been nice, but the dissapointment after the run due to lack of pace hasn't been. The last week was fun due to 2 days of "no pressure" easy runs and 3 days of goal oriented runs. I'm gonna stick with that plan.
I had 2 days off of running due to work obligations, so yesterday I decided to speed it up with intervals. Even though I was on my feet for 14 hours yesterday at the hospital, I ran rather speedy for me. I avg'd a 9:25 pace over 3.5 miles(33mins) with a warmup mile and a cooldown 1/2 mile with my fastest mile @ 8:36. I also did 3 strides of 30 seconds within the intervals/ no breaks though. Almost felt like I was in a race. I hope to do intervals at least once a week and throw in more strides from time to time. Enough for now..