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I bought running shoes last night!

WooT!

As I mentioned the other day, all of my running, working, and a large portion of my casual day to day stuff had been in a pair of Nike Reax.  I didn’t buy them with the intention of working out at the time, I bought them because they looked cool, but they worked for me.  I was used to running in them, and I didn’t have in pain in them or anything, but the tread on the soles was almost completely worn away, so I knew their days were numbered.

So I went shoe shopping.  Instead of just going to Kohls and picking up whatever looked nice, I went to Fleet Feet Baltimore in the quest to find the right shoe for me.

 I walked into the store holding my Reax (their website recommends bringing in your old shoes), told the nice lady at the counter that I wanted to be fit for running shoes, then she looked down at what I was holding and said “You’ve been running in THOSE?!”

Crap.

Anywho, she had me sit down and take off my shoes and socks, and could pretty much tell from the getgo that I overpronate (like crazy, apparently).  This was because she saw the huge callouses on the side of my big toes (which she even had her co-worker come over to look at, ugh).  She then had me run back and forth a bit in the main aisle of the store, then I ran on a treadmill for 30 seconds while she videotaped my foot movement.  After reading Sue’s post on the subject the other day, I kind of had a hint of what to expect, but it still blew my mind that there was so much involved.

After all of that, I given 2 pairs of New Balances (don’t know what kind though), and a pair of Brooks Beasts.  The first pair of New Balances and the Brooks Beast fit beautifully (the second NB’s were very tight, even the wider ones), but in the end I with the Brooks, in a size “12 2E”.

The shoes, and a pair of Balega Hidden Comfort Socks, set me back $148.  It was a little more than I was hoping to spend, admittedly, and I probably could have gotten them cheaper online, but I was excited, and I wanted them NOW! so I bought them anyway.

I also found out the Fleet Feet hosts free outdoor runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm and 6:30pm.  I might be looking into that as a way to increase my outdoor running experience.  They also have marathon and half-marathon training classes starting soon that peaked my interest.

My “running supply purchasing” high then took me to Target, where I bought a couple of Champion C9 T-shirts and Champion C9 Boxer Briefs (which I couldn’t find a link for, probably because there were on clearance).

AND THEN…

I got home to find two more bits of awesome: Terminator Salvation had come in from Netflix, AND, my Baltimore Marathon Training Shirt had finally come in!

The picture quality sucks, so I apologize, but its basically an Under Armour shirt that says “Baltimore Running Festival” and “IN TRAINING.”

Speaking of the Baltimore Marathon, when I told the lady at that store that I had signed up for it, she said I signed up for one of the tougher marathons (very hilly, apparently) and that I probably should have signed up for the Marine Corps. Marathon.

Crap #2.  Still though, I’m up for the challenge.

So I didn’t do any running in the new shoes last night, but before work this morning I armed myself w/ my shoes, a C9 shirt and my fancy new boxer briefs, and I ran two miles on the treadmill.  The shoes felt very nice, but it was definitely different. I was also feeling the run a bit in my calves, earlier than I usually do anyway, but I’m supposing it due to not being used to the shoes or the support they provide.  It was also nice to not have my shirt feeling all soggy and gross post workout. 

And the fact that my boxer briefs weren’t riding up all over the place and causing chafing? BEAUTIFUL!

Sorry if that last part was TMI

Have a great day, everyone!

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!

My legs are STILL sore…

…but it’s an soreness brought on by accomplishment…

…

…yeah, that was lame, deal with it.

I ran my first ever race yesterday, the Mighty Medford Freeway 5k, located in Westminster, MD.  This was my first race, and my first real attempt at outdoor running, and it.was.AWESOME.

The course was mostly flat w/ some very small sloping areas, until you hit the halfway mark, which involves climbing up a very large (ie. a bitch of a) hill.  I was doing good with running/jogging up until that point, but I had to start walking once I was halfway up.  I had to walk one other time during the second half, but that was only for about a hundred feet.

Overall, I SURPRISED THE HELL OUT OF MYSELF and finished in 30 minutes and 59 seconds.  Wow.  I had been running 5k on the treadmill and finishing it about this time, but I thought the roadrace was going to instill a nice dose of reality and I was going to finish much slower.  Once I saw a ton of people passing me, I resigned myself to a) trying not to be last, and b) trying to finish in at least 40 minutes.

I finished well below 40 minutes , and I wasn’t last, either!  I don’t know my official standing yet, but I will update this post once the results are posted.  WooT!

So yeah, my legs are VERY SORE, but its all good.  I need to get some biking in today ensure making my “60 miles for the week” goal, so my calves will get a bit of a break.

The next race is on Febuary 7th, and is the “Bear Run Four Miler”, also in Westminster.  I’d definitely like to try to give this a go, and if anyone noticed on my twitter over the weekend, I am officially registered for The Under Armour Baltimore Marathon on October 16th.  It’s not just idle talk anymore…WooT!

I better get my ass in gear, huh?

How was everyone elses weekend?

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!

Status Report: Did I succeed in being in the 230’s by New Years?

Progress Report: Week 12
Weight: 245 lbs
BMI: 35.7
Weight loss so far: 3.4 lbs gained since last week, 20 lbs lost total

Hell to the NO!  But this is still okay I guess.  I’ve been in the 240’s for WWWAAAYYY too long, but the weekend after Christmas had my scale reading as high as being back in the 250’s, so I’m glad I was able to knock that number down some.  In hindsight I shouldn’t have waited (and cheated, basically) and moved my weigh in to Friday this week, but all future weigh ins will continue to be on Tuesdays.  No more funny business.

 I also took a few quick measurements this morning, all as part of giving myself a base for 2010.

 Waist (at navel-level): 49 inches
Chest (at nipple-level): 45.5inches
Neck: 16.5 inches

 UGH.  I’d like to keep up with doing measurements, maybe bi-weekly or monthly (what do you think?), and maybe add more once I figure out what I am doing.

New Year Challenges: I want 2010 to be the year that I own it, basically, and I am starting things off by participating in three challenges.

The first two are of my own creation, and they are sure to kick my ass:

• New Year 100 Mile Running Challenge.  You have the entire month of January to run/walk/jog 100 miles.  This can be done on a treadmill, outside, however you’d like.
• New Year 500 Mile Biking Challenge. Same concept, except you have to bike 500 miles in January.  Actual bike, exercise bike, indoors, outdoors, it don’t matter.

It’s only the first day of the month, so there is still PLENTY OF TIME for you to sign up, just click on the links above and you’ll be taken to the dailyburn page.  You can sign up for one or the other, or both, it’s all up to you.

The third challenge is the Perfect 10 Challenge by Steve over at logmyloss.  I joined this challenge as a way to create short term goals for myself, and of course, to see what I am capable of.  It lasts 10 weeks, and what you do is create a set of goals for yourself and update your progress towards reaching those goals weekly.  Here are mine:

• Lose at least 15 pounds (starting weight 245 pounds)
• Run/walk/jog 200 miles
• Strength train at least twice a week
• Run a 5k road race
• Finish at least one of this semesters college courses
• Beat Super Mario Brothers Wii

The first four goals, as they should be, are health and fitness related.  I think 200 miles in 10 weeks is attainable since half of that should be knocked out in the first month alone with my challenge, and running an actual road race will help me down the path to the Ocean City Half Marathon I want to run in April and the Baltimore Marathon in October. I also put the Strength Training goal in there because that is still something I’ll sideline b/c I think cardio will give me results faster (spoiler alert, it doesn’t work that way). 

The college related goal is important, because I really need to try to focus this semester and now wait until the last minute to try to get everything done.  It almost got me in trouble last semester, so I’d like to avoid that this time around. 

The Mario Brothers goal? HAHA. If you’ve read the comments for the my few posts, you will know that I think that game is one of the hardest games I have ever played, and is evil.  But if I’m not going to let my weight and other factors keep me down, there is no way in hell I’m going to give some asshole plumber the satisfaction of doing so. 

 F*ck you, douchebag!

Besides, all work and no play makes Steve a dull boy (and kind of a prick to those around me), so I gotta have some fun too.

Hope everyone had fun last night.  It’s a new year, what are you going to make of it? 

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!

I wasn’t expecting to post these today, but I decided to forgo creating a logo and stick with stock photos…lazy WooT.

Anywaaaaaay…here are the Dailyburn New Year Challenges.  Click on the links below to enter the challenge page on Dailyburn and sign up.

[265andfalling]’s New Year 100 mile Running Challenge

Similar to Marathon Week, except this time you have the entire month of January, and your goal is to run/jog/walk 100 miles.  This can be done however (treadmill, road, etc..)and whenever.  You can run 4 marathons, walk 3.23 miles a day, etc…etc…etc…

[265andfallings]’s New Year 500 mile Biking Challenge

Don’t think running is your thing, try this challenge.  Once again, you have the entire month, and your goal is to bike 500 miles.  This can be done on an exercise bike, or on an actual bike (what a concept, right?)

Most of us here have gotten off to a pretty good start in 2009, but for me, I want to kick some major ass in 2010.  I want to pull everything together and complete my journey to become the new healthier, stronger, happier Steve.  With these challenges, we can go into the new year with guns blazing.

As you can see, there are two challenges.  You can pick your poison, or if you REALLY want to kick ass, do both.  I’m not claiming that any of this is going to be easy, and there are plenty of easily challenges across the internet, I’m sure…but if you want to show yourself what you are truly capable of, and if you are really serious about wanting to make a change for yourself, I suggest you accept the challenge.  Even if you don’t succeed per se, you will probably push yourself harder than you thought possible, and that is a success right there.

Just in case, refer to dailyburn’s Terms and Conditions before you enter into either of these challenges, and make sure it is safe for you to participate.  Other than that, GOOD LUCK!

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!

Just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS (or a joyful whatever you celebrate)!

I have a short shift today (6 hours) then going to brave the crowds to get some last minute gifts, then its all family stuff until Saturday…

…with a workout or two thrown in for good measure.

Have fun and be safe!

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!

Progress Report: Week 10
Weight: 247.2 lbs
BMI: 35.5 lbs
Weight loss so far: 2.8 lbs gain since last week, 17.8 lbs loss to date

For a few hours last night, I was wrestling around with some pretty horrible thoughts last night.

• I have been slacking off on my calorie watching and am still losing weight, so I’m going to eat whatever I want tonight and not worry about it.
• And even if I did gain weight, it happens to everyone, and I haven’t had a gain yet.  What’s it going to hurt?

Dinner last night was pretty bad (KFC, ’nuff said, right?)

Do I feel okay with this weigh in, since this is my first gain in 10 weeks.  F*ck no!  What’s it going to hurt?  About 3 weeks of progress.

I got cocky, and now, not only do I feel crappy and run down because I still a crap load of food flowing around in my system (ate pretty late too), but I feel like an idiot for trying to justify and rationalize it.  Thought’s like that are what let me got up to 265 pounds in the first place.

With that said, I am going into this week with a renewed vigor.  Despite this gain, I want to set my sets on getting down into the 230’s by year end.  I would LOVE to be at 235, but I will be okay with the 230s.

Have a good day, everyone, and stay away from KFC.

We did it.

We pushed ourselves to our limits and beyond.  We braved the cold, we ignored the pain, we cursed (or at least I did), and we did it.

The Marathon Week Challenge. Is. Over.

WooT

The results:

• Myself: 40.09 miles completed
• Kate: 26.9 miles completed
• Karyn: 26.44 miles completed
• Jessie: 26.21 miles completed
• Craig: 20 miles completed
• JetJaguar: 18.19 miles completed
• Ron: 14.23 miles completed
• 46and2: 2 miles completed

Everyone did a FANTASTIC job, but extra special kudos go out to the lovely Kate, Karyn, and Jessie, who completed the 26.2 miles with all sorts of awesome. I would also like to call out Craig, who whined said (jus’ kidding ) REPEATEDLY that he wasn’t ready for the challenge.  Yeah, 20 miles isn’t anything to scoff at my friend, you TORE IT UP!

So once again, congratulations everyone!  You’ve succeeded at a pretty lofty goal, and have given myself and countless others further motivation for our journeys.

Ya’ll ROCK!

There will be more challenges, that is pretty much a given.  This was an awesome experience and I beamed with pride every morning I logged in and saw the total miles increase. I just don’t know what those challenges are yet, hehe.

In the meantime, if you are starting a challenge (and if you aren’t, you should! It’s awesome) lemme know and I’ll sign right up!  Or if you have a challenge idea for me, feel free to hit me up.

Have an awesome day everyone.  Nurse your sore legs, sit back and relax, and savor your victory.

WooT

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!

Progress Report: Week 9
Weight: 244.4 lbs
BMI: 35.1
Weight loss so far: .6 lbs since last week, 20.6 lbs to date

Yeah yeah, woohoo, or some sh*t like that…basically, that weight loss is from my hair cut (it was ALOT of hair).

SEE?!

I’m really conflicted this week about that reading.  I was worried that I wasn’t going to lose anything this week, because my scale has basically been hovering between 245 and 248 the entire time.

But then I lost, so thats cool and all…but…half a pound (.6 to exact)?  COME ON!  I am glad I lost, and I know that ANY loss is a good loss, but COME ON!  I’ve been working my ass off this week…WTF!

I can’t claim total ignorance for this though, as much as I’d like to try (or blame ninjas).  The diet’s been a little off, and I haven’t been tracking my food (like I haven’t been doing for a while, but say that I’m going to start, then don’t…ugh) like I want to be.  I don’t feel my diet has been as off as Thanksgiving week, but whatever…my body is a mystery.

Regardless, I still lost, so I guess it is WooTworthy.  Scale, you better be nicer to be next week, or I’m gonna be so mad at you!

In OTHER news…

Today is the F I N A L day for Marathon Week!  The technical difficulties (ie..me being a dumbass) are over and done with, so WooT to that, and everyone is posting AMAZING NUMBERS!  So far Jessie and I are finished (but I bumped my goal up to 40 miles, so I still have a bit to go), and most everyone else are coming into the home stretch.

WAY. TO. GO!!!11!!!1!

I know everyone is probably hurting right (at least, I know I am), but we are almost done, and everyone is SOOOOOOO close!

I like these challenges, and I know I will be doing more in the future, just not 100% sure what.  If anyone has any ideas, that’d be cool…OR…if anyone is starting up their own challenge, lemme know and I’ll be right there to join ya!

Have a WooT day, everyone!

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!

Before I get into anything, I done messed something up.  When I set up the original challenge I apparently set it up as goal based instead of time based, so when I posted my numbers for today I “won” the challenge, it ended, and it wouldn’t let me edit anything.  So I had to recreate the Marathon Week Challenge here.  If you were previously entered in, or if you want to join now (thats cool too), please register here.  I sent everyone who was registered a link to the new challenge (except Kate, since she beat me to the punch, WooT!) so hopefully everything will work out.  Yes, I am an idiot.  I will own that.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming…

We are in Day 4 of the Marathon Week Challenge…

…and I am “finished”…

…WooT.

Yesterday I wanted to have 15 miles completed, which happened. WooT!  When I got up this morning wanting to walk or (attempt to) jog outside, and part of me wanted to see if I could FINISH the challenge today.  So I set a course in Google Maps, neglected to check the weather, updated my iPod library, and set out…

The original intention was to go from Point F (originally Point A) which is my apartment complex, to Point B, which is about where my office is located. I was going to take a indirect route that went through a few neighborhoods and went around the mall.  Once I got to Point B I would turn around retrace the exact same route.  It would have come to 9.4 miles total (4.7 miles each way).  Once I got to Point B though, I decided to keep going. I had a route in mind and thought I’d try that.  I would basically do a loop around a large chunk of town, and then retrace the first part of the path as the last part.

All in all, the new path came to 10.2 miles, which brings me up  to 27.23 miles total for the challenge so far.  I originally thought it was 10.8 (I’m on a roll today stupidity wise, I blame the cold) but there was section on the map that was a bit screwy. It would have been a bit longer, but I skipped going through some neighborhoods because the snow was starting to stick to the sidewalks and it was getting slick.

Speaking of the snow…

…when I left the house at 7:17 this morning it was lightly raining, with maybe a little itty bitty bit of sleet.  Manageable, in my opinion.  About 15 minutes past point B, it started coming down harder, and as actual snow.  By point D my hoodie was soaked, my shoes and socks were soaked, my hands were numb, overall not pretty.  About halfway between Point D and Point E the snow started sticking to the sidewalks, which were starting to become slick.  Thats when I decided to bypass part of the path and go home.

Another one of my original intentions was to do a decent amount of jogging during this trip.  I’ve had issues with this before, where I didn’t feel comfortable trying to run or jog outside because I didn’t want to be seen doing it.  I have images of my fat and sweat flying everywhere, and it’s not pretty.  I decided I was bundled up enough today to make that non issue (and to keep most things in place) so I thought I’d try it.  Unfortunately I only jogged about .6 miles of this whole thing, the rest was walking.  I’m just going to go ahead and throw my excuses for why I didn’t jog out there now: My legs were, my feet hurt, the weather sucked, and I didn’t feel like it.  Yeah, it was kind of lazy of me, but I still completed over 10 miles today, that isn’t exactly anything to scoff at, in my opinion.

In summary, here are some of the highlights and lowlights from my walk today:

• Highlight: Got to explore some of the (really nice) neighborhoods around me, that I didn’t really even know existed before.
• Highlight: Ran into a group of joggers when I was going around the mall, WooT to them.
• Highlight: Crossed the friendliest bridge ever.
• Highlight: Completed my goal with time to spare, and am going go try to push myself even farther.
• Highlight: Got a decent workout in and was able get out of the gym for a bit.
• Highlight: Once the snow started coming down I had some really pretty scenary to walk through.
• Lowlight: Slipped on a metal grate and almost fell on my ass.
• Lowlight: Walked past a dead deer
• Lowlight: Had to keep crossing a busy street because the sidewalk on the side I was on kept ending, and there wasn’t enough shoulder to walk on.
• Lowlight: My shoes, socks, clothes were soaked by the time I was done.
• Lowlight: Yeah, I got out of the gym for a bit, but I probably could have picked a nicer day to do it.

So my personal leg of the Marathon Week Challenge is over…kinda.  I’ve decided to bump my personal goal up to 40 miles for this week.  I was thinking of making it a True Double Jeopardy and doubling the goal (making it 52.4 miles), but I’m not sure thats attainable, which means I’ll probably end up making that a challenge for myself in the next few weeks..HA!  So the challenge is still on, and there are still plenty of great people who are working very hard this week.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am SO PROUD OF EVERYONE and we all still need your support.

Hope you have a great weekend.

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!

This post will be a relative quickie because I have alot of actual work to do today….unWooT!

We are in Day 3 of the Marathon Week Challenge, and everyone is doing awesome!!!  I’m starting Day 3 with 11.35 miles under my belt, and I’m hoping to have completed 15 miles by the end of today.  That means it would have taken me three days to accomplish what it took a week to do in Week 6. WooT.

And my legs?  They be sore, but its a good sore.  It the soreness of success (or something…)

The following people are also blogging a bit about the torture challenge.  You should go and cheer them on directly!

• Jessie - Who is doing MY challenge AND a 30Day Shred Challenge.  She be crazy, but in a good crazy way :-P
• Ron – Who is actually venturing out into the real world (and away from the comfort of a treadmill) for his challenge.  This is something I want to do too at some point.
• Karyn - Who is taking on goals like crazy thanks to Hot 100 and C25K, and SUCCEEDING!  I wish I had heard about Hot 100 when I started my journey, thankfully my bubble has expanded a bit since then.
• Craig – Who was doubting himself like crazy but really is kicking ass at this.  Another C25Ker as well…WooT.
• Kate – Who is in my challenge, runs like crazy and is training for a half marathon. WooT.
• John - One of my fellow Fatbloggers.  Hasn’t posted any miles yet or anything about the challenge, but maybe this will give him some motivation.  Best of luck, John!

I think I’ve gotten everyone who has been bloggin’ (or at least has a blog).  If I missed you, let me know and I will add you ASAP.  I also want to give a shout out to the other challenges who may not have a blog.  EVERYONE deserves Kudos for what has been accomplished so far.

That’s all for now (so much for relative quickie though, HA!).  BACK TO WORK (ugh)!  If I get time later I might post again, hopefully with 15+ miles under my belt.

TGIF!

reposted from http://www.265andfalling.com.  Go there to catch up and to follow my journey from the beginning!  Thanks!!