30 lbs and counting!

Well, folks, it has been a little over 4 months, and the weight loss thang is still going on. I've actually plateaued a bit, but I actually planned this one to A) break the monotony of a diet; B) to not go too far below where I was when I got measured for a tux that I'll be wearing in a couple of weeks; and C) hopefully put a bit of muscle on.

WAIT A MINUTE....how will I put muscle on if I'm not weight-training?

I STARTED RUNNING AGAIN!!!!

With my IT band issues toward the latter part of my half-marathon training, I didn't want to risk re-aggravating it, so I took quite a bit of time off to let everything heal.  I made our local 5K as the target as I was guessing at least one son, if not both, would want to run it.  As expected, when I asked, Eric (the 7-year old) said that he wanted another go at the race in the hopes of bettering his last (and only) time.  Aaron (the 9-year old) was dealing with allergy-induced asthma and didn't want to run.

We started off slowly...only 1 mile.

The knee and IT band felt AWESOME!!!

1.5 miles....all is good.  I also noticed that the feet weren't hurting like they used to and that the pavement didn't crack when I set my foot down (it still bowed down, but at least I'm saving the village money by not having to replace the pavement as often as before).

We got to 2 miles and then up to 3.1 pretty quickly.  I let Eric determine the pace, and I started getting antsy to open it up to see how I could do.  With each increase in the distance, I worried about how the legs would hold up; luckily, there were no problems at all. 

Eric's best time last year was just under 45:00.  This year?  I saw his competitive side come forward at the end of mile two, when I told him what we needed if we wanted to shoot for a 40:00 time.  He dug down, ran longer intervals, ran them faster, and walked shorter intervals.  The end time?  I knew we weren't going to break 40:00, and I was concerned about breaking 45:00, but his last 1.1 miles got him a 42:17 time!


With the training, I added more calories and carbs in so I didn't end up killing my metabolism.  While I didn't lose much weight during the training, I could start to tell that I was definitely on the right track.  The first time that it really hit me with the weight loss/fitness was the first time I put on the water belt.  I hadn't worn it since the half marathon in January, and, when I put it on for a training run, it was WAY too loose.  I had to tighten it several inches to fit around my waist.  I physically paused for a moment to take in both how much I have lost and how heavy I was before I started the diet.

When I starting gathering my thoughts to write this up, I took a look at where I was at in January...about 6 lbs below my heaviest.  I posted the following picture in one of my first posts here on FartlekGiggles:

January, 2012, during the WDW Half Marathon (around Mile 7)

I knew I was heavy, but seeing it again really makes me cringe.  It's no wonder that my knees and hips were killing me on the 12-14 miles runs and why I couldn't go more than 4 miles during the half without being forced to walk.

Here's where I am at now:

June 30, during the Downs Freedom 5K, with Eric

I've still got quite a ways to go, but the motivation is there to keep going...I can see and feel the difference.  Seeing Eric's smile in the above picture is also motivation - it's something that he likes to do, and I want to be around to do it with him (and also do baseball/football/etc. with Aaron) (and hopefully be around to live life with my wife for the next 50 years or so).  My next goal is to break 214 lbs...that's my lowest weight in over 12 years.  If/when I get there, hopefully a sub-200 number will be next!


It's weird to not be in training for a Disney running event...it's the first time in 3 summers that I am not doing so, and it's driving me crazy as I read everyone on Team AllEars starting their marathon training plans over the past week or two as well as formulating their fundraising efforts over on Facebook.

(FYI, if you want to donate, head over to HERE and give what you can...if you want to have it go toward a TAE runner's amount, add "TEAM ALL EARS (runner's name)" in your name...I think that there might be an author or two from FartlekGiggles that are on the team again cough cough...most of them...cough).

I've started increasing the distance over 5K (over 4 miles now, with a 5 miler on my mind in the next week or so), but don't read into that as me planning for a 2013 Disney run...I want to get the cardiovascular part improved so that in May/June of next year, I can rejoin the ranks of those in training, and I firmly have the 2014 WDW FULL 26.2 mile marathon on my radar.  I'm even contemplating a half or two in the meantime, though locally run instead of through the theme parks.

Save a spot for me for Team AllEars 2014!!!