Nothing worthwhile - just an update...

Well, it's roughly five more months until Marathon Week-end at Disney World!  Hope everyone's training (and running) is going smoothly!

Anyone else sleep-deprived from watching the Olympics?  I sure as heck am.  And my training's suffered for it.  I only got in one run all of last week I was so tired!  As much as I love the Olympic Games, I'm glad they're coming to an end.

As for my training, I was going back and forth between two of Galloway's methods for the full marathon training.  One being the "finish upright" program, and the other being the "time improvement" program.  In the end, I've decided to stick with the "finish upright" program.  Between my job and the upcoming Cross Country season, I simply cannot afford the time and commitment to use the "time improvement" program. 

I was also debating with the run/walk method as well.  Well, I figure I'm going to stick with my run-but-walk-through-the-water-breaks method for now.  It worked really well for my half-marathon training earlier this year, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I figure as the week-end runs get longer and I'm able to make it through them one week-end at a time, I'll be good to go.  And if I hit the proverbial wall on these longer runs, I'll switch to the run/walk.

The weight loss is at a standstill.  As some of you know, I managed to drop 15 pounds earlier this year.  But I've plateaued since April.  The bulk of it's on me.  I haven't been eating as well and my sleep habits have been pretty crappy as well.  My soda intake shot back up, but for the past week I've been drinking only one glass a night.  I hope to eventually wean myself off of it, except for an occasional glass or two during the week (there's just some meals I gotta have soda with).  My lunch habits haven't been that good, either.  Lets just say it's a lot cheaper to eat like garbage than it is healthy.

I've also been doing the bare minimum as far as training is concerned.  I haven't lifted weights regularly since March, so I know that's hurting me as well.  And I'm also doing the bare-bone amount of running during the week as well.  But on the bright side, my wife is going to start training for the 5K in a couple weeks!  Yea!  That'll get me out there a couple more nights during the week to get in some good exercise.

On the bright side, I really haven't put on much weight over the past couple months.  Some days I do hit about 187 or so, and other days I'm at 185.  Plus I'm still able to hit that same middle notch in my belt as well.  That was a really cool feeling when I was able to tighten it one notch COMFORTABLY back in February.

My big goal is to be below 180 pounds by the end of this month.  Heidi (my wife) has been awesome in helping me accomplish this, always guilt-tripping me and stuff.  But I could really use some more extra motivation as well, and this is where I'm asking for YOUR help.  Any type of encouragement, words of wisdom, and advice would be much appreciated!  I NEED to get that motivation back I had earlier this year...

My tip for the blog:  experiment with equipment on your training runs before you use them in an actual race.  That way, there are no unpleasant surprises in store for you during the race, and you can enjoy yourself!