Saving the Boobies.

I ran my first ever race, it was only a 5k, but it was a race none-the-less. It was the Komen Race for the Cure in OKC. It was for a great cause, to help save the boobies from cancer, which I am 100% for saving them!

The night before the race I was sick as a dog! I had either come down with something, or my nerves got to me (which I have been known to have happen cause I get so worked up about stuff when I’m nervous). I had run a fever, could not sleep and was about as pale as an already whitey like myself could be. I slept like crap that night, but still got up and went to the race, cause I was not going to miss my first ever race!

There are THOUSANDS of people there. All skill levels, from people who walked to 12 min mile people to 5 min mile people. I fall in the range of 8-10 min miles depending on the length of the race and how well I’m running that day.

The first mile was really difficult, to say the least, there are so many people in so narrow an area trying to all move in the same direction. It was chaos. My first mile time suffered due to this, but once it finally opened up I was able to stretch my legs a bit and made up most of the time from the first mile.

I ended with the following results: 29.27 mins for the full 5k. Ranked 67 out of 172 in my age/gender group, and ranked 393 out of 1389 total.

Not bad. I learned alot at my first race.

1. Your pace can be a little quicker in a race than in practice, it seems easier to push yourself and you are way less likely to slow/stop at any point.
2. Water stops are really cool! I felt all about some awesome when I grabbed the cup of water, drank it and just threw the cup on the ground.
3. The last 100 yards are the most fun, I went on a full out sprint to the finish (which also leads me to believe my pace was too slow because I had way too much energy left)

I did become VERY emotional on the last quarter to half mile of the race. I just got a flood of emotions. Mostly because this time exactly 1 year ago, I could not have walked this race, and now I’m running in it. It just all hit me right then and I was just so happy.

I hope everyone out there can experience this one day… it is so worth it, and more so when it is for as good a cause as saving the boobies.

From the Komen website:

Thank you to everyone who ran, walked, volunteered, cheered, or donated to this year’s Komen Oklahoma City Race for the Cure.  With over 15,000 participants and over $260,000 in donations to date, this is our most succesful year to date.

My First Run.

I signed up for my first 5k today, The 2008 Komen Oklahoma City Race for the Cure.  I am a little nervous about it, as I’ve never done a race before. I’ve run 5k miles many times before, no problem…but it was never in a race situation. Theoretically should make my time better, I always do better when I have to chase/keep away from someone.

I’m using the Komen for a race warm up for the upcoming dualthon I am doing on October 19th, the Fall Classic Duathlon (it’s 2 mile run, 14 mile bike ride, 2 mile run).

I’m doing all I can to train for both, including making my OperationBootcamp students do alot more running so I can get more runing in. I’m feeling fairly confident about both races. Not confident in that I think I’ll win, or even place…confident I’ll “amaze myself” and do well and cross the finish lines on both with my head up knowing I gave it my all the entire race.

If anyone would like to sponsor me in the Race for the Cure, please do!

Much Too Much?

Maybe my friends are right. Just maybe.

So I’ve traded my old sedentary lifestyle for a lifestyle of excess in the other direction…always doing something, and that something always seems to be fitness/workout related.

What clicks in your mind that makes you go from one extreme to the other? I know Matt would argue I’ve always been that way…that when I do something it’s hardcore but then I drop it just as hard as fast as I started. This seems different tho, this has gone on for almost 9 months now, with no signs of stopping. I used to do stuff for a month or so, then completely stop (darts, Playstation, etc).

For example. I get up at about 5:30am every morning, go workout for a little over an hour (weights and some cardio). I have started riding my bike to/from work (more on that in a sec). Then bootcamp at night for at least an hour. Thats at close to 3 hours of workout a day.

Is this my middle ground? I have gone from 0 hours a day working out, to 8 hours a day, to 4-5 hours a day, now 3 hours a day.

Back to biking. Last week I started riding my bike to work almost every day. It’s only 4.5 miles one way, takes me about 15 mins (which is how long it used to take me to drive it). I have wished almost daily that my work was further away…because by the time I finally break a sweat I’m walking into my office! Okay, I AM OBSESSED. It’s final.

Totally Amazing Myself.

I remember back to almost exactly 1 year ago. My best friend asks me if I want to go on a bike ride with him. I’m like, “SURE”, cause hell I’ve got this bike in my garage that I bought with intentions to use it, let’s go!

Let me frame this up for you. It was about 90 degrees outside, almost no wind (which is rare in Oklahoma) and I’m 330+ pounds.

I drive my car to Matt’s house (which is all of a mile from my own), we jump on our bikes and start riding. We get a tiny bit more than half a mile (been completely flat ground the whole ride, no hills) and I AM DYING. Sore. Out of breath. Hurting.

WTF?

Fast forward to the long holiday weekend. Friday, I rode to Matt’s house from mine, then we covered about 25 total miles that morning in about 3 hours (I say total because we rode up to Aspen Athletic, did our shoulder/trap workout, then rode to Route66 Park in Bethany and did BootCamp then rode home).

On Sunday, we rode 28 miles! I repeat, 28 miles! That was with 1 ten minute stop for drinks and a energy bar an hour into the ride. Tons of hills, mostly wind in the face (specially on the ride back!)

I still cannot believe sometimes I can do things like this. I mean, I still remember that guy that could not get a stinking mile! It sure is exciting tho!

I am sure I will continue to amaze myself with things I can do from here on out.

Update: I was told by the bike salesman at the bike shop, that if I can go 25 miles on a mountain bike with knobby tires, I could make 40-50 miles easily with a road bike. (My bike is pictured in the post below)

Obsessed? Maybe A Little.

So while working out with my best friend this morning (we have a 4 day a week workout training in the mornings at the YMCA) … he says, “You are a bit extreme when it comes to working out.”

This leads to a discussion whereas the word obsessed is thrown out (it might have been by me, I’m not sure), but either way, he agreed I may be obsessed with working out. I feel like I have to be obsessed. I am truly worred about the following things:

1. Becoming another statistic and gaining all my weight back and being obese again. I truly love the way I feel and NEVER want to go back to my “before Biggest Loser” lifestyle/look.
2. I don’t feel like I’m done with my body yet. It feels like there is so much work left to do. Until I look the way I want to look (if that’s possible) I will keep this up!
3. I worry that if I don’t look how people envision a former Biggest Loser contestant (example, the Germanakos brothers) I am a fraud. A fraud meaning people look at me and are thinking, “Whys THIS guy trying to tell me to workout, he looks like crap!”
4. You can lose a 100 pounds, but insecurities follow you forever. No matter how much weight I lose, or how much muscle I put on, I still see myself as “the fat guy”. I can even look at old pictures of myself and still see some of the same physical qualities in myself now.

It’s pretty sad really to think that how can someone lose mass loads of weight in an extremely short amount of time (100lbs in about 8 months) and still feel fat and insecure?

That my friends is the question of the day!