Reflection on 2011

Although Mike's Marathon Blog is long retired, I feel compelled to write a reflection post for 2011 like I did for 2010 (actually, the last blog post I wrote was exactly one year ago this week!)

Last year, my goals for 2011 were:

• Lose the weight. When I weighed in at the gym in January of 2011, the scale showed 182 pounds. I got that down to 166 pounds in early July and I'm now hovering in the 168-170 range. It is definitely progress - not back to the 160 pounds that I was 5 years ago...I'd love to get back to that number, but that would take some serious commitment!
• Stay healthy. In 2010 I suffered from three bouts of respiratory infections/inflammation which ceased my running for 3-4 weeks at a time. In 2011, I started working with a pulmonologist and later in the year an allergist to get to the bottom of the issues. I still had the incidents, but I have decreased the amount of time I'm on the shelf when it happens. For 2012, I will be trying allergy shots to see if I can desensitize my system to the triggers of these events so they don't happen in the first place!
• Run More. This is one goal that I fell short. My total mileage for the year is 552 miles - 21 miles LESS than 2010. Again, the main culprits were travel and health. Although I did have a few stretches of a few 20 mile weeks in a row. It's not marathon mileage, but it is definitely what I need to feel like a runner again.
• Schedule more races. Another goal where I fell short. I ran in two races this year - both low-key races from MCRRC. A 4 mile run on Memorial Day and a 8K run earlier this month. Both were PRs (since I had not raced those distances before!!). However, the pace of these were below my PRs for longer distances, so they're really only PRs by default.
• Schedule more time off from work. This is one where I excelled this year. I ended up teaching Israeli Dancing at a BBYO Leadership Camp for Teens for two weeks this summer, which got me away from my work responsibilities (and many other responsibilities) for about 17 days. I brought Sherry and the kids up for the first 8 days I was there - and it was great having some quality time with them.

Other highlights from 2011:

• My big birthday - I turned 40. I still can't believe it. At times I still feel like I'm 20 and just happen to have a 9 year old and 6 year old in the house (yes...I know the math doesn't make sense there!)
• My Israeli Dance group continues to grow! I am now getting between 40-50 dancers each week at the group and word of the group continues to spread. I actually just started a new blog for the Israeli Dance group at http://markidmike.wordpress.com and a Twitter account @MarkidMike
• My day job at Ericsson also continues to go well. I was extremely busy this year with a huge project in 1H2011 in East TX and a bunch of smaller projects in 2H2011 in Georgia, Mississippi and the Carolinas.

My goals for 2012 are pretty much the same as 2011. I would love to put the commitment in place to get back down to my ideal weight of 160 pounds (my doctor says 150-155 would be ideal for me, but I haven't seen numbers like that since I was 17 years old). I want to find a way to stay healthy - I'm hoping the allergy shots will help with this. If I can keep healthy, then I should be able to run more...I'm going to shoot for 750 miles for the year (14-15 miles per week if I can run every week...see not getting sick!). I would like to run a Half Marathon in the Spring and the Fall (see run more which depends on stay healthy!). Finally, I should be able to take more time from work - I will hit my 19th anniversary of working at Nortel (Ericsson bridged my service from Nortel when they purchased my division), so I will get an extra week of vacation.

One other goal - I want to try running with others more often this year. Running has been a solo venture for me most of the time, but I always enjoy when I run with other people. I'm going to try to run a race or two with my 9 year old son. I would love to run more with Sherry. I may also try to arrange some type of pub crawl / beer run with friends of mine. I don't think I'll ever be one to only run with a group, but I'm hoping more of my runs in 2012 will not be solo.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Reflection on 2010

Although I officially retired the blog earlier this year, I did mention in my final post that I may still post updates to the blog.

As the end of 2010 draws near, I feel I should reflect on the past year and set some goals for the year ahead.

• In 2010 I ran fewer miles than in 2009, 2008 or 2007. You need to go back to 2006 - when I first started running seriously and trained for my first half marathon - to get a lower mileage total. Right now I have logged 573 miles for the year - and it is doubtful that I will get another run in during the next week as I'm battling a sinus infection.
• Ironically, although I have run fewer miles this year - I set PRs in the 10 mile (1:29:43) and half marathon (2:11:41).
• I travelled more for my job this year than ever before. My project for the first three quarters of the year was based in Souther California - and I spent one week of every month in Irvine. Since September, my projects have been based in East Texas and the group is based in Atlanta - so I have been traveling to Atlanta and Dallas. Traveling messes up any rhythm that I may have for the week (especially when trying to plan for runs). And being away from home has been hard on Sherry and the boys as well (so taking 1 night trips to Atlanta or Dallas - although more difficult on me - seems to be better for the family)
• With business travel comes business lunches, dinners and happy hours. Which means more food (and beer) than I would normally consume. Which is why I'm about 15 pounds heavier now than I was when I crossed the finish line of the NY Marathon in November 2009.
• Another contributor to the lower mileage is health. Luckily I had no running injuries during 2010. However, I have had three nasty sinus infections - all which have taken two rounds of antibiotics to treat. Once the congestion moves into my chest, it is not a good idea to run - so I have missed 3-4 week chunks of running...and then having to spend a few weeks to ramp back up again.
• In my other hobby, my Israeli Dance group has really grown in 2010 as well. I now get around 35 dancers every week and people stay later. As a result I'm out later every Tuesday night - which makes a morning run on Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning a lot more difficult.
• In 2010 I had some nice vacation time as well. Sherry and I got away for our 15th Anniversary - to a resort spa in the mountains of Pennsylvania for two nights. Then in October we all went on a Disney cruise with my parents and sister and her family. We also took some trips to visit family and friends for B'nai Mitzvahs and Weddings (two trips to Michigan, one to Connecticut and I extended a business trip to stay in Dallas)

As you can see, 2010 was definitely a year of great achievements coupled with some tough challenges.

I haven't set all of my goals for 2011 yet, however, here are a few main goals:

• Lose the weight. Gaining 15 pounds in one year is way too much...I have to get this back to where I was in 2009.
• Stay healthy. I'm going to get a CT scan of my sinuses in the next few weeks and I may go to an ENT. Three sinus infections in one year? That HAS to stop!
• Run more. This will definitely help goal #1 and I'll be able to do this if I achieve goal #2. I don't necessarily need to hit 1,000 miles next year - but somewhere around 750 would be nice.
• Schedule some races. I would like to schedule at least 2 half marathons and perhaps a fall full marathon (maybe Marine Corps??) I loved the 10 mile distance too. Perhaps with all the traveling I'm doing and not having as much time to run long, I should focus on running shorter races and develop more speed. Either way, I need to race a bit more in 2011 to keep my motivation up.
• Schedule more time off from work. With the exception of the two main vacation I took (one for 2 work days and one for 3 work days), I really did not take much vacation time to relax and spend quality time with my family. I need to do more of this (and run more while on vacation!)

I'm sure I'll think of more as the next week goes on, but these are the main goals.

2011 will be a big year for me with a milestone birthday (ends in a zero...). Let's hope my age isn't the only milestone I have to celebrate!

I Need to Finally Get Things Started

February is almost over and I haven't even logged 100 miles for the year. Heck...I was logging 100-150 miles a month during marathon training and I have a measly 98 miles over the first seven weeks of 2010.

I don't want to take on more than I can chew, but this is the week I need to get things started again. I'm going to the doctor for bloodwork (i.e. my cholesterol checkup) in three weeks...so far in 2010 not only has my running been lacking, but my diet has gone out the window too.

So...starting this week I will try to: a) count calories again b) run at least 3 times (and hopefully 4 times) this week and c) start the 100 push up challenge (my initial test tonight was 31 push-ups...not too bad!)

Even if I can stick to one of the above three for more than two consecutive weeks, I should be in much better shape.

First Post Of 2010!

Last week I reflected on 2009 - and what a great year it was! I hope that 2010 can prove to be as successful as last year...but even if I accomplish half of what I did last year it will still be a wonderful year.

My final mileage count for 2009 was 1,047 miles. Of course I take a look at that and say to myself, "Why couldn't I just go for a short 3 miler on Dec 31 to get it to 1,050???"

Another accomplishment from 2009 came in the form of weight management. I started out the year at 172 pounds. On Jan 1 of 2010 I weighed in at 168. I'm still not where my doctor wants me to be (between 155 and 160), but it's nice to see the downward trend - especially AFTER the holidays are over!

I really have no motivation right now to get those last 10 pounds off. I know how to do it (I was very successful using this approach), it's just that I have no interest in counting calories right now. Anyone have some spare motivation for me out there????

Despite the yucky, cold, windy, icy conditions so far this year, I have been running. It's just that I have only been running inside so far. I have logged 16 miles in 2010 - a 4.5 miler on Jan 1, a 7.5 miler on Jan 2 (yes...7.5 miles on the treadmill - UGH!) and a 4 miler this morning. One of these days I'll toughen up and run outside...probably when the wind isn't gusting over 20 mph.

I still haven't set my goals for the new year yet. I'd like to log over 1,000 miles again, but with no full marathon I'm not sure I'll be able to do it. I'm going to have to be super consistent to get there. As soon as I get my goals together I will definitely share...

Tapering And Weight Management - Update

Two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post where I said I would be counting calories to ensure that I did not gain any weight during the taper. Last year I had gained a few pounds while I decreased the mileage in the weeks leading to the marathon, and I didn't want to repeat that.

Here's an update...

The good news - I have actually dropped two pounds! I am now one pound away from my marathon weight of last year. I'll take it, even though it was not my intent.

The not-so-good news (I guess?) - all last week I did not count calories at all. My schedule was all messed up due to working nights and I had no idea how to count calories consumed in the midnight to 6am shift. If I work Sunday night, do I count these against Sunday's total or Monday's total? When I wake up at 11:30am (after going to bed at 7am), do I eat breakfast food or lunch food?

Another issue is how do I count the amount of sleep I get? Last night I slept from 10pm to 11:30pm before working and then from 7am to 11am this morning after work. Does that count as five and a half hours of sleep? Or is this four hours? How much sleep do I need to make up at the end of the week to be well rested for the race???

Luckily, it looks like tonight may be the last of the late nights for me. It will be good to be back on a normal sleeping - and eating - schedule soon!

Tapering and Weight Management

One thing that I have not worried too much about in training for this marathon has been weight management.

Last year when I started training for the Frederick marathon, I was also trying to lose 10 pounds at the beginning of my training program. I counted my calories - and posted them in my blog to keep myself accountable - and I ripped off 8 pounds in about 5 or 6 weeks. However, as my mileage started to increase I had a week where I felt weak, lethargic and my runs were getting tough at the end. I dropped the calorie counting and let my body dictate how much I needed to eat - I started feeling better and I pretty much maintained my weight.

Until the taper.

You see, during the taper period my weekly mileage decreased substantially...but my appetite did not. I ended up gaining a few of those pounds back in those last 3 weeks. It didn't help for the big run.

Fast forward to this year's training. I paid no attention to my calories at all. I have dropped about three pounds since I started training 15 weeks ago (and I'm still about three pounds heavier than when I ran Frederick last year).

However, I'm going to start the calorie counting this week and try to continue through the taper period. My goal is to hit somewhere around 2,000 net calories a day - this should allow me to maintain my current weight and not gain additional weight before marathon day.

Days like yesterday - where my 5.5 mile run had me burning over 700 calories - are much easier. It is much easier for me to consume 2,700 calories than 2,000 calories :-) There will be days that will likely go over - like this Sunday which is a non-running day for me and it is my younger son's 4th birthday party.

However, by avoiding the nightly "pantry raid" while watching a game on TV, I think this strategy will get me to the starting line feeling less lethargic - and maybe even a little lighter!

Five Miles At Dark O'Clock

I guess I better just get used to this as it's not going to get much better over the next few months: when I left this morning for my run - a little before 6am - it was still dark outside. My new training partners are Venus and Orion. Deal with it.

Since Sherry leaves to drive carpool by 7:15am most mornings, if I want a morning run it needs to be early. As a result, I'll need to try to get to bed earlier - so no Monday Night Football last night (I did end up winning my fantasy football games in both leagues that I am in - so my only team that did not win this weekend was the Redskins...3-1 for the weekend is not bad).

This schedule will not be so bad for the 4 or 5 milers...but I'm wondering what I'm going to do for the 8 mile mid-week longer run. My calendar is starting to fill up this Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, so a long lunch-break run may not be in the cards. I may have to wake up at 4:30am to get 'er done...UGH!

This morning - 5.5 miles in 58:20; a 10:31/mile pace with average HR of 148. My muscles still felt a bit stiff and sore from Sunday's run, but still I was able to keep a nice pace and my heart rate below and average of 150 for the entire run. Of course I would hope for a lower HR on an easy run (the first 5 miles on Sunday I had an average HR of 140 and my pace per mile was only 11 seconds slower), but it still felt pretty good.

One other tidbit - my weight is now at the pre-Disney vacation level. This is still 3 pounds more than I ran last year's marathon at - and about 7-12 pounds more than my doctor wants me at. I'll definitely focus on losing those last pounds after the marathon. I really don't feel like counting calories while marathon training - my body is a furnace right now and I'll feed it when it needs it!

Now I Remember Why I Run Long On Saturdays...

Due to some of the commitments I have during the week, the best mornings for me to run are Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. I have blogged here that I aim to do my weekday runs on Monday morning, Wednesday lunchtime and Thursday or Friday morning with a long run on the weekend.

This morning I remembered why I like that long run to be on Saturday morning....I was still sore from yesterday's 13 miler.

I also had a little visitor in our room at 3am (our 3 1/2 year old). So when 6am rolled around, I didn't roll out of bed. Even for an easy 3 miler.

I had a stroke of luck, though. A bunch of standing meetings got canceled today due to "General Information Sessions" on the Ericsson deal. So I had some time clear up around lunchtime! I got my "easy 3" in during lunch.

I did my 3 mile neighborhood lake loop - in a sunny 84 degree afternoon. I ended up running a 10:37 pace with an average HR of 150. Not bad at all. I'm wondering if it would have been even better if it were 20-30 degrees cooler...

One other note for today. I'm down 1.5 pounds from last week (one pound from two weeks ago). I'll continue to do what I'm doing - try to make better choices each time I sit down to eat. Here's a few from this past week: 6" sub instead of 12" at Subway, no cheese or sour cream in a burrito at CalTort (although I can also go with the small instead of regular size...), nicoise salad instead of a greasy sandwich or fish and chips for Thursday's lunch. I'll continue to make these types of adjustments and hopefully will lose weight at the pace of about a half pound to a pound a week.

Getting Nutrition Right

Tuesdays have been kind of rough for me. I'm out later than normal on Tuesday nights - leading an Israeli Dance group from 7pm to 10pm.

It means I'm on my feet and moving for 3 hours in the evening, I get home close to 11pm and by the time I get home I'm still a bit "amped up" from the activity level that it is difficult to fall asleep. Add that to my young kids who have been waking up around 5:45am lately (or last night, my younger one was up from 1am to 3am and then the older one woke up at 5:45am), I am usually dragging on Wednesday mornings. This is why I pushed out my Wednesday runs to my lunch break (when I can).

However, Tuesdays also presents a challenge nutritionally. I can't eat too much before leading dancing - this will make me feel heavy (so I can't move around as much) or give me a stomach ache or depending on what I've eaten - other GI issues (i.e. no eating black bean burritos before leading dancing...). But when I don't eat enough I feel ravenous afterward and munch on lots of snack food.

Lately, I have been eating a bigger and later lunch - which helps on the side of not eating too close to the dance session, but not on having enough in the tank to get me through. I'm going to try to bring an energy bar tonight - either to eat beforehand, or to munch on throughout the session - and see if that helps.

On a bigger picture for nutrition, when I visited the doctor in March, the doctor told me that I should lose at least 10 pounds. I weighed in at 170 lbs - which is still on the "safe" BMI for my height, but on the border of "overweight".

When I initially lost weight 5 years ago, I was down in the 160 lbs range. I have since yo-yo'ed between 160 lbs and 170 lbs. I believe the doctor would like me to yo-yo between 150 lbs and 160 lbs, if I need to yo-yo somewhere :-)

I ran the Frederick Marathon last year at 164 lbs. I had been down around 162 lbs about ten weeks into my training, but as the miles ramped up, so did my eating.

Anyhow, I'm currently weighing in at 168 lbs. Although I really don't want to be counting calories, if I don't start seeing the pounds gradually come off (goal for 1 pound a week) I will need to start counting them again...

Check Up at the Doctor

Today was my "annual" physical (annual is in quotes, because I don't get one every year - it's more like every 2-3 years).  This included my blood work and cholesterol check (which is annual due to how high my cholesterol was 5 years ago and my family history of high cholesterol and heart disease).

I won't get my blood work results until Monday afternoon, but here's a few of the other numbers:

The good - Blood pressure - 108 over 70.  Resting Pulse - 48 (huh?  I'm usually around 60...she must have missed a beat or two)

The not so good - Weight - 170 lbs (damn doctor's scale!)

My doc took a look at me and said, "You don't look 170 pounds!"  Of course not, I'm the skinny guy, right???  But the doctor wants me to lose some weight - first goal should be 160 lbs, and then I should be able to get down to 150.  (I can't remember the last time I weighed 150 - maybe Middle School?)

The other thing is that I need to come in for an EKG.  We could not do it today because of the shag carpet I'm flaunting on my chest.  So I need to shave my own chest and make another appointment to do the EKG.  I'm not sure which I prefer, getting the EKG with my hairy chest and having the nurse pull off half the hair of my chest when taking the electrode sensors off (not pretty...been there, done that!) or having to shave my own chest and go to the doctor's office again.  I guess this time I don't have a choice...

So...today's doctor's appointment was no surprises.  Low pulse, low blood pressure, weight is a bit too high.  Cholesterol results will be in on Monday...stay tuned!

The Skinny Guy??? - Is That Really Me???

Over the past week or so, I have been referred to as "the skinny guy" or someone has made a comment that I should be eating more (or something to that affect) by a few different people.

That's really nice and all, but REALLY???  Who are YOU looking at????

Although my weight has started to come down a bit - the scale said 166 lbs on Monday morning...this is about where I was before Rosh HaShana last year, but I'm still carrying around the Anniversary, Birthday and Summer Vacation pounds - I still don't see myself as "skinny".  I've got a good amount of meat around my mid-section, and of course that's what I see when I look in the mirror.  Plus, my BMI is 24 - "normal weight" is between 18 and 25.  So, although I am still normal weight, I would put skinny in the BMI < 20

On the other hand, I'm wondering how much my perception of myself is the basis for me not thinking I'm "the skinny guy".  I was a chubby kid growing up and carried around a bit of a spare tire through my teen years and twenties.  Heck, my nickname in my fraternity was FAB.  Unfortunately this was not because I liked the Fab Four so much (or the Fab Five who played Bball at my school a few years later), but it stood for FAT AND BALD.  It's quite ironic that I likely weigh less and have more hair than many of the folks who gave me this nickname...

Anyhow, I'm not sure when I'll be convinced that I'm "the skinny guy".  I'm not there yet.  However, I'll try to take comfort in knowing that others are starting to think I'm that guy...

I'll have a running related post later today or tomorrow.  I've had some good runs so far this week!  :-)

A Good Scale Day!

Ironically - since I did not run much last week due to being sick - I had a good scale day this morning.  Scale showed a 2 pound improvement over last Monday's weigh in.  NO WAY?!?!  WAAAAAY!!!!!

I'm not sure what happened exactly, but here's a few guesses:

• I've been eating soup for a bunch of my meals since I've been sick.  It probably has less calories than the normal meals I would have eaten
• We didn't eat out at all this weekend.  Restaurants seem to always have huge portions and additional fat/calorie content vs what we would make at home.
• There was no football yesterday, so my ass wasn't on the couch eating munchies and drinking beer
• I've been gaining muscle tone with the push ups I've been doing and the added muscle has burned off some fat
• It's just a fluke...I'll see those two pounds back next Monday

Either way, I looked back in my weight log and found that I hadn't been down to 167.5 since before Rosh HaShannah.  I'll definitely take it!

In the health department, I'm still sick but feeling better.  My nose is very stuffy and I've got a lot of "gook" floating around.  However, I'm not coughing much anymore.  This has been the weirdest cold - usually things start in the sinuses and go down...this time it started in my chest and came up.  I'm hoping to rest for the next few days and get back to running by the end of the week.  Just in time for my Garmin Forerunner 305 to arrive!!!

Doing the Stay At Home Dad Thing

Today I did the "Stay At Home Dad" thing.  I'm happy to report that both children are still alive and no one got hurt :-)

Both kids were off from school today and my wife took her mom for a medical procedure, so I had both kids from 8:30am to 4pm.  I had a bunch of things scheduled - including a run at the gym (luckily they have a great Childcare room for the kiddos).

Before my run, I saw the club manager and asked if I could have my body fat percentage checked.  They have a hand-held machine that I guess sends a current through your body to determine body fat...I believe this is a tad more accurate than the calipers they used to use (and were in use at the previous gym I belonged to).  My reading today was 15.9%.  I had no basis to know whether this was good, bad or indifferent - until I found a few sites this evening that shows I'm in pretty good shape.  One site has me in the "fitness" category (not quite an athlete), and two other sites show this as excellent based on my age (I'm now in the 35-39 range so anything under 16% is "excellent"!).

Either way, earlier this morning, I had stepped on the scale and it showed that I had gained a pound since last week's weigh in.  I definitely deserved it by the way I ate.  I'm sure the damage would have been worse if not for my 9 mile run yesterday morning.

Today I did a quick 3 miles on the treadmill.  I started out at 5.0 mph and bumped up the speed by 0.2 after each quarter mile.  My HR kept under 150 all the way up to 6.0 mph.  I ran there for most of the run and then bumped back down to 5.8 mph with half a mile to go.  Overall it was a 10:31/mile pace with and average HR of 148.  I'd really like to get the pace of my easy runs back into the 10:00/mile range with my HR in the mid 140s.  I'm sure as I start to bump the mileage up in a few weeks I'll get there.

SRD + Push-Ups

Scheduled rest day for me.  Tomorrow will be my long run for the week - 8 miles.  This will bring me to a little over 20 miles for the week.  After a brief layoff from running due to being sick, 20 miles has felt like a lot; however, I know that in a few weeks this will be like a "rest week" for me!

Tomorrow's weather forecast calls for a 30-50% chance of freezing rain and sleet before noon.  I'd hate to run 8 miles on a treadmill, but I'll likely wimp out on running in the sleet.

I did my push-ups this morning.  Four sets of 14 with a fifth set of 22.  78 total.  I'M BAAAACK!  I'll probably try an exhaustion test this weekend and get back to the hundred push-ups program next week.

One last thing - I've been calorie counting once again starting this week.  I was doing great - net calories in the 1600 to 1700 range each day - until dinner last night when we took my mother-in-law out for her 65th birthday.  I was totally expecting to go over in the calorie department, but I made some poor choices in my eating (i.e. finishing my wife's entree after finishing mine, taking sour cream on my potato instead of asking for something lower in fat and calories like mustard or salsa, eating too much of the cake for dessert, etc.).  I didn't even try to calculate my calories for last night.  Luckily, today is a new day and I'll try to get back with the program again.

First Run Of The Year!

Although my cold is still lingering a bit, I felt better yesterday and today.  Last night I was not hacking away like I had been during the past few nights and today I wasn't blowing my nose constantly.

I decided to hit the gym for a short, easy run (it was 30 degrees outside with strong winds...no way I was braving that not feeling 100%).

I went to get my running shoes out of my gym bag and I was met with quite a surprise - my running clothes from the last time I ran were still in there.  Remember, since I have been sick I have not run in about 10 days...YUCK!  I'm surprised that they didn't stink up my closet already.

I got on the treadmill and did an easy 3 miles.  I was a little faster than 11:00/mile pace and my average heart rate was 144.  A great way to ease myself back.

Before my run I tried doing some push ups.  I was thinking I would do 5 sets of 15.  The first two sets of 15 were very doable.  By the third set I started to lose steam and only mustered out 14.  I barely had anything left by the fourth set and did 7.  I didn't even attempt a fifth set.  51 push ups in all.  I definitely have some more work to do to get back into the push up groove.

One last note - I weighed myself this morning.  Not such a great idea after chowing down on seven layer dip and tacos last night for New Year's Eve.  I weighed the exact same as New Year's Day 2008 - 172 pounds.  I can look on the bright side and say that it is great that I did not gain any weight in 2008...or on the not-so-bright side and see that I had lost 10 pounds by March 2008 and gained it all back by December.  I definitely hope to lose all of that weight again by March 2009, and I'll put some things in place (i.e. some long races in October and November) to help not gain it all back in the fall and winter.

Giving Up On The Goal?

1,000 miles for the year is actually still in reach. I have 30 miles to go - that's a little more than 3 miles a day...no problem, right? (OK, we're heading to NY/NJ for a few days to visit family, so I most likely will not be able to run on those days...sweaty running gear doesn't travel well...).

Things at work have been uber hectic, so I have not been getting enough sleep. I felt really run down this weekend (yet still dragged myself to run 5 miles yesterday morning) and this morning I woke up with a scratchy throat. I know that I need to take it easy.

So, I'm not going to push myself to just get to the 1,000 mile goal right now. If I feel better tomorrow, then I might get back on the program - but for now, I need to rest.

I did get some good (and surprising) news this morning. Amid a week full of eating out, eating latkes and donuts, skipping a meal and then eating too much to compensate and tons of other weight-conscious no-no's, I thought my weight would have gone up again this week. Instead, it went down by the pound and a half that the scale showed I put on last week. I'm back to 168.5. Thanks goodness the 170 I saw last week was just a one-week spike.

Latka Overload

So...you would think that after a 30 mile week I would have a chance to lose a pound or two, right?

Well, I guess I figured that since I had been running so much that I didn't need to watch my food intake this weekend - WRONG!  After a few big meals and high-fat, high-calorie foods (I must have had six latkas last night as I was at two Chanukah parties), I stepped on the scale this morning to see that I was back up to 170 lbs.

Grrrrr.

OK - a little perspective here.  I'm still in the "normal weight" BMI category (just barely...I'm at 25).  I'm nowhere near the 185 lbs that I was tipping the scales at five years ago.

However, it's just a bit discouraging that it took me three weeks to lose 1.5 pounds and two days to gain it back!  (OK...another reality check - a lot if it is likely water retention or something and I'll weigh myself tomorrow and I'll be back to 168.5.  No worries, right???)

Anyhow, the reason I'm worried is that I'll be eating out a lot this week - some engineers from my customer's regional office are coming to town this week and I'll likely be going out to dinner with them a few times.  Also, Chanukah starts next week, which means lots of fried foods and chocolate.

I originally was thinking that I would need 25-30 mile weeks through December in order to hit 1,000 miles for the year.  Now I know that I'll need to do it to avoid hitting 175 lbs by the end of the year...

Which brings me to running this week.  I already lost the first battle - getting out of bed this morning.  6:30am rolled around too quickly.  My younger son was up in the night so my wife asked me to get my older son ready for school.  No run for me this morning :-(  The only chances that I'll have to run today are - if I get a break late morning or lunchtime...before I go out to Columbia, MD to meet with my customer, or tonight in front of Monday Night Football at the gym (that's IF I'm not at dinner with the customer).  So...I better get back to work so I can attempt to get a lunchtime run in.

One More Pound Down

The scale said 168.5 this morning. That's one pound down from last week. The weight is coming off - but slowly. However, I shouldn't complain as I ate like a hog on Saturday (I burned about 1,600 calories on my 2 hour and 15 minute long run that morning, so I didn't really worry about how much I ate the rest of the day) and yesterday I was not as careful as I should have been.

Looking at how my weight starts to creep up starting in August and crescendos into November/December, I'm thinking that perhaps putting a fall marathon on my 2009 - and every year - schedule is not such a bad thing. If nothing else, it will keep me burning all of those calories I consume during my birthday, anniversary, Rosh Hashannah, Sukkot, son's birthday, Halloween and Thanksgiving celebrations.

I did hit the gym this morning for 4 easy miles on the treadmill. Even though it was warmer this morning than on Saturday (24 degrees vs 18), I just couldn't convince myself to run outside today. The good news - my aerobic fitness is definitely improving again. I averaged a 10:37/mile pace over the 4 treadmill miles, with an average HR of 146. The last time I ran an easy 4 close to this pace/avg HR was in early October (pre-bronchitis). I'm baaaack!

Of course, I know that it won't last too long. I haven't donated blood in close to five months so I'd like to do that before the end of the year. I've been thinking about doing a platelets donation and see if that impacts my fitness level/HR as much as a whole blood donation does, however, the donation center that does this is a bit further away (25 minute away instead of 10) and the process takes close to 2 hours. For a whole blood donation, if I get there when they open at 12 noon, I'm usually out by 1:15pm...I can do this on my "lunch hour" on a day when I don't have too much going on. However, I'll actually need to take a morning or afternoon off to do a platelets donation. I'm not sure I can fit that in right now. Since I know that it usually takes me about 3 weeks to get back to my original pace/HR after a blood donation, and I'm trying to run 25 mile weeks to hit the 1,000 mile goal, I'm not sure when I'm going to do this. December 31st?

Monday Morning Run on the Dreadmill

My younger son came into our room at 5:27am.  13 minutes prior to when my alarm was going to go off.  At least I wasn't the one waking my wife up this morning as I got ready to head out and run :-)

Last night was cold and rainy - and I hate running in that type of weather - so I got my gym bag ready last night.  I rolled out of bed as my wife brought my son back to his room, weighed myself (I only gained 1/2 pound last week with Thanksgiving festivities - not too shabby - however, I will be back to counting calories this week), and got into my workout clothes.

I was at the gym and on a treadmill a few minutes before 6am.  The plan was to do four easy miles.  I started out warming up at 4.8mph - slower than a 12 min mile, and my HRM was giving me false readings in the 150s and 160s.  I'm used to this happening while I warm up - usually for the first quarter mile.  However, this kept on going on for over a mile.  WTF?!?!?!?  A quarter of a mile into my run I was thinking, perhaps I'm coming down with something and I should keep it slow?  However, as I passed the half mile mark and my HR was still being shown in that range while I felt really relaxed and fine, I decided that the readings were most likely bogus and started to up the tempo a bit.  Around 1.1 miles in - while I was at 5.2 mph, my HR finally showed in the 130s and stayed there for a bit.

By 2.5 miles in, I was up to 5.7 mph (about a 10:30 mile pace) and my HR was up in the high-140s.  I settled in there for the rest of my run.  4 miles, 44:38, 146 average HR (well, kinda - who the heck knows what my real average HR was...).

It was a blah, boring, uneventful run at the gym.  I will likely brave the cold tomorrow so I can run in the glorious outdoors!

Shabbat Morning Run - Back In The Groove

Total Net Calorie Intake:  ???

Before I get into running details, I gotta come clean on the calorie counting.  There was none over the past two days.  And I'm OK with that - it was Thanksgiving, right?  I actually don't think I fared too bad on Thursday.  I started out by burning 700 calories during the 10K (and probably 100 more doing 99 push-ups) and then didn't eat too much until the evening feast (where I surely made up for lost time).  Yesterday was the usual festive Shabbat dinner, Thanksgiving style :-)  I'm sure that the past two days threw me off a bit, but I'll go back to the calorie counting and everything will be fine.

This morning I went out for an easy Shabbat morning run.  The run was the longest I have done in a few weeks - 7.3 miles - but definitely not a "long run" by standards set earlier in the year.  I had contemplated going longer, but that would have meant leaving the house earlier (and thus getting out of bed earlier) and carrying water with me - two things I did not want to do today.  So I settled on the 7 miler instead of the 9 or 10.

I checked the weather this morning before leaving the house.  26 degrees.  BRRRRRR.  At least I didn't have to wait around for 45 minutes before running, like I did at Thursday morning's race.  There was virtually no wind, which made it bearable.  As usual, the first two miles were tough and cold, however, I was comfortable the rest of the way.  Also as usual, the cold weather made me run a bit faster than I wanted - I guess this is how my body responds as it wants to warm up faster.  My average HR was 156 over the 1:18:35.

The 7.3 miles brought my weekly total to 21.9 miles.  My yearly total is now 899 miles!  This is way more than I have ever run in a year - which is good news.  On the flip side, I have fallen behind the 1,000 mile "pace bunny" due to the week and a half I didn't run with bronchitis and the "ick-ies".  I'm about 13 miles behind pace to finish off with 1,000 miles, which means I'll have to average around 24 miles per week to get to the 1,000 mile goal by December 31.  It is definitely within my reach - I just need to really want it.

To get there, I will really need to make my weekend long runs longer - which means waking up earlier, wearing my water belt and running in the dark for a portion of my run.  I may also have to have some more flexibility due to the weather getting crappier by the day.  And some of these runs may have to be on the dreadmill.

As much as I would really like to reach this goal, if I don't make it I won't be depressed.  I believe that I'll be close to this mileage again in future years - especially in those where I'll run another marathon.  Plus, the main goal for me this year was to finish a 26.2 mile race - and that has been achieved!

So, I won't be pushing myself through sickness and fatigue to reach 1,000.  However, if I'm at 990 miles by December 30, you can bet I'll go out for a 10 miler on December 31!