He Shoots......

When the end of the calendar year starts to wind down, there are things that most people commonly do. For some people it is, "A week before Christmas, time to shop." Other people look forward to the down time around the holidays. Some people look forward to, or dread, seeing family members that they only see in December.

This past week, as my work year is supposed to be winding down, I took a look at the goals that I established for my self at about this time last year. After reading through my list and trying to see it with an unbiased perspective, I realized that I did not achieve a single goal that I established for myself.

The framework that I used for the goals is not anything that I came up with on my own. There are those who say that there are no new ideas. Looking at the movies that have been made of the past few years would seem to prove that statement. I got this framework from a guy on the radio named Dave Ramsey who, got it from some other sources. I tried to find a link on his website that showed this framework so that others could use it if they are interested. Since I didn't find one, I will write it out long form.

My list of goals consists of one goal in each of six different areas. The areas are....

Financial: This isn't about how much money a person has, but more about how secure people feel as a function of how much money they have. A financial goal is more about what the money is doing than how much there is in the account.

Spiritual: While I am a Christian, this is not a think that is only for people who believe in God. Everyone believes in something.

Physical: This could be a matter of weight loss, or physical endurance. Could also be how much sleep a person gets or what they choose to eat or do.

Intellectual: For a person who has a PhD, or didn't graduate from High School, what a person learns, by whatever means, is a component of what kind of person they are.

Career: Who do you want to be when you grow up. Same question if you are 6 or 60.

Family: Since people are relational beings, how you interact with the family has just as much of an impact on you as it does on them.

I did find a link from Dave Ramsey's website about how to set goals. It is below

http://www.daveramsey.com/article/setting-goals-that-work/lifeandmoney_goalsetting/

Now that I have talked about what kinds of goals I came up with and where the framework came from, here is the big news. I did not achieve a single one. My goals were specific, measurable, documented and were time related. With the end of 2010 just a week away, I did not accomplish a single goal.

Before I just change the year at the top of the goal list, I thought it would be a good idea to try to figure out why I didn't achieve any of my goals. After reviewing the things I tried to do to achieve my goals, I came up with a short list of failure modes.

1) I think I came down to a lack of focused intensity on my part. To paraphrase Covey, I didn't begin with the goal, or goals, in mind.

2) I did not review my goal list during the course of the year to see if I was hitting my goals. Had I done that more diligently, I may have course corrected my mistakes sooner.

3) I did not have anyone holding me accountable to the goals. My wife saw the list and commented to me about it once, but, outside of that I had no outside input on where I was with my goals. Sharing them with someone before I even started would also have been a good way to find out if my goals are even realistic to begin with.

I intentionally didn't publish my goal list for a couple of reasons. The goals that I have are personal and I try not to put my whole life online. The other reason is that if I have motivated anyone to set their own goals, I didn't want to influence what those goals will be.

Burning the Turkey

Aaron had a visit during leave.

I am still around. It felt like forever since I had written a post. Well, I checked and it indeed has been forever since I posted. What have I been doing with my time? Working on the getting my Nobel Prize in Nuclear Physics? Hunting for Bin Laden? Figuring out how to fly without the pesky step of using an airplane? No, none of those things. I am not going to reveal everything thing that we have been doing on this post.

One thing that I will mention is that my wife and I have gone through and completely gutted our house of things that we didn't use, want or didn't work anymore. It was a big project. Partially because we have been married for almost 11 years and we brought a lot of stuff in and just added to it. We also moved often before we bought our house and just finished dealing with all of the boxes that were left over in the garage from previous moves. It was a lot of work, so my workouts took a more domestic turn from time to time during this process. It is totally worth being able to put both cars in the garage though.

As part of the clearing out stuff and moving what we chose to keep around, the treadmill has been moved into the office. I have to say that I really like it in there. I don't need to worry about the dogs or cats interrupting the workout and it is out of the way.

I did get my run in this morning, which I really liked. Too bad I am not up to getting up at 3 to be able to do that during the week. I guy has to sleep sometime.

As I have mentioned before, I use my iPhone for listening to music and the Couch to 10K app. I tend to put my workout playlist on shuffle. Keeps things random and interesting. I was nearly done with the run and I thought to myself that I had not heard any Pearl Jam yet on the run. They are the most frequent band on the list at this point. I finally got "Supersonic with about 5 minutes left on the timer and Spin the Black Circle was the last song.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. First one for us since Aaron passed last spring. It was a difficult day. We didn't do anything traditional for the day, including going out to eat for dinner. Historically, we always had a feast and I would eat myself sick for days. We had a good meal, with no extras in the fridge. We will return to a lot of our traditions next year, but I liked not feeling sick or on the verge of the turkey coma after dinner.

Last year, Aaron made a puree of cauliflower that was supposed to be a substitute for mashed potatoes. I didn't try it due to my natural aversion to cauliflower. I like most vegetables, but, that one is my kryptonite. Had I known then what I know now, I would have sucked it up and tried it at least. If I am ever in the same room as Cauliflower puree again, I will have some, if for no other reason, in remembrance of him. I will let you know if I like it.

Exercise Buzz

In my reading, I have seen references to "runner's high" and people making the comment that they feel like they have more energy during the day after working out in the morning. As I have stated in an earlier post, I have personally experienced having more energy during the day after a good morning run or calisthenics. Trying to understand this "runner's high" concept seems a little foreign to me.

I have noticed that my mood has been considerably better with working out regularly. I am typically a pretty low key person, but, I did catch myself singing along in the car and just generally not letting things like traffic bothering me. We have a lot of road construction going on where I live and I had to go the long way to go home after work on Saturday. Working on Saturday, didn't get me down. I got a lot accomplished and felt good about that. The Sun was shining and I felt good being in it.

Even tonight, after a 10+ hour work day and putting in a 3 mile run. I feel really good. That is not a term I use very often. I have read that the body releases Endorphins during workouts and those chemicals make a person feel good. That is where the "runner's high" comes from according to some theories. I have not run any major races or gone really far during a run. I am still working on my endurance and just trying to keep the workout habit going. I am very anxious to see if "runner's high" has anything to do with how far the runner goes.

Another repeating thought in my reading is that a person should consult a doctor before starting a workout program. Even The Biggest Loser recommends this practice during their end disclaimer. I am going to the doctor tomorrow for a full physical. Given what my stated goals are and the recent loss of family, it seems like a good idea. I expect to hear that I am fat. I am working on that. Beyond that, I don't know what will happen tomorrow. My last physical was over 20 years ago. I am interested to see where I stand medically. I can only say that I feel pretty good at the moment.

What Have I Gotten Myself in To?

Well hello again,

I apologize for the virtual dust build up here. With the events of the past couple of months, some of which I have mentioned in previous posts, I have had very little time to post. Thank you for checking for something new here, or subscribing to the documentation of my journey.

Since I have made the declaration that I am training to participate in triathlons, I have shared this goal with some people who, quite frankly, have been less than supportive. I am not referring to anyone who reads this blog. I don't believe that the naysayers are much for reading blog posts. I have been told that the distances are too far, I done have the time it takes to train and that I will probably give up when it gets hard. In the words of Bugs Bunny, "They don't know me very well, do they?"

Some people, both positive and negative, have either quoted wrong distances or have asked me how far the race is. To start with, there are two different kinds of triathlons. There are sprint triathlons, which I am just getting into reading about, so I am far from an expert there. There are also Ironman Distance Triathlons. There are more races at that distance than the famous one that happens on Kona in October. Ironman races are comprised of a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride and finished with a 26.2 mile run. While I will participate in sprint triathlons as part of my training and preparations, my goal is to race in the Kona Ironman.

Being able to race in this event is more than just training like a madman. There is also a number of elements that are 100 percent out of my control. From what I have been reading, just getting a spot in the race is an accomplishment in itself.

There are only 1500 spots in the race. Most people qualify for a spot by qualifying at a selected event. There is also the lottery. There are 200 lottery spots every year. 150 of which got US applicants. There are approximately 5000 people who enter this lottery. 125 of the 150 spots goes to a Member of the Ironman Passport Club, a membership organization for Triathletes. There is an annual membership fee, but, for the increased chance to compete, most people say it is worth it. Applicants must apply and pay the fee to enter the lottery by the end of February and a computer selects the competitors in mid April. People who get a spot are notified on May 1 and have until the end of July to validate their spot.

Kona is not the only Ironman race out there. The one closest to where I live is in Idaho and is run every June. The distances are the same as Kona and is a qualifying event to be invited to race at Kona.

I am in need of some feedback. What sort of questions do you have for this lunatic? What do you want to know about what I am doing and how I am doing it? Feel free to ask me. Send me your question in the comments or email me at 1pairofshoes@gmail.com. I will see you on the road.

Obstacles

I was reading over some emails today and someone had commented to me that they were glad that I started the blog again. I had sent the link before, but, I didn't update it very much. If someone were to look at the entries of the past year, it would seem to show that I am really good at starting and stopping.

I started out as the fat kid and went on to be the fat adult. I have always had weight issues. It seems strange, given that I like sports and like playing them. Playing hockey is one of the rare, completely happy things that I get to do. Even ice skating is a lot of fun for me. I have played football, ran track and done other things over the course of my life that you would think would have helped contribute to losing weight. It just goes to show that input is as much the battle as the output.

I have a sweet tooth. I also have a very difficult idea with the concept of portion control. Well, OK, I get the concept, but implementation is a problem. I think that I am doing better with that in my 30's than I have ever done before. It is still something that I need to give constant thought to.

I have been doing the Couch to 10K program, or at least trying to. I have been trying to fit it in between the time I get home from work and when my wife does. It can be a hard to squeeze it in if I have a longer day at work. I find that I give myself too many outs for not getting it done. I think I need to start treating that time as though I am not at home and I don't have my phone on me.

I would like to know what people out there do. Do you have a workout routine? How do you deal with the potential for interruptions, distractions and other obstacles? I would like to know. Even though I am preparing for the triathlon by myself for the most part, I am not training alone.

The Difference Between Night and Day

Today was the day to do the third day of Couch to 10K. My typical routine is to do my workouts after work. I decided to do today's workout first thing this morning. I have heard a lot of different thoughts and theories about working out. The the second day after a workout hurts more than the day after is one I hear often.
Some people say that it is best to do a workout first thing in the morning. It gets the blood pumping and makes you feel better for the rest of the day. I have had some experience with this and I believe that there is a lot of merit to it. A few years ago, I worked with a guy who had some experience in the Marine Corps. He and I spent a few months working out together every morning before work. We met up at the office workout and did the basic sorts of exercises that Marine Recruits do during basic training. We worked out for about an hour, and then got going with our day after cleaning up.
I felt that endorphin rush that people talk about when they talk about after workouts in the morning. The reason why I don't get do my workouts first thing in the morning is because it would require me to get up at about 3 in the morning to happen. I honestly sleep too little as it is. Also, I have found that working out can be a little loud, particularly on the treadmill. Running outside would not be a noise issue, but, I live in the Pacific Northwest. It does rain often, so some days I would prefer to stay dry during my workout. My wife sleeps later than I do in the mornings, so it is simpler for me to do my workouts in the afternoon, when my work day is over.
I am not aware of any particular advantages to morning or afternoon workouts from the standpoint of Biology. I think the import thing is that the workout happens. One thing that I did notice about working out this morning is that I do feel more soreness this evening than I do when I do my workout in the late afternoon. Maybe I sleep through it in the night.
Three months to go before I should be 10K ready.

Trials and Declarations

It is unusual for me to get two blog posts in during a single day. I consider myself lucky if I get one in per week. I wrote earlier today I was going to start Couch to 10k. It is advertised that by following this regime and doing the workouts 3 time per week, in 13 weeks, I will be ready to do a 10 k without stopping. I did indeed start this evening. I started shortly after I got home and let the dogs outside for their "yard time." It took about 40 minutes and it was a lot more work than I expected.
For those of you who are interested in the stats, the first step was to walk for 4 minutes 30 seconds and then run for 30 seconds. This interval repeated itself 7 times. During this workout, I went just a little over 2 miles and burned 230 calories.
These are the lessons that I learned from trying this method.

1) My workout playlist needs a serious makeover. Those who have read some of my previous posts know that I need to have my tunes during my workout. I set the playlist to random and I definitely need to get some songs with more energy. I will be working on that correction. I am open to suggestions.
2) After trying a couple of different approaches during the workout, holding on to my iPod worked best. I did have event where the iPod flew off the bookshelf of my treadmill. Who reads while running on the treadmill anyway?\
3) I am still very happy with the shoes I wrote about in a previous post. I definitely want to continue to use them and get another pair for running outside. I have a different pair of shoes that I can use in the meantime.
4) Running on the treadmill is loud, so I will have to do it after work. I don't want to wake my wife up in the early morning hours.
5) I am not very flexible. Stretching is very difficult for me, so I think I am going to have to start doing it daily. When I stretched this afternoon, it sounded like the whole upper half of my skeleton was resetting. I dont expect to be goalie flexible when I am done, but, I hope to be able to be competitive in a limbo competition. Speaking of competition....

I know I have talked about 10k's and working out, losing weight and a little about stress reduction. I am something of a goal oriented person. The 10k races will be a step in my progression toward the my goal, as will half and full marathons as well as bike races. The goal that I have set for my self is to complete an Ironman Triathlon at the age of 40. I figure that gives me 3 years to train. Now that I have said it and published it, than I need to get it done. I don't plan to talk a whole lot about the triathlon at this point, rather focus on the running or bike race that is right in front of me.

I appreciate your support, prayers and comments. Keep the music and informations suggestions coming.

Addition: In response to Lindsay's comment, I have read the Couch to 10k online before as a post from Cool Running Magazine. I am actually using an app for the iPhone that uses the same process. This blogging software doesn't appear to like links, so if you want the link, send me an email at 1pairofshoes@gmail.com and I will send it to you.

Routines

I am back at home and back to work, trying to get settled back into something close to what my daily routine is. Admittedly, my training routine has been erratic to say the least. I have been back on the treadmill a few times and actually ran outside once since I have been home. Happily, I have lost some weight while everything has been changed. I am down to 253 as of this morning. We didn't eat very much or on a regular schedule while I was gone, so I am not sure how much that was a part of the change. I can say that my in laws eat mostly organic, so that may have been a factor.
I am going to start Couch to 10K this evening. I have read through the process and there is an app for the iPhone that I can get to faciliate the process. I hope that I have not lost all of my progress to this point, but, I think having something consistant will help. I am also looking for a 10K to run in the next few months. Something local (around Portland, OR) would be preferred.
Something that I have learned is that having a consistant routine is very helpful. Also, running, even on the treadmill, is a better stress reliever than I realized.
As always, I am open to suggestions for training tips, or playlists.

Losses and Gains

I referred in my last post to my Brother in Law's battle with Hodgekin's Lymphoma. He fought bravely against the disease. Sadly, Aaron passed away on 8 March, 2010 at approximately 6:30 in the evening. He was only 23 years old.
As the family has come together this past week, I have had the opportunity to hear stories, see films and listen to music that he created. He was a soldier, an actor, a musician and singer. I think that I have learned more from him in the past two weeks than I realized at the time. He looked for the positive things in life and chose to focus on those. He had a strict rule that there was to be no negativity in his room and didn't want to see people crying in front of him. I had the chance to help him in ways I would have never imagined.
He didn't complain about not being able to lie on his back, be comfortable or even having cancer in the first place. His passing has taken a lot from the family, but it also reminded us of what he gave us.
His funeral will be this coming Monday. I am looking forward to hearing new stories, meeting friends of his that I haven't had the pleasure to in the past. While we will return to our routines, the routines will not be the same completely. I plan to take his positive attitude his "Let's do it" spirit and apply it to the elements of my life in new ways.
Life, Love and Happiness.

Life Balances

While the primary arc to this blog is about working out and losing weight, there are other aspects of life that this fits into. I have written a little bit about goals and trying to strike a balance in life.
It has been about two weeks since I posted for one of those life balance kinds of reasons. There are a few places in the Bible that basically say that a person who doesnt take care of their family is worse than a non believer. I very much believe that to be the case. As some of whomever may be reading this, my Brother in Law has been battling Hodgekin's Lymphoma for about a year now and he is at a very important point in his fight. Without going into the details of another person's story, I have been focusing more time on being involved in his treatment, including taking time off of work and as a result, I have not been training much. I know now that taking care of someone who cannot take care of themselves clues you into things you didn't know you could do. Just from working with Aaron this past week, I think I have grown as a person, even though I have lost over two pounds.
I have read in a few places that there is a mindset in the Triathelete culture that causes life to become focused around training and workouts. While my current goals and ambitions are more consistant with becoming a Triathelete, I do not intend on letting that become the center of my life. I am OK with the consequences of that decision. There are battles out there that are exponentially more important than the one that I am preparing for.

Audience

A huge part of being an athlete is performing in front of an audience. I am not stranger to this. Having played football and ran track in high school as well as hockey in my early 20's, I have played in front of an audience many times. That has never been an issue for me before. I have discovered, however, that working out at home does have an unexpected audience problem.

My wife and I have a lot of pets. Four cats and two dogs to be exact. They are all rescues and we have not had a day in our married life when we didn't have a pet. Our older cats do there own thing when I am doing a workout at home The same cannot be said for the dogs or our youngest cat. The dogs are a couple of Jack Russell Terrier mixes, so they are about the same size as the cats. Their names are Max and Eddie. The kitten is a fearless eight month old named Indy. She likes to pounce on the dogs for sport and I have come home to find her up on top of the curtain rod.

The dogs and the cat have an unnatural fascination with our treadmill. When I was doing my workout late last week, I had a really hard time concentrating on what I was doing. The cat looked like she was trying to figure out how to hop on the treadmill, or she was trying to play with the string on the emergency stop. The dogs did try to get on the machine while I was on it. They also ran all through the house, chasing after the other cats and barking. This didn't make for a very good workout.

Based on this, I have decided that the best place for the dogs to be when I am working out at home is for them to be outside. Doesn't matter if it is raining, snowing, hailing fire and brimstone. I don't plan to workout at home everyday. I know that for me to meet my goals, both for weight loss and other things that I have not stated yet.

My workout yesterday went a lot better. The cat was happy to be in our room, someplace she is not allowed to go to of her own free will. I got the whole workout in and all I heard was my iPod and rhythm of my feet.

New Shoes

I have never thought of this as being a forum for suggestions to give to the rest of the world about what to use for workouts, or anything else in life. I actually want to encourage others to give me ideas since I am learning this as I go along.

Up until recently, I have been using a pair of cross trainers to do my workouts in. I fairly comfortable pair of Nikes that I have had for a couple of years, but, I have only used in a gym or on our treadmill at home.

Last weekend, my wife and I went to an outlet store about an hour from our home and I went into a Nike store to find a new pair of shoes for just living in. I am a fairly tall person (about 6'4") and I have big, wide feet. A consequence of this is that finding shoes that fit is a major challenge. I looked at and tried on 5 or 6 pairs of shoes, ranging from basketball shoes all the way to walking shoes. I even tried on a pair of Air Jordans. Hey, at an outlet store, why not? I couldn't find anything that I was happy with, or wasn't expensive, even for an outlet. I had just about given up one of the employees suggested that I try on a pair of shoes that he wears almost on a daily basis and is the most comfortable for him.

He brought out a pair of running shoes. That really wasn't what I was looking for to wear while hanging out with friends and such, but, I decided to try them on anyway. It felt like I was just wearing socks, they were so light and comfortable. For those who might be interested, they are Zoom Vomero+4's and I am excited to be using them. My cross trainers, great shoes in and of themselves will be my hangout shoes and I will be using the running shoes during my workouts. I may even get an second pair when the weather is better for running outside. They have the space in the sole for the Nike iPod sensor. I don't have that yet, but I am considering that for tracking my distances when I start working out outside.

As of yesterday's weigh in, I am 256.4 lbs. We have gone out to eat way too much and I have worked out way too little. This is no way to prepare for a 10k or anything bigger.

Even Life Can Have a Ctrl+Alt+Delete

All I can really say about the long gap between posts is that life has taken me in places where the last thing that I have had time to think about is losing weight and getting into shape. Needless to say, I have gained most of my initial weight back. I was at my heaviest about a month ago at 258 pounds. I feel slow, weak and generally out of sorts. Like life is running at the wrong speed.

I am taking advantage of my privilege to start over. I have decided on some goals, long and short term that are not necessarily weight loss driver per se, but, by accomplishing these goals, losing weight will be a significant side benefit.

I am going to start using this as a tool, but, exactly how is still taking shape, in a way, kind of like I am.