I know how stupid it is

I just noticed on my blog stats Ive had a lot of hits for that phrase.  "I know how stupid it is"

To add fuel to the fire... Here's another one.


I know how stuipid it is, but I have about 13.5 weeks before Oct 21 which happens to be the date of a marathon Im about to sign up for. I hope I have enough time. Mr Higdon and I are going to be close friends for a while. Ill do my first ever Half Marathon 15 days before I do my first Full. Is that how your supposed to do it?


Half Marathon High Trestle Trail Half
Full Marathon DesMoines IMT

***UPDATE***
High Trestle Trail was cancelled.  So I wont be doing a half marathon this weekend.  

From Woodward City council Mayor Pro TempThank you for your interest in participating in the High Trestle Trail Marathon on October 6^th.  A third party company was responsible for the event’s organization, registration, and execution. This company is not affiliated with the Community of Woodward, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, or the High Trestle Trail Authority. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, that company is no longer able to host the marathon, and the race has thus been cancelled.
 On behalf of the High Trestle Trail managers, I apologize for the event’s cancellation, and I want to assure you that you will be receiving a full refund of your entry fee via Active.com. Please allow 1 to 4 weeks for this refund to arrive.
 With that being said, the High Trestle Trail managers were excited about the idea of a trail marathon and even more thrilled by the response that it received. They are considering hosting a marathon in 2013 so please keep your eyes and ears open for future updates on that potential event.

Swimming progress

In the past 2 weeks Ive swam a mile 2 different times.  This is truly and epic accomplishment for me.  Im slow and I just dont feel "awesome" in the water.  Aside from that Ive been terrified of the water since my Peregrine Charities Tri.  I dont understand why.  Im not afraid of the water.  Im afraid of the distance more than anything else.  I suppose its a lack of open water swims.  On my list of goals to do more open water swimming.   Aside from that.  2 mile long swims in less than 2 weeks is a big deal for me.  Im not really losing any weight at this moment but I do seem to be progressing at least in one discipline.  Now to focus on some running too.  If I can get the Swim and Run down I can "Fake" the Bike right Rachelle?  ;)  An Olympic may not be to far fetched for me even yet this year.  I was truly hoping for a 70.3 this year but I think my season is going to lapse before I can get there.  I guess ill focus on the run and get the Half marathon and potentially a marathon.

Workouts to improve your swim

http://www.swimsmooth.com/breathing.html

Great Article : Chrissie Wellington's guide to the open water swim

Update:
I absolutely love my Prescription goggles I got from swimoutlet.com.  They are a good fit and feel and for the first time ever I feel more secure in the water because I can actually see.  Cheap enough for anyone and easy too.

Compromising your Metabolism Part2: The hardest thing

This is a follow up to this post. Compromising your Metabolism?

I've been trying to lose all the fat on my body since January 2010. For about a year I ate at 2000, 1800, 1600, and 1490 daily caloric intake exercising 5-6 days a week and reducing calories levels as I lost weight which was about every quarter.
For the majority of 2011 I struggled to lose weight at 1500-1450 calories/day while exercising. I was exercising 45-60 min with occasional 90 min workouts an sometimes on weekend double workouts I was burning 500-1500 calories a day in exercise. This caused me to be eating at a severe deficit for a long time frame.

Now I'm committed to eating enough calories and I am convinced, finally, that I truly was starving myself.

 For 2 weeks I have maintained my intake at 2350-2550. Regardless of exercise. I don't eat calories back because I'm technically eating at my maintenance or slightly under (200-300 cals). This past week I was traveling for 3 days and despite poor nutritional options I monitored my caloric intake the best I could. ** I made a best guess on the mexican fajitas I ate.** I worked out 2 days of the 3. One day I did 20 min of HIIT calisthenics in my room and the next night I ran 4 miles. This morning I weighed and I was .2 heavier than the day I left. Im ok with this because i didn't really gain I haven't been exercising consistently and my nutrition hasn't been super clean so I definitely think I could be retaining a bit of water. Since I started I have lost about 4 lbs and kept it off instead of YoYoing. Despite always believing, and telling others, that eating your calories back was the right thing to do; I lost weight for a year consistently by not doing it. Being morbidly obese when I started, and working hard enough to compete in triathlons I was terrified to eat my calories back fearing I would start putting all that weight back on that I had worked so hard to lose. It took me a year of not losing anything and being frustrated to the point of giving up to get to this point. I'm excited once again to be moving forward instead of being in a state of constant frustration. I urge you all to determine your TDEE and then eat at a slight deficit. It maybe working for you now to starve your body but eventually it will catch up to you and you will waste a lot of time and destroy the motivation and drive you have.

The hardest thing was me forcing my brain to accept the fact that doing this wasn't going to make me fat and if gaining a little weight the first week was my only way to make progress over the long haul was to take this step of faith than doing that was better than continuing to gain and lose the same 10 lbs for another year.

Back on Track...this time for real

Im going to start writing again and following this better.  I think I figured out part of my problem.  No motivation.  When I say no motivation I mean.  I didnt have any races to race..I had plans for a schedule but nothing I had signed up for.   I cant let that happen again.  I have less than 2 weeks and I need to get my mileage back up to 5.


I got a great Post coming up too so watch for a lots of pictures about some awesome fun!

Swimming refrence

Someone posted this a while back and I thought it would be good to share

http://www.chrissiewellington.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/220_Open_Water.pdf

2012 Shore to Shore 10K - Race Report

This race I thought was going to be a great fun race.  I turned out to be one of the most horrible runs Ive ever done.  It was harder than anything I had previously done.  this was my first official 10K race.  Id run 10k before in training of course so the distance was no surprise to me.   Many things played a huge roll in my DLF.

Yup I finished Dead Last.  Well I was still alive.  Not only was this humiliating and a huge blow to my ego but it was back home in my local hometown.   Which made me feel like DNS>DLF.

I know I wasnt fully prepared for the race overall but I was capable of running the distance and I knew and expected to finish in under 1 hour.  When I got there as I was driving into the park i got a very ugly feeling of what was ahead of me.  The race would be run on the roads inside the state park and they were much hillier than I had remembered.

I thought going into this I would fare pretty well.  Low numbers for the 10k Lots of 5k runners.   AS the start time approached.  It got muggier 90% humidity mid 80's  I was OK as the race started and kept pretty good pace through the 3 mile mark when we hit the first Big hill. I was pacing at about 9:45 and I felt pretty good about it.  I felt like I could maintain, but the heat and the hills caught up to me quick.  At 2.25 We begin the first big hill climb.  It was over a 100' of climb in a half a mile.  I believe this hill and the the following hill were what drained my tank and stole all my energy and motivation.  After getting to the top I felt a little bit relieved and head back down.  I was slower and the people I had been pacing with were 100 yards ahead of me now.  I knew I was slowing but I had some down hill and flat to catch up to them.  I made slight progress until I hit the next hill, 120' of climb in .6 miles.  This was where I stopped to walk the first time.  This hill seemed to never end and walking killed my motivation.   So disappointed.  From here on out it was hill after hill and I just never regained my legs or my drive.   I knew as I was in the last mile that I was maybe one of the last ones and I was pretty sure there was no 10K racers behind me.  That only added to the de-motivation.

I was the last one to cross and despite the feeling of accomplishment of finishing my first 10k race I was angry at myself for letting my fitness level go so far that I was this slow and this out of shape to not even finish under 11 min avg. pace.

I hung around for awards just to give props to the other racers I ran with and embarrassingly placed in my age category.    I hate that feeling.  Not a good showing at all and Im not sure Ill run the race again...Or maybe I will just to redeem myself.

Thanks Google, Picasa, and blogger

You lost my pictures and then marked my blog as spam and deleted it.  You really are awesome!

2012 Iowa Speedway "Where the Rubber Meets the Road 8k"

Race Results

Todd and I

I had mentioned I was going to do this race and Todd said he run it the year before so we convinced one another to run it this year.   I was late and paid the idiot fee.  so I waited till the day before to register but I knew Todd would be there so I couldn't back out.  When I first got there I had no idea where to go and all the parking lots were empty.  No signage or directiosn to direct racers where to go.  I finally realized that we were supposed to drive our vehicles down into the infield of the race track.    Kind of cool driving my crappy car where high end race machines have driven. :)

I picked up my race packet.  Im Bib # 206 Yay even numbers!


Lots of people here way more than I expected.   I wasnt at all prepared for this distance but I wanted to do it and it was good to get back into my running which this race forced me to do.  I really only prepared by running the previous 2 weeks I was slacking big time.

WE all lined up out on the track and bang we were off!

The course was the draw of the whole race.  You run around the race track one time then out into the parking area and down the interior roads that are part of the grounds then out on to the highway back into the parking area and around the track again.

I felt sluggish and icky as I started that morning.  I knew it was going to be one of those runs where you just feel heavy like each foot fall is a million pounds.  As we get out on the roads the first down hill begins.  Going down a hill is great until you realize that what goes down must eventually come up.  Similar to the law in physics this is the law of running and cycling.  Coincidentally I think this may also be the law of late night partying in college.

Anyway as I trudge up the first hill I begin to feel better and by the time I reach the pavement I'm picking up my pace.  Its a good thing my attitude improved because I was about to head straight into the hill that is Very long and steep.  Every one was walking it.  I refused.  I would not walk this hill I swore to myself that no matter how slow I had to go I would maintain a jog and keep shuffling if it killed me.  I passed lots of people walking this hill.  Some even better runners then myself.   It seemed to never end it just kept going and going and going.  Eventually it did crest and you could see the track again and see the Really fast people already down on the track.  I still had more than a mile left to run.

I kept my pace up and tried to regain some of the slowed time I lost on the uphill.  Making my way through the parking lot and down on to the track again I begin to lose steam and then I got passed by a really old lady who obviously had run a marathon based on the shirt she was wearing proudly.  Still what could I expect from my lack or preparation.   As I rounded turn 4 and headed up the straight away for the finish line I put all the gas I had left in my tank into finishing strong and finished with my head high and my lungs empty.

Looks like my form is horrible!

Overall I had a good time and it was good for me to get back to running.  Had a great time meeting Todd and his wife too.

Weight Gain

I hate where I'm am right now.  I feel so defeated with my weight and I know how stupid it is but it really is getting the best of me mentally.    I'm 15 lbs up from my low and essentially haven't made any progress since Mid January.  How is that possible?  How can I be eating in a deficit and not lose weight?  Scientific anomaly?

A few weeks ago I started hitting the free weights and I've been doing very basic workouts.  Upper body: Bench Press, Shoulder Press, Rows, Pendelay Rows, Barbell Curls, Preacher curls, French Press.  Lower body: Barbell Rack Squats,  Romanian Deadlifts, Barbell Rack Lunges, Calf Raises.

My body is sore all the time and I feel like I cant run. which is killing my run training.  But I know I need this badly.  Additionally this weightlifting seems to be the cause of my weight gain.  Which if its muscle then Yay!!! But if its not muscle then....

I really dont think I could have put on 6 lbs of muscle in 2 weeks.

I want to run and get my distance back up to over 10k but my ass hurts to even walk!

Proposed Race Schedule

Date	Race	Distance
16-Apr	Rubber meets the road 8K	8K
28-Apr	Drake Relay Half	13.1
20-May	Bluff Creek Triathlon	Sprint 500/15.5/3.1
JUNE	OPEN
8-Jul	Tri in july	super sprint
14-Jul	Warrior Dash	5k obstacle
12-Aug	Hickory Grove Triathlon	Sprint 500/15.5/3.1
19-Aug	Perigrine Charities Triathlon	Sprint 500/15.5/3.1
	OPEN
2-Sep	Hy-Vee Triathlon	Olympic
21-Oct	Dsm IMT Half	13.1

Here is my current proposed race schedule for this season.  As I was writing this I see that I missed the Jacob Krumm Trail run I like so Ill have to add that in there as long as it doesn't conflict with a date.   I'm sure I might throw in some other runs through out depending on scheduling.

Im a little afraid of an Olympic the swim is what is scaring me.   I'm not entirely sure about the half marathons either I just feel doubt about my abilities right now.  I need to get back into a more positive place.  Posting this  I hope is my first step.

Compromising your metabolism?

Training and losing weight is a double edged sword.  Eat enough to fuel but restrict my intake enough to lose.


In Jan 2010 I started and I weighed-in that day at 297 I had been over 300 lbs easily. I lost 22 lbs in the first 9 weeks. I was exercising everyday for at least 30 min of hard cardio. I was trying to hit a caloric goal of 2300 calories which was a 500 calorie per day deficit. I wasnt eating my calories back that I burned during exercise. I continued to lose.

By Oct 2010 I was down to about 225 and over the next couple months it seemed to me that it was harder for me to lose weight. If I missed a workout I wasnt losing so I had to be very strict. I still was not eating my exercise calories. 


In reviewing my diary now, I was taking in roughly 1200-1600 calories a day and exercise burning 450 - 1100 calories a day. There were some days where my net caloric intake was less then 200 cals Net after exercise. I was starving myself.  How long had I been doing this?


 I never ate back my calories. 


Feb 2011, I was at my lowest weight yet. 197 lbs Woohoo! From over 300lbs to 197lbs I felt and looked amazing. I hurt my knee running and was layed up for 6 months. Because I couldnt do cardio I did upper body strength training and Kept my calories low. I managed to maintain and only inched back up to about 205. By the time I had recovered and I was back to training for my triathlon. I was 198 the day of my race. But I couldnt lose anything more. I was trying hard I was eating very carefully. Burning 1000+ cals 4-6 days a week and eating about 1500 total. This had gone on for months. All of 2011 I essentially stayed the same or gained 5 lbs.


As the 2011 holiday season approached and triathlon season ended I relaxed my diet and my exercise as I was mentally spent from the constant grind of not making progress for a year. The fat fell off of me all through 2010 but in 2011 It was all I could do it shave 5 pounds. 
Jan 2012 I weighed-in after abandoning diet and exercise for 2 full months. Scale was 221 lbs. I dropped 7 lbs in 2 days (water). I had to get back under I started again doing what I had done again.... Nothing 1 lbs loss ... a single cheat meal. 3 lbs gain for 4 days (not just water). That continued... I was up down, up down, up down.


Everyone was telling me..."Massive, your not eating enough! You are starving yourself!" I bought a BodyMedia Fit about a month ago and basically what I've found is that my daily TDEE is at or exceeds 3000+ Calories a day without exercise. So If I'm only eating 1500 calories a day my body, without exercise, is at a 1500 calorie per day Deficit, add a 1000 calorie workout in there and your looking at some serious nutrition issues. A week before I got my Bodymedia fit I started eating a total of 2000 cals ( or trying to make sure I ate that minimum) That wasn't my net but just a total


Is starvation mode real?  I think it is I definitely wasn't eating enough to properly fuel my body.  Its hard because quite honestly it scares me to eat lots because I'm actually afraid to eat to much and gain the weight back.  I dont ever want to go back to where I was and eating calories in excess really scars me so I'm still struggling with it.  I'm trying harder to make sure I eat 2000-2400 cals on days I workout so I'm taking in 1500ish total.  According to estimation If I did No workouts My maintenance calories should be around ~2200 calories/Day.  so by my estimation I should be at a 600-900 calorie deficit.   a little more then normal but everything is an estimate anyway.   I do calorie load when I do long bikes and runs so I take into consideration my caloric needs based on activity levels.


Eat more to lose weight Crazy!  I've dropped almost 6 lbs since trying this approach.


Starvation mode Myth?  - interesting  read

Running Form and why I changed

The Once and Future way to Run


Expensive shoes: A waste of money?

Late last year I read Born to Run - Christopher McDougall.  Not only was it an amazing story line but the theory and information presented by Christopher was incredibly well done.   I would strongly recommend reading the book.  But I wanted to share these two articles that are directly related to the book and have some fantastic info.

I started out a heel striker and last last year after reading I changed my running style to a mid/fore foot strike.  It improved my speed, distance, and endurance immediately.  After doing so I ran my first sub 30 min 5k.

I do not run barefoot but I might try it this summer.

New Shoes

A while back I got some new shoes.

Triathlon specific shoes.  For all of my running career I've used Asics mostly with one pair of Nike shoes.  Up until late Sept I had been a heel striker.  I made some changes to my running style based on reading a book called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.   I'm not going to debate heel striking vs Mid or fore foot or Shoe vs Barefoot.

I could see a pretty clear argument for a change to my running style not because one was right or one was wrong but because one was better for me and my application.   This isn't a book review however maybe I will do one :)  It was a great book.   The point is I took a chance on a sort of hybrid/minimalist style shoe and I'm not unhappy with it.   I've done about 6 treadmill runs with them and it is a little different feel.  I cant wait to get a chance to try them outside.

the shoe fits like a sock/slipper and is quite comfortable for running.  It is a very different feel and not somethign I would just jump into.

To make a long story short.  I got a new pair of shoes :)  SEE! *Points*

Paying it forward

If you have followed my progress at all then you know that I started doing this while I was morbidly obese.  I wanted to run.  Unfortunately because of my excess weight I had to move into running very slowly and use cycling and elliptical workouts as my primary cardio.

In 2007 I was working for a little Bleeding "Edge" Technology company and doing support for them.  I had gotten this bug to start running my at that time 275 lb body around in an attempt to become a "real" runner like the kind you see in Nike commercials.  FYI Real runners look like all kinds of different things. I ran with no plan and no diet changes for about 75 days.  Some of it is even documented in some of the first posts of this blog.   A coworker found out and began encouraging me.   We talked several times about my training.  I really wanted to run bad but I hurt my knee because I was too heavy and too determined.   While I was off mending I lost motivation.  2.5 years later I get my head out of my butt and lose a bunch of weight and in the process get recommitted to running and pursuing my goals.

My coworker friend pushes me to Tri... and that's all it took to get me in.   This last year I became a Triathlete with a lot of struggle and injury healing time off I got 2 races in.    The reason for this post is not to recap my past start.  Much of that can be found in other posts on this blog.  The purpose is to take a moment to show how much a friendship and a hand up can help another aspiring runner, cyclist, swimmer, duathlete, or Multisport athlete Whatever you are.

A few weeks ago I had come off of the post holiday season and realized that I had some work to do and I needed to get my head back in the game and prepare for the upcoming season.   I knew I didn't have a ton of cash to throw around but I had some items I needed to purchase to be more competitive this season and just do things right.   I reached out to my Triathlete friend hoping to just get a boost of motivation and help me pull myself together.  What I got was far more.

She sent out a email blast to the Tri Community and found the stuff I needed on the cheap.  We decided to meet up for a trainer ride and we had a very good talk.  She is a super amazing friend.  You couldn't be luckier to have a friend in LittleRachet.  She cheered me up and lifted my down spirits and then surprised the crap out of me with all kinds of gear I could use!  That night I picked up a trainer, shoes, pedals, and great coach. She is pretty amazing and really shows how much helping out an aspiring athlete can make a huge difference.  I owe her so much.  One day I hope I can repay her or at least pay it forward to someone else new to the sport.

23 1/2 hours a day

I was reading through my friend Rays blog over at www.fatguysredemption.com  and found this entry for this video and had to share.  It seems that simple because well it is.  If you weigh what you gain from following this then than what you lose is far greater.  Check it out.  Its about 9 min but very informative

A new year and a look back

Many of you may have heard about Ben Does Life and if you don't know about him its quite likely that you have seen his amazing transformation video .

I first watched that video when I was just getting started on my journey and it is incredibly inspiring. Thanks Ben!
Anyway I was reading his Tumblr site and he did a very cool idea albeit not with the results I expected but I'm going to do my own here.
Ben Does Life - 2011 Brag on yourself

Name 11 things you did in ‘11 that make you proud.

1. I learned a lot about myself and racing/running/cycling/swimming
2. I improved my running/cycling/swimming form
3. Ran further then I ever have 7.4 miles
4. Set a 10k PR of 1:02:31
5. Sub 30 min 5k in a race
6. Set a 5k PR of 28:38
7. Maintained my weight and fitness despite injury and downtime
8. Improved my 5K time by 15min 29 sec from my first ever 5K in Apr 2010
9. Living History Farms Race w/ My wife
10. Ran a trail run with my daughter. (She was first overall female!) I got 3rd OA male (2nd in my AG) the same trail run    improved my time by 5 min from last year.
11. Became a Triathlete (It wasnt Pretty but I did it)

I did a lot of great things this year and I had a lot of struggle and disappointment.  But most importantly I'm still here and I'm still moving forward.  My goals for this year will be more focused and with a little luck and proper planning I hope to make great strides both in my weight loss and my fitness levels.

Some of my general goals for 2012.

1. Get my weight down to 170
2. 25 min or less 5K time
3. 55 min or Less 10K time
4. Improve my swimming 
5. Half Marathon
6. Olympic Triathlon
7. Full Marathon - finish
8. Swim more