Taking the Next Step

Having finally accomplished running the 5K that got me into this whole journey, I have spent the last few days assessing where I am and where I'm going. Now, don't worry. I'm pretty set up goal-wise. I got a 10K to run in February for the short term and the Walt Disney World Marathon is looming ever-closer for the long term. However, there is one part of this journey I haven't tackled yet and I think it's time I deal with it. 

It's time to deal with my nutrition and eating habits.

Before you all say anything, let me tell you, I was putting this off on purpose. After many past and failed attempts at losing weight, I have made every mistake and leaned many lessons about what works and what doesn't. One of those things, is all the times I have dove in to the whole process, heart and soul with every good intention in the world. I eat right, I exercise and I end up losing weight, only to gain it back and then some. The lesson I have learned from that is that whenever I have made that decision, the changes have been too extreme. I try to make changes over many things and it get very overwhelming. Invariably, after several months, I get tired of it all and return to my usual patterns. 

On the exercise side of things, it had a lot to do with the fact I had not found an activity I really liked to do in the long term. I would start doing whatever it was at the time, really excited and then the novelty would wear off and I would lose interest. Ironically, all that time I tried all those different things, I avoided running like I would the Ebola Virus. I was convinced I hated running. Go figure.

That is why when I started this journey, the first rule I set for myself was to take it easy. To not try to do everything at once. Since I was setting some lofty goals for myself and given my past history with running, it was crucial for me to be patient. I do not want this to be another failed attempt at a healthier life. My family deserves more than that.

So I set off making a deal with myself: Go run. Worry about nothing else. Forget the diet and the calorie counting. Make sure that running can become not just a  form of exercise but a true part of my life. Something I feel I HAVE to do. Need to do. Make certain it is not an impulse thing. Make a true habit. Forget the rest. Just run.

Well, here I am, 9 months later and I can truly say that running is a part of my life. I look forward to running and the prospect of future races makes me excited. I have caught the bug. Now, for the next step.

That's not to say, I have nothing to show for those 9 months. Aside from the three medals I have collected during that time, I did lose 15 pounds. All that running had to make a dent of some kind, diet be darned. Sadly, the cruise did have an effect. I gained 6 pounds back but still, it could have been worse. However it's time to get serious. I can't expect to run a marathon 100 pounds overweight so now comes the hard part.

Right off the bat, forget the crazy diets. I'm taking the same approach to this I took with running. Slow and steady wins the race. I have to make small, but permanent changes that I can stick to. Then, after making sure I have committed to those changes and make sure they are working, I can make more. Here is the first set of changes:

1) Soda has got to go! - I am a big drinker. Not alcohol mind you. When I sit down to eat I drink a lot of whatever is in front of me, usually soda. I can drink 3, 4 glasses. Maybe more. It is an immense waste of calories and it has to stop. I have no problem drinking water but I'm hooked on soda. The fact that combo meals conveniently include soda is obviously a factor which reminds me...

2) Stop the junk! - We eat out way too much. I'm not talking about sitting down at a restaurant. I mean, "let's not cook and go grab a burger from the drive-through window" eating out. Sodium consumption should be dramatically reduced just by doing this alone. With a family of 5 with small kids, this is very convenient so I'm not gonna say that we are never ordering out but we have to reduce it way down.

3) Taper my meals - What this means is that as I go through my day, every subsequent meal will have less calories than the previous one. Which means that breakfast will be the biggest meal of the day and then with each meal I will eat less calories. This will end with a snack after dinner no higher than 300 calories. That will make it 4 meals a day (including the snack). The snack is important because I can cheat big time at night.

4) Keep track of my food - I have failed horribly at this before but if I can keep track of my runs and workouts I can do this. Since it worked for my runs, I will be using the Internet as well for this. SparkPeople.com is a great place for those who want to lose weight. The members support each other a lot and it has a great food and calorie tracker with a phone app so you can do it whenever and wherever you are. Plus its all free.

And that's it. 4 small things to work into my normal habits. I think the soda thing is the biggest one but if I manage to reduce eating fast food, that will work itself out as well. Whether it works or not I will keep you all posted.

Weekly Report #15

Recovery week basically for me. After running essentially two 5K's in consecutive weeks, and trying to digest a week's worth of cruise food, this first week after returning home was about taking it easy. Sort of. I was dying to try out my new running shoes and I have to say they have not disappointed so far. I have also been working on reviewing my weekly training to get ready for running longer distances. I have also come to realize that it's time to take this journey up one notch but I will go into that in my next post.  Right now, it's about this last week which was... interesting.

The new shoes are working out great! The minute I put them on, they felt "right". They are a little tighter in the toe box than the 1123's but still there is plenty of room in there. They feel a little stiffer in terms of cushioning compared to my previous pair but I'll reserve final judgement about that after I break them in a little more. On Wednesday, I tried them out:

Wednesday, December 5 - 3 miles:
Full disclosure: Even though I was dying to try out the new shoes, that was the only reason I wanted to run this day. The minute I started running I felt why. Despite racing on consecutive weeks I hadn't done a lot of running the last few weeks. Add to that a week of my extreme high calorie journey through the Caribbean and you can understand why my body would complain on this run. I felt sluggish and heavy. My legs started hurting the minute I started. My motivation was non-existent. I hadn't even done a mile when my cousin drove by and seeing opportunity, I stopped to chat with him. Didn't even bother to turn off RunKeeper. After a couple of minutes I said goodbye and kept going. Then it started to rain. When I arrived in town, the annual festival to our Patron Saint was being held, in the middle of my route. I tried to keep running but after a while more decided to call it a night. Hey, without bad days you can't have (and appreciate) good days and hey... 51:02

Saturday, December 8 - 5miles:
Things got a LOT better after that. When I went out this day, I was a bit weary since I had such a bad run last time. My wife asked me "How much are you running today?" and I hesitated for a bit, then told her "4 miles... maybe." and left it at that. But after I started running, everything just clicked. I was feeling good and right before mile 4 I saw I was feeling strong and decided I would keep going. Apparently all I needed was to get moving (my last run) to return to form, sort of speak. I think this is the best I have felt running this distance. Perhaps I can run this distance more than once a week? We'll see. 1:16:40

So stay tuned folks. The next post is kind of an important one.

New Balance 1123's (R.I.P.)

May 2012 - November 2012

Well, after 200+ miles and thanks to my youngest brother's very timely birthday gift, the time has come to retire my first, true pair of running shoes. As I mentioned when I first got them (post here) they really made a difference in how I run and how frequently. I also mentioned a while back (here) that I was starting to see and feel signs of wear and tear but I just could not buy another pair because, quite honestly I just didn't have the money.

Well right before the cruise, my youngest brother gave me a pair of brand new shoes in the hopes that I would use them during the Castaway Cay 5K. Well, that was not gonna happen. As I explained to him, there were two things keeping me from doing that: 1) Never use new shoes for a race. This is part of the whole "never do something you haven't tried before during a race." thing. 2) While a cruise is definitely about luxury, space can be an issue. You have to pack for formal night, semi-formal night, pirate night (yes, pirate night) so you got to be careful how much you pack. I wasn't about to take the 1123's either. I needed something versatile I could use to run and sightsee. I settled on these:

My mom gave me these a couple of years back. I have used them mainly for walking around Disney World and I have worked out once or twice in them. I found out, while researching what shoes to replace my 1123's with, that these are in fact, women's trail running shoes. Hey, I didn't know. Apparently neither did my mom. (unless this was her attempt at humor) I got lost while running through the Disney World Resorts in these shoes. Ended up in an employees-only area at 5:30am. We have a history, these shoes and I.

But, Alas, they are not proper running shoes for every day use so I save them for cross-training (something I should be doing by now). The 1123's on the other hand, were crying for mercy. During the Give a 5K for Diabetes, I could really tell they were on their last legs. The bottom of my feet were hurting and that had never happened before. Since I had read that running shoes can last up to 500 miles I thought they would last longer but they ended up giving me a little over 200. Apparently, carrying almost 100 pounds extra takes a toll on the wear. Plus, those first miles I ran, I dragged my feet a lot. I will miss them. Goodbye New Balance 1123's...

Hello Brooks Beasts!

I have been told by many that these shoes are built like tanks in terms of their wear and durability so I'm looking forward to trying them out this week. In terms of looks, they are way louder than my previous pair but not the "I want to kill myself" neon colors I see so often. I'm not sure I love the spaceship silver color but I'm excited to try them out. I will let you know how they work out when I give my weekly report.

Castaway Cay 5K Race Recap

Well, I'm back from an amazing Disney cruise. We had tons of fun. Without going into the details, this isn't a travel blog (maybe I should do one of those...) I can tell you the best way to describe this vacation in one word is: Magical.

However, the important thing about this cruise, as far as this blog is concerned, happened on the last day when we stopped at Disney's private paradise island Castaway Cay. Way back, when I booked this cruise and learned about a race held there called the Castaway Cay 5K, it got me into running. Running this race was the initial goal that started this whole adventure and while my long term goals have sure changed (now I want to run the Walt Disney World Marathon in 2014) this little race is a fundamental part of why I'm running today. I was extremely excited to cross this 5K from my list.

The race itself is not a big deal in practical terms. It is basically another cruise activity you can do during your cruise. It has caught on with guests though, so over the years they have added bibs (with the Run Disney logo) and a timing board. They have also modified the course somewhat according to those who did it a while back. It is flat as a pancake and takes place inside the island so there is not much to look at. Looking back, I wonder what it was about this race that made me think it was doable. But human beings are weird that way. You never know what is going to trigger them into doing something crazy.

Last post, I gave you the recap of the 5K I ran the week before the cruise. Craziest race ever (sordid details here) by a long shot. The week after that I was pretty sore so I did not run again until I was on the cruise where I did a 2 mile practice run on the ship. Yes, ON the ship. The Disney Fantasy has its own jogging track on Deck 4 (The 4th floor for all you land lubbers). 2.5 laps equal 1 mile and I did two miles. Funny thing is, the cruise changes time zones a couple of times and I got a little confused so I ended up running at 3:30 in the morning. Now wonder I was all by myself!. Despite that, I felt pretty good during that run. The rest days really refreshed my legs. Plus, I felt like Denzel Washington in "Crimson Tide". You that scene where he is running inside the sub? It kind of felt like that. In the Fantasy you are running right below the life boats and there are all these pipes and machinery so I could almost hear the movie soundtrack in my head.

On race day, all the runners were told to meet at The Tube (a disco made to look like London's subway). There we signed up and were given our bibs and instructions about the race. This was not a motivating scene. I saw many people who looked like serious runners and many more wearing shirts that said stuff like "Historic 10K" and "Ultrarunners of St. Louis". Quite a diverse (and might I say fit) crowd.

You don't see a lot of pre-race meetings at places like this.

From there, we were the first ones out the ship and we walked from the ship to the start line which made for a nice warm up. At the starting line, there a was a time clock and a map of the island. We were shown the route of the race and after a quick trip to the bathroom we were off!

Now, sure, this was a goal I had set a long time ago but I had no delusions of grandeur or anything. I was on a cruise. I hadn't run that much in the past two weeks and... I was on a cruise. I mean, do I have to say it? I ATE EVERYTHING! So even though I knew the course was mild and flat there were no expectations of any kind. My last 5K I did 47:30. My best time running three miles has been a practice run: 44:38.

Sure enough, after the start, everyone fell into their respective paces and I ended up in the back, a bit ahead of the walkers. I was running a bit faster than usual but decided to keep it up since the course was flat but after a while I dialed it back. While the temperature was pleasant, the sun was really showing off that mid-morning power and besides, I started having a very interesting, albeit funny, problem. At first, I thought I was getting dizzy because of the sun. But it wasn't "normal" dizzy. At least that is not how I've felt dizzy before. After a couple of minutes I figured it out. I was Land-Sick! LOL. After a week on the ship with only brief exits I was feeling the movement of the ship while on dry land. It reminded of the film "Waterworld" with Kevin Costner where at the end he leaves because the ground "Doesn't move right."  Every time I felt the "sway" it was like my body trying to cross from one side of the road to the other. After identifying the cause, I laughed and kept going.

Halfway through, I had another little event. This time a mental one. Back when I started running, I read about Jeff Galloway and his run/walk/run method. While I felt his method was probably the most sound for a person that is overweight like myself, I decided to try and just run, even if I progressed slower. Now, I'm in no position to question Jeff Galloway in any way. If he says it is the most efficient way, I believe him. For me it was an ego thing. If I'm going to run, I want to run the whole race. That's it. I didn't think I would be faster or better, I just wanted to run the entire distance in front of me.

Of course, that all sounds awesome until the old ladies start passing you by. That's when the real pride and ego kick in. For the second race in a row, I got passed late in the race by people doing the run/walk/run method. For the second race in a row, I got passed by some really old ladies doing the run/walk/run method. Again I told myself "you are running the whole thing. You WANT to run the whole thing." but it still stings a bit. Maybe I should revise my position on the Galloway method. lol

At the end, I picked up the pace and finished strong. My one goal for the race was for the Cast Members (that's what Disney calls their employees) in charge of the race to not leave before I got to the finish line. Basically, they told us they would be at the finish line for a while handing out medals and if they weren't there when you finished they would send the medal to your room. It sounds like a stupid thing but I wanted to receive the medal at the finish line. After the final turn I saw the finish line there they were with the medals. Yes!!!! But wait, what about my time? As I crossed the finish line, I look to my left and there is the clock...

41:58

Can you say Personal Record?!! Yes. I. Can. Doing the happy dance! I mean, I'm doing the happy dance now... Back at the finish line I could barely breathe. The Cast Member put the medal around my neck. Oh yeah! It felt so good. Of course, Disney does not waste any revenue-creating opportunity so right next to the finish line was a store selling what else? Castaway Cay 5K T-Shirts! Of course, me not wasting any Disney income-reducing opportunity, bought the shirt to commemorate the occasion. 

And that was it. Another goal met. The race that got me into this whole thing has now been checked off my list but, it was at the beginning of my list. There are many things to cross off in the future. Next steps? I think its time to start considering a 10K. Perhaps the World's Best 10K? One of the biggest races in Puerto Rico being held at the end of February? Sounds like a plan to me. Also, with this race (and this cruise) behind me, I think its time to start tackling the other part of this lifestyle equation: Nutrition. Stay tuned folks. The best as they say, is yet to come

Give a 5K for Diabetes Race Recap

I don't have pics of the race. I'm sorry.  As you will see below, this was the craziest 5K I have ever run. OK, it's the second 5K I have ever run but it is still the craziest by far. If I learned my lesson correctly, it will be the craziest race for a very long time.

On the way home, I managed to take this nice pic of San Juan harbor but that's it.

So the race was set to start at 5pm. I'm not going to get into the details but I was very late. Suffice it to say, it was all my own fault. I drove as fast as I could to San Juan and found myself in a traffic jam near the race. I decided to not wait it out and parked pretty far away from the race. It was 15 minutes before the start. I walked/ran as fast as I could to the park and worked up a pretty good sweat. When I got to the registration table they were putting everything away! I quickly showed my form and the lady begrudgingly looked for my bib. I apologized a bunch of times but she just told me to run to the start line because they were starting.

There I was, already panting, with my phone, headphones, race shirt, race info envelope, race chip and car keys all in my hands. I left the envelope stashed in some corner thinking I would go back for it. (I didn't) I joined the crowd of races and as soon as I found a place to stand the gun went off. As the runners in the front started I got down and put on the racing chip and started walking to the starting line while putting on my bib but it was too late. Turns out I didn't put my racing chip right and was right at the end of my lace about to fall off. There was no time. I "sewed" the lace to the part tied to the shoe and hoped it didn't fall off. I barely started RunKeeper right at the start line, put on my headphones and started my playlist. I had my arm band in my pocket but that was not gonna happen. I put the phone there as well. I tried once again to put on my bib.

Did I mention all this happened while I (and everyone else)was running?

30 seconds after putting the bib on,  It fell off on one side. This was just too crazy. I stopped running and while walking got myself together. Put the bib on right (sort of), put the keys on one pocket, the phone on the other and the race shirt... well there was no other way. I carried that the entire race. I got going once again.

It was a tough race with a particularly challenging hill after the first mile marker. In all the commotion I, of course darted off way too fast but I didn't have time to notice. Run Keeper tells the story: I ran the first mile in 13:30. Impressive, but WAY faster than I'm used to. The fastest mile I have recorded since I started running. After a start like that, you can only go one way. Down. The next two miles I ran in 15:27 and 15:28 with a mad dash to the finish on the last .1 mile. Total time: 47:30. I finished 551 out of 1,400 runners

There was much improvement from my first 5K but it sure could have been much better. If I could just pace myself better at the beginning, I could surely finish stronger. But after starting so strong I was just too tired. With a mile to go, a lady in her 70's passed me. She was power walking. Enough said.

I did run the whole thing as opposed to the previous race so I'm very proud that despite my fast start I was able to not stop. 

So lesson learned. It's one of the most basic of axioms in racing etiquette: Show up on time! Even with that, I had tons of fun. At the same time I have to face the facts: I have to take it easy. I'm slow. It's a fact. People (a lot of them) are gonna pass me. I have to deal with that. But it will get better. I know it will. It's the competitive spirit that drives you to improve and I want to improve. 

Next stop? In 2 weeks I run the Castaway Cay 5K. The race that got me into running. Can't wait!

Special Double Report

With the impending cruise looming ever-closer it has become a bit harder to keep up with the blog. Not only are we getting ready to leave but I'm trying to leave everything set at work which has meant a lot of meetings in the afternoon and night. Amazingly enough, I have only missed one run. Just one. And to celebrate, I'm running a 5K this weekend before I leave the day after Thanksgiving.

The "Give a 5K for Diabetes" race recap will be my final post before I leave for the cruise. I thought long and hard about doing two consecutive races in two weeks but my running in the last few weeks has convinced me to try it. As you will see, I keep improving my times despite the fact that I decide to not focus on speed. Last week I purposely took it a lot easier in terms of pace. Or at least I thought I was, yet my time in the 4 mile course keeps coming down. 

Tuesday, November 6 - 4 miles

After, deciding to not focus on speed, I decided to try and take this run as easily as I could. This had a very strong effect on the run. Energy expenditure is really something. My pace wasn't that much slower than before. I mean, how much slower can a turtle run right? But it did make a difference on the second half where I felt a lot stronger than usual. It is the only thing I can think of to explain that I ran faster than the week before because I really was taking it easier. No, really. I was! 1:02:16

Thursday, November 8 - 4 miles

Again, I went out with no delusions of grandeur. Taking it easy and not thinking about time. Until the end that is! At the final stretch I checked my phone and saw I was within my time on Tuesday and sprinted to the end. I could not help it. But the whole time before that I took it easy. No, really I promise! 1:01:55

Saturday, November 10 - 5 miles

Now here was the real test. With the long run, there really is no choice. You take it easy and finish or you act like an idiot and break down before you get there. While 4 miles has become a lot more manageable, 5 miles is still a bit of a struggle. This time I was able to finish a bit stronger than before so there is improvement plus I finished in less time too which means that where I ran weakest I wasn't as weak as last week. (Say that 5 times real fast.) Can't ask for more than that.  1:18:00

Thursday, November 15 - 4 miles

With all of this record-breaking and improvements, I needed something to keep me humble. Since I missed my Tuesday run and signed up for a race the next Sunday I felt I needed to come crashing down from the cloud. A wake up call if you will. I took off trying to break an hour on the 4 mile. Predictably, I ended up running the EXACT same time as the last time I ran 4 miles. If I'm not trying, I improve. If I aim for improvement, I crash and burn. Oh well, At least I found a sure-fire way to keep myself humble. 1:01:55

Folks, I'm 1 week away from running the race that started this whole fiasco. The Castaway Cay 5K was the race that got me off the couch and into running shoes. This is going to be quite an interesting ride.

The 13th Mile

Last week, I mentioned I was cool because I ran in the rain. Well, it turns out I'm not cool, I'm a geek. I am a running geek apparently. This week, I was supposed to run 5 miles on Saturday morning but for reasons I will explain  below I ran 3.5. I wasn't exactly happy about it and it nagged me all day so that night, I went out and ran the mile and a half that I didn't do. 

All told I ran 13 miles this week. The most I have done so far. That's a half-marathon. Now if I could only do that in one run...

I finally went to run with the guys from Coqui Runners. They invited me once again to go on Saturday morning. So I went and... got stood up. But it wasn't a total loss. I did run and the park were I ran was pretty awesome. It is a linear park in the town of Bayamón. It's got two lanes for bicycles and one for runners/walkers. It's got plenty of trees so you are running in the shade most of the way and there are several "stations" with restrooms and water. The route is challenging enough for me and if you run the entire thing, it's like almost 10 miles. The only drawback is that is not exactly close by. I wouldn't mind driving there once in a while but if I went there regularly it would add up. Gas ain't cheap these days you know.

Tuesday, October 30 - 4 miles
After doing some soul searching, I realized that I was focusing too much on improving my time as opposed to working on increasing my mileage which, of course, is supposed to be the point of all this as my main goal is to run a marathon at some point. So on this run, I tried to take it real easy and focus on slowly getting more adept at longer distances. However, as easy as I thought I was taking it, I still ran well within my previous PR in this distance. I am definitely getting used to running this distance. It seems a mileage increase is close by. 1:02:53

Thursday, November 1 - 4 miles
Bad days will come and so will bad runs. This was just one of those days where I just wasn't feeling it. The minute I started, my legs were complaining but I finished. You know, those "killer" hills in this course? They are becoming a lot more manageable.

Saturday, November 3 - 3.5 miles
This was the park run. I was plenty upset that I got stood up by my running "buddies" but hey, it's a beautiful park, a beautiful day... I walked up to one of the security guards there and asked him about the course. I told him I wanted to run 5 miles so he says "You need to go all the way to "Cambija" station and come back. That's 5 miles." So off I went. It was a nice change of scenery and it was great to see others running and walking along the route.  There are some short but steep hills that present a nice challenge. Once I reached the station, I made my way back. Almost at the end, it started to rain (Cool Runner:The Sequel) but when I checked my phone it said I had only run 3.5 miles. So much for the guard's info. Anyway, I spent the rest of the day thinking I fell short. I knew if I had run the full 5 miles, I would have done a personal best in terms of weekly mileage. So...

Saturday, November 3(evening) - 1.5 miles
After getting everyone fed, bathed and dressed I went out again and ran the missing mile and a half. This is important. A year ago I would have just let it go but it was important enough to me to go finish. By the way, running twice in a day... not the greatest sensation in the world for my body but what an awesome feeling for the soul! I was a bit sore I admit but after a few minutes it went (mostly) away. I also got to run my first running route from when I first started. I remember when this distance was a real challenge and that last half mile seemed like such a long distance to go. Sure, to some it might seem like going from 1.5 miles to 5 miles is not a big deal but for someone who less that a year ago was running zero miles, its a big moment.