Greg's Running Blog

Today the weather wasn’t cooperating too well. It was supposed to get up in the mid 6os (18 C) but it never did. And it was also supposed to have stopped raining in the afternoon. Well neither of these things happened. I kept on waiting for the temperature rise and the the rain to stop but by the time it was time for me to run, which is when my kids go down for their afternoon nap, it was still raining and temperature was around 56 (13C). My wife called me crazy to go out and run in that weather and she already warned me that she would not be taking care of me if I caught a cold.

I went for the run anyway as I just had to. Today’s plan for the day was a 6 mile endurance run which meant keeping my heart rate in the aerobic zone and concentrate on slow and steady to build up my endurance. So I did and ran 6 miles. I actually ran 6.1 miles since I missed a turn and had to go back a bit. The rain subdued as the run progressed and I definitely didn’t feel cold after the first mile not even in shorts. It’s amazing how much heat your body will generate once you get going. Sure my hands got a bit cold towards the end but I definitely didn’t get frostbite or a caught a cold.

The run was pretty uneventful, I kept a good steady pace for the most part and I actually got ab it faster towards the end. Had you asked me 3 months ago if I was going to run 6 miles straight with no stopping I would have told you no way. But here I am, running and feeling great about it. My left knee was hurting a bit afterward but it is certainly not unbearable pain and it will pass soon. My left knee was smashed between a car and a motorcycle when I was 16 and probably got something tore up back then which makes it a bit more sensitive than the right.

The only disappointing part is that unlike some lucky people I get to run in Texan suburban flat lands with nothing pretty in sight.

Another photo update. The next one will be my 3 month mark, I’m only 4 days away from it. Since I have started running I have noticed my legs getting more definition in my quads especially. I’m by no means ripped but it’s looking better and better. The measuring tape has been mean to me this time, no mentionable change from last time. My weight is looking good though so I’ll keep hacking at it. I feel really good in my skin now, it is truly amazing just how much more energy I have than before.

01/22/2010 Transformation Picture

I haven’t been on the elliptical trainer for almost two weeks. I have started my running and I never looked back. I also reduced the amount of cardio from the 90 minutes per day to just the running. Running seemed to have kept my heart rate much higher than I could ever get it up on the elliptical trainer and I burned a lot more calories. But lately I have started losing muscle mass I think so I need to take the pace of loss back down a notch otherwise I’ll be way too skinny or just so called skinny fat with no muscle only fat.

However, my running regime now calls for a day of cross training on Fridays for 60 minutes right after my Thursday rest day. So I had to get back on the elliptical and do my cross training. I have always been wearing a heart rate monitor for all my training sessions but I never really bothered to pay attention where my heart rate was during the exercise. I basically noted that the higher my heart rate was the more calories I burned the better it was for me. I have also noted that I’ve had problems with getting my heart rate up on the elliptical sometimes.

Today I purposefully watched my heart rate and made sure it stayed within the so called endurance zone which is about 65-75% of your maximum heart rate. I actually ended up right at 68% for the average which is just right. Being on the elliptical felt so easy at first but by the time I was done with 60 minutes of it was ready to get off. It got pretty tiring after about 30 minutes but I rode out the entire 30 minutes.

Since I have started my transformation project I have been pretty diligent with my daily cardio workout. There have actually only been 10 days out of the last 85 when I didn’t do any cardio workout, either walking, cycling or mostly elliptical. 4 happened over the Christmas holiday and two happened during Thanksgiving. It’s hard to blame me for not feeling too motivated with all the “festive eating” that went around while I stuck with my diet. For the other 4 days I have no excuses, I just didn’t feel like it. But today was different.

Today was a scheduled rest day. I have started running a bit over a week ago and after I almost killed myself over the weekend by doing it too strenuously I have decided I needed a plan. I’m always a man with a plan. So I started researching different running plans and looked at a whole lot of them. There were two things that they all had in common. 1) They all said you should get clearance from a doctor to run and 2) you should always have a rest day or two to recover during the week.

Today was supposed to be my rest day. It feels really weird not to do anything for a change and to do it on purpose. I still feel bad about it even though I know my legs need the rest so they will be in top shape for my scheduled 6 mile run on Saturday. Without exercise during lunch I just didn’t know what to do with myself. So I went golfing. I have checked my golf GPS and the last score card was recorded on 10/18/09. I haven’t played golf for over 3 months now. I started golf last year around May when a co-worker took me to the range once. At first I thought it was the stupidest idea ever but once I got started I could hardly stop. I have played pretty religiously over the summer, walked 9 holes on Wednesdays after work and walked 18 on every other weekend. You could say that was the beginning of the end of my sedentary lifestyle I just didn’t switch it into full gear until last October.

Ironically the same time I switched my transformation into full gear was the same time I played golf last. I just couldn’t find the time to get away and be out there for 4 hours any more. Daylight savings dropped off which made after work golf disappear from my schedule and family obligations and the weather killed my weekend play. My partner had a baby so he’s been out of commission since October and he’s just starting back up again as well.

Since I had nothing better to do at lunch I went to the range, got a bucket of balls and started whacking at them. I can’t really say that my weight loss made me any better. I actually sucked pretty bad. Most of my balls kept going to the right either straight or full slices. I definitely lost it over the last 3 months. I will need to re-learn everything again if I want to have any chance at playing 18 again with two sleeves of balls and hitting under 120. Regardless of my sucking I had a lot of fun today and I’m really glad I went. Since tomorrow is cross-train day I’ll do elliptical in the evening which leaves my lunch open again. I think I’ll go and visit the range tomorrow too. I certainly need the practice. So while today was supposedly a rest day I still ended up going outside and doing something mildly physical.

I have signed up for a running race. It’s not too long and I’ll probably take it easy but it’s a race nevertheless. The Cowtown Marathon “The Shack 10K” event. The event has 5K (3.1 miles), 10K (6.2 miles), half marathon (13.1 miles), full marathon (26.2 miles) and ultra marathon (50K, 31 miles) distances. They also have a “Big Person” class for men over 200 lbs and women over 160 lbs. It’s a shame that I can no longer compete in the “Big Person” class being under 200 lbs and all . It actually made me feel pretty good that even in racing terms I’m no longer considered a “Big Person”. I chose the 10K as 5K just seemed to be too short of a distance given that I can run it any day of the week and the half marathon just seemed a bit too ambitious at this point into my training.

I have 37 days to get in tip-top shape by then. Since my running has been going pretty good I have decided that it was time to take it to a next level. I’m a goal oriented person and I perform a lot better if I have set goals with set plans in motion instead of just winging it. I thought 5 weeks should be enough to get me in shape to finish the race. I have a target time in my head but I’m not going to commit to it publicly until it gets closer to the race and I get a better feel for my stamina and endurance. I have not ran 10K in a long long time. I did run 5 miles straight with no stopping last weekend and a 10K is only 1.2 miles more and I have certainly felt that I had it in me to continue. I have some more lofty goals in sight for the long term but this 10K will suffice on such a short notice.

A co-worker of mine has signed up for the half marathon. He has ran two marathons before but this time he didn’t really feel like committing to the longer distance. I think he’s not taking it all that seriously he’ll run a good bit between now and then but not with a serious plan in mind. I’m pretty excited about the race I really hope it will go well.

There are so many things that I would like to blog about but my current daily three posts of nutrition, cardio and strength training are holding me back. I just have to get away from it. I think I really have gotten a handle of my nutrition now so unless there is something worthy of mentioning like a cheat day or cheat meal or something that was just oh-so-good I want to write about it I will not post my nutrition details. I will still keep calorie tracking in my weekly updates but there will no longer be nutrition entries.

This does not mean I won’t keep track of my nutrition it just means that I won’t be sharing it on a daily basis. I’m sure everyone gets sick and tired of reading about me eating nuts with yogurt for breakfast or how I had brown rice for lunch again. I really hope this will allow me to have time to blog about other aspects of my transformation.

To compensate for this lack of future nutrition content I have put together a page with my current diet plan. It is pretty simple and open for variations and changes. I will update and extend it as my diet plan changes from the current calorie deficit to maintenance.

Getting my bi-weekly photos taken is turning into a real chore. It’s not really the taking of the pictures, it’s the setup, the breakdown the post processing that takes a lot of time. And on some days I just don’t have the time to do it or I’d rather spend it something else. Regardless, I have made a commitment and I will definitely not flake out at the mid point. I will keep on doing it as long as it takes to get to my target weight and target body. After that I’m done! I might post a monthly update photo but no more of this four day update.

My weight is actually identical to the weight it was 4 days ago on the last photo day. The photos kind of concur with that fact meaning they really don’t show much improvement if any. Had I taken two sets on 01/14 and sold one of the to you as a new set of the 18th you would have bought it. But these were really taken today. If nothing the hair gives away the change in time. It’s growing like crazy. Numbers wise my calf is back to 14.5″, a quarter inch drop, and my hips and waist are down a quarter of an inch.

01/18/2010 Transformation Picture

Today was a work day again so I went back to my regular weekday meals. Brown Rice, veggies and meats. Veggie of the day was broccoli while the meat was smoked turkey for lunch and brisket for dinner. The only problem with the smoked turkey from the barbecue joint is the brine and the excess sodium that comes with it. Not much else to report, a good day overall.

It’s been almost 3 months now since I put down the cream cheese and the candy bar. I have dropped 40 lbs and I’m at the half way point into my transformation. I think the second half is going to be a lot tougher and it will require more concentration and discipline from me to make it happen in a reasonable amount of time. But so far I’m pretty impressed by the rate of change and how quickly you can accomplish it if you put your mind to it. Sure, it’s not a 4 week miracle but Rome wasn’t built in a day either. And to be able to lose 40 lbs in 12 weeks is a great rate of weight loss while maintaining muscle mass and not going crazy from hunger.

This week my food intake was spot on. I had seven perfect food days in a row. I kept my protein high and my calories low. I could not have asked for a better week in terms of nutrition. My average calories were 1427 for the week and my average daily protein was at 147 grams. Both of these are exactly the numbers I was hoping for.

My cardio regime has changed drastically this week. I have started running and I don’t think there is stopping me now short of an injury. I ran 25 miles this past week which is almost the length of a Marathon. Sure, I ran it over 6 days but it is more than I have ran in the past 15 years. Since I started running, the elliptical has been phased out. I have also given up on the double cardio sessions. One running session burns as much calories as two elliptical sessions. My weight loss pace has not slowed down I have dropped from 201.1 to 196.4 this week. That’s 4.7 lbs. I have also dropped 1.2% in body fat this week. My only concern is that I seem to have lost a bit of lean mass in the process so I’ll have to keep an eye on that to make sure I don’t dwindle my muscle away as I’m heading down the slope.

My strength exercises are pretty uneventful, I had to start doing them in the evenings as my running takes up a lot more time during the lunch break. It’s not a big deal but I have to adjust to it that’s all.



Today was another play it by ear day. After my late morning breakfast of eggs we took the kids to the playground and had a great time feeding ducks. We ran into some friends and the husband hasn’t seen me in 3 months and he commented on how great I looked. It felt pretty good!

Since I had a late breakfast we had a late lunch. It was quick take-out of meat by the pound from our local BBQ place. We got turkey and brisket. I had turkey today and I’ll eat the brisket tomorrow. Barbecue is one of the best things you can do when on a diet if you get tired of the grilled chicken. Smoked clean meats are a great choice over greasy and creamy pasta dishes. I don’t think I have been to an Italian restaurant ever since I have started on my diet. But I know I have BBQ at least twice a week now. The gas tank on my grill which used to last over a year now ran dry in 2 months that is how much more I use it. Grilled meat is where it’s at, no doubt!

Since my lunch was so healthy and low calorie I ended up splurging at dinner. my wife made fried tilapia. I don’t really eat any more fried stuff but I do like the tilapia she makes enough that I make the exception. And since I had small lunch it easily fit into my calories. I even had enough room in it to have a cup of the home made smoothie we made.

This stuff is not like the stuff you get at Jamba Juice. This one has no sorbet in it, no sugar, just fruits, fruit juice, some ice and a tiny bit of honey. Fruits are plenty sweet by themselves there is really not much need to put more sugar into it. We like to make it from a wide variety of fruits all blended together. Today we had grapes, banana, orange juice, mangoes, pineapple, peaches, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries in it. When fruit is on the borderline of going bad it’s a great opportunity to make it into a smoothie. Who cares if the banana is mushy? What if the strawberries are leaking? They get blended with ice anyway! The other trick to keep calories low is to have self control and portion control. As much as I love this stuff I stopped at an 8 oz cup. No more. When you drink the smoothie from Jamba Juice or Smoothie King you probably get 24 to 32 ounces of the stuff for 3-4 times the calories of what I had. I can get my dose of brain freeze from 8 oz. How about you? If you really have to get it from the store try ordering the smallest one possible and share it.