still going

For those who are interested in boring diet/exercise posts, here's the update. I went to run this morning and my shins and calves were really really sore. Not sure what I did to cause that. Maybe I didn't stretch enough (okay, at all) after my last run, but that was two days ago. I'm avoiding pain meds, I figure if it hurts then I'm over-doing it, and I don't want to mask a mild muscle pain and then hurt myself worse with overexertion. So, I just walked instead. Kinda stinks to waste what will apparently be the last cool morning until October… Oh well.

I took a break from diet and exercise during vacation. I did run one morning on the beach, just cuz, but it wasn't any fun, so I quit after a mile. Okay, I may have been a little hung over. I never got "drunk", but you know, not exactly in top running condition. Since then, I've gotten back up to my 3 mile runs. Had to take some walking breaks the first couple of days, but I'm nonstop again, and have cut a minute off of my time.

Still not that quick, but I have decided to shoot for a 10K. I think the 5K will get quicker if I can train for an even longer distance. And I really think the time will just improve naturally as I keep going. Losing weight, and just building up endurance in the legs and the lungs and the ol' ticker. I'm not going to sprint and give myself a heat stroke, especially now that it's getting so warm out. I haven't picked an event, will just see how the training goes, and how well I cope with the hotter weather.

I had gained about 3.5 lbs on vacation, but I've lost that, so pretty much ready to pick back up where I left off. As of last Saturday, I'm down about 28 lbs from my "peak" in September 2009, and I would like to lose about 22 more. I hesitate to share targets out loud, but jinxes are for pagans, so here it is. I want to be at 209 by my birthday in early August, and 199 by the end of the year. I'm at 221 right now. (Man, that sounds heavy… did I mention I'm eight feet tall?) It's do-able, I think. But the Double Baconator last night probably wasn't a great idea. Oh well, I've had fruit and yogurt for breakfast and lunch almost all week, and I had to bring work home with me, so I really wanted something bad. Anyway, my "ideal weight", depending on which internet calculator you believe, is around 180, which sounds ridiculous to me. I mean, I look at myself and think, is there really 40 extra pounds in there? Come on. I think the problem is that you look at your "problem area" (belly) and estimate it's carrying X amount more than it should. But as you lose weight, it comes off from every area, not just where you are looking in the mirror. And from what I've read, there's not a whole lot you can do to flatten your torso. Exercises that target those muscles will tone those muscles, but you still have to get rid of the fat covering them up, and the only way to do that is to burn calories.

But 199 really is such an arbitrary number, I should know better than to focus on it. Or, I should convert to metric and settle on 95 kilograms. Or maybe go British and shoot for 15 stone? I'll tell you how I arrived at 199. Several years ago, I was planning a hypothetical trip to the Grand Canyon, and the tour company offering donkey rides down to the bottom said that you have to weigh less than 200 lbs. Or else I guess your donkey dies, and you go over the edge when he collapses. Maybe there's another trail guide out there with a tough little donkey than can handle a big guy. But I'd look stupid, and everyone else in the group would feel bad for my poor donkey. So I'm not getting on a donkey until I'm thin.

By the way, I'm up to 47 push-ups. I remember how tough the first 10 were, so this is kinda cool to me. I don't know that I ever did more than 25, even as a teenager. The goal was 50, so there's a milestone coming up soon.

Okay, back to work.