Tuesday, May 30, 2006
15 week update
I have slacked off on posting for a while, but I thought I'd just check in and let people know how I'm doing. I've gotten down to 178.5 lbs on my scales at home. This is 3.5 lbs. away from my stretch goal. The other day I had to buy 32" waist pants for the first time in who knows how long. The 33" waist pants I bought awhile back are now too big.
Overall things are going well. I've got a new trainer which is cool because he brings a whole new vibe to my sessions at the PRO Club. Hopefully, I'll reach my goal of 175 before the program is over. I'll keep you posted.
Overall things are going well. I've got a new trainer which is cool because he brings a whole new vibe to my sessions at the PRO Club. Hopefully, I'll reach my goal of 175 before the program is over. I'll keep you posted.
Beat the Bridge Race Report
I am happy to report that I did indeed beat the bridge. I finished the 8 kilometer (just under 5 mile) race in 45:20. This was an excellent time for me as my goal going into the race was to beat 50:00.
There were over 9000 runners in this race, taking off in 3 waves. By far, my wave was the largest with probably 4500 runners in it. I did not want to be caught behind walkers or runners that were likely to not beat the bridge, so I lined up at the front of the pack. When the horn sounded, I went out faster than I had originally intended. I was using my heart rate monitor to guage my level of effort, and had planned on shooting for about 165 beats per minute for the race. I started out much higher than that, and about 1 minute into the race, my HRM was reading 172. Even though I was going faster than I had planned, I was feeling good and thought I'd put some time in the bank while I was still feeling good. I finished the first mile in 8:34, which is probably the fastest I've ever done a competitive mile.
My second mile was my slowest, with a fair number of hills and the bridge coming in this section of the race. I kept up the higher heart rate, but finished this mile in 9:57. I had originally planned to take the 3rd mile easy, but since I was still doing well at an HR around 170, I kept up my faster pace and finished the next 2 miles in 9:28 and 8:24. The last mile I started getting pretty ragged. I hardly had any energy left when we turned the corner and entered Husky Stadium for the finish. The last 50 yards of the race were on the astroturf. My final kick was from the endzone to the 50 yard line where the finish line was. Not much of a kick, but I can honestly say I didn't leave much in the tank. When I checked out the watch, I had run a 9:07 pace, with an average heart rate of 173. My HR maxed out at 185. I would guess that I ran 80%+ of this race anaerobically, which is way better than I thought I could.
I'd have to say that I'm very pleased with my results, and look forward to my next race. What that race will be I have not decided.
There were over 9000 runners in this race, taking off in 3 waves. By far, my wave was the largest with probably 4500 runners in it. I did not want to be caught behind walkers or runners that were likely to not beat the bridge, so I lined up at the front of the pack. When the horn sounded, I went out faster than I had originally intended. I was using my heart rate monitor to guage my level of effort, and had planned on shooting for about 165 beats per minute for the race. I started out much higher than that, and about 1 minute into the race, my HRM was reading 172. Even though I was going faster than I had planned, I was feeling good and thought I'd put some time in the bank while I was still feeling good. I finished the first mile in 8:34, which is probably the fastest I've ever done a competitive mile.
My second mile was my slowest, with a fair number of hills and the bridge coming in this section of the race. I kept up the higher heart rate, but finished this mile in 9:57. I had originally planned to take the 3rd mile easy, but since I was still doing well at an HR around 170, I kept up my faster pace and finished the next 2 miles in 9:28 and 8:24. The last mile I started getting pretty ragged. I hardly had any energy left when we turned the corner and entered Husky Stadium for the finish. The last 50 yards of the race were on the astroturf. My final kick was from the endzone to the 50 yard line where the finish line was. Not much of a kick, but I can honestly say I didn't leave much in the tank. When I checked out the watch, I had run a 9:07 pace, with an average heart rate of 173. My HR maxed out at 185. I would guess that I ran 80%+ of this race anaerobically, which is way better than I thought I could.
I'd have to say that I'm very pleased with my results, and look forward to my next race. What that race will be I have not decided.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Inching closer to my next goal
I am 1 pound away from being in the 170s. I hit 180.5 this morning. I can't even remember when I didn't weigh over 180.
Friday, May 12, 2006
One pound from my goal!
I currently weigh 181 lbs according to the scales at home. This is 1 pound away from my goal weight of 180.
I've decided that since I have a fair amount of time left on my maintenance program that I will try to get to my stretch goal of 175. Then I will consider 180 as my redline weight. This is the weight at which I take major steps to lose weight to avoid putting too much weight back on.
Who would have thought that at the beginning of February I'd be where I am today?!
I've decided that since I have a fair amount of time left on my maintenance program that I will try to get to my stretch goal of 175. Then I will consider 180 as my redline weight. This is the weight at which I take major steps to lose weight to avoid putting too much weight back on.
Who would have thought that at the beginning of February I'd be where I am today?!
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Phase 1 recap
I had my doctor's visit on Tuesday. During the visit, Dr. Upton went over my results from my fitness assessment and we discussed my progress so far on the program. Here are some of the stats:
Weight:
Before: 221
After: 184
BMI:
Before: 30.0 (Obese)
After: 24.3 (Normal)
Blood Pressure:
Before: 145/107
After: 136/86
Blood Glucose:
Before: 100
After: 96*
Cholesterol:
Before: 200
After: 189*
Triglycerides:
Before: 325
After: 110*
HDL:
Before: 34
After: 42*
LDL:
Before: 130 (est.)
After: 125
The measurements with asterisks are considered normal.
A little more data: I've lost 4.25" in my chest, 6.25" in my waist, 3.25" in my hips, 0.75" in my bicep, and 2.5" in my thigh.
On the whole, I'd say I've done pretty well...
Weight:
Before: 221
After: 184
BMI:
Before: 30.0 (Obese)
After: 24.3 (Normal)
Blood Pressure:
Before: 145/107
After: 136/86
Blood Glucose:
Before: 100
After: 96*
Cholesterol:
Before: 200
After: 189*
Triglycerides:
Before: 325
After: 110*
HDL:
Before: 34
After: 42*
LDL:
Before: 130 (est.)
After: 125
The measurements with asterisks are considered normal.
A little more data: I've lost 4.25" in my chest, 6.25" in my waist, 3.25" in my hips, 0.75" in my bicep, and 2.5" in my thigh.
On the whole, I'd say I've done pretty well...
Week 13 update
Quick check in: my weight was down to 181.8 lbs. I've run 8 mile long runs the past 2 weeks now. In addition, my running pace is almost down to 10:00 miles on average. Since I pace myself based on my heart rate, I am definitely getting much more fit.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Law School
I have always thought that I would like to law school, but it was never possible because of work. I recently found out that Seattle University has an evening law school that would be a good fit for me. After discussing the possibility of going to evening school with my wife and boss, I have decide that I am going to pursue this.
I will be blogging about my law school journey on my personal blog at http://spaces.msn.com/billsplace.
I will be blogging about my law school journey on my personal blog at http://spaces.msn.com/billsplace.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Another MS employee blogging his 20/20 program
Dan Boerner will be blogging his 20-week 20/20 program on his site, http://www.danboe.net. Check it out...
Week 12 update
I lost another 1.6 lbs. this week. I've lost a grand total of 39.2 lbs. so far, and am down to 183.2 at today's weigh in. I haven't weighed this since I lived in St. Louis over 8 years ago!
Today I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and did it at the pace I'll need to run for the Beat the Bridge. I finished in 49:45, which is a sub-10:00 minute/mile pace. Tomorrow is my fitness test to see how well I've done during the 10 week main phase of the program.
Today I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and did it at the pace I'll need to run for the Beat the Bridge. I finished in 49:45, which is a sub-10:00 minute/mile pace. Tomorrow is my fitness test to see how well I've done during the 10 week main phase of the program.
New running goal reached
Last Sunday, I ran 8 miles. Things went really well, and I even had enough gas left in the tank to kick for the last quarter mile.
I have been running mostly to a target heart rate, and I can see that my pace is improving. I am still extremely slow (11 min/mile). It takes a loooong time to run 8 miles at this pace!
I have been running mostly to a target heart rate, and I can see that my pace is improving. I am still extremely slow (11 min/mile). It takes a loooong time to run 8 miles at this pace!
Week 11 update
Okay, I haven't posted for a while, so here's the update. I weighed in last Tuesday and was at 184.8 lbs. This was a loss of 4.2 lbs. This was a really great result.
I had my first maintenance phase dietician appointment and was told that all foods are on the table again. I can even have candy, if I want to use the calories on it. I'm still on 1500-1700 calories per day until I get to my target weight, which I've actually revised down to 175.
On the down side, my blood pressure still is not quite low enough, even after losing all this weight. Oh well, I guess you can't have it all. The guy who runs our group session said that he found his BP dropping for a while even after the program was over, so there is still some hope that I'll get off the meds, but right now it's not looking too promising.
I had my first maintenance phase dietician appointment and was told that all foods are on the table again. I can even have candy, if I want to use the calories on it. I'm still on 1500-1700 calories per day until I get to my target weight, which I've actually revised down to 175.
On the down side, my blood pressure still is not quite low enough, even after losing all this weight. Oh well, I guess you can't have it all. The guy who runs our group session said that he found his BP dropping for a while even after the program was over, so there is still some hope that I'll get off the meds, but right now it's not looking too promising.
