Summer: Hiking and Biking (and still running)

It was "Bike to work day" in Colorado on the June 27th. I figured the new svelte and athletic Brian should participate in such an activity. So in preparation I've been riding some, although not as much as I probably should have. But I did it. 25 miles to work and then 15 miles back up to the softball fields for our game that night. Biking is going to become part of my weekly routine now, I'm even riding to my Weight Watchers meetings now.

I've also been out hiking a few times this summer. I hiked Twin Sisters (11428) one Friday after work and hiked most of the way up Mt. Meeker (13911, we got to around 12750). The Mt Meeker trip was exciting as we came across a sleeping mountain lion on the way down. The detour around him added several miles to our trip! But he stayed asleep and we stayed alive. I hope to climb a few 14'ers in the next month or two. At lease Longs Peak (14255), Mt. Massive (14421), and Mt. Shavano (14229) are on my list for this summer.

I figure I should address weight too, as that is why I started this. I have realized 2 things with respect to my weight loss. First, it has become secondary to getting out and being active. Losing weight helps me become a faster runner (I ran my first sub-30:00 5K on Father's Day!) and allows me to do more though, so it isn't ignored. Second, eating healthy really has become a habit for me. I do pay attention to what I eat, but I don't track every bite as I did when I first started. This gives me great hope for maintaining my weight loss over the long term. I have now lost 133 lbs, being below 210 for the first time in 19? years.

Included are a couple pictures of me taken in June, enjoying some of my favorite summer activities, softball, hiking, and trying to read in my hammock while camping (with 2 girls crawling over me).

More Running

This month saw me running the Colorado Mini-Marathon, a 15 mile race down the beautiful Poudre Canyon and finishing in Old Town Fort Collins. Yeah, I can't believe I can run 15 miles either. This was the race that I've been training for since the SuperBowl. I finished in 2:51:05. That's 11:25 miles, 11 seconds faster than my half marathon in April. And my half marathon split was nearly 5 minutes faster than my time in April.

I also ran my first Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day. I walked this popular 10K event last spring (and by popular I mean 50,000 runners/walkers). The company I work for sponsors any employee who wants to run or walk the Bolder Boulder. We had 13 people participate this year and had would have had more were it not for 3 training injuries that kept runners out of the race. That's a pretty good turnout for a company of around 115 employees. Last year was our previous high with 12. I like to take credit for the surge - I am proof that anyone can get out and run if they put their mind to it. I finished in 1:04:01. Only my second 10K, but a PR by over 9 minutes! And over 31 minutes faster than last year.

Having completed the Colorado Mini-Marathon I have turned my mind to my next running challenge. In the next year I would like to run a full marathon. There several I'm looking at in the May/June time frame next year. I will spend the rest of 2007 maintaining my half-marathon shape, increasing my speed, and building a strong base to start marathon training upon next winter.

I'm still losing weight, averaging 1 lb/wk since switching back to the FLEX plan in March. I'm at 213 here at the end of May, just shy of 130 lbs gone. My next weight loss goal is to weigh less than 200 lbs by my birthday in August. I probably last weighed less than 200 lbs as a freshman at UW-Oshkosh in 1987.

My wife's digital camera was in the shop most of this month, so no new pictures to share. Thank goodness for extended warranties though -- the repairs were thus "free".

Half Marathon!

The switch to the Weight Watchers Flex plan (and more good carbohydrates) continues to pay off. I switched on 6 Mar. I've lost 10.8 lbs in the 5 weeks since, and have crossed the 125 lbs gone mark. On 15 April I also ran my first half-marathon. The Horsetooth Half Marathon was 13.1 miles of hills, self-exploration, and fun. And I finished quite a bit faster than I predicted at 2:31:56 (11:36 min/mile). It's cool when you meet your "pie in the sky scenario" goal for a race. I still find myself in awe that am able to run that far. Here is another of my wife's scrapbook pages.

Faster 5K

After some slow going weight loss-wise, I have broken through and reached that 120 lbs gone that I've been chasing (since last October when I hit 115). I credit the breakthrough to switching to a higher carbohydrate diet (although whole grains as much as possible). Although this sounds weird, I think it worked because I am training a lot in preparation for 2 big races in April and May. Typical weeks have been 17-20 miles, some of it hard and some of it in long chunks (10+ miles). My body is burning a fuel burning machine! Below are some more of my wife's scrapbook pages. You'll see she scrapbooks a lot, and is quite good at it. One is of me in the local St. Patrick's Day 5K. I set a PR of 31:00. This was my first race at a sub-10:00/mile pace (09:59 ;-) and shattered my previous 5K PR of 35:45. We also took a family vacation to Arkansas to see my wife's family this month. I had to include the scrapbook page from the zoo because I can't believe that I look almost skinny in that picture! In addition to getting to show off the new me to Shawn's family, I have had a nice victory recently. Several people at work have commented to me recently that "you look really good" or "you're still losing weight aren't you". Even though the weight hasn't been flying off, I do look and feel a lot better. But it's really cool when others notice!

Bring on L

I hit 2 milestones in November. First, I have kept up my running. I am running 3-4 days a week, 12-15 miles total and ran my first 10K (6.2 mile) race this month. Below is one of my wife's scrapbook pages of me running. The second milestone was even more unthinkable. I went out to get a new dress shirt to wear when I took my wife out for her birthday (and to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of maintaining her 70 lb weight loss - she still looks great, and still is supportive and inspiring). I tried a few shirts on and they were all too big on me. So I went back to the rack and pulled off a size L. It fit! I'm sure I wore some size L shirts while in college, but I really didn't remember the last time I had bought one. I have gone from size XXXL to size L shirts. Size 48 to size 34 pants. I'm flirting with 120 lbs gone too. Wow! I have far exceeded any expectations I had when I joined Weight Watchers. We didn't cut our own tree this year so my "annual tree cutting picture" isn't to be. I have included a picture of me and Sandis near Christmas though. I'm sure I'm wondering what size L clothing I'll be getting from Santa.