Last Swim...

Today was my last swim before Saturday's triathlon. I set a new PR of 21:11 in the 750M and today was the first time that wasn't adding 3 different set's together to get the time... Yes, it's true, the 21:11 time was front to back with no stops.

Man! I was psyched! 750M is a LONG way for me, especially when I couldn't swim 50M without stopping a few months ago. My goal is sub 21 for the triathlon on Saturday.

I'm taking a break from my 30 day shred for a couple of days to rest up for the race. The triathlon is 750M swim, a 20K bike, and a 5k run. It's also my first attempt at organizing something like this.

We're going to have a "carboload" spagetti dinner tomorrow night, then race at 7:30 am on Saturday morning, then finish at our house for breakfast. It should be fun and I'll post some pictures!



Here's a picture of the pool where the triathlon will begin. It's a wonderful 50M pool near Mah Fah Luang University in the North of Chiang Rai. The owner is great and this will be the first race held there!

Breakthrough!

Here's a picture of me today after my 52km bike ride. I averaged 26.5km per hour, putting the whole ride at just under 2 hours!



Today I weighed less than any time I can remember since 1980. I weighed in at 243.5 lbs! The 245 mark has been a psychological barrier for me and I'm thrilled to be through it! Here's the background...

In 1980, in my freshman year of college, I remember stepping on a scale and seeing 212 lbs. I remember being proud of how I was filling out, and my shoulders were broadening, and I was feeling good about myself. I was 18 years old and after years of being a skinny, geeky kid, I was starting to look more substantial.

Over the coming years, weight added on my frame without a lot of thought. I wasn't worried about it, I just became known as a "big guy". I grew quite emotionally attached to being that "big guy" and loved the "Big Daddy" t-shirts that my wife got me for my birthday. It just became part of my identity.

In 1999, I worked with a personal trainer for for 8 months and got down to a low weight of 245. I remember that number on the scale, but I also remember not feeling like it was ever enough. I'd see myself in the mirror and still see a fat guy. We moved away from the town where I'd been training and the weight started piling back on. Part of it was a business failure, the stock market drop, and other factors. I just ate my way through it all.

I started a crazy lifestyle of living in SC but working in Chicago. I'd fly out on Monday mornings and fly home on Friday afternoons. My weeks were filled with travel and meals at every restaurant known to man. There were lots of client lunches and dinners with the boss. I made attempts at going to the gym but no real progress toward fitness.

In 2004, we came on the mission field to Northern Thailand. During the first couple of years, work was great and I had a great time. I began cycling a bit. During the third year, things at work began to unravel and I found myself eating to comfort myself. My weight was spiraling out of control. During 2006-2007, I moved from a weight of 330 or so to a high of 359 lbs.

Last September 1st, I was disgusted with being fat. I started to diet and hated it. I lost 9 lbs that first month, bringing me to 350 lbs, but did not enjoy the process at all. I was in anguish. I didn't want to be this big fat guy forever but the pain it would take to get the fat off seemed more than I could bear. I prayed to God for help and he just seemed to whisper, "Focus on your health. Quit worrying about the weight."

What a shift for me! From that point at the first of October to now, I've lost 115.5 lbs by being focused on making healthy choices. This weekend, I will run a sprint triathlon (750m swim, 20km bike, and 5km run) with a group of friends. I just returned from a 52km bike ride this morning and the other day I noticed my abdominal muscles (abs) for the first time.

God is so good and gracious. He loves redeeming His creation and that includes physically. I am so blessed that He cares about me and has helped me redeem my health after letting it get so damaged. I am truly blessed to be in this place and feeling strong.

I want to share this gift with others. I want to encourage others to gain health and focus on what is good. I want to make a difference to those who aren't sure if they can do it.

May God bless and guide you on your path.

10k on the 10th

Today I took part in a virtual 10k. No... a virtual race doesn't mean that I run it in my mind :-) It just means that we all run it where we are. We map out our course, time ourselves, and set out on our adventure. Afterwards we post our race reports so we can share in the recaps. Promoted by Nancy "Notes of a Non-Runner", a number of people have signed up to run. It's my first "official?" 10k race!

I got up at 5:30 am to get this show on the road. The temperature here has been so hot lately, I wanted to escape the heat of the day. After getting dressed and a bit of water, I set the Ipod and started my warm-up walk. For the walk, I kept feeling something in my shoe. I'd stop, shake it out, still something. I'd stop, take off my sock, turn it inside out, shake it out, still something. Finally on the fourth attempt I found a small hard grass in the fabric on my sock. Thankfully, I got it out before the run!

At the "start line", which I'd set using Google Earth as the student noodle shop, I started my run. I wanted to start slightly slower and build into the race. Normally, I run about 5k, so this was a double distance for me and I knew I'd need to pace myself a bit. I ran past the temple to the lake and began running through the university gardens by the lake. Passing fisherman wading in the water with their nets, I passed the thermometer on the far side of the lake at 6:17 am. I wasn't even 1/4 into the race and I was not sure I'd make it. I kept my heart rate between 135 and 150 figuring that would be a bit of a push for me but keep me in a zone that I could maintain.

I circled the lake and entered the gardens for a second time. Now I was beginning to get a pace and feel a bit strong. I was at the half way point and was beginning to believe that I could do a second half.

One thing I've been working on is using my feet/calves for greater pushoff. My running always used to be plod, plod, plod with my legs doing all the work and my feet/calves not that engaged. By pushing off on each stride, I find that I'm more "bouncing" along, feeling lighter, and with a literal "spring in my step". I think it's helped me go from dreadfully slow to just really slow. Moderally slow will be my next goal!

As I circled the lake the second time, I was gettng my second wind. I took a right away from the lake, passed the River of Life orphanage and headed back to the Pongprabaht waterfall road. Running along this road toward home I was getting excited. I would alternate between mind drifts to a focused enthusiasm. I still had my "spring" in my step and during the last 1K picked up the pace just a bit more.

I crossed the "Finish Line" at the head of Tannapoom at 1 hr 16 minutes, which is a personal record! The miles were 12:20 miles, which is really slow but MUCH better than dreadfully slow! I'm beginning to believe that moderately slow is really possible!

Thanks Nancy for hosting the virtual 10K. I really enjoyed running "with" you.



Here's me after the race!

The Ironman

On May 24th, I am doing my first organized Sprint Triathlon race in 23 years. This will be the start of my journey toward the Ironman. Not because I have to but because I want to.

My plan is a sprint triathlon (750m swim, 20km bike, 5 km run) now and in October. An Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run) in December and March 2009. A half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 milerun) October 2009. and an Ironman sometime in 2010 or 2011.

I've done sprint and olympic distances as training sessions on Saturdays when I wanted to challenge myself and see if it was possible. It is... There's something about an organized event though. There's something about getting together with others in a group quest.

Why the Ironman? Distance and challenge. The accomplishment from hours on the bike or an extra long run just feels different than anything else. To feel the challenge, to choose to push through, to decide to pick up the pace... there's a point where I shed all the other junk and it's just me and the challenge.

This morning's running temperature was 41.5 degrees (106.7 F) and it was brutal. There wasn't much else going on besides the heat and the run. Cindy and I decided that our runs would now start at 5:30 am. That should bring our run temp during hot season to 25 degrees (77 F) or so.

Speaking of pushing through and feeling the challenge, I read an amazing race report from the Arizona Ironman today. It's long and worth every bit of the read. Here it is! That got me thinking it was time to share the plan. An Ironman may be out on a far horizon, but every once in a while I catch a small glimpse of what it will be like.

Healthy Decisions

Work has been tough. Last night I got notice that our expected source for a work visa was no longer a possibility. Now we're not sure how we're going to stay in the country past August when our current visa expires.

When it was time to sleep, I couldn't. I went downstairs and thought about going to the kitchen and getting lots of food. It was weird. I wanted to eat as an emotional response, but my heart just wasn't in it. I didn't want to eat my way through the pain and frustration. I wanted to stay healthy and make healthy choices. I had a drink of water instead.

Within 30 minutes or so, I had gotten more tired, went upstairs and drifted off to a good night's sleep.

It's hard to explain how important this shift is for me. My old pattern would have been to eat and let negative junk thoughts swirl in my head for half the night. Instead, I have a sense of peace about the changes, I've made great choices in response, and I feel hopeful and excited about the future.

I have to let others own their decisions and I need to own mine. Lesson learned.

Sore again... naturally

When Cindy and I first started losing the weight, I remember one night looking at each other and saying "will we always be this sore?". It felt that way as weeks upon weeks were filled with soreness and aches as we pushed muscles that had gotten used to "hanging around".

Thankfully, as time went on and the pounds dropped off the soreness came to an end. In fact, over time it was replaced with a feeling of athleticism. I began feeling strong and powerful. Not all the time, just often enough to like the feeling :-)

The other day we got Jillian Michael's "30 day Shred" workout video. We're in a group "Biggest Loser Fans" on SparkPeople.com and joined a challenge to do it everyday for a month.



How hard could it be? It's only 25 minutes a day...

OUCH! My shoulders are sore, my abs hurt, my triceps feel like they're going to fall off. I'm sore again!

I'm thinking that's a good thing...right? Thanks Jillian.

I'll post a blog at the end of May after all this daily shredding... I'm already seeing progress in my push ups. I realize that my lower body does a lot of my cardio work and this video is really giving my upper body a run for the money!

Headin' down the road!

I just got back from one of my fastest bike rides in awhile. I was reading someone's blog the other day about increasing their run time by doing 2 minute intervals of speed and recovery. I thought I'd apply it to my bike ride today. I would do 2 minutes between 22 km/h and 27 km/hr and then increase the speed to 27 km to 33 km. Each time I did the sprint, I had to "kiss" 33 km/hr before I could settle into the 2 minutes between 27 and 33.

On most bike rides I average around 23 km/hr. A couple of months ago I did a metric century (100 km) and averaged 25 km/hr which was incredible for me. Today, over the hour ride I averaged 27 km/hr which is one of my highest continuous speeds ever. That translates to 16.75 miles per hour.

That's pretty smokin' on a mountain bike!

It's amazing to think that 8 months ago a 5 km ride at 10 km/hr was a big stretch and exhausting! I've been marveling today at how incredible God made the human body. For my body to be able to transform from a couch potato to an athletic form over an eight month span is amazing!