Sick Week

Well, last week was a good and bad week for my fitness goals.

Good: On Wednesday I ran two miles. It was a beautiful autumn day and my run felt great. It's encouraging that it's getting easier.

Bad: I got sick from Alana on Thursday and didn't get the rest of my miles in. I get sick like twice per year, so this was just one of the times. Fortunately, I wasn't very sick, just enough to not exercise.

Since I didn't get my 6 in last week, I'm going to go for 6 this week instead of the 6.25 I would have done otherwise.

Here's a funny comic I found last week. Sadly, it's a pretty accurate representation of our electronic dependent culture. I think electronics and technology are great, as long as they're used in moderation and constructively. I remember a few years ago there was a time at my in-laws house that all five people in the room were on their laptops. My brother-in-law even started IMing me, as if we couldn't talk face-to-face.

The human body was not created to be sedentary. We're like a stream. When a stream is constantly moving, the water will be healthy and pure and will foster a desirable type of life. But if the stream doesn't move, the water gets murky and unhealthy and attracts disease and fungi. If we don't move, our bodies become so unhealthy. Of course, nutrition is super important too, but putting that aside, the human body just needs to stay active for it to function properly.

If you don't stay active, not only does it hurt your body, but it also hurts your emotional wellness. Since the body encourages its own survival, the body sends signals to your brain when you exercise to produce "happy" chemicals like endorphins—the pain killing, happy chemical that is produced when we are in love or eat chocolate—to encourage us to make that activity a way of life. Some studies have even linked serotonin—the chemical that when low likely means you have clinical depression—production with exercise. Because of our sedintary society, we need to supplement our bodies' needs by exercising.

Anyway, I think exercise is the answer to most health and mental health problems. If everyone exercised, imagine how happy and productive society would be. Also, imagine how much money we'd save in money we spend on healthcare!

5.75 Miles

This week went well. I procrastinated running until later in the week, but I still got all my miles in. I did 2 on Thursday and 3.75 on Saturday. It was kind of funny, on my run today there was a motorcyclist who waved at me. I was holding my iPhone with my right hand, the hand I use to wave back. Anyway, when I went to wave back, I meant to put up my ring finger and middle finger so I could keep a hold of my phone, but I accidentally just waved with my middle finger. So I totally flipped him off. OOOPS!

Being off sugar is a lot easier now. Once it's out of your system, you don't crave it so much. In fact, I don't think I could do the whole once a month or once per week sugar day, since it would put all that sugar back in my system and I would go through the sugar withdrawals all over again. No thanks.

As my wife and I left to go on our date a few nights ago, my mom offered me a chocolate bar. Then she remembered I am off sugar. Instead of saying something like, "Oh, never mind," she said, "Do you want it anyway? It can be a splurge." Geez! I said no, of course, but it sure doesn't help when your own mom is trying to get you to break your resolve. She means well:)

My running and eating healthier is paying off. I run with a heart rate monitor, which requires me to have a heart rate strap around my chest. Well, during my run on Thursday that chest strap was so loose that it fell off my chest and down to my stomach. So I had to tighten it quite a bit.

Well, next week I'm doing 6. Hopefully I don't save it all for two days like I did this week. I think it'd be a lot easier to do 2 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but we'll see how it goes.

A Successful Week

This is me running a
sprint triathlon
in September 2010.

Well, this week went really well. I got my 5.5 miles in—1.5 miles on Tuesday, 2 miles on Friday, and 2 miles on Saturday. Friday was the most difficult run, since I ran at about 6,100 feet, which is killer! I also ran at about 2 minutes per mile faster than I did on the other days. The only way to get faster is to run faster, even if it's just once per week. At the end of each of my runs I would also sprint for a hundred yards or so.

Due to circumstances out of my control I had to run on the treadmill on Tuesday and Saturday. If any of you run on a treadmill I highly suggest hiding the distance on the display. Otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy by counting down the miles. It will feel eternal!! So anyway, I put a sock over the display and it really helped, although I would cheat and look more often than I should have.

Going off of sugar has been a lot less challenging than I thought it would be. I'm kind of an all or nothing guy, so as long as I'm off sugar 100% it's not that hard for me. Of course it's hard when people make cupcakes and its aroma permeates the house, but I've stayed strong. In fact, my dad forgot I'm off of sugar and brought me home some chocolate. Bless his heart. I resisted and said no. Proud of me?

Going off sugar also makes my runs a lot easier. Not that running is ever easy, but I know what it feels like to run when I'm actively eating sugar. It's not fun. In fact, when I was 16 I worked just outside of Moab, Utah taking participants on 17 mile bike rides every other day and taking them rock climbing the other days. I was in great shape to say the least. One night some buddies and I went into Moab to a diner. I splurged and drank probably 4 glasses of root beer. The next day on bike was so much harder than usual, even though I was in great shape. That was when the detrimental effect excess sugar has on the body became apparent very to me.

Sugar Free

Growing up my mom was a health nut, so we would only have dessert about once per month and we would get sugar cereal on Christmas. When I got to middle school, I was offered a vast selection of foods—pizza, cake, white bread, candy, etc., as well as some more healthy options. I was given about two dollars per day to buy my lunch. I'm sure you can all guess what I would end up spending my money on. So starting in 7th grade, I gained quite a bit of weight. I wasn't obese by any means, but I was overweight enough to be called fat in the halls and by my best friends. Kids can be so mean.

Anyway, after a few years of being "fat," I decided to take control of my life. One night I laced my running shoes, headed out the door and ran as far as I could. I remember it being soooo painful, but I didn't give up. I went a whole half mile and then laid on my front yard to recuperate. I did this day after day. I quickly lost weight. My runs were easier. I felt better than ever. Most importantly, I felt great about the new me—a person who takes control of his destiny.

In 2009 I ran two half marathons and a sprint triathlon. I was in the best shape of my life. Unfortunately, right after my triathlon, I had a minor accident on my brother's motorcycle which really hurt my knee. That put me out of commission for a few months. Regrettably, I still ate like I was training for a triathlon. My wife was also pregnant at the time, so I gained sympathy weight.

So here I am. I went from 175 to 201 within these two years. Gaining 25 pounds certainly isn't the end of the world, but I know I'm on a slippery slope. If I don't take control of my diet and fitness now, I could easily end up gaining more and more weight over the years.

Here's what I'm going to do about it:

- First, I'm going to go off sugar. I'm not going to be extreme. For instance, at social gatherings I'll eat white flour. But no desserts, no sugar cereal, no white flour otherwise, no white rice.

- Second, I'm going to start a running routine. Last week I did 5 miles. This week I did 5.25 miles. Next week I'll do 5.5 miles. And so on. Five miles doesn't seem like much compared to how much I used to run, but I have to start again somewhere.

- Third, I started this blog. I need to stay accountable to others for me to stay motivated and I need the encouragement!

I'll blog about my workouts and tips I have for those in similar situations. If any of you have any tips, comments, or encouragement, feel free to respond!