it's been a tough month, but time to get back after it!!

Well, I can't believe it's been a month since I have written anything here.  There are so many things that have happened that derailed all of my hard work, but it's time to get back after it.  Since I've been gone we had Thanksgiving, a trip to Disneyland, lost my mother-in-law, finals week, Christmas and New Years.

All of these things put a serious hurt on my workouts and my food intake and I made a lot of bad choices, but it's time to not look back and look forward to where I want to be.  Ski season is  upon us and I've got three weeks until school starts again, so it's time get some good habits started again and it will only get easier from here on out.

As far as my intake goes, I will be going back on the Wilderness Athlete 28 Day challenge.  I made some great strides because of these great products and I want to continue with that.  Between the ease of drinking a shake for breakfast then again for lunch at work or while on the mountain and the great taste, it really helped me out.  I am also going to try to get a run in after work before dark a couple nights during the week.  I am also going to get back on the Mountain Athlete workout plans, both a ski dry land and a military training program, which will also help prep me for this summer's Train To Hunt competition.

Happy New Years and let's get after it!!

Another week in the books

Over the last week my weight has been up and down, but I was down again overall.  This morning I am afraid to step on the scale because of Thanksgiving yesterday, but I'll get back on the program again today.  Over the last few weeks my exercising has taken a true turn the worse.  With work, school, family, weather and the time change I haven't been able to get any workouts in.  Yes, they are excuses and I have to quit with the excuses, but it's what has happened.  Even with what little work I've been putting it, I ran our little Turkey Trot yesterday and PR'd both my 5K and 10K, which was a mental win and shows what I'm doing is working.  Even more so was the fact my average pace over the first 5K was just over 11 minutes, a full minute faster than I was earlier this year.

With my work schedule, I have to run after dark every night and I can only run around the marina so many times, especially now that I'm supposed to be stretching out the distance.  I'm starting to think about running some of the easier trails at night with a headlamp, but it's a little unnerving for me at this point.  As it's gotten colder, the garage gym isn't as appealing as it once was, especially a cold barbell!!  Things will get a little easier in a couple weeks once school is done and once I finish my weeknight Ski Patrol training as I have a little more time and get a run in before dark and may even make it back to the gym before closing.

As far as my diet goes, I'm still holding pretty strong overall.  I slipped up a couple times this week, but overall I'm happy.  Unlike previously, I rarely have cravings, which makes it a ton easier.  It's also easier because when I do have the cravings I have a little more control over portion size, which is another big thing I have learned over the last few weeks.

Thanks for the support and I'm going to keep seeing what I can accomplish!!

WOW!! I truly surprised myself!!

On one of my earlier blogs I talked about setting and reaching goals.  In that blog I talked about the fact I had been chasing a running goal of a sub 36 minute 5K.  In the past I had come close but had never reached it.  Yesterday morning I ran a 9K race as a fundraiser for the Sheriff's Office K9 unit.  When I started my goal was to finish and have a decent time compared to previous runs I have done.  Over the last few weeks I haven't really pushed my speed or distance in my runs, I just got it done.  I started out fast for me, but it wasn't until I finished my first mile, which was 9:57.  This was probably the fastest mile I have run in close to 20 years!!  At this point I knew I needed to slow down or I'd burn out.  As I closed in on 5K mark I knew again I'd be faster then any previous 5K, but here I was running a 9K.  When I crossed the finish line and I puled up the numbers it really hit me.  Not only did I beat my previous 5K time by over 4 minutes, I finished the 9K at 11:57 per mile pace, well faster then any race I have ever done.

The hard part for me now is setting a new goal.  I'm built for comfort, not speed!!  Can I run a sub 30 minute 5K?  Can I run at a 10 minute mile pace?  I'm not sure, but I sure as hell am going to try.  I will say for the first time I am seeing what a good, healthy diet will do for you.......... Your body truly is an engine and you need to fuel it properly!!

Here I am coming in to the finish of my 9K!

Just keep this in mind........ If I can do it, anyone can!