Stress eating

Not really sure what day this would be at this point. I have been exercising pretty regularly, with the exception of these last couple of days. My mile pace has been steadily increasing. My first run back in may was around a 10:30 min mile pace. My latest one (for 3 miles) was around 8:40. So I'd definitely say there was some moderate improvement. My weight when I started this whole thing was a little over 172. Now I'm down around 167'ish and feeling much healthier than I have in a while. My wife has been super supportive of me; helping me make some healthy decisions (even when I didn't want too...). 

It's been really busy these last several weeks (starting a new job, going on a cruise to the eastern Caribbean (see awesome picture of me and George), wife having a major surgery to her shoulder) but it's been good. Right before we went on the cruise I participated in a work fun-run 5k. The surgery has slowed down my workout routine a bit. Partly because I'm making sure she can get back on her feet (quite literally) and partly because I'm using it as an excuse not to exercise.

I've noticed (and I kinda knew this before) that I'm definitely an emotional eater. Not to an extreme but to the point where it's now affecting how I feel about myself (body image, self image, self esteem... all that stuff). Biggest comfort foods include: pizza, donuts, CANDY, and fries. I have a good friend who doesn't eat anything by the way it tastes. I'm not to sure how he does it. It seems like some weird superpower to me, and not one that I'm too sure that I would want. For the past two weeks I was eating a super healthy plant based diet and every time that I would catch myself thinking about eating something unhealthy I would ask myself "is this what an elite athlete would eat?" I was doing really well with that up until about a few days ago. Kinda just fell off the wagon with everything that's been going on. Hoping to start back up soon. 

Getting over a cold and moving through day 3

Run: 2 miles @ 9:16 pace
Situps: 60
Pushups: 20

Day three done. The run felt stronger than yesterday until the end and that's when I felt weaker than any of the two previous days. The pace looks pretty good though. More than a minute ahead of yesterday's pace. Whatever cold I have has made it's way from the chills into my lungs so I was battling that for the first mile or so. I know I'm sick and all, but still, I'm surprised at how weak I've become. I've usually been able to jump back into shape when I've been over weight or just lazy for a bit. It should get easier though, right? As I'm writing this though I keep thinking "It's only day three, bro! Take it easy! Change comes with time!." Isn't that a life lesson.

I think my biggest problem with trying to loose weight/get in shape in the past (and this is just off the cuff here) is trying to be consistent, and I think the reason I have trouble with that is because I expect immediate results. Now, I'm not going to blame it on some millennial generation thing about how we've become accustom to getting things here and now, blah, blah, blah. I don't think that really has anything to do with it. I think it has more to do with that fact that I'm getting older and my body isn't able to live off of 5 buck pizza and Kool-Aid or run 10 miles on an empty stomach (that one was a Forest Gump experience, "I just felt like run-nin!"), or just snap back into shape after months of neglect like it could in college.

Nope, as I get older I'm realizing that good things take time. It took me till I was 31 to find my lovely wife (that can feel like an eternity in Mormon years), but I'd wait 31 more if it meant I still got to be with her. Like I said in my first post, this journey to getting fit and do an Ironman isn't about the destination, this is about the journey for me.

Day 2... I was right

Run: 2 miles @ ~12:30 pace
Situps: 60
Pushups: 20

Yep, day two was MUCH harder. I went to bed last night with the chills but was determined no matter how bad I felt today, that  would run those 2 miles. Well, I did and it was one of the hardest runs I've done in a long time. For the first mile I was pretty much dragging Charlie (our 3-year-old Maltese) and still trying to get over the continuing chills. By the time I got to the grocery store (where my wife was shopping) the chills had pretty much subsided and I was feeling a bit stronger. I offloaded Charlie and headed off to finish the run.

I was able to finish (although it was pretty ugly), but I did it. By the split pace you can see that I had finished a lot stronger than I started. Unfortunately, Strava didn't save my run (thanks Strava).

Day 3's coming up and I am equally as determined to "get'er done!"

Day 1 in da books

Run: 2 miles @ 10:28 pace
Situps: 60
Pushups: 20

So day one also happens to be exactly one month out from a cruise that Hilary and I are taking in June. Admittedly, if I was trying to be in any type of "swimsuit shape" then I probably should have started this a lot sooner.

At my best I was running a 2 hour half marathon. Nothing to brag about but nothing to really be ashamed of either. That works out to b about a 9:10 mile, quite a bit better than tonight's 10:28. BUT, that means I have nowhere to go but up, right?

My biggest struggle with any diet/exercise regime has been sustainability. It's always been easier when I'm in shape, I just have to get to that point.

That all being said, day one is in da books! And, day ones typically the hardest day... until day two...

Why the blog?

Why the blog? Why not?... ok, that's a lazy man's answer... which is what I've been lately. For the past decade now I have wanted to compete in (more like just complete an) Ironman. Due to sheer laziness and some slightly bad luck with my shoulder (explained in a later blog) I haven't ever really come close to my goal.

Why the Ironman:

Why not? (...ok, the jokes old...) I can't think of a sport that gives a better measure of what the human body is capable of, or at least what mine is capable of. It takes a combination of endurance, strength, and sheer will just to cross that finish line... or so I'm told.

Previous athletic experience:

If I had to sum this up in a small phrase it would be: average American. Growing up I played the sports that your average American kid played; soccer, football, basketball, wrestling, etc. If I had a strength it would have been my speed. Like most bench warmers I enjoyed the practices more than the games. You see, when you can't really compete with the talent of other athletes, you have to find other ways to compete. I noticed pretty early on that if I wasn't more talented than others, I would have to out hustle them. So that's what I did; I ran faster, longer and harder than almost anyone else during those practices and it earned me the privilege of starting a few games my senior year.

Ok Brad, what's this go to do with Ironman. (I'm getting to that, I promise)

Current athletic experience:

None. Ok, that's not exactly true. Since high school I've found other ways to be active: rock climbing, rafting, skiing, and of course the staples of running, cycling and swimming. But, these have been very sporadic at best. I've done a couple of runs and did one duathlon in college, but mostly I've just been incredibly lazy.

My greatest competitor: 

Plying sports growing up I was always competing against others. I guess some could say that in Ironman you're competing against others, however, for me that's just not the case. Ironman for me is a shift in my mindset from competing against others to competing against myself. I've always been my greatest opponent so this will probably be one of the most challenging goals of my life.

The Goal:

If at the end of this whole thing all I've done is completed an Ironman I will have considered my time wasted. Given enough physical training, anyone can go out and complete the 140.6 miles necessary to call themselves and Ironman. That won't be enough for me. If I don't come away from this with better health, discipline, and a sense of who I am, then I will consider it all for nothing.