17 miles ouch!

I ran 17 miles on Sunday. Man It was pretty tough. But I was prepared as far as having enough water and snacks. One of my good friends came out to run with me. He joined me a little after halfway. He brought his 3 year old daughter and ran with her in the jogger. Towards the end of the run my legs felt so heavy! I walked a little bit towards the end. but that was the longest run I have ever done. It took me exactly 4 hours.

I'm going to down to 11 miles for my next long run on Sunday.
Looking forward to the big race.

thanks,
Chuck

One month to go

I haven't posted in a while. But Io have been running. Last Sunday I ran 15 miles. The Sunday before that I ran 14 for my long run. I'm shooting for 17 miles tomorrow. I have exactly a month left before the marathon. I'm looking forward to it.

Chuck

11.07 mile run

Ran 11 miles this morning. I did it in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Almost at the halfway mark of the marathon for a single run. Next week I plan to run 13 miles.

Chuck

long run 8/15/2010

Just ran 9.33 miles in 2 miles. thats including stops at cross walks.

Chuck

long run last night

Ran 7.68 miles last night. 9 weeks left before my race.

Chuck

Race in 2 months

Today I ran 5.75 miles. Since Tuesday I ran 11.3 miles. I have been slacking on my blogging and training. But hey thats in the past. Trying to get ready for the race in October.

Chuck

Week 3 - Day 1

Last night really late I made it to the gym and ran 3 miles. When I was done it was almost midnight. My speed isn't as great as it has been before. probably because I have gained a few lbs. I think I need to step it up and perhaps do some jump roping. I have just been pretty wiped out from the running I'm doing. And overall my diet isn't clean enough.

Today I'm doing 4 miles.

Chuck

Training Week 2 Recap

I just finished running 7.68 miles. OUCH! It took me around 1.5 hours. I missed one of my runs this past week but still got my long run in. I'm happy with that. My diet was ok, but yesterday my wife and I celebrated our 6th year anniversary and I ate like a king!

I ran 13.68 miles for Week 2. I was supposed to run 16, I was 2.32 short. oh well.
This past week I also played some full court basketball which I haven't done in a long time.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Ready to start Week 3.

thanks for reading,
Charles

Training Week 2

Yesterday I ran 3 miles for my first day of Week 2. I didn't run outside since it was raining pretty bad. I went to the gym and knocked it out on the Treadmill. I know running outside and on the treadmill are two very different things. I'm hoping to complete most of my training outdoors. I ran 3 miles in 30:17.

The run wasn't easy, I was pretty winded and had some slight pains in my left leg.
I pushed through it though. After the run I did some dumb bell chest press and used the seated row machine.

Looking forward to doing more weight training. This is all I got for now.

Chuck

Week 1 is done!

Last night I did my long run of 6 miles. I went out pretty late at night. I left the house about 9:55pm. About mid way through the route It was so so dark. I started thinking this maybe wasn't my brightest ideas. I live in Oregon, and there are some very rural places near where I live. Farms with a bunch of land and no lighting. Anyways once I made it back to one of the main roads I was fine. I saw some pretty big frogs on the ground. The first one I saw was right under my foot. I jumped over it. The frog probably thought I was an idiot. Well if you haven't figured it out. I'm not really into um how to I put this... animals. Ok maybe thats a little harsh. I just didn't want to step on a frog. So the run was ok I finished in little over an hour. I haven't ran this far in a very long while. My legs are sore this morning, but I'm doing pretty good. Total I ran 15 miles since last Tuesday. This is what the training plan called for. So I have completed the first week! This week I will run 16 miles.

My diet hasn't been that great. I have just been eating whatever I want pretty much. But this is no way to eat while training for a marathon. I'm hoping to borrow the book "Born to Run" from a good friend of mine.

Also I want to do some weight training but to be honest I have just been too wiped out by the running. I'm hoping to start it up soon, once or twice a week.

thanks for reading,
Charles

Last night

Last night I ran 3.3 miles. I'm now caught up for the week. Today I'm scheduled to do my long run of 6 miles. I felt pretty good during my run last night. But this morning I'm very sore. And parts of my legs are really tight. My body is probably freaking out!

Tomorrow I will post how many total miles I ran for the week.

Charles

Training week 1 Update

On Tuesday I ran 2.12 miles outside. I wanted to do 3 but I guess I was a little off.
The run went well. Its getting better and better the more I get out. I was pretty wired after the run I wasn't able to sleep that well.

Also I weighed myself early this week I was 208lbs. I'm looking to get back to 195lbs. I think I will be fine as long as I keep my running up and get a hole of my diet.

The training plan called for another 3 mile run on Wednesday but I just couldn't get the time. So yesterday I ran 4 miles. I felt pretty good after last nights run too. It was raining the whole time. But it didn't bother me much. Also with the Lakers crushing the Celtic's I had a little extra excitement pushing me through.

Today I will do another 3 miles. I will try to post more frequently as I keep on going. I'm following a 18 week Hal Higdon plan.

thanks for reading,
Charles

3.10 mile run

I'm going to keep this short. I got off my butt and ran about 3 miles. I didn't run all the way through. I will run again on Tuesday.

Chuck

Made it to the gym

So I made it to the gym today. I brought my son and put him in the day care this was the second time I have done this. The first time he didn't really like it and one of the girls had to come get me off the treadmill. This time he did much better.

I did leg press and used the dip machine. Then ran 2.5 miles. Right in the middle of my run I got a call and picked up my phone and started talking. The person on the other end asked if I was driving. I said no.. Then they asked can you write something down. I told her I was at the gym I had to pause but was able to continue on after that. The funny part is that I was trying to disguise my voice to not sound so winded when she was talking to me.

It was a rough 2.5 miles. But I gotta keep going to get back to where I was a couple of months ago.

thanks for reading,
Chuck

Need a new goal

Today I got to the gym. I have not stuck to the 3 workouts a week. Last time I worked out was on May 10th.

Today I did lat pull down and incline press. Then ran for 2 miles.
I need a new goal to strive towards. I'm really getting sick of being laid off.

This is all I got today.
Chuck

I'm not dead, but I did fall off the wagon

so It's been a very long while. I went 2.17 miles on treadmill today. I walked for .17. I haven't ran a distance close to this since 4/11/10. I was laid off on 4/14/10. Since then its been very hard to get motivated to workout. My number one priority has been to find a job not workout. But I really need to get back out there. I have gained some weight back and don't want to lose the progress I gained since last year. So todays run was a little rough. My legs were tired and rusty. I'm getting back on track. I'm going to try to workout just 3 days a week.

Chuck

Yesterday

Last night I went to the gym. I completed Day 1 of Week 2 of the push up challenge. It was tough! I'm feeling weak!

14
14
10
10
14 Max, was only able to do the least amount again. Actually I did my max set later on in the night.

After the push ups, I jumped on the elliptical trainer and went for 32 minutes. I had a pretty good sweat going on. Then I got on the bike and rode for 28 minutes.
It was a good workout.

I need to keep it up for the work competition, and so I can lose some of this extra weight I gained recently. I'm around 204, want to get back to 195 or lower.

thanks,
Chuck

Sunday Run and Bike

Today I went to the gym. I took my 2.5 year old with me and signed up up for the day care. After making sure he was going to be ok I went straight to the treadmills. I did 2 miles. My growing area started to bother me. So I stopped at 2 miles. I stretched and then got on the bike. I rode for 20 minutes. Then I got back on the treadmill my goal was to do another 2 miles. I ended up doing 1.7 in little over 16 minutes. As soon as I got to 1.7 one of the gym employees told me that my son was having a hard time. So my workout was cut short for a litte but It's no big deal. I gotta take care of my son. Let's hope he can get used to this child care.

So this week I got in 8.7 miles. I was supposed to do 12 miles. Oh well another week that didn't turn out the way I wanted. Next week I'm up for 14 miles. We will see if I can complete a full week. Also tomorrow is Day 1 of Week 2 of 100 push up challenge.

thanks for reading this,
Chuck

TGIF push ups and NO running

The last two days have gotten in the way of my workouts. I was supposed to do 3 miles yesterday but I got sick. I was already feeling a little sick the day before.
I still wasn't feeling well today so I stayed home from work. Today is supposed to be a rest day. But I''m thinking about going to the gym in a couple of hours to get in 3 miles.

Anyways I'm excited because I have convinced my wife to join me in the 100 push up challenge. So to give you some background on my wife she was a sprinter in high school and in college. She won many trophies and still holds records for her high school. She then went into the army and worked out a lot and had some huge arms. After that she became a personal trainer and got pretty ripped. Anyways after getting married to a lazy guy like me and having our two awesome kids. She hasn't had the time to workout like she did before. Its been a while since she has done one single pushup. But tonight she ripped out 7 push ups for her first test. Then she proceded to complete day one. When she got to her max she she did 10 push ups! She tore it up.

Anyways today I finished week 1 here are my sets:

11
15
9
9
13 max, I was only able to do the least allowed.

thanks,
Chuck

2 mile run, Day 2 of pushup challenge

I wanted to go to the gym this morning. But I couldn't sleep last night. I went to the gym during lunch and knocked out 2.05 in 20 minutes. I also did Day 2 of the push up challenge. My numbers are below. The work fitness challenge is the same thing that we did in Feb. you get a point for every hour of excercise. And you get a point for every % of fat loss.


push up sets
10
12
8
8
13 MAX

thanks,
Chuck

3 miles, 22 min bike, 11 elliptical

I set my alarm for 5:05am this morning. I knocked out 3 miles in 29:40 min. Then got on the bike for little over 7 miles then ended with the 11 min elliptical workout.

I'm tired!

So recently I have forgotten to mention two things.

1. We started a new fitness challenge at work for April.
2. I signed up for the Portland marathon on 10-10-2010. (My birthday)

Chuck

Week 2 of Half Marathon Training

Last week was a little weak. I was supposed to do 12 miles. I only did 6 half of what I was supposed to. But this is a new week. I'm going to nail it this week.

Also I'm on my first day of the 100 push up challenge. Here were my set break downs

1. 10
2. 12
3. 7
4. 7
5. 11 Max

I wanted to join Jeff when he started but I'm about 2 or 3 weeks late. The cool thing is I have 2 other guys at work who are doing it with me. Tomorrow is a 3 mile run.

Chuck

ok its been a while...

I got back from vacation this past Sunday. I was off for a week and a half. We drove down to California then to vegas. I had a great time with family. I also had a lot of great meals! I ate like a king! I also gained some lbs back!

Today I made it to the gym during lunch and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. took me 29:30 min. This was a hard 2 run. last time I ran was my 15k race 16 days ago!

While I was on vacation I played basketball full court twice. But its not the same!

Today was day 1 of the Hal Higdon half marathon training. I'm going to sign up for half marathon for June 12th.

this is all I got for now.
Chuck

Shamrock Run update

So today was the race. I finished....

I got up this morning at 6am but it was REALLY 5am. Oh well I got ready and headed out. My wife and kids were going to come along but the 6 month old had a rough night so they all stayed home. I got on the road to head to downtown portland. I didn't pick up my bib yesterday. So after I parked I started following the many people who were going to partake in the events. I asked a couple of people where they were giving the bibs out at. Both people had know idea. I started to get nervous as people were running to the start, I was thinking I was going to miss my race. I finally found the tent where they had the bibs, first thing I noticed was it was Packed. There were over 20,000 people participating in todays events.

So I got my bib and timing chip and then got in line to get my shirt. I ended up not keeping my shirt because I didn't have anywhere to put it. And I didn't want to run with it. oh well.

Also the guy on the microphone mentioned that it was 37 degrees!! But I was pretty warm, I had a long sleeve dry fit shirt on under my shirt. the 15k'ers started at 8:40.

I lined up in the 9 - 10 min pace area. This is about where I was running when I was traning. And as you noticed I haven't ran much latley since I have had no posts. We were off for our first mile. It started in downtown portland. The first mile came up fast. Then from mile 2 through 6 it was ALL UP HILL! I'm not joking. I kept saying to myself ok this has to start going down hill now. But just more hills kept showing up. It was crazy. I kept on going, I told myself I wasn't going to walk. At about mile 3 or a little after I noticed something coming up to my left it was a wheel from a guy pushing his kid in the stroller. But it was right next to my feet and I started to lose my balance. I was very close to falling on top of the kid and the stroller but some how I regained my balance. The guy looked at me and said "sorry". I was blasting my music in my mp3 player so I'm sure that made me less aware. So the next 3 miles to mile 6 were tough. I was going pretty darn slow. By the time I hit 6 i heard a guy say "the hard work is over". So right after that it was down hill and pretty much flat. Mile 6 went by pretty fast. I tried to tell myself that at mile 7 I was going to pick up the speed, but I just didn't have a lot of energy at that point. But I didn't walk. I saw this guy who was near me. By appearance you would never think this guy would be able to finish a 15k. He was rather large. I was trying to stay ahead of him. But after my mp3 player fell to the ground I just couldn't catch him or pass him. The last mile was rough, I felt like I was barely moving. After I finally crossed the finish line I wanted to get some free chowder and something the drink. There were so many people. We were all bumping each other. I finally got my free Chowder and it was great. After that since I was by myself I decided to take off. I was sooo tired. I was walking to my car and my hands were hurting. They were so swollen, I think it was lack of fluids. I finally got to my car and headed home. I had a great time. I will definitely do this race again. I finished in 1 hour 42 minutes. Turns out I averaged 11 min miles.

thanks for reading,
Chuck

back from vegas - run today

Wow I have went another 8 days without excercising. Not good! While in vegas I ate horribly, and drank soda for the first time this year.

Anyways that is in the past. Today I dragged my butt to the gym and ran 5 miles in 46:53 minutes. I'm feeling pretty tired afterward. I had a little bit of pain in the first 2 miles in my left knee. But once I got into the groove it went away.

I have also FINALLY signed up for the Shamrock run 15k. I have 2 weeks to get ready for it. I have fallen off the tracks of Hal Higdon, but I'm going to get some good runs in before the event.

CW signing off.

shoulder press, latt pull down, back machine, 2.3 miles

I made it to the gym for the 2nd time this week. I did three weight lift workouts, 4 sets of 10. Then I did did 2.3 miles at exactly a 10 min pace. My legs were pretty heavy after the run. that 8 days without excercising is really showing. I'm hoping to get a longer run in tomorrow morning. Looking to do something between 4 and 6 miles. Gotta go to Vegas on Sunday for work. Not looking forward to going back to LV. Good thing is I get to stay with family.

I will plan to workout at a 24 fitness while out of town.

Chuck

broke out of the rut

Today I finally got to the gym! I went during my lunch break. I did bench press on the machine and incline press on the machine. After that i ran for 1 mile. Man! I haven't ran in 8 days. This one mile was kicking my butt. NOT Good! I will have to stick to it and keep it going. Gotta finish the Shamrock run in March 15k.

by the way thanks guys for your advice and feedback on my last post
(Jeff and Boomer).

Chuck

Mini Slump need help

So I'm getting into a small slump here. We finally finished our work fitness challenge. I tied for 3rd place. The last week of the competition, I got a little burned out. The last 4 days I have not worked out. Also my kids haven't been sleeping well, and my wife hasn't been feeling well. Thats just part of life.
So I find it really hard to wake up at 5am while my wife isn't feeling well and kids not sleeping well to say "OK honey, i'm off to the gym, have fun with the kids!"

But next week, I will jump back in it the best that I can. I have been thinking of different things that I can do to change up my workout routines. I was thinking of switching from cardio weeks to weight weeks. So run for a whole week, then the next week do no running at all but just lift for different body parts. Anyways, I definetly want a balanced workout. Also I think I'm ready to start some swimming training. I'm not at all going to bail out on the 9 mile race that is next month, or any of the other races that I decided to do this year.Anyways let me know what you guys think.

take care,
Chuck

Its a New week

Yesterday I ran outside for about 1.2 miles. For the majority of the run I had a backback filled with books that had to be returned to the library. After returing the books I ran to my friends house to help him load up a flat screen tv for our superbowl party. I got some strange looks from people who were casually walking.

Anyways, I went three days in a row of not working out last week. My body has been tired. Today at lunch I went to the gym, even though this morning I didn't feel like going. I did 3.2 miles on the treadmill. I think I'm going to re-do week 5 of hal higdon training since I only ran 6 miles last week.

oh well looking forward to this new week. Also this is the last week of our fitness challenge at work. I'm trailing in hours of excercise. Honestly I'm not so focussed on this right now. I think I just need to keep to a steady plan for the 9 mile race I want to do.

thanks,
Chuck

yesterday

Yesterday I got up early went to the gym. I knocked out 2 miles on the treadmill. After that I moved onto the bike. I did 22 minutes on the bike. Then I hopped on the elliptical and did 18 minutes. All together I was right at 1 hour.

Then I went to the gym during lunch and did 33 minutes on the bike. Once again when I was done, my legs were moving very slow and sluggish.

Today I have not worked out. If things go well, I will try to get to the gym late at night.

Chuck

Lunch Run

I went to the gym for lunch today. Like I said I ran 4 miles. I did it 35:08 minutes.
Average pace 8:46. More and more I just like running faster.
I have 14 more miles to run this week.

Chuck

Saturday run

Sorry its been a little bit since I have posted. On Saturday I did 3.5 miles in 29:47. Yesterday I did a ab dvd workout from Billy Blanks. Thats all I have for today.
At lunch I will run 4 miles.

Short fast run

Today I did 2 miles. I decided to push it harder than I have been to see how fast I could finish. I did it in 15:41. I was pretty happy with this time. I think I'm going to try this once a week. Take a shorter planned run and push it hard the whole way.

After that I put in 15 minutes on the bike. I'm pretty tired now.

Chuck

Short post

Just wanted to share that I after running 3.5 miles and doing the bike for 40 minutes. I went to the gym during lunch, did dumb bell chest press, and incline press. And did 11 minutes on the elliptical.

Later,
Chuck

Yesterday and Today - 1/27/10

Yesterday I got up early and got some cardio in. I did elliptical for 30 min, 3.17 miles and bike for 25 min 7.55 mi.

Today I knocked out 3.5 miles in 30:51. After that I got on the bike and rode for 40 minutes. Bike seems to be a great workout for the legs. That might sound simple or obvious. I just never have rode the bike this much.

So we have 2 more weeks till our competition is over. yesterady I was in last place in regards to hours of excercise. But as of today (And its early in the day) I'm ahead of everybody.

I'm also looking forward to the 9 mile run in March. I have been sticking to my training plan, I'm on my 4th week. I know I can knock out 9 miles. But so far haven't ran that long in a LONG time. The closest I came was 8 miles and that was in the Summer. I just hope come race day that I'm patient enough.

all for now.
Chuck

Monday 36:00 min run

I was supposed to do my Long run yesterday of 5 miles. Lets just say with a toddler and a 4 month old, I can't always do what I want. Thats the way its supposed to be. Today I knew I had to get some excercise in. So during lunch i took off to the gym. I hopped on the treadmill and ran as much as I could without going over my hour long lunch break. I ran for 36:20 minutes and was able to get in 4.12 miles. My average pace was 8:49 min mile. That's pretty darn good for me. I was a little bummed that I didn't have enough time to get the 5 miles in. But I'm not going to complain about it.

Gotta get up early and get to the gym. Going to do some elliptical and stationary bike.

Have a great night.
Chuck

Glad it's Friday

I had my alarm set to get up at 5am. I just couldn't get out of bed. I hit snooze a few times. And I just couldn't do it. Oh well. So at lunch I went to the gym. I did 15 bike ride for 5 miles. Afterwards my legs were VERY heavy and tired. It was good, I knew that I rode hard.

Before that I did some up right row lifts, and some curls. I realized that my biceps are pretty weak. I lifting more and more and I like it.

I like doing cardio in the mornings. My ideal plan would be to get 1 hour of cardio done in the morning, then lift during lunch. Maybe about 3 - 4 times a week.

One of the guys in the fitness challenge, went skiing. So he logged 3 hours of exercise. I have never skied, but I hear its a great workout. I'm happy for him, but unfortunetly I will still pass him up. I just can't shake the competitive guy inside of me.

looking forward to the weekend. I'm feeling like getting up early either tomorrow or Sunday and getting some cardio in. Actually Sunday will be my long run for this week. 5 miles. I want to do it outside.

talk to you later,
Chuck

Today, Yesterday and the day before

I'm so ready for friday.

So today, all I got in was 3.5 miles running on treadmill. I also did latt pulldown and shoulder press.

Yesterday I played some basketball during lunch, that was a easy day.

Tuesday, I did elliptical for 30 minutes, 2 miles on treadmill, and 17 minutes on stationary bike.

I think Monday was my best day for my nutrition. I weighed myself and I'm around 191lbs right now. I think the weight lifting and watching my diet is making a big difference. Oh if you havent noticed I have been drinking coffee, i think i only went 8 days without it. But Im using less sugar and cream.

thats all I got.
thanks,
Chuck

Back to the Grind

"Lance Armstrong spoke to me today."

I got up early after 5 this morning. Got to the gym and hopped on the treadmill for 3.5 miles. After this I got on the elliptical machine for 19 minutes. After this I took a little break then got on the stationary bike. I rode for 22 minutes. While I was riding, I looked up and saw Lance Armstrong. Well it was a huge mural picture of him. He had his arms opened wide. I guess to mean this whole world is mine. I imagined that he was speaking to me from the painting.

OK! lets real this back in. I had a great workout this morning. Then for lunch I went to another gym that is less than a mile from my office. I wanted to get some weight lifting in since I haven't done much all last week. So I did dumbbell press with 45's. I did 4 sets of 10. Then I did incline press with 25 on each side of the bar. Also did 4 sets of 10. After this I tried to do 10 push ups and I only was able to get 8 out, before I fell back to the ground. MUSCLE FAILURE.

After this I got on the elliptical for 7 minutes, to add to my minute total for our competition.

Also I wanted to do a quick outline of what I ate today. So that I can see it in front of my face and get your feedback.

Banana before morning workouts
a cornflake cereal with very low sugar w/ banana skim milk
2 cups of coffee
snack gala apple
lunch - 1 chicken breast, and serving of greenbeans
snack after lunch ANOTHER banana
snack at 4pm, 90 cal pack rice cake w/ mint chocolate
dinner: 1 pork chop, salad
after dinner of apple
I had probably 10 cups of water throughout the day

seems like a lot! oh well I felt good today.
Tomorrow 2 mile run, more elliptical and bike time. Also want to do some leg press and hamstring curl.

thanks for reading this,
Chuck

Sunday 33 minutes stationary bike

Today I got up early and went to the gym. WAIT!!!! It's Sunday!! Yep it's Sunday but I decided that It wouldn't hurt me to break out of my comfort zone a litle. I go to church on Sunday's but in the last year are so our services are now starting at 2:30pm. So I have been used to sleeping in or till my oldest son wakes up and starts yelling for me.

Anyways I got off on a little tangent there. So I got to the gym and I knew I wanted to do either the bike or elliptical. I'm going to start running tomorrow.
I chose the bike. Actually I'm beginning to really like the bike. I did 33 minutes and went 11 miles according to the LED read outs. I don't think I have ever sat on a stationary bike for over 30 minutes. Towards the end my legs were moving pretty slow, HA HA. but I wanted to make it to 33 minutes. Afterwards my legs were so heavy I felt like I was walking with 50 lbs ankle weights on. It was a good workout. Boomer mentioned on one of his comments how all I need to do is add some swimming and I will be ready for a triathlon. Yeah, he's a little whacked out in the brain! JK Boomer. Seriously his comments have been very inspirational.

So I have 14 miles scheduled for this week. I will run 3.5 tomorrow.
thanks for reading,
Chuck

Day 4 - More Cardio

Today I tried to get up at 5am, it wasn't happening. But I was able to get out of bed at about 5:40. So I went to the gym and again did three different excercises.

I started on the treadmill, I did 16 minutes for 1.71 miles. Then I went to the elliptical for 24 minutes for little over 2 miles. Then hit the bike for 24 minutes for 6.10 miles.

I was dripping sweat while I was on the bike. I don't think I have sweated that much in a long time. It was good! I felt great afterwards! I think tomorrow I will take a rest day but still might play some basketball.

Next week I will be doing 14 miles according to Hal.

thanks for reading,
Chuck

Competition Day 3

Today I got up at 5AM. We are out of bagels, so I just had one piece of bread with peanut butter. (Not very appetizing) oh well. I got to the gym, I started on the stationary bike. I did this for 16 minutes, went 5.14 miles. After this I went to the Elliptical machine and did this for 30 minutes, went 3.23 miles. Then I jumped to the treadmil, I went for 31 minutes for 3.14 miles. Now I have a little under 3 miles to go for the rest of the week. I had a great workout today. When I got on the treadmill my legs were feeling very heavy. I pushed through to run for 31 minutes. I went at a easy pace of 10 min per mile for most of the run.
Yesterday I was a little out of it in the morning, because the GREAT idea I came up with to not drink coffee. I was definitely feeling the pain without the caffiene. But Toady I'm doing much better.

thanks for reading,
Chuck

Competition Day 1

Today is the first day of our work fitness challenge. I got up at 5am and headed to the gym. I got on the elliptical machine to warmup a little. I did this for 7 minutes. Then I got on the treadmil, I ran 6.53 miles. I'm going to still do my best to not increase by more than 10%. So I will only run another 6 miles the rest of the week. I will have to do elliptical and stationary bikes to add to my minutes of excercise for the competition.

Here are my starting stats:

197 lbs Weight
36" waiste

I don't really have any goals in mind of what I'm looking for when the competition is done. But I'm hoping the numbers will be lower!

Hope everybody had a great week.
Chuck

Saturday Cross training

Today I did 11 minutes on the excercise bike, and 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer. Tomorrow I'm supposed to do a long run. but I'm thinking about waiting till monday to do a long run. Since Monday is the start of our new work fitness challenge. Also I'm thinking of doing 6 miles. I know Boomer you warned me to not over do it, but I have done 6 miles before. I don't know we will see how it goes.
Also during the competition, I have decided to not drink coffee and to cut chocolate out of my diet. Hoping to to drop some pounds.
talk to yall later.

Chuck

Rest Day today

I'm enjoying my rest day. I did do 60 push ups this morning and 60 crunches this morning. Still not sure what I'm going to do for cross training tomorrow, maybe some jump rope. Everyone have a great weekend.

Chuck

Another 3 Mile run

Today I was supposed to do 3 miles and thats all I did. My legs were feeling tired while on the treadmill. Oh well tomorrow is my rest day, looking forward to that. Saturday I will do some cross training, not sure what yet. Sunday I will do 4 miles.
I'm keeping this short today.

Chuck

Hal and I are going to become best of friends

I woke up early this morning. I was supposed to run 2 miles according to good ole Hal. I decided to run outside instead of on the treadmil. I left the house at 6:15, started my run. This was the first time that I have ran with an mp3 player (outside). It was a lot of fun! I knew I wanted to go a little over 2 miles but wasn't sure how much more. So I just kept running, and I ended up doing 4.05 miles. It was a great run, I felt really well after it.

On a side note, I went to the DR today to check some things out. All is well. But they came across my weight from 2006. It was 243, today it was 199lbs. The nurses response was funny. "Woah, you really have lost weight". That made my day.

Tomorrow I have 3 miles.

Chuck

Hal asked for 3.0 miles

I got up early this morning. Ate a whole wheat bagel with butter and headed to the gym. I did 3.12 miles on the treadmill. It's been a whopping 21 days since I have ran 3.1 miles. Longer than I thought. The run felt a little rough, but overall I felt good about it.
Last night I was balancing on our workout ball, in a plank position. I lost my balance and fell off the ball. My wife laughed and said "Your core is weak."
She was right. So I have decided to work on my core more. How often should I do core workouts?

At work we are starting a new fitness challenge. We already have 8 people who have joined so far. What we are doing is a point system. We will earn the following;

1 point for every 1 hour of excercise
1 point for every lbs lost
1 point for every inch lost

I'm still hovering right around 195 lbs. I'm really happy with my weight. But I'm going to do the competition just to stay motivated and hopefully kick some butt. It's going to last 2 months at the most. We are starting on Jan 11th, 2010. I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow I will run 2 miles according to Hal. I'm thinking about using my new running gear and go outside.

talk to you later,
Chuck

Back in the gym today

The last time I worked out was the day before Christmas Eve. As far as eating healthy I have to say I really REALLY enjoyed the hollidays! I had a ton of Chocolate, Christmas day we had pretty much a Thanksgiving dinner. I had gingerbread cookies, hot chocolate. My wife got me three different kinds of chocolate candy for my stocking. And I finished all of that candy by Dec 26th. New Years eve we had chocolate cake, with Vanilla ice cream. Lets just say I haven't been holding back.

But anyways thats all in the past. Today I got up at 5:30am and took my butt to the gym. I ran 1 mile on the treadmill. I then went to the weight room. I did:

latt pull down 105 lbs 4 sets of 10
Shoulder press 35 lbs 4 sets of 10
bench press 35lbs 2 sets of 10, 45 2 sets of 10
Dip machine 195lbs 4 sets of 10

I have some New Years Goals or resolutions that I want to accomplish this year:

9 mile race March 14th
half marathon, Helvatia - June 12th http://runwithpaula.com/helvetia-half
Portland Marathon, Oct 10 (My birthday)

talk to you guys later,
chuck