Starting status: 207 lbs. ~ 30% body-fat
Current status: 157 lbs. ~ 7.6% body-fat!
Friday, April 27, 2012
50 lbs. lost!
I have lost 50 lbs. since starting to change my life less than a year-and-a half ago!
Starting status: 207 lbs. ~ 30% body-fat
Current status: 157 lbs. ~ 7.6% body-fat!
Starting status: 207 lbs. ~ 30% body-fat
Current status: 157 lbs. ~ 7.6% body-fat!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
First Half-Marathon Results
Last Sunday I raced in my first ever half-marathon. (My third race of any kind, following my first 5k and my first duathlon). 13.1 miles of what would hopefully be running. I ran in the RunRaleigh which started and finished at Cameron Village shopping center in Raleigh, NC, just a few miles from where I live. It started at 7 am which seems to be the norm for these kinds of events but getting out there and running and doing anything active that early is kind of a shock to the system. Everything went okay and I'm happy with my results.
Preparation
I had been training for this half-marathon as well as the duathlon that I raced the week before so I had been doing a lot of running and biking. If I had just been training for one, then I think it probably would have helped my results but then playing soccer 2-3 times a week also didn't allow for total focus on any of the events either. But I'm essentially doing these to challenge myself and for fun so quitting other activities is not really in the cards. I generally tried to get in one "long" run every week leading up to the half; so like a run 5-7 miles, as well as my other running and biking. I did one run of 10 miles but that's as long as I went. The week of the race I kept on normal pace except I just took rest days on the 2 days prior to the event (except for the soccer game I played the night before; more on that later). I've still been following my same diet and didn't really change it until right before the race. The day before was a binge day so I could have eaten anything but I did the same chicken and brown rice dish that I had done the week before and at turkey sausage and brown rice for breakfast the next morning. Going back to the soccer game; in order to get rid of the lactic acid from my legs after the soccer game I took an ice bath. Essentially, I put 20 lbs. of ice in the bathtub and soaked my legs for 15 minutes; it sucked but seemed to work.
Race Day and Race
Got up at 5:45 and ate breakfast. I had prepped all of my clothes and everything the night before so getting ready didn't take long at all and then I drove the 4 miles over to the race site. When I got there, I went through warm-ups and stretches and just tried to pass the time until it started.
Once the race started, I just went at my normal comfortable pace and was feeling good. I was worried about going too fast and not being able to finish strong but this didn't up being the case. I was passed by hundreds of people even though I didn't start near the front but I knew that it was a long race. Starting around mile 6-7 my legs and feet started to noticeably hurt but I expected that too. It certainly wasn't unbearable but definitely uncomfortable. I never had any problem with my lungs, just with my legs but had to power through it. The race course went north from shopping center, came back by it and then turned toward downtown Raleigh on Western Blvd. where you ran all the way over towards southeast Raleigh and came back. For the most part, it was pretty flat. Eventually, I felt like I was picking up my pace (about mile 10) and started passing a lot of people. The biggest hill of the whole event was in the final mile and I was able pass a bunch of people there as well and even pick up my speed even more as a saw the finish line. So I was able to run the whole way and felt pretty okay afterwards as well.
Results
Time: 2:04:08
Time/mile: 9:29/mile
Place: 390 out of 909 overall finishers (42%)
227 out of 361 men
37 out of 52 25-29 year old men
Overall Results
Preparation
I had been training for this half-marathon as well as the duathlon that I raced the week before so I had been doing a lot of running and biking. If I had just been training for one, then I think it probably would have helped my results but then playing soccer 2-3 times a week also didn't allow for total focus on any of the events either. But I'm essentially doing these to challenge myself and for fun so quitting other activities is not really in the cards. I generally tried to get in one "long" run every week leading up to the half; so like a run 5-7 miles, as well as my other running and biking. I did one run of 10 miles but that's as long as I went. The week of the race I kept on normal pace except I just took rest days on the 2 days prior to the event (except for the soccer game I played the night before; more on that later). I've still been following my same diet and didn't really change it until right before the race. The day before was a binge day so I could have eaten anything but I did the same chicken and brown rice dish that I had done the week before and at turkey sausage and brown rice for breakfast the next morning. Going back to the soccer game; in order to get rid of the lactic acid from my legs after the soccer game I took an ice bath. Essentially, I put 20 lbs. of ice in the bathtub and soaked my legs for 15 minutes; it sucked but seemed to work.
Good ole' number 2124
Got up at 5:45 and ate breakfast. I had prepped all of my clothes and everything the night before so getting ready didn't take long at all and then I drove the 4 miles over to the race site. When I got there, I went through warm-ups and stretches and just tried to pass the time until it started.
Once the race started, I just went at my normal comfortable pace and was feeling good. I was worried about going too fast and not being able to finish strong but this didn't up being the case. I was passed by hundreds of people even though I didn't start near the front but I knew that it was a long race. Starting around mile 6-7 my legs and feet started to noticeably hurt but I expected that too. It certainly wasn't unbearable but definitely uncomfortable. I never had any problem with my lungs, just with my legs but had to power through it. The race course went north from shopping center, came back by it and then turned toward downtown Raleigh on Western Blvd. where you ran all the way over towards southeast Raleigh and came back. For the most part, it was pretty flat. Eventually, I felt like I was picking up my pace (about mile 10) and started passing a lot of people. The biggest hill of the whole event was in the final mile and I was able pass a bunch of people there as well and even pick up my speed even more as a saw the finish line. So I was able to run the whole way and felt pretty okay afterwards as well.
Results
Time: 2:04:08
Time/mile: 9:29/mile
Place: 390 out of 909 overall finishers (42%)
227 out of 361 men
37 out of 52 25-29 year old men
Overall Results
And............MEDALIST!!!!!!!!!
It was exactly like getting a participation trophy for playing sports when you were a kid; except now you knew why you got it. It will have a special place to sit next to my 2004 City of Raleigh Dodgeball Championship Trophy.
So, I didn't finish so great but I did run the whole way and beat my goal going in. There are a lot of people that are in pretty good shape around the area. Overall I was really proud of myself and completing in the event and I'm now looking forward to my next challenge for once soccer season is over. Maybe a true triathlon; will just have to work on my swimming.
Here's some pictures from the finish line:
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Duathlon Results
I haven't posted for a bit. I'm not really sure why. I have cooked many new recipes and had new successes recently and will post about them soon. But today is about my duathlon that I completed this last weekend. This is an event that is like a triathlon but the swim is replaced by a run so it goes run-bike-run. The particular event that I competed in was the Cary Short Course Duathlon that was a 2.5 mile run, a 17.65 mile bike, and a 2.5 mile run to finish.
Preparation
I had been running and biking daily over the month leading up to the event. I was also preparing for a half-marathon at the same time (which I'm running this weekend). I rode many 30 mile rides and continued my typical weekly schedule of running, 10+ miles per week and was feeling pretty confident going in. This increased amount of physical activity along with some tweaked nutrition got my weight down to a new low, 159 lbs. with 8.8% body fat. The only way I changed my diet additionally for the duathlon was to add some rice into my meal plan the night and morning before in order to have a higher carbohydrate level for energy during the race. I was pretty nervous/excited going into the event so I got extra-packed/prepared the night before and tried to get plenty of sleep.
Race Day
For the 9:00 am start-time, I woke up at 6:30 and got dressed and ate a breakfast of brown rice and turkey sausage at about 500 calories; this would be plenty to get me through the entire race without any additional sugar or carbs and it should be decent on my stomach (I wanted to avoid fiber).
Preparation
I had been running and biking daily over the month leading up to the event. I was also preparing for a half-marathon at the same time (which I'm running this weekend). I rode many 30 mile rides and continued my typical weekly schedule of running, 10+ miles per week and was feeling pretty confident going in. This increased amount of physical activity along with some tweaked nutrition got my weight down to a new low, 159 lbs. with 8.8% body fat. The only way I changed my diet additionally for the duathlon was to add some rice into my meal plan the night and morning before in order to have a higher carbohydrate level for energy during the race. I was pretty nervous/excited going into the event so I got extra-packed/prepared the night before and tried to get plenty of sleep.
Race Day
For the 9:00 am start-time, I woke up at 6:30 and got dressed and ate a breakfast of brown rice and turkey sausage at about 500 calories; this would be plenty to get me through the entire race without any additional sugar or carbs and it should be decent on my stomach (I wanted to avoid fiber).
Here I am before the race started; I really got there too early and had to figure out a way to kill time before the race started.
Race
So the race started a little after 9, 129 people were doing the same race that I was, and the first run went really well. The transition into the bike also went well and then...in the bike I got passed by what seemed like 50 people. I didn't know what to expect though and I did what I could, the second run also went really well. So here's how I finished:
Run 1: 19:42 (7:52/mile avg.)
Bike: 1:03:35 (~17 mph)
Run 2: 19:44 (7:53/mile avg.)
64th place overall.
My big disappointment was the bike; I thought I would have been faster, by like 10 minutes. So I will certainly have something to begin to work on immediately. Here's a link to the overall results; I will definitely look to do something similar very soon. I will also be looking to post some of my new recipes, techniques, and exercises that dropped me down to a new low as well as a recap of my half-marathon that I am running this Sunday.
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