Good news and Not so good news

First the good news. My training plan has resulted in a 12 pound loss so far with increased strength. All of this in just 5 weeks. My workouts are really going well and I am seeing some real improvement. I am spending a lot of time in the gym however and am struggling with the time spent with my very busy schedule. I really need to work on my time management skills.

Now the not so good news. I am struggling with adding distance to my runs. I cannot seem to get past the 4 mile mark without some real serious struggles. Some of it has to be what I am eating since the carb load of my meals is pretty low. But, it is still frustrating to me that the distance is just not coming along.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to you all!! As the sun sets on 2008 and rises again in 2009 I am anxious and excited to see what 2009 has in store for me. Some things will stay the same however. I have my wife and daughter to share this year with me. My daughter will turn 14 and I hope she finds the brain that she lost this year. I will continue to have my good friends around me and I hope to be as good a friend to them as they have been to me. I will continue the ongoing battle of eating right, working out and taking care of my health. As I get older it only gets harder. Finally, I have my profession that is my passion and know that this year will bring exciting challenges and inevitable disappointments.

As for my running. 2008 was dedicated less to my distance running and more to strength training with a bit of cardio thrown in. To be honest, I missed my long runs and the peace that comes from that time on legs. This year I am going to try a new strategy. I will keep with the strength training, but throw a full schedule of running into the mix. It is my goal to get back into distance shape.

As for races, I am toying with a spring half. It would be the Colorado Marathon/Half- Marathon. When I ran it last it was a 15 mile race and has been converted back to a half. We will see. I am definitely going to catch a few local 5 and 10Ks this year.

On top of all that, I have headed back to school to get my masters degree. I figured since I didn't have anything else to do I might as well.

Good luck and best wishes to you all in the coming year.

Merry Christmas to all!! This is absolutely my favorite holiday of the year. To me Christmas is all about family and the blessings of the past year. I am truly blessed with a great family and God has blessed me this past year. I have a beautiful and talented wife, a wonderful daughter and more from my family than I usually deserve. I thank God each and every day for these people who make it possible for me to be successful.

My wish for each and every one of you is that you have a safe and happy new year. And of course a very Merry Christmas or Joyous Holidays.

TOL - Been Gone, now I'm Back

Sorry it has been such a long time since I have made any entries on my blog. I promise to be back more often.

It has been a very busy time for me. I spent my entire summer away from home in Virginia for a school. Left home on July 3rd and did not get back until September 22nd. A long time away and I missed my family a ton. Living in Colorado I have never experienced that much humidity before. It made the running very difficult, but somehow I managed to get some runs in. My hat is off to those who endure that kind of humidity on a regular basis.

I have cut back on my running a lot. I have also been focusing on more cross training. Seems to work pretty good. Lost 30 pounds and 10% body fat. Happy with that, but not sure I could make it past 5 miles just now. I miss those long run days.

And yes, I did get to party in New York City a few times while on the East Coast. What a great city!

More to come...

Blogging again

It has been a bit since I have made an entry on my blog. Work has just been demanding all of my attention and has been dominating my life. I try to live by the motto of, "Work to live, not live to work." That has just not been the case lately.

My workouts have been going really well. The weight loss has not been what I want but I have lost 15 pounds. Even better I have lost over 6% body fat! All of this in 7 weeks. I am only getting about 9 miles in a week. The lifting has been going really well and I am really enjoying it. This lifting thing is really foreign to me.

So far I am really enjoying this workout plan. I cannot wait until the weather warms up a little so I can get out on the trails for some longer runs.

Just a short note on how things are going. The workouts are progressing really well. i am really getting into the lifting. There is a very little running n this plan so far, only about 6 to 8 miles per week. I feel like such a slacker. The weight is coming off slowly too. Only about 6 pounds over the two weeks. Not a lot but I will take it. Enjoying the plan so far!

On a side note it looks like I will be spending my summer in Virginia. Good for the job but a long time away from home.

Happy Holidays to all!!

Time for a change

"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death."

--Anais Nin

It is now time for a new state of being. This winter I have some specific goals that will require that I change my current obsession with running. It will involve a more global approach to my everyday living and exercise. So far, I have not been paying very close attention to my nutrition. I have kind of been watching what I eat, but not very strictly. That is about to change. One of my goals is to reach a goal weight of 195 pounds. That will require about 30 pounds of weight loss. I also want to build my overall strength, specifically my upper body strength. For the first time in my life I am going to engage in weight training.

So, my workouts will consist of weight training, short intense aerobic sessions and just so I can feed my need for running I will be taking a long run (about 5 miles) each week. I want my running fitness to be up to the challenge of running a 10K.

So here goes, tomorrow is a new start to a different state.