My first 10 miler!

Stats:

260 lbs ( 10 away from goal #1)

196.4 miles ran this year

5 weeks out from 1/2 marathon

Yesterday I ran my first 10 miler. I need to admit that I was dreading this undertaking all week. Not only was I dreading the run I was dreading the after effects. I was scared of this day. Deep down inside I felt like there was no way I could ever do this. Cut to me sobbing like a little girl as I reach mile ten in front of my house. It's really quite embarrassing to admit that I cried like that but I guess I better get used to it ,because something is telling me when I run this half marathon and finish I am gonna look like my three year old after a time out. I added two new things to my long run this week. I added GU™ and I added water. I finally got one of those strap on water bottles to run with. Two things about this 1) water gets hot when you hold it and 2) after five miles it gets heavy even if it's only 20 ounces! The water really helped though. Instead of having a sandpaper tongue for the last seven miles I could actually lick my lips and believe it or not I was actually able to keep my mind on running and not my imminent death from dehydration. Tombstone reads: here lies idiot who runs without water. As I mentioned above I added GU™ to my runs as well. GU™ or at least the variety I tried is like a mutated gummy bear or fruit snack. It didn't taste bad. I had the blueberry pomegranate flavor. Around the one hour mark I ate half the pack and took in some water because this stuff is super sticky and has a somewhat overpowering flavor profile and consistency once chewed. I'm not really sure if it helped my run at all but I do know that it almost came back up at mile seven. 

Me after the 10 miler. 

Looking over the stats i'm really proud of myself! I ran ten miles in 1:53:22 at a average pace of 5.3 mph.  Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this possible. When I was a fat kid struggling to complete the mile during the Presidential Fitness Test every year in school (that really should be banned, along with the rope climb) I felt betrayed by my asthmatic lungs and supersized thighs and ashamed to need to walk three quarters of a mile when most of the other guys were just sprinting along. To this day I still see that kid in the mirror, but when I get done running I see a smile on his face. That smile is priceless and worth every bit of pain that came before it. Peace out.

THE SLOW FAT RUNNER

9.3 set me free.

Stats:

263 lbs

Miles ran this year:172.9

I ran 9.3 miles this weekend. It took an abysmally long 1:46:35 (that's one hour forty six minutes and thirty five seconds for the uninitiated stat geek)   My slowest mile was 12:32 which i'm not really sure can even be called running. I think my grandma could have pulled that with her two plastic knees and cane. On the bright side I did run two sub eleven minute miles during this death march. Okay maybe i'm exagerating a bit here. It wasn't quite a death march but it was extremely hard. You know usually i'm very upbeat about my runs and how I'm overcoming the odds and kicking ass, but not this time. The night before this run I was suffering from mild gastrointestinal discomfort but that didn't stop me from going to my friends birthday get together at our local brewery/restaurant. While there I had about five beers, some soft pretzel sticks, a gallon of cheddar bacon potato soup and as if that wasn't enough I topped it off with half a loaf of mini garlic bread covered in spinach and cheese dip. Let me describe this dip though. Parmesan,swiss and cream cheeses blended with chopped spinach. Also known as the lactose intolerant slow fat runners down fall. So at 7 am I woke up and got ready to run. I felt horrible. Dehydrated and bloated at the same time, but those miles weren't gonna run themselves. First mile hurt. Second mile felt good. Miles three to six felt ok. Mile 7 I hit a wall of pain and discomfort. I felt my intestines shudder and my knees shake. I had to walk for a few seconds to regroup but kept moving on ,albeit at a much slower pace. The remaining miles are kind of a blur. Somewhere between clinching my butt cheeks, fighting off a mouth that seemed to be as arid as the Sahara desert and dodging the dog shit all over the sidewalk on Cardinal drive (seriously how hard is it to bag that crap) I had an epiphany. I CAN run a half marathon and probably a full one. It might take a while but as long as I put one foot in front of the other nothing can stop me.Okay I am a little positive.

If you didn't notice I lost two pounds since last I wrote. I really have been cheating quite frequently. Dedication to diet has been severely lacking. I plan on spending the next six weeks with more focus though. I actually will stretch and strengthen as i'm supposed to and log ALL my food in! I want to be 250 pounds before I run this thing and I know it can be done. Thanks for listening.

The slow fat runner