Hell Of A 3rd Run-aversary

     Today turned out to be one hell of a day to celebrate my 3rd Run-aversary.  The Run the Res 5K was the first ever race I participated in and so I use it as my running anniversary.  This was the 6th year for the race and the third that I had participated in.  The race features a 5K and 10K distance that circles around the charming reservoir in Fostoria.  

     The day started out waking up to a beautiful cloudless sunny morning.  I wasn't feeling my best yesterday so I decided to skip my run and if I was feeling better I would do a few miles in the morning before my race.  Well I was feeling much better with the extra sleep I got so I suited up and headed out for 4 miles close to my half marathon race pace.  After I finished my run I sat down and ate, jumped in the shower and got dressed for the race.

     Once Mandy and I got to the park I headed over to packet pick up and get warmed up for the race.  It has become a tradition now that Mandy takes a picture in roughly the same spot as kind of a yearly comparison.  Below is all three years prior to the start of each race:

     Before the race began Mandy asked me what I was thinking about running, time wise.  I wasn't really sure, I didn't think I had it in me to get a new PR for the distance, but I thought I could at least PR the event.  The 5K and 10K races start together and at the 2.25 mile mark they split left and right to an out and back section before finishing back at where we started from.  Once the race started I was feeling really good and was surprised to see I was hanging in the top 15 of all the runners.  I was holding around a 7:12 pace when we hit the first mile when a guy passed me and the lady a few feet in front of me.  I pushed a little harder and tucked in behind him, trying to stay with him.  I keep wondering now if I could have pushed myself harder at this point, but when I was running I kept thinking I didn't want to burn myself out to early. 

     I came around the corner and saw Mandy there taking my picture and gave me a high 5 as I passed by.  I headed up the small hill, where we split off from the 10K runners, still behind the same guy, but a few more steps behind.  As we started down the hill I noticed a young lady in front of both of us maybe 25 yards or so, but what I didn't see was anyone else in front of her or anyone already making the return trip.  It was at that moment I realized that I was currently in third place and couldn't believe it.  The guy in front of me and I made up ground on the front runner and almost immediately after making the turnaround we both past her.  At this point in the race I was about 10 yards behind in 2nd place when we started the climb back up the hill.  Once we hit the top and started our way down, I used gravity as much as possible was able to be right on his heels.  Just as we hit the 2.8 mile mark I decided to pour it on and make my move, hoping I had enough to hold him off.  I glanced back when my watch beeped the 3 mile mark and I didn't see him, I had to look again and sure as shit he was nowhere in sight.

     I came flying in to a bunch of volunteers that clapped and congratulated me for not only winning the 5K, but being the first runner back from either races.  Mandy came up to me saying "you won, you won babe!"  She later told me that while she was waiting for me a volunteer said "here comes the first runner back" and when she turned around she was stunned to see it was me and fumbled with her phone and wasn't able to get a pic of me.  To be honest I am still in shock that I won, and I think I did because all the guys that were ahead of me were running the 10K, but I am not going to let that tarnish my race. 

     We waited around to see the official results and for the prizes to be awarded.  According to the official results I finished in 22:20 which was one second faster than my current 5K PR, so needless to say this was one hell of a day.  Here are a few other pictures from today's race.

2 Years, 3 Months & 8 Days In The Making

     Today started as any normal day off for me.  I never thought April 8th 2015 would have been the day of all days for me.  In my mind I always thought this day would be an epic tale to tell, but I think because I wasn't expecting it, I am still in shock.  This morning the scale read 172.8, a number that I haven't seen since 1994 when I was in wrestling my freshman year.

4/8/15 official weigh in

173 lbs

Total loss from heaviest:  144 lbs

Current BMI:  27.1 (overweight)

     You may be wondering why this was my goal weight, and the answer to that question is because it was the last time in my life when I was truly healthy.  I started my freshman year right around 200 pounds and when I went out for wrestling, do to my weight, I was put in the heavyweight weight class.  I was getting my ass kicked all over the mat by those that were much larger and heavier than me.  I worked my butt off to drop to the next weight class of 175.  I stuck right around 173 for the rest of the wrestling season.  Once the season was over I made the decision not to go out for the team next year and the long slow upward march to 317 pounds began.

     After years of roller coaster fad diets, failed attempts at exercise and just plain old laziness, the beginning of October 2012 was when my life would forever be changed.  2 years, 3 months & 8 days later, I am at goal weight, healthy and happier then ever, hell I am eating an apple almost every day now.  

     This is just the first step in continuing a life long commitment to stay the course.  I am now entering what I have read and been told is harder than the weight loss itself, maintenance.  I have read that as low as 50% and has high 95% gaining most if not all their weight back.  Now I can't imagine that it is even that high, but even if it is, I am determined to go against and beat the trend.  Its a battle that will only end when I take my last breath, but when that time comes nothing will make me happier than at that moment to smile and give this demon the finger.

I thought I would share a few pics from over the last two years.  Just some different shots of some milestones and fun times I have had.  They are in no particular order, enjoy!

Wednesday Weigh In / Tattoo Day!!!

     If you were to ask me, there is no better way to spend a cold windy day off from work than all day in the comfort of a tattoo artist's chair. Since I finished my first marathon, I new I was going to get a tattoo to commemorate my achievement, so it was just a matter of time before I got it done. My tattoo artist is quite sought after in my area, so I had to make my appointment over a month ago. My plan for this appointment was to get my race medal on my leg to go along with my first half marathon medal and get a memorial piece for our dog Stinka that passed away. I have been trying to come up with ideas of what I wanted to get since the day it happened, but I couldn't settle on what I wanted till literally the night before. My appointment wasn't till noon so it gave me time to get my chores and my weigh in out of the way. Since the whole reason for this post in the first place is my weigh in, I'll get that out of the way now.  I gained a half pound from last week, but no complaints here.

12/17/14 official weigh in

175.5 lbs

Change: +.5 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 141.5 lbs

Current BMI: 27.5 (overweight)

Change: +.1

     I got to Lucky Luke's Tattoo Studio, 1610 West State St. Fremont, Oh 43420 (419-333-8282) in case you were wondering, and Luke and I started mapping out the day. First he would draw up the race medal and then we would knock that out because it would take up the majority of the time. Once that was finished, he would draw up the memorial tattoo and lay it on me. Mandy was getting her memorial tattoo for Stinka as well once she got off of work.

     The race medal had a fairly simple design to it, especially compared to the Detroit Half Marathon Medal that he did for me previously, but sometimes looks can be deceiving. The medal had subtle details stamped in it and a metal flake blue inlay that proved to be a slight challenge to recreate. Other than it taking just as long, if not longer than the marathon was for me to run I think it came out AWESOME.  Luke managed to capture all the details to make a two dimensional image look three dimensional. No matter what happens in the future with my actual race medal I will always have it with me to remind me I am capable of some incredible things.

      With Stinka's tattoo, I didn't have a lot of room to play with on my arm and my original design was to tall for the space I had available. Luke looked at the space and reimagined it perfectly. I wanted something simple and basic, but still had some character to it. I love old school designs and that is what we came up with. We took the cross and banner from the original design I had and added a paw print and a little cloud shaped filler to complete the look. I think it came out amazing and Mandy loved it so much she ended up ditching her idea and getting the same piece.

      Anyway, to give you a quick update on my knee injury, my friend Hilary from my Ragnar SoCal team gave me a few ideas and also suggested I meet with a sports physical therapist. She has been struggling with the same issue and said the therapist made a big difference with her recovery.  With my tattoo fresh on the leg I won't be running for a couple weeks anyway, so I have been researching local therapists and plan to make an appointment with one for the first week of the new year.