There was much I hoped to accomplish by getting control of my life, exercising and eating. I wanted to restore my confidence, regain my self control, establish habits that would persist long after this year was through. I have learned the importance of routine, of structure, of rules that should be followed. I have worked to match my perception of myself - size, shape, beauty - to its reality, and have earned the thrill of turning heads.
In a year, I have lost around 75 pounds. I now weigh just under 130, and my clothes sizes have gone from size 12-16 to size 2-6 (shopping is fun again now, at least aside from the sticker shock, haha). Its hard to speak in terms of "inches lost" because what does that really mean, but I've lost 15 inches at my waist, 11 at my hips, 9 on each thigh, 7 on my torso and 2.5 on each arm. My body fat % has gone from >35.5% to around, well, 20%? (See my comments below on that...)
I continue to relearn the habit of thinking of food as a reward or comfort, or thinking that it should come easy. I still have to work hard to say "no" or "not so much" to my favorite indulgences - french fries, chips, even alcohol. And I still want some killer abs, without a layer of fat, or extra skin, or whatever it is I've got covering it up. These are goals to continue to work for.
So from here, where do I go...
- My year is up with Peggy, but I would like to continue to check in with her. While I can't afford to keep paying the kind of money I have been to train three times a week, I'd like to meet with her every so often, maybe once a month, to make sure I stay on track. Peggy has been wonderful in every possible way, goading me to work hard, to stay diligent with my eating, and acting as encouragement in my life - not just my fitness. God brought her into my life to point me to him, to speak wisdom into my ear, to give me an example of a hardworking, godly woman.
- My next major goal is to run the Disney World Wine & Dine Half Marathon on October 1st with my friend Bill Belski. I have been training for the race using this guide since the end of May, slowly building up my endurance and my distance. This Saturday will be my longest run yet, 8 miles. When I look back to my post on Jogging from last November, it is very significant to me the progress I have made. A year ago, I couldn't have run 10 full seconds; 8 months ago, I ran my first mile. And now, I'm on the path to running 13.1... more on this later.
- So my routine will be to run at least three days a week, as prescribed by my training guide. I have been doing these runs on Mondays, Wednesdays/Thursdays and Saturdays (my long runs are always Saturdays). I have been doing my long runs outdoors in the early morning cool, but I'm thinking at least one more of my runs I should do outside, perhaps at night to get ready for the race, since it's at night. In addition to these runs, I want to continue with my weight training, but perhaps with a focus on more cross-training since they will help my runs. I may try out a spinning class at the YMCA, or put to use my Groupons for PureBarre, Grand Jete, or Bikram Yoga. So basically, I'm going to run my three days, two of them outside when I can manage it, and I'm going to cross train three days as usual - Mondays will usually overlap running and weight training of some kind.
Body fat % - I'm not sure where I truly fall on this scale. Peggy's chart measures me at 19.7%, my scale measures me at 14%, and this website would say 20.1%. In any event, I am happily in the "Athlete" category, though I still have an inch or two I'd like to lose in my stomach... Its these numbers that keep me happy although I have not met my "weight" goal. I wanted to get to 120, and still may, but right now I weigh just under 130. My lowest has been 126.8, and every so often (depending on what I've eaten the day before), I may be just over 130. But I know that much of this weight is muscle, and I'm ok with that.
Blood pressure & resting heart rate - I had a spell a week or two ago after running my usual 30 minutes at the YMCA. I had just finished 3 miles, which is at my normal pace, and as I slowed to a walk, I thought I was having a heart attack. A real, scary, chest crushing, heart attack. Thankfully Peggy was there watching the end of my run, and I bee-lined for her. She took my pulse and sat me down, and I recovered just fine, but it was a real scare. Since then, we have tried to determine what might have caused this issue, and after stumbling across a pharmacy blood pressure tester, I think I've determined that my problem is low blood pressure. This morning, for instance, my reading was 86/59. If this chart tells it true, I should be fainting any minute now. I've been talking to my aunt (doctor) about it, and I'm going to go in for my yearly physical soon, so I don't know what will come of all this, but like I've said before, I never thought this would be the problem. On a better note, my heart rate when I checked my blood pressure was 62 bpm, which is once again in the Athlete level... :)
Running tools & tricks - Some things you should know about.
- First off, I have been using this website, walkjogrun.net to find routes of the correct distance, or to find out the mileage of my own routes. My username on the website is bcbergqu - look for my routes, and come along sometime!
- I got my first gadget in the mail last week - a Garmin Forerunner 305! It is a GPS watch that comes with a heart rate monitor, so it will keep track of my mileage, routes, and heartrate as I go. You can even hook it up to your computer to see all your data when you're done - I'm looking forward to using it to train in my target zones and to seeing my progress.
- Since my run this weekend will be my longest run so far, by 1.5 miles, I think it is time to kick it up a notch as far as hydration and fuel. The 8 mile run will take me about an hour an 45 minutes, so I know I will need water and possibly some Gu. I'm debating about getting a water belt like this one so that I can carry water with my on my training runs, though the thought of having any extra weight to carry along is a little overwhelming. I won't need to carry water on my actual race, since there will be water stations, but I need to have a plan for all the training between now and then...
