Motivated to Succeed

11:00 AM - It is unseasonably warm here with a projected high of 56 degrees today, though I wasn't able to go running outside because of the intense fog. I have not had much time for exercise the last few weeks with the holiday rush and all. I feel kind of blah. I know I've gained weight. I'm going on a diet starting today. I am anxious to start running again and I hope that 2009 will prove to be much better running wise for me than this year. I feel like a failure sometimes because I haven't accomplished all that much this year and I've put on about 10-15 pounds since all the summer biking. I need to be more disciplined in my approach in training as well so I don't suffer all these setbacks. Did a 45 minute hard effort on the wind trainer this morning.

Total Time: 45:00 Total Distance: 15 mi Average Speed: 20 mph

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OPERATION SLIM DOWN: DAY #1 -

Starting Weight: 180.0 pounds

And so it begins... I was going to wait until January 1st to start this plan, but we all know that so many New Years' Resolutions fail. Maybe it has something to do with the date?! Therefore I am starting my own diet a little sooner. Some of the prescriptions for my planned diet include: frequent, smaller meals each day, eliminating as many breads as possible, and no eating after 8:00 pm with the exception of a cup of tea at work. For the time being I am going to blog what I eat so I can monitor calories. And for my calorie tracker I will now put how many calories I eat per day rather than total calories burned. Here goes;

8AM Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee with 1/2 cup of skim milk (50 calories)

12 PM Lunch: 2 cups steamed broccoli with pepper and garlic (60 calories; 8g carb), 1 orange (100 calories; 22 g carb), and 1 large red delicious apple (80 calories; 22 g carb); 2 large glasses of water (32 oz)

3 PM Snack: 1 large red delicious apple (80 calories; 22 g carb); 1 serving Reduced Fat Triscuits (120 calories, 21 carb); large glass of water.

5 PM Dinner: 1 cup long-grained brown rice (210 calories; 44 g carb); 1 cup steamed broccoli (30 calories; 4g carb); one serving of fat free chicken tikka masala (homemade with skim milk) (125 calories; ~25 g protein). Dessert of 1 orange (100 calories, 22 g carb). 2 large glasses of water (32 oz)

11:00 AM - Blustery and cold. Temperature was only 5 degrees above zero when I started my jog. This was the first run I've done in my new orthotics and I like them already. I didn't have any pains in my feet when I was jogging with them, although I was out of breath by the end and my quads hurt a bit right now. I went running from my dad's school on the back roads and back. Felt pretty good.

Got to thinking on my run about the year ahead. As it is now 2009 and a new year is upon us I have mixed feelings about the last year. I feel like I lost a year of running, but I gained much more. I gained a new perspective about what it means to live life. One's life is not determined nor remembered by what awards he or she earns, or how many races he or she runs, but my one's approach to each opportunity that is presented to them. As such I have only modest goals for this year. I know that I have the heart of a lion, the strength of a tiger, and the persistence of a very ornery long distance runner. Splits for today's run were:

Total Time: 26:25 Total Distance: 3.0 mi  Average Pace: 8:47/ mi

Benn's 2009 Goals:

1. Enjoy each and every run

2. Train for and complete my third marathon

3. Bike from my house in NY to Emma's in MA

4. Bike a century (100mi)

5. Enjoy our family vacation in summer of 2009 to Yellowstone and Grand Teton and Glacier National Parks

6. Lose 10 pounds

7. Run, bike, and hike every chance I have with Emmy.

I know that I have a long way to go on my way to recovery, but I think that 2009 will be a much better year than 2008 for me running wise. I'm saying upfront it's okay if I don't meet all these goals, but it's good nonetheless to have goals in mind when starting the new year, no?

 3:20 PM - I worked until 3pm today ( a short day I know!). Emmy went home after two days here for New Years. Boo :(. But I brought my jogging stuff with me to work and changed in the parking lot in my car and drove over to Spa Park. It was deserted! It was weird because usually that place is packed with people. The last week and a half we've had over 2 feet of snow though so the only people I saw were a handful of cross country skiiers and a lady walking her dog. My legs were tired. My quads are a little sore. Today's run was a pretty good run though. It was fun to go running in the snow. Splits were:

• Mile 1: 8:58
• Mile 2: 9:06
• Mile 3: 8:44
• Mile 4: 8:41

Total Time: 35:46 Total Distance: 4.03 mi Average Pace: 8:53

Other good news.. Weight is down 4 pounds since the beginning of the week on Sunday!

9:25 AM - Temperature was a lot warmer than yesterday. A "balmy" 25 degrees. Sunny which was nice. Only downer was the wind @ 15-20 mph. Coming back was a workout. Really enjoyed the run though and it was funny but the soreness in my quads seemed to just melt away while I was running, though it's returned. You never realize how many muscles the human body has, nor how many you don't use on a daily basis until something like orthotics makes it so you use all your muscles. Now I feel like a couch potato out of shape lard butt :(. Came to two realizations today as I was running. The first was that I like the feel of the full orthotics as compared to my old 3/4 length ones. My feet feel meshed to the shoe and the shoe feels more connected to my foot if that makes sense. Secondly, though I am significantly heavier than this time a year ago, I feel much stronger than last year already. I think that all the biking wasn't just something to do in the meantime, but rather was an investment in my future runs. Let's hope this good luck continues! Splits were:

• Mile 1: 8:46
• Mile 2: 8:22
• Mile 3: 8:12

Total Time: 25:23 Total Distance: 3 mi Average Pace: 8:26