Hi Running people-

 Since I'm new here I guess I should introduce myself.  I'm 27 years old and a PhD student at the University of Buffalo Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences  My thesis work involved understanding the Pharmacokinetics, dynamics, and Pharmacology of organic nitrates (think nitroglycerin) and other cardiovascular drugs.  I also graduated from UB with a PharmD in 2007 and I work as a community pharmacist per diem.  I live in Buffalo with my wife, Ashley, our 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a bunny. We enjoy really anything outdoors during all seasons, including hiking, camping, snowboarding, water skiing, etc. 

I started this blog because I'm out of shape.  During my high school and early college years I ran and road biked a lot and was fast.  I did track and cross-county in high school (Galway, NY) and ran independent in college.  I cross-trained on my road bike and frequently road on fast group rides and Cat 5 races.  The load of Pharmacy School caught up with my in a bad way and my fitness suffered a lot.  I put on about 40 pounds in the last 6 years and my fitness is now blech.

My goal is now to get svelte again.  I want to get back to around 160# and have my running speed near what it previously  was.  I've started eating a lot healthier and commuting to work by bike.  Small steps  My commute is a nice 6.5 miles one way which puts me at the University in about 24 minutes.  I shower at the gym and get to my lab in about 450 minutes after leaving my door.  It's about twice the time if driving but I enjoy it.  I've also started running again after a long break.  It's tough to be as slow as I am now (5k in 30min) knowing where I've been, but I know it's slow going. 

So I'll be using this blog to publicize my progress knowing I'll be much more apt to follow a plan with the anonymous eyes of the public on me.  I'll probably complain about my jobs a little too and just talk about whatever.  Feel free to ask medial/drug questions to make use of my schooling, I'll try to help the best I can. 

Thanks

Nate

Thanks for all the welcomes

 Did the bike commute thing today.  I was a little worried about the weather as it stormed quite a bit last night but it was a dry ride, just a little windy.  Mondays are always tough becasue I need to lug my laptop, shoes and clothes to school for the week which adds up.  I have a gym locker on campus and shower there after my morning leg which is a nice way to start the day.  But the morning seem to be naked old men time.  What is it with this?  They don't even try to cover up while strutting allover the place.  One elderly gentleman was actually hold his towel out at arms length while walking around.  Plus our showers are the old style, were it's just a huge tiled room with numerous shower heads

I'm flipping buried in work at school for the next several weeks.  I have a department seminar mid-Sept and I'm also working on an NIH training grant application (k99 for the science people) which is due Oct 1st.  It's a huge application which would seriously set me up for the next 5 years into junior faculty.  But it's super competitive and the science we do is not that sexy in the eyes of reviewers/public so...   I'm also teaching a couple of classes (intro to drug development) at the beginning of the semester for my boss in addition to my regular experiments and lab work.  Blech...

Maybe I'll try to run with Sadie (our lab) tonight, she really like it and now that she's old enough (16 months) I don't have to worry about her quite so much.  We really should walk/exercise them more but it's tough after a long day.  We can get away with it becasue we have a large backyard that they can run around in.

Bike commute deal, nothing special.  It's been very windy lately, especially on the trip home.  Like sustained 25mph headwinds, it's brutal.  Typically my average speed is around 18mph but this takes it down to 16mph and it's a struggle.  I think it's suppose to calm itself later this week.  I had to stop at the grocery store on the way home and it was like old lady obstacle course.  It took me forever to get to the things I need and make my way to the check out, 

I haven't been sleeping as much as I should be.  It's a combination of all my stress plus Ralphie.  He's our 9 month old Eskie mix.  We got him at 8 weeks old to be a companion to our 6 month older lab.  He's got a great personality and only has one bad habit.  He wakes up between 6 and 6:15am everyday regardless of anything.  You could run him for hours the day before and he'd be barking at the door to go out the next morning.  The only time I've slept past 7am since we got him was the day he was at the kennel, it's brutal some days but maybe he'll grow out of it. 

Bike commute, luckily no headwind on the way home.

Ran with Sadie before work.  I could not do the bike commute today becasue one of my friends just defended her PhD thesis and we are going to dins after work.  I didn't wear a watch but I imagine it was around a 9min pace.  It took Sadie about a 1/2 mile to calm down but after that she was a perfect running partner.

Also, yesterday was the first day I am below 200# since I started weighing myself in mid May (209#).  I'm guessing some of it is water weight because I saw a little spike in BF% on my Tanita scale.  It's a pretty good way to monitor your hydration status in addition to BF%.  Long-term trends are BF while daily fluctuations are water balance changes.  I should probably try to drink more water after dinner

Ran 3 miles with Sadie after work.  Nothing exciting.  Lots of other dogs were out which makes her a little jazzed.

Bike Commute, it's getting chilling in the morning.  I'm glad the oppressive heat of summer is winding down.  

 I gave blood while at work.  I try to do it every 8 weeks or so because it's the right thing to do.  I've been doing it since I was 17.  I used to use the red cross becasue they were the only game in town but a couple of years ago the Upstate NY Transplant Services (UNYTS) started collecting blood so I switched to them exclusively.  I like them more for a couple of reasons.  Mainly, they sell their blood cheaper than the Red Cross and they only sell locally so my contribution is helping in my area.  I rode my bike home afterwards!  Honestly, I never have had any ill effects aside from some mild exercise intolerance for a week or so after.

 Also, there are theories suggesting that regular blood donation can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing iron stores which may contribute to excessive oxidative stress.  It's unproven but sounds plausible and if I get a health benefit, it's a win/win

Bike Commute

Had a dentist appointment so I rode my bike around afterwards.  Still not completely recovered from the blood donation, but I figured I'll be 100% by Monday.  There was a pretty brutal quartering headwind for a good chunk. 

 At the University, all the students are moving back in.  It was a mad house with huge lines waiting to get into the parking lots.  Classes start Monday, it'll take the better part of a month before everyone calms and things flow smoothly.  Getting around campus (by foot, bike, or car) will be a headache.  If you want a parking spot w/o a 10 min walk you will need to get to campus before 8:30am.  Luckily, I'll be biking to school for at least the next 2 months (until it gets to dark in the evening to get home safely) so I get to avoid the driving issues for the most part. 

Bike Commute as typical.  It's getting cold in the morning, I almost needed a jacket but the sun popped out so I got rid of it.

I'm glad it's Friday, it's been a rough couple weeks.  I have to work at the Pharmacy on Sunday 9-9 but Sundays are typically ok.  Our Flu shots came in so I wonder how many I will need to give.  

I also need the weekend to prepare to teach my bosses class.  It's introducing some key historical concepts of Drug Development.  It's a small class (20 students) and they are all grad students so I shouldn't have too much trouble.  I do need to re-read the material and jot down talking points. 

Did a run before work with Sadie.  She always makes me fun faster than I normally work so that good.  The run was nothing special, just need to squeeze it in before work.

After my run I went to work at the Pharmacy from 9-9.  As always, it was very short staffed with only 1 tech from 9-6 and then nothing till close.  I work as a floater so I work where needed and stores tend to take this a opportunity to short the floater tech hours and use them on the regular pharmacists.  It's compete BS which makes me stabby.  What is worse is that this is the store I did all my training at and I like the store.  I've spoken to the Pharmacy manager before about it and he always promises to not let it happen again, but surprise it's always the same.  The store is getting such a reputation that floaters are refusing to work there anymore.  I don't stress or rush anymore to get all the stuff filled (I used to when I was less experienced).  I fill what needs to be done and tell people they will need to come back the next.  Sure they are usually pissed, but it's not my fault and I'm not stressing over it.  They can yell at the people responsible for the staffing issues on Monday.  Also, if you have a life saving medicine, don't wait until 5 minutes before I close in a panic that you are all out of it and need it.  Furthermore, don't tell me you will be there in 4 minutes and never show up.  I'm not holding the pharmacy open for you past 9:05.  I worked 12 hours w/o a real break and my sympathy has ran out a while ago.  If it is really a life or death situation the ER across the street is open.

 I'll leave you with 2 quotes that you need to remember when dealing with a service person.

1. A lack of planning you on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part

2. An employee is told that the customer's always right and, in fact, the customer is usually a moron and asshole -Larry David

Happier blogging to commence Monday

Bike commute in abnormally hot weather.  School is back in session and the campus is mobbed with new students aimlessly wandering around looking for classrooms and stuff.  It'll be a couple weeks until it returns to normal and traffic (people/cars) flow smoothly.  On a plus note, I saw 5 bike commuters.  When school is not in, I see maybe 2 a week (it's always the same guy to boot) so it's nice to see others for a change.  

I got to teach my boss' first class today while he is out of town.  It went ok, I covered what I needed to and I think I was fairly clear.  A lot of the students looked bored but I hope it's a Monday 8:30am thing and me being a lame teacher.  Doing these extra high level tasks always bumps up my low level Impostor Syndrome in to overdrive.  I'm just waiting for the day I'm found out and kick out, it's a crazy feeling.  Trying convince yourself you are worthy really does not help.  We'll see if I ever get over it

Bike commute, it's 90 out, I can't take it.  I want fall and cold and jackets.  

I had to tell some wingnut in the gym this morning that it was a bad idea to wring out his towel and swimwear onto the locker room floor when the showers are 15 feet away.  He must have emptied 20+ ounces onto the floor.  He did half-heartily apologize, but looked shocked that I had the gall to tell him to stop it.  I never seen him in the locker room before so I'm assuming he's new.  A little etiquette is a good thing. 

Only bike commuted in the morning.  My legs were a little dead and I got picked up by Ashley on the way home.  We stopped and got some tasty take out and relaxed.  

Bike Commute!  Nothing special

Ran with Sadie before I had to go to work at Rite Aid.  She really is good at making me run faster.  Plus, it's good that she gets some good exercise as well.

Another 12 hour day at the pharmacy afterward but much better than last week.  Actually had help this time which was nice.  It was a long uneventful day.  The biggest issue was some people trying to fill fake/altered scripts for narcotics but I told them to beat it.  

Labour Day bike ride with my College friend.  In Buffalo, people commonly ride over this set of bridges to a place called Grand Island.  It's all super quiet residential and a loop of the island is about 25 miles.  Sometimes the wind is brutal becasue it's so flat and yesterday it was.  It doesn't bother me too much but it did slow us down a lot on the second half of the loop.  Aside from the wind, the weather was very nice.  I really like riding my bike for more than a simple commute, I need to get out and do it more.  

Later that day we went got a nice 5 mile walk around the park.  Sadie and Ralphie are pretty well-behaved and socialized dogs so we feel pretty confident that they will behave themselves on walks but they are vocal about wanting to play with other dogs which makes them look a little nutter.  There was a little rat terrier thing and the guy asked if our dogs were nice.  I was like sure and he brings it over and it goes ballistic and snappy and crazy.  It was like WOW, moving on.  So this put Ralphie into overdrive. He is always super quiet but once he feels that he or us are threatened he goes into super guard puppy mode and will try to chase away the offender.  He does it at the dog park sometimes when his space is being invaded and once the dog move away he settles down.  It's defensive and never aggressive.   But that little terrier was not socialized and looked like it would bite so we moved on.  The rest of the walk was nice and it was a nice fall day to stroll around.  The park was packed with people celebrating the last day of summer.  On the way home we stopped for ice cream and got them puppy cones.  A dog eating ice cream is probably the cutest this ever.  Video Evidence.  They were pooped and slept the rest of the day.

 It drives me crazy that people routinely accept that little dogs can be aggressive toward people and other dogs becasue they are small and "can't" do damage.  If a large dog acts the same way, it's dangerous and it shouldn't be any different.  My dogs are 40 and 70 lbs and if they acted even partly like this terrier I'd have to destroy them.  I see it all the time, little terriers and other small breeds are downright dangerous due to improper socialization and training.

Bike commute.  Heavy Monday backpack.  Must have been 20+ pounds. Holy head wind on the way home, gusting to 40 and sustained at 20-25.  Blech

Did 1/2 of my bike commute and took the bus home due to time constraints.  Looking forward to the weekend.  I'll try to get out and run with sadie both days.  The weather is suppose to be nice so that is good. 

 Aside from my tons of work to do I think we'll try to get out and go apple/grape picking.  The niagara frontier is great for fruit.  We have amazing apples, grapes, cherries, peaches, etc.  We really don't eat non-local fruit all summer, which is a pretty cool thing to be able to do.  It's concord grape season.  I LOVE THEM.  I'm not a big regular grape fan but these are way tastier and better.   Give them a try!

Ran a 4 mile loop with sadie today in the evening.  It was pretty humid and sadie was dragging a little.  I feel much more in shape now.  Running 3-4 miles isn't chore it was a few weeks ago which is nice. I still pretty slow but I can tottle along without needing a break.  I should test myself with a 5k now to see where I am.  I'd imagine maybe a 25min 5k (gotta check the race calender).  Now I just need to bump up the consistency to running several times a week.

 Had a nice relaxing weekend going to the dog park and farmers market and mall.  I have some writing to do tomorrow, I need to write my personal statement and career goals for the NIH grant I'm applying to.  It's due at the end of September so it's getting close.  It's tough knowing only 30% of the grants get funded but I'm trying to keep my hopes up.  If I get it, it'll be super wonderful, if not then it's good practice when I'm a faculty member

Bike Commute, HOLY god it was windy.  Like gusting to 30 and it's always

a head wind on the way home (riding west towards the lake will do

that).  Got home and took the doggies to the dog park and they ran

around like maniacs for an hour.

Super Snazzy Bike Commute.  It's was not windy for once which I enjoyed.  It's getting chilly in the morning,I've had to wear a jacket!  That means fall/winter is coming!!

Bike Commute, chilly morning.

 I'm officially not obese anymore by BMI guidelines!  That's pretty exciting.  To be fair, I'm a little musclely to be using the BMI guidelines and even when I'm at my fighting weight I'm boarder line overweight BMI wise.  I'm down 15 pounds since the beginning of June.  Super coolio.  Only like 30 pounds to go. 

Last week was a wash exercise wise.  Thursday, the weather was crap.  On the weekend we had to travel to Albany for a wedding and to visit my dying grandmother-in-law.  So Friday we were getting ready to leave and our new Rav-4 killed the transmission so we had to get it dealer and get a loaner.  This is the second new Toyota we've had that died under 10k miles, we are not happy about it.  Our loaner was a VW beatle so that was kinda fun.  So Friday was shot due to that and travel. 

Saturday was the wedding and visiting her grandmother.  Her friend from middle school was getting married.  She was in hospice with lung cancer due to smoking for like 70 years and wanted to die.  When we saw her she was sedated and unconscious and only mildly responsive.  She did die later that night, so it goes.  Sunday was another wash due to visits with other family and the drive home. Monday was a recovering from the trip day.  I hope that this week is a little more fruitful. 

Finally after a long break, I had the chance to run.  I did my departmental seminar without crashing and burning.  I feel like I gave a good talk and answered the questions well.  People have told me I did a great job so that is good.  Also, my grant application is finished and out.  I have my fingers crossed for it, if I get it (~30% chance) I will probably pee a little.  It would make everything for the next 5 years much easier. We'll see, but now it's just back to lab work and fitness!

Since the weather was downright horrible outside I was banished to the basement to run on the treadmill.  We got our treadmill in last winter and ended up going with the Livestrong LS12.9T.  I hate anything branded with the overused and ridiculous Livestong logo and colors, but it was honestly the best treadmill at the pricepoint we wanted to spend and we've been happy with it so far.  Luckily it's in the basement were I don't have to notice the colors.  The only thing I'm not a fan of is that you can't add time once you start a work-out.  

 So I ran for 30 minutes and covered about 3.7 miles, about 8:10 miles.  It felt a lot faster than the mill says. As always, I use a 1% incline to account for the lack of wind.  I really hate treadmill running and only do it becasue I need to.  Luckily we have a TV downstairs so I can watch DVDs while running.  The weather should be improving so I can get back on the bike and run outside

Bike Commute.  Got rained on in the morning, if I'd have left 20min earlier I've would have missed it.  Rained all day and just like they predicted it stopped 20min before I had to leave.  So the ride home was clear but with wet roads. 

Ran for 20 minutes (2.5 miles) before work today on the treadmill real quick.  I need to work till midnight tonight so I needed to squeeze a quick one in this morning.  

Commute to work.  It was a short ride but I got rained on the way home.  Work was fine but please don't yell at your pharmacist.  While it will make them feel sad and unappreciated you will NOT get what you want regardless of the severity.  Cursing me out becasue you ran out of pills 3 weeks early is not our fault and very highly doubtful we shorted you 21 pills.  Also, there is a difference between I will not give your medicine and you have to buy your medicine out of pocket becasue your insurance will not pay becasue you are 3 weeks early.  I will never deny you medicine unless there is the chance it will kill you or if it's illegal for me to do so.  I will however charge you the cash price for it, so why 100$ does sound like a lot of money for you to pay for your medicine I am not denying it to you or trying to kill you.  

 So since it got rained on and made my bike a mess I decided to really clean it.  It's is now nice and sparkly.  The chain has never been cleaner.  I must confess that I do not  use environmentally friendly cleaners.  I try to and they suck, especially on the chain and cassette.  Nothing works as good as mineral spirits so I guess I will have to use it. 

Bike Commute again to whoever is listening.  It's mighty chilly in the morning, I'm gonna have to break out the pants and gloves soon.  

It was gross out so I ran on the mill.  30 minutes and I covered about 3.8 miles.  It was faster than I wanted, I wanted to run at 8:30 min/mile but accidentally set it at 8 min/mile.  I guess it's good I didn't notice, must mean I'm more in shape.

 I have the Buffalo Turkey Trot 8k coming up on Thanksgiving.  It's probably the first race I've been even moderately trained in the past 4 years.  I ran it in 2008 in a loagy 42 minutes at the height of my out-of-shape-ness so this year I'm aiming for 35ish which I think is perfectly doable considering I have 6 weeks.

I like the Buffalo Turkey Trot, it's big (~8-10k runners) and is the oldest consecutively run road race in America.  This year will 115 years without a year off.

Bike Commute, finally stopped raining. 

Half of a bike commute!  I'm blech, so I'm not writing anything of substance (like I ever do).  Maybe later.  It's the weekend, I have to work Sunday, joy!

Did the bike commute to the pharmacy I was working at today.  Super short 3.2 mile round trip.  There was a lot of frost this morning, I had to break out the winter gloves but the ride home was nice and sunny.  Work was busy but boring/uneventful.  

Later I did a 5 mile run (in 41min) on the treadmill while watching Family Guy/American Dad.  It was probably the first time I ran 5 miles since the Turkey Trot in 2008 so that was pretty good.  The run was nothing exciting but I sweat a ton in the basement, I should get out the fans to help move some air. 

Bike Commute!  It was below freezing in the morning,  chilly toes

Ran a 5k (@8:15 pace) on the treadmill before bed.  I was gonna run a little more but I was sleepy and not feeling well.  I feel like I'm getting faster and I'm def loosing weight so I think my plan is working.

I woke up Friday morning and my left foot is a little sore from the top down around the inside to my arch.  I hope it's nothing serious, just some soreness from a misplaced step or something.  Friday is an off day becasue I have to work till midnight so it'll have time to relax and heal

Bike Commute

Bike Commute. Of note, drinking Poweraid while showering after your workout is a good way to hydrate after a tough old man basketball pick-up game.

Bike Commute.  I have blood in the afternoon again (saving lives, yip for me) which combined with a 30mph headwind made my ride home pretty horrendous.  

 Good news is that I'm approaching 190 pounds,  When I hit 189, it'll be 20 pounds lost since mid may.  Only 30 more to go to get to fighting weight.  Side note, I've been super tired and going to bed early.  Last night at 9:30 which is highly abnormal.  I'll blame it on my flu shot which I know is a complete placebo excuse.  

I ran 4 miles last night with Sadie after dinner.  It was a nice warm night out.  Running felt fine, I definitely feel like I'm in better shape which is great.  The 4 miles is relatively easy and Sadie was super excited to go. 

 I am pretty sore from house work all weekend.  We put up crown molding and painted our living room.  Crown molding is a huge PITA to put up and make sure all the joints are tight, I'm glad it's over.  I was disappointed that I didn't get the change to get out and exercise this weekend but I was too busy.   Oh Well. 

Bike Commute.  Nothing exciting.  I need a vacation.

It's mother flipping Friday and I did my bike commute.  Unlucky for me I need to clean my house this weekend, my brother is coming to visit.  Le sigh

This weekend was a waste,  I sat around the house, watched Football (go Bills) and ate like a good lil' American.  Today was the start of my new week and I ran 3 miles with Ralphie.  It was the first time I ran with him as he is a little younger, but he's 10 months this week to I figure we can start.  He did great as a run buddy.  Somehow, with next to no formal leash training, both Sadie and Ralphie are very good running partners.  I see great distance running careers in their future.

 I've pretty much decided that I'm gonna do Around the Bay 30k at the end of March in Hamilton, Ontario.  I set my goal time as 2:15 (to get a silver medal) which is 7:15 miles.  I think this is doable because it converts (using Purdy Points) to a 19:40 5k or  40:30 10k which I'd hope I would be capable of by then.  Plus the race doesn't warrant extremely long training runs which I'm a fan of so we'll see how the training goes.  I think my sister is gonna do it with me. 

 I better get to training...

To do something fun and exciting I brought my running clothes and shoes to work and ran home from work today.  The route is 1/2 heavy traffic surface streets and 1/2 quiet residential streets so it's ok.  Luckily the whole route has a sidewalk.  It was pretty good and the longest run I've done in a while.  Surprisingly, I ran faster than I though I was going to.  I had no real idea of what pace I'm capable of right now so I just ran at an 7-8 effort level.  I ended up getting home in 43:20 which came out to a 7:45 min/mile pace!!  I was expecting 8:15ish so this is wonderful.  This puts me in great position of hitting my goal for the Turkey Trot 8k of 35 minutes with 3+ weeks of training.

Side note:  I was under 190 pounds this morning.  Lost 20 pounds since mid-May!  Only 30 to go.

Worked 9-5 today at the Pharmacy, it was pretty good but really slow.  When I got home I ran 3.5 with Ralphie.  I'm feeling much faster and can run with general ease now when before it was a serious struggle.  I'm glad my fitness is coming back much faster than I've had hoped.  Yip.  

I have 1 more week of school and then I get to go to New Orleans for a Pharmaceutical Science Conference to present my research.  It's such a crazy place so hopefully it'll be a bunch of fun.  It'll be nice running in warmth too!. 

Ran with Sadie before work.  Nothing too exciting, she was a little pull-y but not too bad.  Watched the NYC marathon for some inspiration.  It's pretty sweet that an American woman got second, but it's too bad Haile was having knee trouble and then dropped out.  Also heard he was gonna retire, kinda a sad way to go but but he is one of the best that ever was.  

Rode my rollers last night for 30 minutes after work.  I didn't want to run so I figured some cross training would be nice.  I did not want to ride my stationary trainer and the rollers are pretty fun.  So I did 20mph base pace with harder 25mph efforts spread out.  It awesome that without the wide resistance to riding outside  you can spin up to 50mph fairly easily.  All the resistance comes from the contact between the rollers and the tyres.  Some of the nicer units have built in resistance units but I have a cheapy model that doesn't.  While the resistance is fairly small, you have to concentrate the whole time to maintain balance so it's also a mental workout.  Using rollers is one time when I wished I had a HRM to track myself.  I kept myself at about 85% max HR but it was cumbersome to check it while riding.  

Lots of novice bike people are scared of rollers becasue they do look intimidating and some people have trouble with them.  Luckily, even with my poor balance, I picked it up fairly quickly and I like to a ton more than riding a trainer.  Plus they help your pack riding skills!

Ran a loop around the house after work.  I tried to push it to get a little bit of a threshold workout.  I'm really not a fan of the time change.  It's dark when I get out of work, the dogs are still waking up at their normal time (which is now an hour early), and I'm sleeping funny.  Combine this with my diet and a slump at work and I've been extra cranky the last few days.

I saw this thing on the internet, the 200 squat and 100 push-up challenge.  It claims to get you to these goal in 6 weeks.  I'll give it a shot and see if I can complete it by Christmas.  I have no doubt I'll have the squat done (I could probably do it now) but the push-ups are gonna be a challenge as I have no upper body strength.  If anyone has tried/completed it I'd be interested to hear what you thought about the program.  Thanks! 

Rode the bike trainer for 30 minutes tonight in the basement, nothing too exciting

I'm in New Orleans now for my science convention.  Got it last night on an uneventful trip.  Due to the time change I woke up at like 6 this morning and went for a run.  Ran for 33minutes around the french quarter. It's pretty hot out so I'm glad I went early.  Nothing exciting.  The French Quarter is very pretty/old and it's fun to run around

I didn't get a chance to run during the day because of all the meetings I had (from 8am-8pm) so I ran on the treadmill at the hotel before bed.  Just a quick 3 miles to get to work off all the yummy fried and cheese filled food I've been eating.  I've def been loosing poundage becasue my suits are fitting way better since I was last wearing them in Sept!!

I'm a little flustered at this meeting, I want to go hang out in the evenings but none of my friends want to and I'm not one to wander around alone and meet new people so I just end up doing nothing at night.  It's especially lame becasue the French Quarter is so much fun at night, It's great with the drinks and the music and the vibe.  So, if any bloggers live in NOLA and want to hang out, hit me up!  Maybe one night I'll suck it up and go out alone.  Social Distortion is playing Tuesday at the House of Rock, and while I'm not a huge fan of theirs it'll prob be a cool concert and something to do.

ran in the garden district before I had to head over to the convention center.  The garden district is super hip looking and someplace I'd totally live/visit/hang out.  Did a nice pace of 7:26.  My dress shoes tore up my heals when I was wearing them the other day so my socks are a bloody mess!.  I really hate blisters, oh well. 

Still in New Orleans for 1 more day and ran after my conference on St. Charles Pl.  It's this cool street with a median that the trolley uses.  The median is nice grass and I must have seen 15+ runners on it at like 5pm which was pretty cool, just gotta make sure you don't get ran over by the trolley.  Did it in 36min.  I think I'm in good shape for the Turkey Trot next week.  It's back to Buffalo tomorrow to reality which is sad. Oh well

Back in Buffalo and I ran in the evening.  Did a fast paced 4.5 miles in 31:30 to get ready for the Turkey Trot Thursday.  Felt pretty good and but I way overdressed for the weather so I ended up pretty overheated.  I think I'll be in good shape for the race.

I also started my 100 push-up and 200 squat in 8 weeks training.  I took the initial tests and did 18 push-ups and 70 squats, quite the disconnect between then.  I think I'm going to have to work on the upper body strength a lot more.  The cycling really keeps my legs strong. 

I'm taking the week off as a staycation,  I really haven't had a week off to relax in several years so it'll be nice.  We were going to stay home for the week and have Thanksgiving by ourselves like we prefer to do but my stepdad was having stomach pain and they found a lump on his pancreas.  It's 50% chance it's cancer so we are gonna go home Thursday and Friday back to Albany for moral support/whatever.  They should know what it is w/in 2 weeks.  We'll see

Ran after dinner around with Ralphie.  Very windy and chilly.  My quads are super sore from doing the initial test for the 200 squat challenge.  

This is my first real race I've done in 2 years and I was kinda excited.  I ran this race 2 years ago in 41:30 and I was a little disappointed.  I've been running a lot more since May and I was excited to see how I'd do and set an ambitious goal of 35 minutes.

Course: It's a point to point 8k which starts in the North of the city and is a straight shot ending downtown.  It's fairly flat but has some long false flats and slight uphills during the first 3 miles which can be draining.  This year the race hit its cap of 12500 registrants making it the largest race ever held in Buffalo.

Pre-Race/Weather:  It's chilly and about 40 out.  The sky was gray and it fluctuated between drizzle and slight rain all day.  I was hoping that the heavy rain would hold out and it did.  We got up early and dropped the car off at the end so we wouldn't need the shuttle bus to get home and went to the start.  I went to line up at the 7min/mile pace line and it was PACKED.  If I could have one wish, it would not be world peace or money it would be that people would line up correctly at the starts of races.  Where I was standing maybe 10% of the people could actually run 1 7 minutes mile let alone 5, I had a 6 year old next to me and some older ladies.  It's beyond frustrating and I have NO idea why they do it..

Race:  It's off and the first couple minutes I'm dodging people but it soon opens up and I can run.    The crowd support and people are awesome and there are crazy customs including a daisy chain of 7 turkeys.  Miles were 7:16, 7:26, 7:18, 7:20, with a finishing mile of 7:02.  Finish was 688 of 11044 using the gun time and 720 with net time.  Gun time was about 30 seconds slower.  Got 84 of 670ish in my age group. 

I was moderately happy with my finish and was only off my goal by 90sec.  It would have been a little too much to push down to 7min/miles especially with only running 12 miles a week.  I gotta run more days a week and more start building up miles.   I've scheduled a 5k in about a month, we'll see how I improve for that.  Aiming for 21:30.  I gotta do some faster paced runs to get used to running sub 7s.

Ran an easy 3 miles on the treadmill (8 min/miles) after a long day of shopping.  Avoided the insanity and got to the mall at about 9am, did about 85% of our X-mas shopping and checked out a bunch of stuff.  Showing up at about late morning is great becasue all the nice sales are going and while it's crowded, it's much more calm than that door-buster retarded-ness.  Also picked up some nice running tights for myself at the ADIDAS outlet.

Ran an easy 4ish miles tonight after Christmas tree gettin'.  Ended up with a nice white pine. It's soft and purdy

Rode the rollers (20 mph average) after work for 30 minutes while watching Ricky Bobbie.  Fell off twice trying to stand and when trying to go hands-free. 

The field mouse is fast but the owl sees at night!

Ran on the treadmill after dinner, I wanted to run after dinner but it was a crap storm of snow and rain and cold outside.  Did an easy first mile (8:00)  and moderately fast second (7:20) and then the same slow and fast split for the last mile.  Total time was about 26 minutes.

Lazed around the house and didn't get a chance to run.  Did my 200 squats and 100 push-ups build up instead

Ran after dinner with Ralphie.  It was cold out (30ish) and my shins kinda hurt. Blech.  

Ash had we company Xmas party tonight so I jumped on the trainer for a quick 30 minutes before we had to leave.  It's not in the basement and I sweat a lot, need to get some fans down there.

Did an easy "long" run around tonight after din.  It's kinda fun running at night in the dark but it's always a little cold especially without the sun to warm you up.  Shins are kinda sore but not getting any worse so I figure I'm still adjusting to running. 

 Planning on doing a couple more 15-20 mile weeks with running 4 times a week and then start to bump up the milage depending on my body feels.  I'd like to work up to a 30-40 mpw over the winter to start serious training when spring hits.  

Rode the trainer in the basement for cross-training.  Went 45 minutes at a moderate-hard effort.  Watched "Knocked-Up,"  Pretty ok movie, but I like it for the one-liners a lot more than the plot.  "I'm not poor or anything...but I eat a lot of spaghetti."  I like the trainer becasue it's power curve is available and I can say manly things like I pushed 250 watts for 45 minutes and then threw in a couple 1 minute intervals at 390 watts.  

Finished with my 100 push-up training.  In 2 weeks I went from 18 push-ups to failure to doing 4 sets of 15 with a final set of 20.  I'd say it's a sweet improvment.

One thing I'm super grumpy about is that my weight has been flat at 188-189 for about 2 weeks.  I was losing about 1-1.5 pounds a week until then but now nothing.  Super Frustrating.  The only saving grace, and it's not much, is that my Tanita scale says my BF% is slowing going down.  So maybe I'm gaining muscle but I don't care.  My goal was to be svelte by Christmas and that is clearly not gonna happen at this pace.  Maybe I need a speed habit.  Rant done

Ran 4 miles on the treadmill. Started with a 1 mile warm up @ 8:30 then increased to 7:30 for 2.75 miles then a 0.25 mile cool down. Nothing special.

Rode the training at a moderate effort for 45 minutes. Tossed in some hard 1 minute intervals for good measure.  Felt pretty strong.

 Today was the 2 week progress test for my 100 push-up challenge.  Did 31 push-ups to failure.  Compared to my intial test results of 18, I'd say 72% increase is not bad.  Gotta keep building up.  On target to bust out 100 around the first of the year.

Once again my weight is a frustrating 188.5. The only saving grace is that I see my BF% slowly dipping but still. 

The end of last week was shot with me being lazy and the weather dumpy so I resolved to start the new week better.  Ran 3 easy miles with Ralphie after dinner in the cold and wind.   Did my 100 pushup training.  Scale still not moving

Ran on the treadmill tonight.  Easy 1 mile warm up (8:30) then 2.5 miles @ 7:30 with sprint at the end and then .4 cool down.  Total time 31 minutes with average pace of 7:54.  Felt fine and comfortable.

On a super snazzy note, It looks like the weight loss train is back in town and maybe I'll this 2 week plateau is over.  Fingers crossed!.  In addition, I had my cholesterol checked for free at the university and my total came back 167! (they only split it if you come back high).  This is fabulous news and way lower than I hoped for.  I had it checked 3 years ago at probably my most unhealthy and out of shape.  It was 218 (LDL 141, HDL 68, Tri 45), while the HDL was good the LDL was higher than I'd like.  I guess eating healthy and exercising more pays off. 

Rode the trainer for 45 minutes after din and then did my push-up challenge training.  It's getting hard and tonight was the first night I did not complete the set fully

Ran a quick 4 miles on the treadmill in the evening

Had to work 9-9 today so I jumped on the trainer for a quick 30min before work knowing I'd be dead when I got home from work

Had a crappy day at work so I went to the store and bought oysters and a trout for dinner, went home and baked the fish with some herbs and broiled the oysters with a wine sauce.  Made me feel a little better.  Fell asleep on the couch and woke up at 10 to run.  Felt like crap and ran 3 miles on the treadmill (7:50 overall pace). Blech, tired with a cold

 Yesterday was our Department's Christmas party.  They also give out awards for outstanding grad student and outstanding TA.  I manged to win outstanding TA for an undergrad class I helped with.  I did pretty much what was expected of me with a couple little extra things thrown in so I did not expect to win.  It was pretty exciting and totally unexpected.  The teacher of the class wrote some pretty nice things about me!  Sometimes these things can turn into a popularity contest which I definitely would not win, so yea me!  My friend also won the outstanding grad student award so we cleaned up!.  Sadly, our assistant dean/professor is leaving to go be dean at another school.  Aside from my boss, she was the biggest influence of me going into research so she'll be missed. 

Rode the rollers for 30 minutes after taking a nap tonight.  Felt like absolute junk, it's either a cold or SAD.

We are going back to Albany tomorrow afternoon for Xmas so i need to get a workout in before we leave.  On a good note, I've lost more weight this week

Home for the holidays and did a nice 5ish mile run in the morning at an easy pace with ralphie.  Not used to the hills but it was ok and I miss running at home on these roads.  Ralphie slipped his coller when a group of 10 dogs charged their fence and scared him.  Luckily he did not get hit and I got his coller back on but it took 5 years off my life.  It was a semi-busy road with 45mph traffic, ugh, stressful. 

Ran with my sister at home before coming back to Buffalo.  Got to try out my new toy, a Garmin 405.  We wanted to go for 6 but living in the middle of nowhere and a bad choice of a left stretched it into 9 miles (average pace 7:45).  IT was pretty much the longest I ran in 5 years.  And the Garmin is SUPER COOL!  No shin pain, I only get it on the treadmill, must be something with my gait when on it.  

Rode my rollers for 30 minutes after dinner.  Listened to some Metal and rocked out.

Ran 3.6 miles in the snow yesterday night with ralphie. Pace was 8:10 due to the slipping and sliding. And it was fracking cold

Rode the trainer for 40 minutes before bed.  I still have somewhat of a cold and feel poopie

Got a foot pod for the Garmin GPS watch so I had to run on the treadmill tonight to check it out.  It worked perfectly and was only off by 1% over 3 miles (uncalibrated).  Way better than the nike junk.  Average pace was 7:37 and check this cool pace/cadence chart you can make!.  Awesome Oposum!