This cross season was a little different. Not only was there a mid-week series in Orem that started in September but Jeff and I for some reason decided to put on a series of our own at Art Dye Park. Meaning that in addition to the full UTCX season, I had other events to race in and when somebody else wasn't holding a race I ran myself into the ground setting up races.
My long time arch rival John Karren had upgraded from C's to 35B's with Alex Kim. I had conveniently turned 35 and so was shamed into joining them. It is important to point out that I did not upgrade based on results. In four years of racing C's I never cracked the top ten. That's how slow I am. At the beginning of the season I was deep in the back of the pack, but still beating a few guys. In the ongoing battle with JK we each had a few wins(against each other) and then I started fading fast. In addition, during one of the races we put on, I jumped a barrier and came up short. I augered into the ground and spent a couple weeks with a persistent headache, an inability to focus, and a separated shoulder. This did not help my results. It was pretty much DFL from there on out (that's a technical term, figure it out).
Through all of that, I returned to fast food like a crack whore to the street. I didn't even feel like the hooker with a heart that Julia Roberts would play in the movie adaptation. My four food groups became cheese, meat, and carbs. I would like to blame the holidays, but I was already pretty puffy by the time Thanksgiving rolled around. Hovering around the low 190's and finally topping out when I took that photo in the last post. I had always intended to get back at it but just never did.
So now I am starting over. I haven't made it to the gym much. But on Monday I began the diet portion. Started tracking calories with the LoseIt app, started packing a lunch. Having joined the cool kids with their smart phones the app is a lot more functional. You can even scan bar codes which makes food entry really easy. Although it does still make you not want to eat at night just because you are sick of punching it in. Which I guess has the same effect.
I have been to exactly ONE spin class. It sucked as bad as I remember it. So bad, that with the historically warm and dry winter we've been having I have ridden my real bike several mornings in the dark. I like it a lot more than sweating it out with the Spazzy MacGoo and the girls at spin. On top of that I have done the unspeakable and started running again. With a twist. I am not trying to run correctly. I just run in a way that doesn't hurt and only go as fast as I can without bulging my eyes out of my head. I average about 6 mph over three miles. Three miles seems to be the magic number that I can go without residual pain the next day.
The coolest new thing that I am doing was a Christmas present from Kellie. Not sure what gave her the idea(besides figuring I needed some sort of anger management) but she gave me an Everlast punching bag. I have always kind of wanted one but don't remember mentioning this to her. I hung it out in the shop where I can sweat, spit, and swear. The other night just for fun I put on my heart rate monitor and went twenty minutes on it. I kept my heart rate in the 170's for most of that time. And I had used my imagination to knock the crap out of everybody who has ever pissed me off. Awesome. Plan is to combine the bag with shorter efforts like running.
So I suppose we call this Day 1...again.
Starting Weight: 197.8(two days ago)
Morning Weigh In:
- 194.5
- 26.8%
- Total Weight Loss: 3.3lbs
