Brandon - Week 2, Day 3

2 miles today.  Down to Provo Mall and back.  It was crazy cold today - 46 degrees - with a little rain and wind.  I was running straight into the wind on the way back.  That was fun.  Here's my route:

Brandon - Week 2, Day 2

For my cross training today I played my third intramural flag football game.  3 games.  3 losses.  I'm competitive, and I hate losing.  But at least I'm back on my training schedule.  The best part of intramural sports is that you're actually only doing this:

but you feel like you're doing this:

For me, that's enough motivation to get out and exercise, even if I lose.

Brandon - Week 2

First, I want to thank everyone for contributing to the blog and updating us on their progress.  I love that we're all feeling connected to each other through this, and that the blog is providing some motivation.  Keep it up!



I'm back on the horse.  After giving my knee a break for the week, I got out and ran about 1.6 miles today.  This is less than my training schedule calls for, but I wanted to take it easy to see how the knee felt.  Surprisingly, it felt pretty good, so I think I'll try to get back on the full training schedule. 

Another pleasant surprise was how easy the 1.6 mile run was.  My pace was nice, and I really didn't get very tired at all.  It's amazing how quickly your body begins to adapt.

Kari - Day 4, 5 & Start of Week 2

Day 4 (Friday - walk day)
Walked for 30 minutes this day, the came back and got the stationary bike for another 20 minutes.

Day 5 - (Saturday - jog day)
Saturday morning I met up with my friend for our jog day. It was supposed to be run 1 minute, walk 2 again. But she's ahead of me in the program, not to mention Hoon asked me to run all the way to our meeting point since I was alone so I think I got in more than my fair share of jogging that day. But happily, I wasn't crazy sore like I usually am after I jog 1 day and never do it again, you know?

WEEK 2
Run program: Run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes for a total of 44 minutes.
This morning I did this workout, with an additional 10ish minutes of walking to our meeting. I never thought 2 minutes could seem so long and short at the same time. Even though we are only running part of the time right now, our bodies are getting used to the amount of time we're going, so eventually actually running for 44 minutes won't feel too surprising (hopefully).

After 1 week, I'm feeling good, but I haven't seen much change in the scale (patience, I know). A big part of this will also have to be my food choices which weren't so choice over the weekend. We're still getting settled in the new place and cooking isn't exactly easy right now. I think I'm also suffering from some weak knees like Brandon, so hopefully my day off tomorrow will help.

Ross' Weekly Summary

Ok, its been a motivation this week knowing that I have a chance to report to others how I did. I made some low grade bad eating decisions, like the onion rings when we went out to dinners with our friends in Park City. And two candy bars during the week.

But its been a good week for activity:

Stationary bike 2 hrs 15 min

Bicycle 19 miles (errands and meetings around town)

Mtn bike 10 miles (up, down and around the mountain of Park City Resort)

Softball 2 hr

According to various calculators, I figure I worked off about 4900 calories.

My regular weigh in time is Saturday mornings. I tipped the scale at 204.

So it was a pretty good week, and I'm looking forward to this coming week.

Day 2, 3 - Kari

Day 2 - Walk Day (Wednesday)
Wednesday we went walking around downtown. I left my house around 5:15 and got back around the same time so we walked for a little less than an hour. Next time I think I'm going to bring hand weights and try to work my arms at the same time. We'll see!

Day 3 - Run Day (Today, Thursday)
Today was supposed to be a run day. However my friends have been exhausted (myself included) with family in town and late bed times and whatever else we have going on and they both bailed. So I didn't get to do our program which would have been run 1 minute, walk 2 - 9 times. However, I did get up and walk for 5, jog for 10 and then did some weight lifting for another 15 minutes. A quick 30 minute work out. I don't know if we'll be walking tomorrow (a designated walk day) or if we'll be getting back on track and doing jogging. We shall see. I didn't want to get up this morning but I was already awake and I figured I'd be reporting so I had to get up and do something!

Brandon - Knee Pain

Between two intramural football games and one intramural ultimate frisbee game, I've fallen on my left knee 4 times in 2 weeks.  (I have to say that I made the catch every time, but that's beside the point.)  The first time I came down on it, it was swollen for most of a week.  I iced it, elevated it, babied it, etc.  It felt (and looked better), so I went out and played on it again.  Tuesday night I fell on it again.  As I jogged on it immediately afterward, my knee cap felt like it was bouncing up and down (that sucks!).  I got a little scared, so I went to see my doctor on Wednesday.

He asked a bunch of questions, looked at my knee, moved it around, and finally took 4 x-rays of it.  Everything looks fine, but he thinks I may have stretched some ligaments or something.  He recommended I give it until Monday before I really get out and do anything.  So that means training is postponed for a few days.  I'll pick it back up on Monday.  That kind of bums me out because I was really excited about this.  But, I'm glad there's nothing seriously wrong with my knee.

Here's a picture.  This isn't my knee, but my x-ray looked just liked this.

Brandon - Day 2 - Ultimate Frisbee

My schedule called for 30 minutes of cross training today, which was easily accomplished since I had an intramural Ultimate Frisbee game this evening.  If you've ever played, you know it requires players to run back and forth constantly (like soccer).  The game lasted close to an hour, and we only had one sub, so I got my exercise for the day in.  Ultimate is a blast, and we creamed those undergrads 12 - 5 (and they had like 5 subs).  Old guys rule.

I didn't have a catch like this one, but I dream that one day I will:

Mom (Pilar) & Jordan

I received this email from Mom.  Thanks for joining!  Keep us posted.

I am also very excited.  I will be doing a marathon on October 3, 2009.  I do it a couple of times a year, and I love it.  I also want to commit to lose 5 lbs by the end of October.

 

GO BRANDON!  The girls in our office are starting also.

 

Jordan is back on his diet.  Since June 1, 2009 he has lost 21 lbs. and wants to lose another 20 before December 30th.

Ross

Ross sent me this email.  Thanks for joining, Ross!  Keep us posted.

Great idea!  There is always strength in sharing a goal and receiving mutual encouragement.

Here's mine:

Last January 1, I weighed 217 pounds - the most I have ever weighed.  By the summer, I was consistently settled in at 200 - and it wasn't really that hard.  Just scrupulous eating decisions.  I even got as low as 198.  But it only took a couple of weeks of careless eating during vacation travel this summer to plateau back at 205. 

So for me, this next January 1 is significant, because of last year's "milestone".  Where I really want to be is around 185.  (That would take me back 30 years.)  But with about 15 weeks left, I'm going to set a goal of 10 pounds, or 195.

I already set a goal recently of 3.5 hours per week of sustained exercise.  I've been doing that on a stationary bike watching football games, and on my bicycle.  So far, I've succeeded for about 3 weeks.  That burns about 2000 calories or so a week.  That's worth about half a pound a week.  I'm planning to continue this regimen.

Also, my plan is to just be more conscious of my food choices like during the spring.  Limited carbs, more veggies and fruit.  Get a good habit going to endure the holiday food barrage. 

I don't know when I will have time to tackle another long bike trip.  I would really like to ride down the Pacific Coast, or through the Eastern seaboard or the Great Smoky Mtns.  Those will probably have to wait until retirement because the training regimen is too strenuous to sustain having a life.  Right now its more about staving off that lurking diabetes and just generally being more fit as I get older.

Karen

Karen left this comment to my original post, but I thought I'd bring it to the top for everyone to see.  Thanks for participating, Karen!  Keep us posted.

Good idea, Brandon! For years and years, I walked regularly every morning with friends. Since moving to CA, I haven't found that reliable walking partner (the dog just doesn't cut it), so I haven't been a consistent exerciser. My goal is to burn 1800 calories/week in exercise/activity. This translates to 300 calories of exercise 6 times a week. I know this is about equivalent to walking briskly for an hour, but in addition to walking, I'd like to try to add in other activities like light weight-training, Wii Fit, etc. I have plenty of time, but without someone to do it with, the motivation hasn't been there. So maybe this blog will help me with motivation. Thanks!

Kari - Day 1

Well I got up at the crack to meet my friends. 5:15 - we walked for about 15/20 mins to meet another friend then once she got there, we started working on our program for that day:

Run 1 min, walk 2 - repeat 12 times for a total of 36 minutes.

Overall, 45-50 minutes of cardio. Pretty good. We'll be running again on Thursday & Saturday (just walking on Wednesday, Friday) so we'll see if we continue this routine for the remainder of the week.

Brandon - Day 1 - 2.5 miles

I ran my 2.5 miles today (see training schedule below).  I liked the route, so I'll probably use it for all my 2.5 milers.  I started feeling a little tired right around mile 1, and then again around mile 2.  Overall, though, it wasn't too bad.  I just kept an easy, steady jogging pace.  Here's the map of the route:

Kari's 13-Week Running Program

Here's what Kari emailed me.  Thanks for participating, Kari!

"Brandon thanks for the invite this is actually perfect timing because this week I'm starting a 13 week running program with a couple of girls in the ward. We'll be running 3 times per week and walking twice. I hope to get up my endurance and cultivate a love for running and of course shed a few excess pounds i'm carrying around.  Also by going with friends at the crack of dawn and committing to it on your blog it's making me more accountable and motivated.

I'll keep u updated. I'm in 100%."

Brandon's 10K Training Schedule

Remember, I start tomorrow - 9/21!  I haven't yet identified a race to finish off the whole thing, but I'll let you know when I do.  If nothing else, I'll just go out and run my own 10K.

If any of you are runners, I welcome your advice as I'm a total novice.

Week	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
1	2.5 m run	3o min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	3 m run	Rest
2	2.5 m run	3o min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	3.5 m run	Rest
3	2.5 m run	35 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	4 m run	Rest
4	3 m run	35 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	4 m run	Rest
5	3 m run	40 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	4.5 m run	Rest
6	3 m run	40 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	5 m run	Rest
7	3 m run	45 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	5.5 m run	Rest
8	3 m run	30 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	Rest	10-k race	Rest

Intro & Explanation

For my leadership class this semester I am required to undertake what my professor calls a "BHAC" - a Big Hairy Audacious Change.  Basically, I pick something significant and meaningful to change in my life and the lives of others.

This assignment came to me at the time of Grandma's death, which reminded me of the importance of making real efforts to stay healthy through diet and exercise, regardless of age.  I know that Dad's doctor has told him that he's borderline diabetic, and that at least a couple of his siblings are faced with the same condition.  I recently spoke with my doctor about diabetes risk (since we have a family history of the disease), and he told me that diet and exercise are the two best ways to prevent and treat diabetes.  So here's what I want to do, and I invite you to join me in making some health-related change in your life.  The idea is to take "baby steps" to better health (thank you, 'What About Bob?').

Me
For some time now I've wanted to train for a distance run of some kind.  I eventually want to run a marathon, and I'd love to do some kind of triathlon.  In order to build up to that ("baby steps to 26 miles..."), I'm going to start training for a 10K (6.2 miles).  I'll post my proposed training schedule later for all to see, and I'll report on my progress here on this blog.  Regarding diet, my doctor believes I suffer from hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and recommended I eat high protein snacks more frequently.  I hate having to think about food, so this will be challenge, but that's what makes the BHAC big, hairy, and audacious.

Dad
I spoke with Dad on his birthday and invited him to participate in this project.  He enthusiastically agreed and said that he would like to get down to 210 lbs. by the end of the year.  He plans to do this by continuing to exercise through manual labor around the house/yard, continuing to improve his diet, and continuing to take his medication to keep his blood sugar under 150. What I really like about Dad's plan is that this change, while challenging, is not so dramatic that it requires he alter his behavior in an unsustainable way.  The idea of a "baby steps" kind of change is that it doesn't require miraculous results overnight.  Instead, it's simply a small, but meaningful, move in the right direction.

You
Pick some health-related thing in your life you would like to change.  Maybe it's something you've always wanted to do (like my 10K), or maybe it's something that you really need to do (like Dad taking control of his situation).  Or maybe it's in another class altogether.  Whatever it is, make sure it meets these two baby step criteria:

1. It's meaningful.  This has to be big enough that it actually makes a difference in your life.
2. It's sustainable.  Forget Atkins and P90X and all that.  This has to be small enough that you can keep it up indefinitely.  It should integrate into your lifestyle permanently.

Once you've decided what you want to do, email me with details or post it here directly.  Make sure you quantify your goal so you can measure and report your progress.  For me, it's following my training schedule.  For Dad, it's making sure he takes his medication and doesn't drink soda more than a couple of times a week.  For you it might be calories, days/week of exercise, miles walked, etc.

Finally, recruit others.  Invite other family members and your friends to join you.  Help them identify some meaningful health goal in their lives, and encourage them to achieve it.

I'm starting my training tomorrow - September 21st.  I won't be able to finish my 8-week training before my assignment is due, but I'll report here on my progress.  Your change may take more time or less time.  Whatever it is, pick a date and start as soon as you can.  And please email me or post it here.  The more info I have on what you're doing, the better my grade will be - and the more healthy we'll all be!

Good luck!

Brandon