change of pace...

When it comes to cardio I have been strictly running this year to get back in shape and to help promote weight loss along with my new healthy diet.  So to break up the monotony and bring out some fun that I haven't had in a while I pulled out the mountain bike and went out to tear up the trails in South Park today.  I had a great time!!  I was shocked to also find out that my Garmin Forerunner works VERY well even in the woods with heavy tree cover!  I covered about 7.5 miles on the roads and the hilly back singletrack trails of the woods surrounding the park.  I "forgot" what a great cardio workout mtn biking is!  Wow...I was breathing hard and my legs were really burning on some of the more steep goat paths in the woods!!  I didn't stop to take many pictures because I didn't want to interrupt my workout.  But I stopped once in the woods to dig some thorns out of my shoe that were digging into my foot, and once in the singletrack to let a guy and his dog get past me.

All in all it was a great morning workout in the cool summer morning today!

I also decided to stop at fleet feet sports this morning to pick up a new pair of running shoes to replace my compressed and worn out Saucony Ride 2's.  I switched to Saucony about 2 years ago and have really really loved the shoes they make.   The plan was to head back in and try on and pick up a pair of the new Rides, which is now the Ride 4.  They looked very similar to the shoes I have, but the sales girl told me that alot of people have been coming in requesting the Ride3's if they still had them in stock because they made some changes to the new shoe.  I put on the Ride 4's and they had the traditional Saucony cushiony comfort and felt light.  BUT, and this is a big butt, the toe box in the shoes is substantially more narrow than past versions of the shoe.  I took them for a spin around the parking lot and felt an unusual rub on the outside of my foot.  I didn't like it, and felt it would lead to blisters on longer runs.  So I went back into the store and asked what else they had in a more neutral style running shoe.  The girl brought me out a pair of the Brooks Ghost 3's.  They also have the Brooks Ghost 4's in stock as well but they are $20 more than the 3's.  So I tried them on and they felt VERY light.  I went for another lap around the parking lot and was very happy with them.  I will be taking them out for their inaugural run this weekend and I will write up a review on this new shoe!

Off to golf now!  Have a great day all!

weekly weigh in.

Its been a few weeks since I did a weekly weigh in post.  I weighed in sunday at 204.7.  I only lost .1lb this week.  In all honestly it was a bad week for my diet and exercise.  I have no one to blame but myself with this outcome.  I ate poorly, drank much more beer than normal, and only ran 2 days.  But I am off to a rousing start to the week.  I spent 2.5 hours on Sunday chopping an old oak stump to bits with a 10lb maul.  My biceps, triceps, shoulders, back  and hands are incredibly sore today.  I will be up at 550am tomorrow running so if you are in the neighborhood and happen to have your running shoes on feel free to join me. 

Have a great night.  More from me soon.

Time for new shoes?

I am beginning to think its time for a new pair of shoes.  I have always been taught that after 300 miles you should replace your shoes because the cushion will be compressed too much to protect your joints.  Seeing as I am still a big, but shrinking guy I need all the cushion for my joints that I can get.  I have a primarily neutral running style and am relatively light on my feet.  Years of coached running have helped to condition my stride so that I don't slap my feet and pound my joints but carrying close to 30 extra lbs sure doesn't help.

I went out for my normal early morning run before work today at 550am.  It was beautiful outside.  Not too humid, very cool, and not many cars on the road!  I started running and the knees were a bit creaky this morning, another good indication that its time for some new kicks.  Overall the run was a good one I settled into a comfortable pace early on at just under 8 minute miles but really petered out on the first long hill.  By the top of the hill I might as well have been walking.  Normally at the top of the hill I would hang a left and head back to my start line and run the first loop again but after the lag coming up that hill I decided to hang a right and continue out to Old Clairton Blvd and run the flat level sidewalks so that I could get some distance but avoid the hills.  Came back down the middle loop of my run at close to a 7:16 mile pace (gravity was helping me as it is a mostly minor graded downhill) for the last half mile and finished strong.  2.6miles in 23:22, guess that hill really did slow me down!!

I walked in the door and was  still huffing and puffing a bit and I hear a calm "Hon, can you come here" come from the kitchen.  I walked in and she was standing near the refrigerator and she said look at this... (she was pointing to the countdown timer she has on the fridge that she started on the day we found out our due date)...

I looked down at the timer and it reads, 45 days.  45 DAYS!! 45 DAYS!! holy moly...45 DAYS!!  This baby could be here any day soon!! Suddenly this pregnancy just took a dramatic turn from eventually it will be here till 45 days until we will have a crying, pooping, eating, sleeping, and crying baby boy in the house!  Life is definitely going to change in less than 45 days.

Happy 4th!

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you woke up to run and just felt like you couldn't make your feet go?  You mope around the house trying to find an excuse not to get out there.  You put on your gear, lace up the shoes, throw on the ipod and then walk out the front door.  The humidity hits you in the face like a spatula full of cake icing...mmmmm cake...but I digress.

I headed out and down the street walking to get a bit warmed up, right as I got to my normal starting line the iPod totally came through with a fast paced song from Rise Against.  I started off on my run and approached the first hill and went into attack mode.  I crushed the hill at a near full sprint, got to the top and settled into my run pace.  When I looked down at the Garmin I was shocked to see that pace was 7:23/mile.  I felt surprisingly good after such a sluggish start to my morning.  I eventually slowed a bit to a 7:54 pace but was able to maintain that for most of the run.  On the hills my pace did slow into the high 8's, but quickly returned to the 7's on the flats and downhills.  I finished the run (including warmup and cooldown) in just under a half hour.  Total distance was 3.09 miles,  the running sections had an average pace of 8:12 courtesy of the Garmin.

Goes to show you that sometimes you just have to get out there and do it because it could be one of your best days yet.

Happy 4th Everyone!! and Happy Birthday Mom!  You share your birthday with the Greatest Country in the World!! Love you Mom!!

FitDad or FatDad.

Back when I started this weight loss journey there were really only two options for me.  Continue on the path I was headed down and be a Fat Dad, or change everything and be a Fit Dad.  I chose Fit Dad and am loving every minute of it.

It hasn't been easy at times life has thrown up walls in front of me and challenged me at every turn.

Life always gets in the way but its how you get over those walls that makes you a success.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

-Charles R. Swindoll

I love that quote because it is so true when you think about the direction you take in your life.  My ultimate goal is to lose 60lbs and get comfortable in my skin again.  But I am proud because it's my goal and my life.  My attitude is positive regardless of the outcomes each week because I know that every step I take away from fat dad towards fit dad makes me a better example for my son.

It doesn't hurt to have cheerleaders in life.  I have always made it a priority to surround myself with good positive people.  My family is always there for me and I am blessed with a wife that supports me even when I drive her nuts.  It doesn't hurt to have great friends either, especially friends who will make bright yellow supportive signs during the warrior dash and try to embarrass you in front of 11,000 other people.

It also helps to have a friend (Wendy) who isn't afraid to sling a little mud around!  Because sometimes in life you have to roll up your sleeves and get dirty!

Put in the hard work and put in the time, and you will be rewarded because you will no longer be a fat dad, you will be a fit dad.

The warriordash was a great event to really remind me how much life is about attitude and remembering what its like to be a kid again running in the woods and playing in the mud.  Sure its a corny to say but racing/running in general is in us from the day we take our first steps as a child.  Think about the first time your own child or another young one you know learned to walk...how long did they stay walking?  I bet it wasn't long.  I bet they broke into a run long before they were truly capable to sustain it.  It's in our nature to have fun and love life, it takes alot of energy to be negative and angry all the time.  So change your attitude and get out there and do something fun.  Forget about work for a day, put down the computer, sign off of facebook and get out there and have some fun with your friends or your kids and act like a kid again.

 
When you can keep your exercise and fitness routines fun and enjoyable they feel a lot less like work and a lot more like being a kid again.

Because inside every Fit dad is a fat dad who remembered what it was like to be a kid again...oh yeah, and fit dads get to eat like a caveman with much less guilt.

Holy crap!

Holy CRAP!  In less than 2 months I am going to be a daddy to a baby boy!  It is a very good thing that my wife is so organized and kept on me to get things done.  She kept me on a short leash and gave me a schedule to make sure we were ready for August.  Some people would be intimidated by this, but I need it.  This is why Christine and I thrive together.  She gives me things to do, I get them done.  It's not that I am not organized on my own but my methods are suspect at best.  I also do much better under pressure.  This is something I definitely perfected in pharmacy school because I cram like its my job!  If this nursery planning would have been completely left up to me on my own I would have started the job on August 1st, and probably would have finished it the day the baby came home from the hospital.

But since I had all this extra time I decided to take on some additional projects as well.  Like mulching the yard and planting a whole new landscape bed.  Painting the kitchen and the hallways.  (If I ever offer to do that again someone please remind me about the 3.5 hour edging job I had to do and I will never do it again...I'll hire someone!) Building a sweet closet organizer for the babies room and if time permits one for my closet as well.

This is the closet as it stood probably since the house was built in 1954.

Add some of this:

And you end up with this:

and then add the clothes (and fix that uneven middle bar...was I drinking?)...and you get this.

At this point I don't know if I am going to put the doors back on the closet, because I really like the look of it with the doors off.  Any opinions on that?

I guess this means that now that the nursery is complete I need to do a blog post about the room.  Pictures need to be taken and then I will post them.

In the meantime here are some really adorable kids to pass the time:

Now that I am losing all this weight, I wonder if those sweet overalls will still fit?

My New Store!

Today is a 2 for 1 day on Ron's Blog, I am extra motivated today so you get two daily blogs on this fine Tuesday!  So make sure to check it out if you have time!

Christine and I have been debating and deciding what we are going to do with our schedules whenever the baby is born.  The plan is for her to cut back to 2 days a week (20-24 hours a week) and I of course will remain full time.  We are very blessed that we can afford to take a "paycut" to be there for our son.  We also have the luxury of  "Raycare" as well.  You see, Christine's dad is retired and stays home working around the house and taking care of the dogs.  He has graciously volunteered his time to watch the baby whenever our work schedules make it impossible for Christine and I to stay home with the baby.

After some discussion with my boss I have decided to take over our new store to make my schedule a little more forgiving for child watching but a little less forgiving for myself.  I will be taking over the new store attached to the MedEXPRESS in Brentwood.  This store is open 9-9 Monday through Sunday.  Although I am not 100% keen on working 12 hour days, including saturdays and sundays.  I am looking forward to only working 3.5 days a week and having 3.5 days a week off!

Having that many days off a week will give me time to spend a great deal of quality time with my son.  Hopefully we can do some fishing, some biking, go to the zoo, and all the other fun things there are to do around Pittsburgh!  Since Christine will be working on my days off I am sure there will be some hilarious blogs to come in the future as I work on being the best DAD I can be!

I hope this new schedule doesn't make me go crazy, because I really feel that having the time with my son is going to make it all worth it. 

Without further adieu here is my new home away from home.