My First 5k! Crazy Runners. Satisfaction.

The race came and went. I was nervous about it because I had never ran an official 5k race. I didn't know what the whole environment would be like.

I thought to myself, am I crazy for letting someone put me on a bus and drive me out 3 miles so that I could just run back in?

Yes - I am crazy.

This is probably the only time that I would not be upset that someone drove me out to a spot and told me to run home -- and I did it without complaint. Ha! We runners are crazy. Some more than others.

Of course, after completing my first 5k today - it makes me reflect on what this past year has brought.

How about some 'Before' Facts?

I had never participated in any type of organized race.
I was 60 pounds heavier one year ago than now.
I ate whatever I wanted.
I gave advice to people on how to lose weight, but failed to follow that advice myself.
I got tired after one pickup basketball game to 15.
I couldn't run 5 minutes without stopping for good.
I gave up often, but disguised it as generosity to let someone else play.

I sweated in the winter.

Some 'Now' Facts.

I have placed in my first 5k.
I am intentional with my eating.
I am 60 pounds lighter.
I live my advice.
I outplay the teenagers in a pickup basketball game.
I can run 43 minutes without stopping.
I don't give up - I push forward.

I still sweat in the winter. :) (I am actually doing something now)


AND NOW FOR THE RACE RESULTS.

I finished my 5k with a time of 26'24".

In my age division - that was good enough for FIRST PLACE!! I won a gold medal in my first 5k ever! I'm pretty stoked. I know that with more competition that the 26'24" would not get me a gold -- but I am stoked about the time!

I pushed, I pushed, I pushed!

I succeeded.

Enjoy the pictures!





Thanks Jess and Ashley for sending me the awesome signs...I'll post what I can tomorrow! To all the others that wished me luck - THANK YOU TOO!

Awesome Non Scale Victories. Search Worthy.

Search Worthy.

I have to start out with what I found on my Feedjit live stream. Feedjit is the thing that you see on the lower right side of my page that shows me where people are coming from. This is one of the ways that I can track and see what parts of the nation, continent, and world people are coming from to visit fit with a purpose. It's fun to see some of this. I don't check it that often, but love to see how and when someone gets there from a search in Google.

Google has been my friend lately.

I copied and cropped three of the searches that are pretty recent so that you could enjoy them with me. Check them out below. You may have to click on the picture to see it clearly.



If you are the owner of any of the searches -- Welcome! It's great to have you. Fit with a purpose is a relaxed environment. You won't be seeing a very skinny man doing push-ups though, but rather a man that is getting skinny by doing push-ups. :)

Awesome NSV's.

I had debated as to write a post tonight due to being tired. I got to bed late last night and today has moved by rather slowly. That is what we are usually wanting though isn't it - for it to seem that we have more time? That just registered - I had a nice long day. Moving on.

Today, I just wanted to send you all in the direction of a few people. I don't have any Great Non Scale Victories of my own, but these people do. Go send these people some of the encouragement that you get from all of us!

Kelsey over at fatgirlconfessions2.0 has been having a rough time lately. As for the NSV - she might not realize it, but her determination to keep going through the rough times plays huge in her success. She is rather new to the weight loss world and could really use the encouragement. She needs you all right now to show her some lovin.

Jer over at Jer is Losing it... just found out not too long ago that she is going to be featured in a magazine! It is the KC FITNESS magazine that I love so much too! How crazy is that? She has lost 100+ lbs on her journey and just got some photo shoot pics back. Go check her out and show her what encouragement looks like!

Last one today.

Mac at Get Fit Slowly. I've mentioned Mac a few times on this site and you may already read him, but if you don't -- go check him out. He just ran 26.2 miles. He ran a marathon. This guy had trouble going up the stairs in the beginning. Go look at him now!


I hope you all had a great day!

What is it about the blogging community that you like the most?!

Inspiring Wife. My Make-Over Pictures.

It seems that most times we, who are or have been previously fit, knew or know the proper way of eating and the different avenues of exercise. We do, did, or use to love to talk about the way, but failed with the follow through. I do feel though that we get better with follow through when we stick with our plan and reach for our goals. What does this have to do with my wife being smart? Let me tell you.

Inspiring wife.

My wife has tried before with sticking with a weight loss/fitness plan, but like many of us have done – we exited that strategy when we didn’t see instant results. My wife is becoming successful and is sticking to it with me this time. It’s great to have that by the way. Someone asked her what she was doing with food. She gave a reply to that person and I wanted to post it up on here too.

“Thanks Megan! I have been eating about 6 small meals a day. breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and maybe a snack if I'm hungry later. My snacks are either an apple or a banana. My regular meals are smaller portions than I used to have. I don't get seconds. And I allow myself one sugar snack a day so I don't feel deprived and binge. So mostly it’s portion control & keeping my metabolism up. Other than that I make sure I workout to either my Jillian DVD or I do yoga with Seth on his P90X. And If I don't feel like it was enough I walk a mile on the treadmill. I feel more comfortable with the 1 to 2 pound loss a week. I would get discouraged if it was up one week and down the next you know? Haha. This may have been more than you asked for but there it is! Nothing fancy :)”

I really liked this reply because it is simple, doable, and it works. My wife is inspiring and helping other people on their route to weight loss success too! I love it. I do.

Make-Over Pics.

I really enjoy “Make-Over” week on the Biggest Loser. After seeing tonight's episode, I felt inspired to give myself a makeover as well. I had fun with it. By the way, I couldn’t believe that Sam reached his goal weight on campus with a couple weeks still yet to go on the campus. Crazy. Enjoy the pics. Yes, that is the same shirt that I wore in a pic the other day. I like it, I feel good in it, it works for me.

I normally end with a question for you – but not today. I want you to do your own make-over.

go crazy!

You may ask why? The answer is because you deserve to see how far you have come! You are worth every bit of the hard work that you are putting into bettering yourself…and I want you to show everyone your hard work. Let’s see it.

Be sure to come back and let us know where to go to see your makeover pics!!!

Race. Iny Mini Miny Mo. Weigh-in Picture.

I posted earlier today about my energy and how motivated I was just to enjoy the day. It carried on through the rest of the day. I still need to do my P90X Yoga-X tonight (which is 1 ½ hours long), but still feel really good. There are a few things that I want to hit with this post tonight. Let’s start with the upcoming race.

Race.

I am feeling pretty good about this race. If you have followed my blog for any span of time, you know that I enjoy running. Approximately 70 days ago I added a countdown timer on the right side of the site. It’s exciting and scary at the same time. There were many times that I did not even know if I would be able to participate. We have been able to fight and bounce back from injury and the mental games associated with running. I say we, because I really do feel that you guys are a part of this journey with me. We are all getting fit together – and the best part is that we are doing this intentionally. Don’t you just love that you are able to accomplish what you set out to accomplish. Crazy cool huh?!

The race is on Saturday. I’m pretty excited. I saw a comment somewhere on another post and the person said – “why not be in it to win”. If it was you that said it, tell us. I have pushed and pushed myself to be able to complete this 5k with no stopping and have surprised myself with endurance. Why not be in this one and try to place? This takes nothing away from our other goals to simply finish the race - (that was my original goal before I started training for it). I am a competitive person and I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t want to win. As for my time – who knows what it could be – I’m shooting for under 30 minutes. Any time will be my personal best. I do know that I will give it what I have and leave it all out on that course. :)

Iny Mini Miny Mo

Sticking with the running theme of the post – I ran 4.31 miles in 43’18”. That's a pace of 10'03".

I did not look at the watch until 39 minutes. I was trying to guess where I was on time and had guessed 45 – 50 minutes. To my surprise it was only 39 and I kicked it up a notch b/c I only had a little left. During my run, I just went where I pleased. I tried to make it simple, but just ran. It was nice. I actually got behind the “runner” around town. I’ve talked about him before where he is always running and never looks tired. I was behind him and tried to sync pace with him. His pace worked with "iny mini miny mo". Each step is the beginning of each word. It may sound weird…but when you say it smoothly as when you read it…that was his pace. I used that for the duration of my run. I did not do it the whole time -that would drive me crazy.

Weigh In.

I managed to produce another loss this week! It was not quite as large the loss as the previous weeks, but it was bigger than any number below it!!!

I lost 1.2 pounds. I am starting to see a pretty good difference in definition in my body. Check for yourself. Go here to see a pic like this from January.

Give me ONE word that summarizes your workouts!

Mine is…"Mental"

Awake. Energetic. Definition.

All of the Above.

I am awake today. There is nothing sluggish in me right now. My body woke up naturally with that aid of an alarm clock on time and feels good. I have already weighed in for the weigh-in post tonight – that went well. :)

I have been struggling with keeping up with reading all of the blogs lately; I am busy. This post is just a precursor to what is coming later. I don’t normally do multiple posts during the day, but have decided that today – with my excellent energy level – deserved an extra post.

The heightened energy may be in part because of the upcoming race on Saturday. Maybe it’s the continued weight loss I am seeing. It might be because I am starting to see definition of muscles in my pictures. Or, it could be because it’s teacher appreciation week at our school – so that means goodies! I can’t quite pin-point the reason – but to be honest, don’t really care too; I’ll just take it and run with it.

Check in later for an expanded post!

What is one thing that has brightened your day on this Awesome Monday?!

April Review. May Goals. One Thing.

The Past Month in Review.

April was a pretty good month overall for me. I continue to push myself more than I ever have. I pushed myself more than when I was playing basketball in high school. I pushed more than when I was lifting weights four times a week my first year of college. I pushed myself this month into a new level.

I was happy with how my ankle held up this past month considering March’s misfortune. I definitely caught up on some of the missing miles that I received once I hurt my ankle. This past month – I ran like crazy.

To any of you that have given me an award - I will try to make some time this month to post those. I am very appreciative that you find my blog enjoyable, readable, and "come-back" worthy. So appreciative.

April Recap.

Starting Mile Balance: 804.67
Ending Mile Balance: 712.32

Starting Mile Month Goal: 125.87
Ending Month Mile Achieved: 92.35

Miles off pace to reach year pace goal: 33.52

Days in April: 30
Days worked out (walk/jog/run): 30
Days no workout: 0

Avg workout per day by 30 days: 2.85 miles
Avg workout per day by Workout: 2.85 miles

Starting Month Weight: 205.0
Ending Month Weight: 199.2 (4/26/2010)
Month Weight Loss: 5.8 lbs.

Total weight Loss in 2010: 36.8 pounds
Total Miles traveled in 2010: 297.68

Miles Until Year Goal Achieved: 712.32

Happy.

I'm really happy with how things turned out this month. I personally think that this month has been the best yet in terms of fitness and mental health. I really think that I broke down some weight loss walls that I had set up the past few years. I did have an April goal of reaching 1,010 push-ups. It did not happen. I ended April with 745 push-ups. Still no easy feat.

MAY Goals

• Continue to prepare for the 5k that takes place in less than a week – I would love to run the 5k in sub30 fashion. I’ll be happy with whatever though.
• Reach 200 readers on the blog. (weird goal? Maybe)
• Learn how to do pull-ups. I seriously stink at these. I’m learning through p90x, but I am still a ways off due to lack of pull-up bar.
• Continue with the goal of 1010 miles.

These are my goals. These can happen.



If you can change ONE thing in this next month -
What is that one thing?

Windy 2 Mile. Awesome Fitness GIVEAWAY Winner!!

Windy 2 Mile.

Today was a very windy day. I didn't run on Tuesday (which through me off schedule) and didn't get to run yesterday due to that unexpected trip. I got to run today and it was a rough and tough run. Thursday is the three mile run for the week, but it became the Thursday 2 mile today. I actually felt way over pace in the wind but was actually in the 8'50"s the first mile. Second mile was a little slower with about a 9'30" mile. It wasn't a bad run mentally, this one was just fighting the element of wind.

My 5k is just over a week away (Yes!) and I am still shooting for that sub30. I know that I can run it as I have before -- I just want to make sure I don't over process it while I'm running. If you are mentally drained while running - It doesn't take long for the physical draining to catch up. Overall, it was a good run -- windy with a side of windy -- , but good nonetheless!

Thanks for all of the compliments with the head shot comparison pics. I didn't expect the "good lookin" bits and pieces, but hey - I'll take 'em where I can get them!

I know this is why you all are reading this Post. It's because I am about to announce the winner of the Awesome Fitness Giveaway...but you'll have to wait.

If you are on Twitter - go check me out.

www.twitter.com/MistrTyler

You can check up with the latest things that I am doing -- some of my newest run times -- and some nonsense as well.

AWESOME FITNESS GIVEAWAY


There were 82 entries into the giveaway. I used a random number generator and comment number.......


#34 --- Katie J wins.

Katie J -- You just won an Awesome Fitness Giveaway Package....You need to hit me up so that I can get your info! styler [at] cccb [dot] edu


How Do You Take Your Compliments?!
I NEED TO LEARN FROM YOU!

Noticeably Different. Skinny Man. Comparisons.

My wife and I took the day off and went to our old college to visit some friends and to take care of some things. It was an expected trip -- but earlier than we had thought. It was nice to have the day off and go see some friends. We walked around campus and I saw a few people that I knew and each time received something different related to my appearance. . It was really cool - but can also get really weird. From my close friends saying "skinny man" - it was pretty expected that they would notice, but when it's from an old acquaintance that says...you look "noticeably different"; I wasn't sure quite what to say to that. I said thanks!

It's been a very long day with over 5 hours of driving, a meal with Carol's brother at a mexican restaurant, and another late night workout (to be done following post).

I thought I'd leave you with what 56 pounds off of me looks like from a head shot.

What is the Greatest Compliment that you have Received?!