Weigh In picture. A gain.

I'm keeping it short today. I gained at my weigh in. This is the first gain, excluding my vacation week, that I can remember in 38 weeks. I have either lost or maintained each of the other weeks. I'm okay with that though - it happens. It's time to change up how I do things. I thought I'd give you the weigh in picture.




also, I'm looking for a couple guest posts to take place during our move next week. Do I have any takers??!

5k Race Results. Bug Swallowing. Weigh In Picture.

5k Race results.

On this past Saturday, I took part in my 5th 5k of the year. My goal this year was to do three 5k's -- it just keeps growing. Saturday's 5k was suppose to be my best time, but I couldn't get that new PR. I travelled pretty slow, but there was nothing left in the tank. That's okay though.

I was pretty stoked at this 5k because two people that I believe I have influenced in the weight loss/get healthy/running areas participated as well. They finished 3 seconds apart (I think) somewhere in the 33 minute range! I'm proud of both of them.

It wasn't my PR, but it wasn't all bad news for me.

I placed in my age division again. I got 1st and came 20something out of about 90 runners. I finished with 26'52". That is my 2nd fastest actual 5k time. I am planning to find another 5k on October 2nd and then do a half marathon on October 30th in Warrensburg, MO. October 2nd will produce my PR in the 5k. My mind is set. :)

Swallowing of the bug.

As you can probably sense, I wasn't satisfied with my time at the 5k. On Sunday, I set out to set a new unofficial PR for my 5k time. I was at pace to do what I set out to do...until a bug flew into my mouth and lodged itself in the back of my throat. I started choking, gagging, and I needed to throw up, but just couldn't. After all of that (which took place at an intersection), I couldn't get my pace and breathing back. This happned 13 minutes into the run. Not happy!

It happens though :) On a bright note, I have been able to see noticeable changes this morning in my physique. I've been able to crawl on walls, fly, and can hear really well!

Weigh in.

Also, here is the second weigh-in picture from Seth Tyler's Weight Loss Challenge #4. It's a small loss, but it's a loss. I'm going to be changing my eating habits and workouts up to get some sort of confusion in my body. I think it needs it.


What has been your favorite part of your daily routine lately?

The Move. The 5k. The Possible. B4 and Afters.

Is it just me or is the Summer time the hardest time to blog? It seems that I just don't have the time to blog during the Summer. Either way - if you haven't seen any comments from me on your blog recently, just know that I do visit them.

The Move.

It's public news now so I can share with you too that I have accepted another position at a different church. Carol and I are pretty excited about this decision and its something that had been prayed about for a loong time. It's cool to see things come to fruition. This news means that we are moving...again. We don't really like the whole moving process at all. Some people enjoy it and like the thrill of the move -- we like the idea of the move, but the actual move = headache.

Headaches are no fun. Hopefully though we will have a very smooth move. We've started going through things and have a pile of 'keep', 'garage sale/giveaway', and 'trash'. I think Carol is getting better at throwing things away :).

So that is the big news!

The 5k.

I have another 5k. It's tomorrow morning. I'm going to try and beat my past 5k times. If you look at the Goals/Achievements page you'll see that my PR is 26'24" in the 5k in Clinton, MO. I'm hoping to be in the 25' range tomorrow. We'll see how that turns out tomorrow! I'm pretty excited about it. There is also a couple people from the weight loss challenge I host, Seth Tyler's Weight Loss Challenge, that are running it as well. I'm pretty stoked for us all to finish!

The habit.

I'm trying to start a new habit. Cooking. I don't do a lot of it, but have in the past. Carol doesn't like to cook, but likes to bake (her pumpkin muffins are delish!). One way I figured that I can make sure we eat healthy stuff on a very regular basis is to simply suck it up and cook. It's really easy to look at the kitchen and say, "Subway tonight!". I need to cook. I think I'll get the cooking thing down, but need to make sure I look at how long the recipe says I need to prepare. I went to cook something two nights ago and realized that I was suppose to marinate the chicken overnight!

Put that in bold letters cookbookmakers!

I don't have much else for you today, but an old comparison picture to close with...

I love looking at the comparison pictures because it shows me that I can accomplish what I never thought I could.

still questioning your capabilities?

Question no more.

Doubt Kills the Runner...

If you think about it - the one thing that kills the run, the runner, and the runner's time....is doubt. Metaphorically that is for all of you strictly literal people :)

Let's give this theory a little thought.

I grew up fairly athletic. I played each sport that was offered. There were times when I would get injured though. One time I was playing in a baseball game and the outfielder slid under me while I was catching the ball and tore all the ligaments in my ankle. I played Superman and acted like it was nothing and tried to get back in the game. The injury didn't stop my mindset of finishing what I had started.

Living in the MidWest, there tends to be several stormy days. Sometimes, those stormy days amount to several consecutive days of rain in a row. I remember though earlier this year when it was raining that I completed a PR to that date on the one mile run. The elements didn't stop my mindset of finishing what I had started.

I started running as a way to aid in weight loss. I was a heavy man that hadn't really run long distance before. You could have found me slogging (slow jogging - thanks Louis) around Clinton knowing that I'll hit my goal. Those goals were a lot less than what I have now, but my weight didn't stop my mindset of finishing what I had started.

but doubt...

doubt will stop me in my tracks everytime if I let it's ugly face show...

doubt is to a runner as kryptonite is to Superman -- it's detrimental.

I think I had doubted my running ability up until last night. I knew I could run, but could I run the longer distances. Could I do the Half Marathon? I questioned myself and my ability to do so, until last night.

I hit what I consider a milestone for my running. I ran 10 miles straight with no stopping. It was at a slow pace -- but for me to go that long, it'll be a slow pace :)
10 miles is a big number for me. I ran for nearly 2 hours. Up hills, down hills, 2 miles of gravel, and rickety bridges. It was a 11'13" pace that I am proud of.

No more doubt, just belief.

I am success.

What has been your Kryptonite?

Weight Loss Challenge #3 Winner Before and Afters!

The fourth installment into my Weight Loss Challenges has begun. There are 18 participants this time around and it is the largest and heaviest per person that we've had. I am really excited for this challenge for a couple different reasons. The first is because I am helping people get healthy. I'm excited for that. The second is because more people breeds competition. It's easy to tell who the winner would be if it only had 5 or 6 people taking part, but with 18...the competition will be pretty tight. I'm excited for this and the challengers are excited for it.

As I said though, the 4th challenge has started and it is time to do a post about the previous winner. I'm pretty familiar with this last winner as he is my brother. He had joined the 2nd challenge, but it didn't really sink in. Something clicked though and the 3rd challenge was his from the beginning. There were some people that stuck with him, but week after week he added to his lead. Matt lost a total of 20.4 lbs in the six weeks which put his percentage lost at a crazy 9.98%!

I think he was a little upset that he would not be able to participate in the next challenge, but he definitely rocked that one. Below is a before and after picture of him.

He will be directed to this page so be sure to give him some awesome love on here. He has worked hard and sometimes it just feels good to be appreciated for the hard work right?




Be sure to show your support.

WeightLoss Challenge starts 2day! Still taking Challengers

The Fourth Installment to Seth Tyler's Weight Loss CHallenge starts today! This is the heaviest challenge to date and is promising to be the most successful one as well! I am really excited about this challenge! We are still taking challengers for this challenge. There is a grand prize after six weeks and a weekly prize for the week's most percentage lost. This really is set up to be the best challenge yet. There are 12 challengers this time around so far....will you make 13? It is only $10 (which is used only for the prizes). There have been 2 female winners and one male winner! I will be doing a blog post shortly about the last winner with before and afters! He lost 20.4 lbs! Check out a previous winners blog salute here!

You still have time to enter the challenge and will need to do so by 10:00pm tonight!

Are you in a rut and want something real to come and keep you accountable?!

Here is that something real!

If you are still unsure if you want to enter -- go check out the challenge page for yourself and see just how encouraging and helpful that it can be! We'd love to have you --- be sure to check out the rules as well!

Superman! Vacation! Weight Loss challenge!

Hey everyone! I'm posting from Manchester, TN this morning getting ready to hit the road for Tybee Island, GA. I don't know much about Tybee Island - we just picked a spot and said, we'll drive there. We still have about 6 hours to drive, but will have a few days to spend there. I'm pretty excited about the beach. If there are a lack in posts -- you'll know why at least.

The Weight loss challenge that I host is over. It was the 3rd challenge and it went really well. The winner, and I'll do a post about him like I did with the last champ, was actually my brother who lost 20.8 lbs. This is a six week challenge. He rocked it like crazy! I lost 1/4 of that weight, but am happy for that.

I'm just trying not to gain that 6 lbs back on vacation. If I gain a 2-3...I'm okay with that b/c this is vacation and I will enjoy more than normal. Yay!

On our way driving yesterday -- we saw a sign for "Giant Superman Statue" -- of course we turned off the hwy and went to see it. This is what I want my healthy body to look like :)


I hope you all have a great day! Stay focused and keep moving.

The Question: Do you think I can be a runner?

the question.

My wife asked me today a question right out of the blue, "do you think I can be a runner".

my answer.

I wasn't expecting it and I was like, "Yeah!"

I wanted to ask her a lot of questions, but she cut me off and said that we'd talk about it over dinner.

the results.

Dinner came and I couldn't wait to talk about it so I asked her if she wanted to start running. (You have to understand me here - I love running and she has never shown any interest really in it...so this is exciting to me). I told her why I thought she could be a runner and then I said that I'd run with her tonight. We let our food settle for a while and then got into some running clothes and we stretched. One of the ways that she tried to convince me to run with her was that running with her would be a good warmup for my run. She was right - it was. But before I get too far - we ran a mile tonight. We both know that running can be pretty difficult in the beginning, but with discipline - it will get easier. We stopped a few times, but that's okay because we were out there MOVING! I'm super proud of her. I'd say she ran about .6 of a mile. We finished that mile up in 13'17". She did great. So, Carol, can you be a runner? Yes. you. can.

and more.

After Carol and I finished our run I went for a run of my own. I got a PR today. I chose to run a 2 mile course and wanted to kill it - and I did. I ran 2 miles in 17'12". That is a 8'35" pace. This is by far the fastest 2 mile run I have done and it felt great! I think that warmup did help me out. If I was in a 5k race tonight and only had 1 mile left and only 17'12" had gone by --- I'd be booking it to finish big!

What is ONE thing that you just want to ROCK like nothing else?!!