Flashlight Running

You just don’t know how lucky people are that live outside of Eastern Time zone are until you get to try it out for a week.  This all has to do with the goofy TV shows I am hooked on.  When I was in Florida, all of the new shows aired at the latest 9:00 pm (some even 8:00).  I am talking about the really good shows like Storage Wars, Deadliest Catch, Swamp People, Call of The Wildman, Ice Road Truckers, and Duck Dynasty.   These are the only things worth watching on TV.  Anyway they are on an hour earlier in Florida than they are In Indiana.  That is nice because at about 9:30 I turn into a log.  Don’t get me started on how awesome it would be to live on the West Coast during football season with games all day long.  Anyway, I miss those great shows just so I can get up and run in the morning.  No I don’t have a DVR.  I just like complaining.

I get up at 4:00 am, put on the clothes that I set out the night before, strap on my phone, watch, and mp3 player (no  music on my phone…it’s smart but I guess not that smart).  Then I grab a flashlight from the kitchen junk drawer (everyone has one and it might be called a junk drawer too) before hitting the dark streets.   I know I have to be back by 5:00 to get ready for work and the kids off to daycare.   That means I usually have anywhere from 30 minutes to 50 minutes to run.  Not many people, if any, are out during my run.  Actually, the lights in the houses are still off.  Of course I am looking in the windows while I am running.  Just kidding, this is when it’s important to watch the pot holes in the road.  I think my little flashlight shines just enough to cast big shadows to make the holes look like craters but, that just adds to the thrill of the run.  This morning I ran 4.16 miles in about 35 minutes.  Two cars actually passed me so I made sure to wave my flashlight around.  Getting hit by a car isn’t a thrill I would like.

Flashlight Track (See the lack of Photoshop skills)

Also, I finally bought new shoes.  I went to Blue Mile and had a gait analysis.  I am not quite sure what this did except make me feel guilty if I didn’t buy some overly priced shoes.  I had to run on a tread mill for about 15 seconds and they filmed my lower legs and how they hit.  They said I hit straight up and down so, I guess that is good.  In a way it was kind of like going to the dentist when you were a kid.  I had to do my procedure then I went over and picked out my prize.  The prize was a pair of Brooks.  First time I have owned a pair of Brooks.  I don’t even know the model or style name.  They felt comfy and I get to try them out for 30 days to make sure I am happy with them.

It’s pitch black outside. No one would see me even if I were wearing nothing. But the shoes reflect light.

 

I’m Back

I am back from Panama City Beach, Florida. Not that I really want to be back but, sometime you have to do things you don’t want to do. It was a great time and even a little bit relaxing. At least in my life, my family (kids) dominates most of the decisions. If they are happy, I am happy. For those of you with young kids you know what I mean. So, most of the food choices were made with their happiness in mind. I don’t travel for work. I don’t go on week end trips. And this is actually our first family vacation. I can handle eating “bad” food for a week. Why does bad food taste so darn good? Twinkies and Nutella are pretty yummy. We went out to eat 6 of the 7 nights and I did not eat one salad. I also had my fill of Coconut Rum and something called lime-a-ritas. Nothing on this vacation fell in my healthy diet, but I didn’t go on vacation to eat healthy. I eat healthy so I can go on a vacation and not feel totally guilty of eating unhealthy.

I did run quite a bit while I was there. I love running new places and my phone was pretty neat too. I listened to an internet radio thingy called Jango and my CadioTrainer tracked my runs, told me how far I had run and how fast. Pretty awesome a “phone” can do that. It seems the phone part of a smart phone is the smallest part of the phone anymore but, that is another topic I am not going to get into.

Friday 6.6 miles
Sunday 5.5 drunken miles…:)
Monday 4.5 miles
Wednesday 4.5 miles
Thursday 6.2 miles
Friday 3 miles (in the rain)

That is a total of 30.3 miles that I ran while on vacation. All in all the vacation was fun. Now I am getting back to my healthy ways so I can splurge again at some point in the future.

Definition of a Drunk

I am on vacation. So a little bit about vacations for me. It means I eat whenever and whatever is available. In the back of my mind I know what are good foods and what are bad but most of the time vacation wins and it doesn’t really matter. Also, drinking has no time requirements. I can start when ever I want. I am on vacation.

Yesterday was rough. We got to our condo and no cleaning service had been here. I called the owner and she said the cleaners would be right there and to still go out and use the pool and enjoy the beach. Problem…It was storming. It wasn’t good. We couldn’t unpack. We couldn’t go out in the rain because we didn’t know if the cleaners were going to be here. So I started drinking…hehe…my poor wife. The owner called while we were eating and said the cleaners were done and they left $25 on the counter and to stay an extra day for free. They were also supposed to leave a parking pass but, they didn’t. Besides no parking pass it was going to get better.

This morning we woke up to sun. 6:45 the boys and I headed out to the beach with the girls still asleep. We came back in at 7:30 to get our swim suits on. This is when I started on my first drink. My plan was to go running before anyone woke up but, since it was sunny we wanted to go to the beach. The kids were hungry and decided to head up for breakfast at about 9. Did I mention I was still drinking? While they were eating I decided to run. I guess at least I am a fit drunk. So, I am a drunk. I am a fit drunk. I am a dumb drunk. I stopped sweating about 3 miles into my run. I guess no water and more alcohol made me dehydrated but, I was running in the sun. I like my phone I didn’t get lost and it told me I ran 5.5 miles in 45 minutes. So, I guess the definition of a drunk, a fit drunk, and a dumb drunk is….me. I am on vacation.

This is me after me run at my 10th floor condo front door.

A Quickie

I just thought I would post a quickie this morning. I leave for the beach tonight. The forecast is rain and thunderstorms. But I have at least one mom trying to fix the weather for me…THANKS! I have been there before when it has rained. It’s usually a downpour and then the sun comes back out. I am crossing my fingers for that.

Every time I take a vacation, I worry about something. Will the van make it? Will the kids not fight? Will I forget something? Where is my rum? yada yada yada! I was up this morning at 3 am. I couldn’t sleep. So, I decided to go running. That makes it 3 days in a row. My back is feeling much better (maybe because I am worried about other things). I put an app on my phone called Noom CardioTrainer. I am high tech now. I always run for a certain amount of time so, I never really know how far I run. This app kept telling me how far I was and it even tracked me as I ran. It plotted my route on a map. It showed me my times for each mile. If I knew how to take a screen shot picture on my android phone I would show you. Anyway, I found out I run about an 8 minute mile. I burned 765 calories. My average speed is a little over 7 mph and I ran 6.6 miles in a little more than 50 minutes. This was all before 5 o’clock this morning. This smart phone is making me feel smart.

Morning Run

I still have not been able to sleep through the night due to my back.  Instead of crying about it at 4 this morning, I got up, stretched, threw some clothes on, and ran.  I am not sure what happens when I run but my back feels ok.  Maybe it’s the weird chemicals that make everything go numb.  When I finished running, I was hoping my back was better but, NOPE.  I am typing this at work sitting in my chair on my butt with my feet on the chair and my knees pulled to my chest.  Sounds weird but, it helps the pain.  Sitting just kills me.  At least I got a run in this morning.

I snapped a picture of myself after working out yesterday.  Taking a picture in a small bathroom in a mirror while holding a phone is hard to do.  It’s not a very good picture but, I tried.  Only a few days left until I leave for vacation.

I ended my biggest loser competition at 131 pounds.  I am now staying right around 139-141 pounds.  This past week I haven’t done much cardio (blaming my back).  I am still eating relatively well with a few cheats now and then.  Now it’s time to eat my lunch of spinach, cottage cheese, tuna, broccoli slaw, hot sauce and Greek yogurt.

Sunshine

Katie at Real Woman’s Health nominated me for the Sunshine Award.  Thanks Katie.  Although my last couple of posts have been on the negative side, the sunshine will make things positive again.  In addition to being reminded to stay positive, this also reminded me that the 2012 Transit of Venus happens today. This happens when Venus passes directly between earth and the sun. Observers in North America see Venus on June 5 around 6:04 p.m. EDT until sunset. We won’t see this again until December 2117. I am pretty sure I won’t see it then. You are supposed to be able to see a small dark dot crossing the sun. They say don’t look directly at the sun. That’s like putting candy in front of my kids and telling them not to eat it. I will be looking straight at the sun!

Now to the mandated steps of the Sunshine Award:

• Favorite Color – Blue (Indianapolis Colts) or Red/Crimson (Indiana University) – Depends on the sports season
• Favorite Animal – Falcon-I would love to be able to fly.
• Favorite number – I guess #4. For Spud Webb (short basketball player). I had to have a role model with my size.
• Favorite Non-alcoholic drink – WOW…Anything no sugar added- coffee, tea, water,milk
• Facebook or Twitter – Twitter unless I want to know what my family is up too then I have to check fb.
• My Passion – Sports and anything outside – garden, yardwork, etc
• Prefer getting or giving presents – giver
• Favorite pattern – I never thought of this one…Circle – again a sports thing balls, pucks, wheels
• Favorite Day of the Week – Saturday
• Favorite Flower – Anything that attract hummingbirds.

I also need to give a shout out to some of my other bloggers that I like.  This is hard to do I have so many I want to write here.

Joy, Fitness, and Style

Two Moms and a Journey

One Fit Mama

Fitter Stronger Better

Round To Ravishing

The Eagle’s Nest

The Zajac Health and Fitness Blog

Erin Has Thoughts

What Ever When Ever Now

I know a couple I have nominated before but, I like all of you guys.  This is just one big spread-out stranger family.

Still Bummed

I know some know I have been pretty bummed lately, especially JoAnn at roundtoravishing.  I hurt my back and I have not been able to do any running or Insanity for the last week.  I have gotten to a point that those exercises were a part of me.  I have still been able to lift weights but I like sweating.  I mean dripping.  It makes me feel like I am doing or did something.  I know life isn’t fair but, why does it take so much hard work to get halfway fit and healthy and then to have a setback and it only takes a week to feel “unhealthy”.

On a brighter side, I look relatively good right after I lift weights.  How can I keep that look all of the time?  I was even trying to take a picture of myself posing in the restroom/locker room.  Scary, huh.  Old bummed man with a cell phone camera in a locker room.