I can walk again

today was a lot better than yesterday. i can't walk fast or walk well but i can walk without too many people asking "what happened??"  I met a friend at the seven corners store who was all taped up and limping more than me from the marathon. Even in all that pain he was glowing with excitement when he talked about doing it again.  On the day of the marathon, i swore to myself i would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever do that again. Yesterday i woke up saying "i'm 99% certain i'd never do it again. Today i woke up saying "i think i might want to do it again".  By 4pm i was saying "i can't wait until next year".  Maybe i'm crazy. I think Triathlons might be a lot more fun so i'm going to start swimming more starting next week. I might make Thursday my first day back at the gym.  i'm feeling pretty good but think i'd be worthless if i went back any sooner. i'm using this time to stretch and recover. Not much else to type about. 

Exercise: None other than a short walk this morning

Diet:

9am RTD Meal Replacement

2:00pm one handful of kettle corn

3:15 pm 3 small burritos

5:00pm Apple Fritter

Very little water today. Bad sean. 

feeling thankful

so, i was telling melissa that this whole marathon thing was an experiment for me but that i'm not sure what to conclude from the results. I wanted to see if someone with very little running practice or running history could successfully run a marathon. I wanted to see if Recreate Fitness and an occasional run were enough to prepare me for the marathon. The reason i say that I don't know what to conclude from this experiment is: I don't know what successful means when it comes to my marathon. I beat Oprah which is good(but also isnt saying much). Didnt' beat P.Diddy which was too bad. Finished which was good. Hurt like i've never ever hurt before which is bad. Still hurt today and can barely walk which is bad. I probably should have better defined"success" for myself before starting this experiment. I was trying to think about what good came from what seems today like the worst idea i've ever had in my life. I am reminded of how thankful i am for the wonderful people in my life. At mile 20 when i was thinking about how badly i wanted to die when i looked over to see my family with my gym peeps smiling and waiving their hands. It was such an incredible feeling and allowed me to form my only genuine smile during that whole run :). I felt really fortunate to be a part of the Recreate community. I think its something very special and out of this whole experience, i think that's what i've come to appreciate and value the most. If it weren't for the support of all the Recreate folks, i'm not kidding when i say i probably would have quit. Seeing that so many of you got up early to cheer me on was so appreciated. Another thought that kept me going is that I thought i over heard Nathan and John make a 100 burpee bet about whether or not i could beat Oprah. I couldn't stand to have John lose that bet. Shirley was an amazing running coach for the 9 training runs i did in 2008. I was also reminded that I work with the most amazing group of people ever too. I received many emails from co-workers congratulating me only minutes after i finished. People have been helping me up and down stairs at work all day. Its been great. Accounting even gave me some cupcakes. :) And Melissa has been amazing too by nursing me at home. I told her I feel really guilty being so pampered since i brought this on myself. It would be one thing if i was sick or in an accident. But i signed for this. Nobody made me do it. Since i can't walk normal, i probably wont be back at the gym for a few days. Looking forward to getting back into the gym and seeing my favorite people. i'm going to leave today's diet out of the blog since this is going to be the biggest cheat day of the year. :) thank you Melissa, Hannah, Shirley, Recreate Family, and NSM folks!!!

can i come back to the gym now? i'm bored and getting flabby

so i havent' been to the gym and my mental health is starting to slip a little. when i took my shirt off in the front of the mirror today, i had to avoid making eye contact with my body. When im not going to the gym, i start to feel like i'm turning to flab and am afraid i'll see myself way out of shape. i know i have issues. i'll be the first to admit it. I guess if i don't like being flabby, i should cut out some of those cupcakes and burritos. Guess its all about balance. I was thinking about finding a debate party to go since we dont have tv service. i also am thinking about buying a new ipod today. Not sure which i'll do yet. its 4:54 so i should probably decide soon. i haven't had a lot to eat today either. Going to pick up my bib tomorrow with shirley downtown. yay! I've been continuing to roll on the foam roller. feeling pretty good. Todd reminded me not to change too much about my routine going into the marathon. May do some hammer gels with caffeine during the run. i've done similar gels so i'm not to concerned about my stomach not liking them. Trying to decide whether to wear my hydration belt for the run. Would love to not carry the weight but I am pretty used to my electrolyte glucose drink. I'm sure its better than any corn syrup based sports drink. I think i may opt for the corn syrup drink in order to pass on the belt. If we get some of this cool weather on sunday, i'll be very happy. i can tough out most things in the cold but in the heat i become such a whiny weakling. I showed hannah chi running last night and she laughed her head off. She's doing a run tomorrow for charity so i was trying to tell her my secret trick for running a long distance. i'll be curious to see if she actually does it. i committed to a 50 cents per lap charity donation. Was going to go higher but i have no idea how far she can run or how big the track is. Didn't want to go broke if i found out the course was only 100meters long and she was a natural distance runner. :) Ok, time to go by an ipod or watch the debate somewhere. i'll let traffic decide.

Workout:
none. carried a printer upstairs was kinda like a workout.

Diet:
1 Ready to Drink Meal Replacement Shake
1 bagel with cream cheese and tomato.
more to come..

watch what i eat

so i once had a friend tell me that when he wants to quit smoking, he tells as many people as he can. That way, he feels accountable and knows people will be watching him. Well now, i have my friends at work looking at my blog too. They like to see what weird things I eat. I figured if more people are watching what i eat, maybe i'll eat better. Or maybe it will be just the opposite. maybe i'll eat worse just to entertain them. Today felt really good to sleep in past 5:45am since i'm tapering. Melissa has been making Yerba Mate in the mornings which totally makes my day. i love mate. i've been rolling on the foam roller for an hour every night. Focusing on the quads, lower back, and IT bands. Trying to drink lots of water too. Miss the gym and all the good peeps already and its only been a day. Miss hearing Cofy sing along when Jayz comes on the ipod, miss John and Nathan arguing about who lives in a rougher hood. Miss Stephen saying "respect" in a really cool way that i could never replicate. Miss seeing Nadine's blue bike by the bushes. Miss Evan's hilariousness and great urban adventure stories. Miss all the other people too who see me each morning with the slime in the corner of my eye and dont laugh too much. ok, i'm getting sappy now. I need to toughen up for the marathon. Trying to decide between gu or gel brands. There are some that taste better than others but there are also some with Cafeine. i think Cafeine could go a long way. Heck, if someone under a bridge is selling anything the day of the marathon that will help, i may even consider that. i'm kidding. i don't want to be accused of cheating if i do end up beating oprah. i'm going to try eating good carbs the next couple of days. i've cut down on coffee and up on water. i'm still at work keeping electricians company as we put a super fancy surge protection system on the building.

Workout:
may go buy a new ipod and then watch Dexter

Diet:
1 large Enchilado Style Baja Fresh Vegie Burrito
1 fantastic cookie.
Crap, thats all i've had all day. i need more. Melissa is at her performance class and Hannah's with Rhonda tongith so maybe i'll go get a burrito on my own.

Tapering for reals now

Im blogging from my cell phone while Hannah's in with her reading tutor. I felt so grown up today. I actually sat on a park bench with soccer moms while we watched our kids play after school. Now all I need is a minivan. Hannahs new school is way cooler than her last school. And john would be proud. Its in the hood. ;) Today was my last workout until next monday. I am feeling more excited than bitter about running this week. I had a great run this weekend and held a good pace. Shirley judges a good run by pace and how much I talk. I was able to talk this last run so that's good. So im waiting for a nickname to stick with me. I've been called Keen, Joe Cocker, cupcake, flame out boy, and most recently 4916. 49 is the number of push presses I did in the first set of FGB and 16 is the number I did in the last set. So now I have a gym record. Biggest performance degradation ever in a Fight Gone Bad workout. Nothing to be proud of but hey, its something. ;) im under a ton of pressure to meet some huge deadlines at work. I needed some feel good food today so I ate a german chocolate cake today for lunch. If that was wrong, I don't want to be right. It was amazing. Plus im carb loading for the run. My thumbs are cramping so im going to end this one now.

Warmup 3x
10 pvc Pass throughs
10 pvc squats
50 jumpropes

Skill 4x
5 dead hang pullups focused on negatives
5 ring dips focused on depth and negatives
5 one arm push presses(25lb DB)

WOD 3x through 90 sec rest between rounds
35sec work/25 sec rest
Sprints
Jumping rope pullups
Ball slams.
Kb clean (25lb would go heavier if no marathon)
Jump rope

Workout was good but intentionally held back which felt weird to do. Folks were really kind and wished me good luck as I was leaving. Reminded me again of why I love this gym and the sense of community its created.

Diet
Meal replacement shake
Meal replacement shake
German chocolate cake
Veg Burrito

Apple Fritter

Fruit Smoothie with 30g Protein

Body Gone Sore

i had a great run today with shirley. Ran 8 miles and felt really good. However, the soreness from FGB has kicked in and im hurtin!! Not injured hurtin but super sore hurtin. My traps, shoulder, and butt are aching. I don't often workout Saturdays so i just realized that i should take tomorrow off to let my body recover. Especially since i ran today. Enjoyed the client appreciation party. was fun to see everyone in one place. since i go to the morning class, most of the people, i only get to see from the blog or briefly when i meet melissa after night class. The food was AMAZING!

Workout:
8 mile run in 69 minutes.


Diet
3 meal replacement shakes
1 fruit smoothie
1 reeds cherry gingerale
1/2 of a vegetable calzone
1 chicken burrito from baja fresh
1 large bag of peanut m&m's
1/2 of a bean and cheese burrito from baja fresh
1 GU gel
64oz water

fight gone sad

well, finished my first fight gone bad. in some ways it was better than i expected and in many ways it was harder. i'm the type of guy who has to break the med ball complexes into small parts because they are hard for me. When i used to go to the traditional gyms, I would go in, lift as much weight as i possibly could for 1 set of 6 and then be done. Nothing more, nothing less. I did that for 15 years. My muscles have been conditioned to go all out and then they just die. i had a personal trainer once accuse me of faking it saying that he "knew muscles" and that he knew for a fact muscles don't hit walls like mine but instead they gradually get tired. When all you've ever done is short sets of heavy weight, your muscles don't know what fading is. They only know failure. Its clear to me that it will take some time to develop some more endurance. melissa counted for me today and she said she couldn't even warn me when to pace myself because i went from looking super strong and smooth to near death within a matter of reps. No fading. Just a brick wall. Nathan is convinced more than ever that my marathon will go just like that. i don't blame him. The only reason i know it wont happen that way, is because i don't know how to run fast. Running with Shirley tomorrow. Ready to party. Hannah was inspired by Evan's drawing of me and offerered her own drawing of me. She drew me lifting two deer overhead. She thinks i'm much stronger than i am. Thats one of the many reasons why she's my favorite daughter. Maybe she doesn't think i'm that strong. Maybe she thinks my ego needs a boost after seeing me lying on the floor of the gym crying for my mommy after fgb. Either way, i like the pic.

FGB score: 270
Don't think that qualifies me for olympics or american gladiators but its a place to start and it sure was a good workout. :)