And... recap.

So, six years later...


I have:


-Gained about 40 pounds. (40!!!) Then lost about 20 of that. So right now my weight stands at about 210.  Let's not even talk about body fat percentage.  But it's on the way down, and I am confident that in the next 4 or 5 months I can get back to the 190 range.


-Started another new job.  A career, even, so that's good.  One that pays much better, and is completely stable and sometimes relatively enjoyable.  So I'll basically be stuck "here" for the next 18 years, but "here" could be Amsterdam or Tokyo or Washington DC or Paris...  It all depends on what my wife and kids are willing to put up with. But good prospects.


-Kids! Plural! Back in 2010 I had just the one, a sweet, chubby little guy.  Now there are two, a sweet, string bean 7 year old and a mischievous imp of a 10 month old.  The 7 year old is still reluctant to ride his bike, but he will happily pedal behind on the Trail-A-Bike all day, so that's good.
We will wait out the winter before making bike arrangements for the baby, probably a trailer and one of those sit-in-front seats, after some near mishaps and not enjoying the imbalance and difficult handling that I got with a rack-mounted child carrier.  The winter should mean learning to cross-country ski for everyone but the baby, so we'll see how that goes.


-Moved!  First to a tiny town in Texas which was remote and generally impossible to live, but with access to some of the most spectacular and rugged areas in Texas.  Then again to Minnesota, where we bought a house and are putting down roots, so to speak.  Minnesota is great for outdoor activities, although according to a friend there are "water people" and "mountain people."  I have, for most of my life definitely been the latter.  So now I have to learn to swim better and enjoy the relative flatland. But I can't complain because a few blocks from my house I have access to nearly 20 miles of trail running, and a 10 minute bike ride away is some of the best mountain biking in the metro area.  And lakes!  Lots of lakes!  I haven't figured out yet what to do with them.  Swim? Fish? Maybe next year.  Right now I'm just trying to run and ride as much as possible.  I did one 7 mile trail race this year, and I was a little disappointed in my time.  The heat though, is my Kryptonite and it was hot and humid that day.  I can't wait for the fall, and hopefully I'll get a chance to run a longer distance race.  Or even a bike race of some sort.


My health has been relatively good since we moved from Texas.  Asthma and allergies have been pretty low here, only aggravated when I get a cold or the flu.  Recently though, I've been having some shoulder pain when I extend my arm or catch myself after falling off my bike.  The pain is sort of sharp and intense, but doesn't last long.  Probably definitely need to see a doctor though.  And the two stainless steel screws in my ankle from a surgery in 2008 may have snapped.  I was walk-jogging on a bike path with my son a few months ago and I stepped on the edge of the blacktop and sprained it badly.  It healed fairly quickly, but it's been about 4 months now and doesn't feel quite right.  I was warned that the screws could eventually break and may or may not cause pain, so that's probably another X-ray that I need to have done.  Other than that though, I'm feeling pretty good shape wise.  I was in Chicago for work last week and did an 18 mile run along the lakefront, it felt ok, slow, though I learned a hard lesson about fueling for long runs.  Still, it was officially my longest run ever by about 5 miles, so I felt good about that.  Next up, marathon?  Or at least running marathon lengths.  I don't think I'll actually have the time to do an official one this year.  Babies, you know.


-

Fall back...

I started a new job last week. Similar pay, much better benefits, better environment and more paid time off. Twice as far away. Overall win.

I sure am.

Now instead of a 16 mile commute I have a 30-32, depending on the route. The fastest way, which takes about 52 minutes in the morning, also happens to run along a "Class 2 Truck Route." According to Wikipedia, Class 2 means the truck weighs from 6000 to 10,000 pounds, or roughly a Ford F150.

In reality though, a Class II route seems to be a major thoroughfare for Class 7 or 9 trucks, which means trucks like this are grinding up the pavement like, um, something that's easy to grind. Mud, maybe?

Maybe I'm exaggerating a little. It does have a bike lane, although it's actually just a severely narrow strip of shoulder with "Bike Lane" painted on it. There are plenty of nice, quiet back streets to take though, so I won't be taking the "2" unless I need to. All in all it's a nice ride. Next week I'll start the horrific task of getting up at 5:00AM so I can be at work by 7. It will be worth it though, to get home nice and early. Avoid some traffic and whatnot.

Last week my weight was down to about 182 consistently, at about 18% body fat. I'm fairly happy with my weight, but I'm still way off on body fat. Oh, and this weekend was a total writeoff. I ate way too much and didn't run at all. Hopefully this weekend goes better, but I'll still have at the very least 150 miles of riding in.

Journalistic integrality

My wife has been writing a journal lately. It, like she, is wonderful and diverse and interesting. This blog functions a little as my journal, at least in the sense that it is the only place I put my thoughts into writing on a semi-regular basis, so I need to at least update it more regularly.

Yesterday was significant, weight-loss wise, as it was the first time I have been below 190 since before my mission. That means that I weigh less now than I have in 14 years! Crazy. I still don't like running, but at least I'm getting used to it. Yesterday, I ran a mile in six minutes and fifty five seconds, which is, at least as far as I know, a post-high school personal best.


Hmm. I was supposed to get my new backpack today, but the UPS guy never showed. Wah. Oh well, my back will be somewhat less sweaty for another day. It does complicate the lunch, clothing and laptop situation though, as in "I can't bring any of that to work"

Still, less sweat is good.

Weight: 189.6
BFP 19.8

Hot

I've been hot all day. I was hot this morning, and all day at work I've been roasting. Like a toasted cheezer. Hopefully I'm sweating off some weight, or at least water weight. I need to drink more though, I've only had about 60 ounces or so. I'm not sure how much I should be having. I should really look that up.



Weight: 191.5
BFP: 19.8

Stagnation and bowling balls and extended leaves of absence (leave of absences? leaf of absence?)

Well, I am three months into my weight loss plan, and still stuck at 195. Not that it's a bad thing, still 12 pounds lighter than when I started. Which is a pretty decent sized bowling ball that I'm not carrying around anymore. Ok, maybe a little girl bowling ball, but still.

That means, though, I only have a month left to lose the last 10. It's a reasonable goal, a little extreme but I think I can do it. I actually managed to go running once this week DURING the week, which is quite impressive, if I do say so myself. My plan is to run 3 2-milers during the week and 3 or 4 miler on Saturday. At least the first week. I'm finding I like running a little more than I did before. It's nice to be at a fitness level where I feel like I could run for several miles. Whether I can or not is a different matter, but I plan on completing a 10k run by the end of the month. That's over six miles, which is a lot for me. The farthest I've ever run is the 3.5-ish miles I ran on Saturday, which felt really good. So six shouldn't be a problem, right?

We'll see.

Today, no activity, weights or Gunnar tonight. Boo. Rain and a broken bicycle. Tonight- repair bike, tomorrow 16 mile ride, 2 mile run. Saturday, either mountain biking if the weather cooperates or extended road ride, then 4 mile run. And weights. Or Gunnar. Say it with me now.

GOOOOOD!

(If you let your eyes go out of focus, it looks like Gunnar is punching the dog.)

Weight- 195

BFP- 19.8

Want to go to sleep...

This has been a tiresome week. I'm not sure why, but I was exhausted last night. I've been running around a lot, I guess, but no more than usual, and the week's not over yet. Saturday I'm going to play basketball, which will be good for my plateaued weight, but it means I'll be tired again. Or, maybe I'll be energized, just more sore. I'll definitely be hitting up some ibuprofen before I do that though. After high school graduation, we had an all-nighter at a Gold's Gym in Provo, I think. My friends and I spent almost all the night playing basketball. Then I drove home, got a couple hours sleep and went to work.

Those were the days. Minimum wage, no girlfriend, no Masi, living in Goshen.

Ok, maybe they weren't that great. At least I had more energy.

Weight: 198.8
BFP: 20.4

Overdrive and shoes and such

Well, this is it. No more excuses. It's time to kick it up a notch. And other locker room euphemisms. I've been stuck at the same weight for a couple of weeks now, and though I've been sick, I've been relatively better for a few days now. So tonight, weights, ball workout. Every day, ride. Saturday, run. As the weather gets better I'm going to start running in the morning, or evening, I'm not sure which. The problem with running in the morning is that it's my only time to write in the day, but there's probably 20 minutes in the evening when I can sneak out for a run.

This is going to be a busy week. FHE tonight, tutoring Wed., correlation Thurs., and who knows what else?

Oh yes, free shoes on Thursday! Woohoo! Last week this company did a promotion where you send in an old pair of your shoes and they send you a new pair of theirs. I would have told everyone about it, but I only found out a few hours before the promotion ended and barely had time to ship off my old shoes, so I'm getting a pair of these on Thursday:


Some people think they are ugly, but I kinda like the way they look. Plus, they're made out of Cordura instead of the wet tissue paper they make canvas Vans out of these days, so they should be a lot more durable. Although my old Vans that I got for 16 bucks at TJ Maxx lasted a few years, but they weren't made out of the canvas, they were sort of, uh, wool? The uppers were still in good shape, but there were big holes in the soles.

Holes in the soles. Sounds like a crappy indie band.


Weight: 199
BFP 23
Activity-N/A