Rest Period

Well, my diet this week has been very relaxed. I'm just enjoying this little time off from workouts. I have gained a few pounds but nothing to get all crazy about.

I am itching to get out on a run and hit the weights but I'm going to hold off until the weekend. Plus my folks and my brother are in town until tomorrow and its been great spending time with them. Last night I pigged out on ice cream, chocolates, chips, and chinese food. This morning I didn't want to get on the scale but when I did I was suprised to see I hadn't gained a pound since yesterday.

Today I will not be pigging out. I'm not going to be as strict just yet but will be under control today. The month of May is going to be about strength building and "brick" workouts. I will be doing as many bike to run transitions as I can to prepare for my race on June 2nd. Well, have a great Thursday! - Jason The Running Man

Official Time

Official race time is in...2:23:46 (10:59 pace)

Overall
211th - 231 runners

30-34 Age Group
34th - 34 runners

Just happy to be able to complete this small step in my long journey. I've been just taking it easy since Saturday's race. I have yet to run and will probably not run until Friday or Saturday.

I've also been thinking quite a bit about my training and the things I need to improve on. The one thing that kept coming up was strength. Not just core strength but overall strength. I am going to really spend time hitting the weights over the next 6 months to get my body fat % down to a more acceptable level. Instead of 2 days a week I am going to push strength training to 3 and 4 days a week. I am still working on a strength plan but will have it nailed down before May first. I will be working very hard over the next 6 months to prepare for November 10th.

Thanks for all the kind words! I will update my total plan both nutrition and workouts for May this weekend. Have a great Wednesday! - Jason The Running Man

Greer Half Marathon: Race Report

Run: 13.1 Miles
Time: 2:23:00 (unofficial)
Pace: 10:55

Wow! what a morning. I got up this morning around 5:45. Had my prerace meal and a 32oz water. Watched a little of the news and then jumped in the shower. I was dressed and ready to go by 7:00. By the time my wife and daughter were ready we were pulling out of the driveway around 7:15.

My father-in-law wanted to go as well so he met us halfway and followed us on in to the start line.

After finding a parking spot and getting myself setup and ready we headed over to where the half mary start line was.

After saying a few prayers, kissing the wife and daughter I headed over to the official start line.

Before the gun went off I was just walking around trying to stay loose. Then after a few minutes the gun sounded and I was off on my journey. Let me just say this was a very small race and if I had to guess probably less then 375 runners. As we took off I was monitoring my speed very often because I did not want to start off to quickly. I was at the very back of the pack with only a couple of runners behind me and I was running about a 9:40 pace. Wow, this was a very fast group of runners to be doing a 9:40 pace and being almost dead last. I quickly told myself that I need to run "my race" and slow down a bit. After the first mile I slowed to about a 10 minute pace. In that first mile I did get a chance to wave at Neese as she was one of the volunteers for the event! Hey Neese!!!

For the first three miles it was me and two other folks a nice lady and another guy. We chatted a few minutes about how fast the pack started and at mile 2 I was feeling really good so I decided to pick up my pace a little bit and ran off ahead of them. From mile 3 to mile 10 I was able to hold right around the 10 min pace mark and felt strong.

For me the trouble started at mile 10 as I realized I hadn't had very much water or replacement drink. So I stopped and walked and drank about 6oz of Gatorade Endurance and 10oz of water which really energized me and allowed me to jump back to a nice easy pace. Much slower then what I was running early on around an 11:45 pace. From 10 on every mile seemed to get longer and longer. At around 11.5 I had to stop and walk for a brief spell and drank another 10oz water and about 4 ounces of Gatorade. At which point my lady friend had caught back up to me and passed me just before the 12 mile marker. As I was walking I thought to myself..."Hey, I only have 1 more mile to go what am I doing walking!", so, I jumped back to a very painful slow jog around mile 12.5.

The last half mile was great as a bunch of people were there clapping and cheering me on to the finish. About 500 feet before the finish I spotted my wife and daughter and it nearly brought tears to my eyes as it was a very emotional moment to me. You would have thought I just ran a 100 mile race but for me thinking back to when I was 300 pounds just 3 years ago to just finish this morning was huge for me.

Here's me hitting the finish at 2:23:00 (unofficial). Once again I forgot to stop my Garmin right away as I was completely spent!

After crossing the line my daughter wanted to help with the hydration process!

I am so excited to be able to hold under an 11 minute pace for 13.1 miles. My goal was to just try and keep it a hair below 12 minute pace. So I am very pleased. I celebrated with lots of pasta and even ice cream with my wife Ashli and daughter Gracie. What a great treat, what a great day! My father-in-law brought his video camera and took about 15 minutes of video. He is going to create a little 5 minute video with music for me. As soon as he gets it done I will post it. I was very sore most of the early afternoon but by 4 this afternoon I was feeling really good and not much soreness as of right now. Will see how I feel in the am. Have a great Saturday night! - Jason The Running Man

Race Day Eve - I'm Ready Bring it on...

Bring on the 13.1 miles. Had a great carb loading day and a great dinner with the family. I'm a little upset at my brother-in-law however. Tonight around 6:30pm he calls and asks if I can help him move his new fridge into his house!!! Whaaaat! I was thinking with my luck I'll end up pulling my back out or something stupid. Well, I couldn't say no and all went well.

As you can see I'm ready to go in the AM and now it's time to sleep. Getting to bed a little later then I wanted but if I can get 6 hours I'm good. I did my last long run sick and on 3 hours a sleep so I should be good. Will give a full race report complete with pics!!! Have a great night!!!!!! - Jason The Running Man

Final Workout

Cross Training: Elliptical
Distance: 4.26 Miles
Time: 50:00

Final workout is complete and a very solid workout to finish on. Got to the gym around 9:15 tonight and it was empty. Jumped on the elliptical and away I went for 50 minutes and 4.2 miles.

I feel like I did my best to train for the race and I look forward to the mental challenges that await me on Saturday because I know they will come but I'm ready to tackle them head on. Zero carbs day two is in the books and I have to say I feel really good. The best part will be tomorrow morning when I dive into my first meal. I am going to have...

Meal #1
2 - Whole Eggs - Protein/Fats
2 - Slices Organic Flourless Grain Bread - Carbs
2 - Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties - Protein
32oz Water

Meal #2
2 - Slices Organic Flourless Grain Bread - Carbs
2 tbsp - Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter - Fats
1 - Large Banana - Carbs
32oz Water

Meal #3
1 - Can Progresso Traditional Chicken Noddle Soup - Carbs
32oz Water

Meal #4
1 - Oatmeal Walnut Raisin Clif Bar - Carbs


Meal #5
2 - Cups Wholewheat Pasta - Carbs
1 - Cup Organic Tomato Sauce
8 - Ounces Fat free Turkey - Protein
2 - Slices Organic Flourless Grain Bread - Carbs
1 - Small salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, mushrooms, carrots, onions, and feta cheese)
1 - Can Cherry Diet Pepsi

Meal #6
3 tbsp Cream of Wheat - Carbs
1/2 cup - Organic 2% Milk - Fats
2 tbsp - Ground Cinnamon
2 - pats all natural butter - Fats
4 - packets of Splenda
32oz Water

SATURDAY Morning - 5:30am
2 - Slices Organic Flourless Grain Bread
2 - tbsp Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter
1 - Large Banana
32oz water

There's a snapshot of my meals leading right up to the race. The last time I had any bread was back on April 10th. I'm ready to bring on the carbs. Tomorrow I will be looking to pick up my packet and make sure I know where I need to be for the start. I'm not familiar with Greer at all so I think I will drive down tomorrow and just get a lay of the land so there is no second guessing or getting lost on Saturday morning. I don't want to have to think about directions or anything but focusing on the race. Well, have a great Thursday night. - Jason The Running Man

Zero Carb: Day Two

So far day two is going as planned. My energy levels are much improved from yesterday and I'm down another two pounds. Tonight I will be headed to the gym for some cross training on the elliptical and tomorrow will be my rest day. Not sure yet how long I will spend on the elliptical as I will just play it by ear. My usual elliptical workouts went 65 minutes but I think tonight may just be half that, will see.

I have my Friday menu all prepared and 75% of my calories will come from complex carbs. I'm very anxious to see how I feel come Saturday morning. I'm also very excited that my half is finally here and I'm looking forward to Saturday. I will update after my workout tonight.

Jason The Running Man

Running On Empty...

Run: 3.2 Miles
Time: 34:36
Pace: 10:41

The verdict is in. Running on zero carbs was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was able to hold under an 11 minute pace without much trouble at all. I did notice a difference in my energy but not a significant difference. It was only a three mile run and I'm not sure how many more miles I could have gone. So, I'm really pleased so far with the first zero carb day. I may have a different opinion come this time tomorrow so stay tuned.

Well, tonight was my last run until Saturday. I do plan on doing some cross training tomorrow evening and then I'm taking Friday to rest. Friday will be my carbohydrate refeed day and I'm looking forward to refilling my tanks.

Here is my pace from tonights run.

Have a great Thursday morning! - Jason The Running Man