Getting Athletic!

Well, I'm doing one of the things I wanted to lose weight for - snowboarding! I went for the third time yesterday and I was actually able to stay upright for a couple whole runs (down the 'learning' area, but hey - it's something!). Next time it's a whole mountain pass and I'm looking forward to tackling the green and blue trail, and trying to start linking turns.

I'm feeling good, though still wish this weight would start coming off faster! I'm at 259, and have been for a few days. Almost 40lbs down, and I can almost taste my half-century (247). I'm also really frustrated with the smoking - it is a tough habit to quit! Anyone reading this that's never smoked; keep it that way. I've been smoking for 12 years now, and have quit off and on, but it really grabs a hold of you. I'm 'gearing up' for another quit (read: putting it off), but it has to happen soon so I can feel good running again. My lungs are definitely giving up before my legs.

Other good news, I joined a new challenge on Traineo - 8lbs in 4 weeks. I know I can do it, but I'd like to see it in 3 weeks and I wouldn't be upset if I was the first one as I'm a little bit competitive :)

Also, in the gym today, I kicked ass on the abs, I'm definitely getting stronger. If this damn fat wasn't in the way I just might have a decent 6-pack! Also did legs, and couldn't get the squat rack so had to use the Smith Machine. I didn't like it, but was able to isolate my glutes a lot better - perhaps this would be a good supplement to an already full routine.

Thanks for all the support!

Gotta Get Back on Track!

Well, it's been a bit of a tough week on the cardio! I'm still smoking, so that's kicking my ass when it comes to trying to run, and I've been SO tired that I just haven't felt like rolling out of bed at 5:30am...

I have, though, been going to the gym regularly. My workout partner wanted to try a new split; Chest/back, legs, shoulders/bi/tri. It's pretty good, but our suspicions were correct - make sure to leave a day between the C/B and S/B/T... We didn't do that and did S/B/T Thursday and C/B Friday and it definitely was a lot tougher.

On leg day I also added in the adductor and abductor exercises in order to incorporate more muscles into my squats and improve balance. Boy was I sore ALL week! That means I need to be doing these though, so I'll keep it up.

So, next week: getting to bed by 9:30, getting up at 5:30 and either going to the gym or going for a run around the block (well, several blocks, but going for a 20-30min jog). I know I'll be lifting 4-5X/week now, but I still need to keep up the cardio so I'm dropping those lbs of fat for the summer.

Fat Man in Running Shorts...

As a fun way to incorporate a new kind of cardio into my routine and to help lose weight and get in shape, I decided I wanted to be able to run! I don't know if I'll be the 5 miles every morning kind of guy, but I want the skill and I want to reap the benefits.

So, I started the 'Couch-to-5K' program over at the Cool Running website a couple weeks ago. Starting it may be a stretch, I was technically able to do their first workout properly this morning (Yay me!). Basically, after warmup, it is 20 minutes of 1 minute run/jogs followed by 90 seconds of walking. It sure isn't easy, but I've progress from being able to do 4 of these intervals to completing all 8 this morning, and running for another minute a few minutes after that. The big stick was that I would sometimes need to extend my walk an extra minute.

So, over the next 9-12 weeks, I'm going to become a runner!

I also want to compete in a 5K this summer, and a sprint triathlon later in the summer/early fall. I'll get more deets on that later.