Hyundai Hope on Wheels 5k - Chicago, IL

Sunday morning I made the frustrating trip downtown to participate in the Hyundai Hope on Wheels 5k, which was run in conjunction with the Chicago Half Marathon. The morning was complete with fanTAStic running weather, a decent course and a fun racing experience.

 

Now I say the trip was frustrating because parking was horrendous... Since the race started near Jackson Park, I was assuming I could park at the Museum of Science & Industry and make the reasonably short walk to the Start/Finish line. Well that's not how it played out.

Long story short, I thought I could easily get to the parking garage. After a half hour of driving around trying to access Lake Shore Drive, I was greeted with a "you'll just have to find a spot somewhere" answer from one of the parking monkeys rented out to direct traffic. I finally found a parking spot at 7:30 and had to hustle myself and my wife 1.2 miles to the Start line...

As we were approaching our destination, I could hear the race starter saying "We'll be starting in 30 seconds!" Oh boy... Unfortunately, I had to sprint off to the start line, leaving my wife to fend for herself until I was finished. I arrived (winded) about a minute and a half after the gun went off - in plenty of time since half the racers still had yet to cross the start line.

As I waited to cross the starting line, I tried to get my iPhone set to play some music - only to remember that I had removed all my music to make room for my podcasts...which do little to pump me up on a run. So I found my wife further up the road and handed off my phone and headphones...leaving me sans music for 3.1 miles. Great.

The race itself semmed to go by very quickly. Now, don't get this confused with my actual speed - I said it SEEMED to go quickly! :-) With such a large crowd, you were always surrounded by people. There were a couple ripples in the street (one of which nearly caused me to eat blacktop), but for the most part the course was pretty smooth. But of course you always have to watch out for what I call the "Abrupt Stoppers" who just all of a sudden move from a run to a walk right in front of you. Maybe I should just shorten my race time so I'm not forced to run with these folks!

In the end, I finished strong and cruised hustled past some folks on my way to the finish line (which always feels great!) The clock above me read 34:12, but I figured the initial 1:30 or so would be subtracted to land me in the 32:00 mark somewhere. But after checking the standings this morning, I found they still tagged me with the 34:12 - not enthused...

As always, they had ample food and drink after finishing and 5k runners even got a finishers' medal! I won't lie - I wasn't expecting that! To be honest, it made me forget about all the frustration with trying to park and make it on time!

After my race, Karin and I stuck around for a bit and watched our friend Vinnie finish the half marathon - always fun to watch people turn that last corner and see their eyes light up as they spot the finish line! There's just something about seeing people down the home stretch - just a fantastic, emotional moment we get to share with them!

However, there was a somber moment as the paramedics seemed to cart off a runner while doing chest compressions on him... I haven't seen any report of a death in Sunday's race, so I'm hoping that means he's alright. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

In the Starting Blocks

On the heels of the Men's 100m Finals - all hail Usain! - I think the title of today's post is quite applicable.  By the way, can we all just stop a second and admit that he is ridiculous? Any time I watch his run my jaw just drops - so impressive.

Anyway, if you read my post from yesterday, you know that I am now 28 years of age and am embarking on a year-long journey (a la Chris Powell) to get to my sub-200 pound goal. So before I get started, I want to establish where I'm starting. I'm adjusting my feet in the blocks and getting ready to tear up the track. (But of course this isn't being treated as a sprint!)

This morning I took stock of where I find myself after a week of vacation and a week + of slacking on my half marathon training schedule. And it was worse than I thought.

If any of you follow me on YouTube, you'll know that I also just joined a couple of challenges - so to speak - that require me to make regular update/progress videos. In my initial videos for #CHANGE and "Hot 4 Halloween" I made a guess before vacation that I weighed around 270 despite having not seen a scale for a week prior to that. Well...I must have been wrong. Here are my starting numbers as of today:

Starting Weight: 275.6

Measurements (in inches):

I took some 'before' pictures that I will show you at the end of each three-month "Phase" (again with the Chris Powell comparison). I will also be giving short, weekly reports each Monday letting you know how my last seven days went - mostly statistical with a little analysis. I'll also have a running, weekly, weigh in tally in the upper-right portion of the blog.

I also want to note that I don't want to stray too far from the running focus of this blog, but that shouldn't be a problem since I'll be continuing my half marathon training this next month and using it as a huge part of my weight loss. My ultimate goal after all of this is done is to become a hardcore runner (like some of you!) and maybe even dabble in some du- or triathlons. Hmm? Hmm?

But let's take this one day at a time, k? I'll have my first progress post for ya on Monday.

Out With the Old - In With the New!

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen some of the recent pictures I posted about some some of the latest changes in my life - some small, some large - but all exciting! So let's walk through some of them, shall we?

1. New Glasses

Don't be decieved by the handsome decent picture on the left, but there is only one "ear thing" to those glasses and they're balancing on my nose. They were a couple of years old, falling apart and they'd fall off my face if I looked down. They were light as a feather, got broken quite easily and my astigmatism had already rendered them obsolete. It was time for a change - and I'm happy with the results (as you can tell by my smiling face on the right?)

2. New Running Shoes

This is a change I'd wanted to make a few months back, but I just had to wait for the right time. Every July, the local downtown area (it's a suburb, so downtown is relative) holds a Sidewalk Sale, and lots of the shops have some really good deals! So I visited the local running store ("Running for Kicks"), got fitted for some shoes, and came out with some sweet Mizuno Enigmas 20% off! I've only worn Mizunos since I started running in Jan '09, and I wasn't about to buy the Brooks that they were also offering me! And plus - who doesn't like a nice, flashy shoe?

3. New Car!

Alright, so this change is on a totally different level - we got a new car! Ok, it's pre-driven, but it's new to us! Unfortunately, I don't have a corresponding picture of my old piece of junk, but it's a black, '99 Nissan Altima with a roughed up head gasket, tires that need balancing (it shakes fiercely if I dare flirt with 60 mph) and A/C that only works at Level 4 (gale force winds) while Levels 1-3 don't deliver as much as an exhale. Either way, we needed the upgrade!

4. New Mindset

For these last three + years, I've always tried to convince myself that despite 'off' days, weeks or months, that I can always knock out my goal in a few months "if I just really went to it." Well obviously that's not the case.

With weight loss, it doesn't matter what you 'could do' - it only matters what you DID or ARE DOING. Nobody cares what you're going to do next week, they want to hear what you did at the gym this morning. So statements like "I should be 15 pounds lighter by my birthday next month" is worthless unless I can stand there on my birthday and say, "I just lost 15 pounds!"

Anyway, what I'm trying to drive at is that I'm abandoning my false pride about my ability to simply lose weight at will. When writing out weight loss goals, I would usually plan on being able to lose 6-10 pounds a week - HA! So the new mindset is aiming for 2-3 pounds a week and being ecstatic if the scale shows me more than that.

Once I get back from a week-long, outdoors vacation (filled with walking, swimming, canoeing, etc) my weekly video updates will be popping up again. So stay tuned!

Also, congrats to all those who knocked out the Rock N' Roll Half Marathon in Chicago this past Sunday. It's been fun reading your reports!

And So It Begins...

Well now that we've given away another half marathon registration, it's time for me to turn my focus elsewhere - training! Yes, I will also be running the Chicago Half Marathon (as I've mentioned), and my training schedule kicked off this week!

Now I won't lie - I'm a little more excited about this September 9th race moreso than the June 9th one I registered for (I ended up downgrading to the 5k due to imminent heat and lack of training). Don't get me wrong, the Allstate 13.1 Marathon Series was a fantastic event, I just wasn't as excited to run the actual race due to my lack of training -  the reason I'm more excited is because I have PLENTY of time to train for this race as opposed to the shorter timeframe I got before the June race.

This time around I'm trying a different kind of training schedule. In the past, I've used a schedule more or less derived from the Hal Higdon model. But this time I thought I'd try my hand (or feet?) at the Runner's World half marathon training schedule. I'm looking forward to it because it doesn't just give me a straight-up number of miles to run every day, but it incorporates interval running and different stamina exercises.

I've adjusted it slightly so that my longer days are on Saturdays, and I'm already looking ahead to the summer to make sure that I get my miles in despite some vacations and busy weekends. I'm 100% in on this program and I look forward to getting my miles logged, losing weight to get the pressure off of my worn out knees and PRing this race in September. Not to mention that it's been awhile since I've gotten to run a nice, long race in downtown Chicago!

What sort of half marathon training regimens have you used in the past, or are currently using? There are TONS of different things out there, and I'd love to hear about them!

July Goals!

Well, now that you've seen how I did on my June goals, I think it's time to step it up for the month of July. Some say I may have set my bar a little too high out of the gate, but I still think I underperformed and can do much better in July.

I think I'm really going to like this infrastructure I am setting up for myself - weekly (give or take a day) video updates/weigh ins coupled with monthly goals and report cards. I'd start looking forward to yearly events, but let's hope that I'm not fighting this battle for another three years and am just blogging about all the races I'm doing and PR's I'm setting! :)

But without further stalling ado, let's ring in the new month of July with another set of attainable goals (both fitness-related and otherwise)!

- Weigh 250 (or less) by my b-day (August 6!)*
- Drink at least 100oz of water per day
- Read one Runner's World & one Men's Health
- Start saving $$ for a new car
- Complete every day of my 1/2 marathon training schedule
- Join the "Plank a Day" movement
- Bigger social media reach

* NOTE: I will be gone on vacation from July 28-August 5, so I won't be able to weigh in until Monday, August 6th - my birthday!

For vacation, my wife and I will be heading up to Silver Birch Ranch in Northern Wisconsin. A place like this has rock climbing, kayaking, swimming, horseback riding and acres of land for hiking and exploring. I really want to get some of this weight off so I can enjoy some/all of these activities!

Anyway, let me know your thoughts on my second round of goals! What are some of your summer goals?

Half Marathon Giveaway 2.0

Well, well, well, what do we have here? By the title of this post, it looks like I have another free, half marathon registration to give away! So I'm guessing that's why you're here!

The folks over at the Chicago Half Marathon have graciously given me a free registration to hand out to one of my faithful readers. If you like downtown Chicago, the lakefront and running, then you may want to get your name in the hat for this (if you're not already signed up, that is).

The race takes place on Sunday, September 9th at 7:00am in Jackson Park and is the second leg of the Windy City Challenge (click for details). That means if you've already run the Allstate 13.1 Marathon Series race back on June 9th, you're elligible to get a THIRD medal for running that race and this one!

All you have to do to get your name in the running for this FREE registration is leave me a comment letting me know what sport you're most looking forward to in the upcoming Summer Olympics! I find it hard to narrow down one event, but after Beijing how can you not be looking forward to the men's 100m dash?! Usain Bolt is a beast!

Can't wait to give this away - I'll pick a winner on Sunday, July 8th!

Karhu 5k - June 9, 2012

Well race day was Saturday, and as some of you may know, I decided to downgrade to the Karhu 5k, which was the partner race of the Allstate 13.1 Marathon. While I use the heat warnings as my first reason for switching, the reality is that I simply wasn't prepared to run a half marathon - heck, I even struggled at the 5k. And while I may say that I was given short notice that I would be able to register for the half, the truth is that I didn't put in as much time/miles as I could have.

But I'm also using this weekend as a learning experience.

When a challenge is thrown your way, sometimes you can't afford to doubt, second-guess or delay. Sometimes you need to get your helmet on, lower your shoulder and plow forward towards whatever challenge awaits you. When I registered for the half marathon, I knew it was less time than the 12-week training plan I have, and I knew I'd have to bust my rump to get my miles in.

So I think I caved under the knowledge that I'd have to work hard, which isn't a good thing. I seem to have treated my training as a lost cause - even before I began. Reality is that I definitely could have gotten in shape to run 13.1. Maybe not well enough to run a good time, but to at least finish.

So what's the answer to this problem? I think I'm just going to 'simply' work my tail off to get this weight off, get my running legs in good shape and be ready for whatever challenge is thrown at me next.


Mark (30:05), Jacob (30:13) and I (33:21) before the Karhu 5k

But enough of my rambling introspection, I'm sure you're wondering how the 5k went, right? Well, I didn't set any records by any means, but I finished in 33:21. And all in all, I had a great time with Mark and Jacob - the two guys I was able to give the free registrations to (Mark: half marathon but also switched to 5k; Jacob: 5k). The race course was so-so (we literally flipped a U-Turn on the sidewalk/running trail), but the after-race party was fun! The cover band was entertaining, the free Michelob Ultra was tasty and the Lou Malnati's pizza was a great breakfast!

Once I edit it together, I'll post my video from the day as well.

On the negative side, I was quite bummed that I missed the blogger meet-up by only a few minutes! I was hoping I'd be able to add a picture of all of us in this post as well, but alas... it didn't happen. I also wasn't able to catch any of you on the course in the half hour I stood around and watched more runners come in. Seems like you all had a great time, though! (Also, it turns out that Sara finished about 30 seconds ahead of my wife's uncle!)

My congratulations go out to everyone who finished the half marathon or 5k on Saturday! And I hope to meet up with some of you sooner than later!

5k Giveaway - For You!

UPDATE: Congrats to Jacob Smith (no relation to Will) on claiming the free 5k registration for Saturday! Hope to see you there!

So I'm not kidding when I say that this needs to be taken care of A.S.A.P! If the title drew you to my post, then you're obviously interested in running a FREE 5k - so read on!

On this Saturday, June 9th, not only will the 13.1 Marathon Series kick off in Chicago at 7:00am, but the Karhu 5k will follow soon after at 7:40am! And I have one, free registration coupon for anyone who is up for the challenge!

So if you're interested in grabbing up this free and fun race, I will give the registration away to the FIRST PERSON who sends me an email at jordan.huenink@gmail.com - so hurry! Once I receive your email, I will promptly send you the registration site and coupon code so you can sign up. Keep in mind - you must register before Wednesday! So do it right away! Here's a short clip from last year's Karhu 5k in Chicago. I'm not sure how this guy (I'm assuming it's a guy) could run a race in that costume. It's gotta be muggy in there!

Also, not only is the half marathon and 5k occurring this weekend, but Allstate's partnering with the non-profit organization Give Your Sole to give runners a chance to touch others' lives by donating moderately-used running shoes. The shoes will then be passed on to Breakthrough, an organization that provides shelter, meals and other services to homeless men, women and families throughout the city.

If you're interested in donating some shoes, you may drop off your old 'kicks' at Fleet Feet Chicago when you pick up your race-day packet, or at the Finish Line Festival following the half marathon. Also, if you're a Chicago Bears fan (which I am not - Go Pack!), rookie Shea McClellin will be at the Finish Line Festival encouraging donations from runners and spectators.

All in all, Saturday is gearing up to be a great day! Although, I do see that the forecast does call for upwards of 90 degree heat... As a not-in-good-enough-shape guy who has to trudge 13.1 miles, this forecast is quite scary and daunting. But as always, that temperature number could change before then!

Can't wait to see who I can give the free 5k registration to!

Half Marathon Training - Week 5

Apologies for not keeping y'all updated on my training, but to be honest, there isn't a ton to update you on.

I've been approaching this round of training as, "I need to lose the weight to be able to build up my endurance, but I need to run for long periods of time in order to lose the weight." Kind of a fun, cruel Catch 22. But I just finished up a solid week of running & nutrition, and it showed on the scale. Now the ever-present struggle to have a second, consecutive good week and keep decreasing that horrid number on the scale. Not one of my natural strengths. But I'll address weight loss more later!

As far as running goes, I'm probably taking it way too slow as I step back and take a look at it. I've been trying some interval training in efforts of zapping fat and getting my heart rate up; I've been trying to knock out longer chunks of mileage at a slower pace just to say that I got my miles in; and some days I just jack up the incline on the treadmill and walk up hill on days that my energy is low. And some days it feels like I'll never be able to run long distances at a consistent rate...but I'm used to fighting my defeatist self.

Last night was the first time ever that I thought about giving away a race registration to a runner more prepared than myself. But after taking a minute to contemplate it, I felt I should continue since this registration was given to me - and I was able to give a fellow runner a registration as well. Wouldn't feel right to back out at this point, even if I foresee this race being a rough one...

Weight Loss: I had a good week last week, as you can see by my numbers right under my picture. However, this week hasn't started off the greatest, and I only foresee temptation rearing its ugly head more and more as this week goes on. Some days it just comes down to me knowing what to do yet neglecting to do so - but I've been there and talked about that already.

In other news, an acquaintance of mine (who also just became a trainer at my gym of choice) offered to help train me this summer for what I understand as free. He used the words "I'm not in it for the money" and "I can see you're very committed since I see you here everyday" and even offered to take the sessions to the nearby college campus (which I attended and where he currently coaches soccer). I think I'm going to take him up on his offer hopefully starting the week after the half marathon. Hope the offer still stands in a month!

All in all, this whole journey is just one, big cliche about taking it one day at a time and keeping my eye on the prize. Some days and weeks it comes easily with great reward while other weeks it seems almost impossible to attain and discourages the heck out of me. Hopefully I can turn this week into Door #1 by week's end.

Hope all is well in the Chicago running-verse. Talk at you later!

Back from a Business Trip

Don't worry, I haven't left you. Sure, it may be customary of online/YouTube weight loss participants to suddenly go all Ghost Protocol when they've had a bad week, but I'm a seasoned veteran - I've had many of those weeks and therefore no longer fear the backlash.
Last week I found myself in Richmond, Virginia on a business trip Tuesday thru Thursday. Now thankfully, the metropolis of Richmond isn't known for any, particular, mouth-watering, belt-busting foods. Rather, it's known more for its history, which isn't really up my alley, but was directly up my coworker's alley. Therefore, we needed to 'see the sights.'

Visiting the Virginia State Capitol

Thankfully, that entailed lots of walking around the city. Even more walking was added as a result of his shoddy navigation skills (and the pathetic, illustrated map of downtown Richmond). Like I've mentioned, I do have a Nike+ FuelBand on the way (tomorrow?) and I really wish I would have had it for the trip. LOTS of walking.

But unfortunately, the company's $50/day per diem just "HAD" to be used! We didn't have breakfast any of the 3 days due to early call times for the conference we were videotaping. One day I grabbed a bagel w/ cream cheese & a piece of coffee cake from the in-hotel Starbucks around 10:00am though. Lunch was usually a $15 burger or sandwich of some kind with the hearty dinner to round off the day - chicken sandwich one night and ribs the next. I definitely could have been more careful...
The scale 'only' showed me a three pound gain this morning, and I think I have the downtown walking to thank for that. This week my goal is to get to the gym before 5:30am so I can knock out a good hour and a half of training miles. Hopefully I also have a normal work schedule this week so I don't have to move that workout time around much. I like a routine and structure. Start shaking that up and all goes wrong.

Watching the over 2,000 runners take off!



Men's winner flies by me on his way to the finish line!

Also was able to watch the First Midwest Bank Southwest Half Marathon in Palos Height, IL on Sunday. It's a race I've run twice ('09 & '11), but this year I was there to watch my sister run it for a second time. Before the race she said she hadn't trained as she'd wanted to, and her fiancee agreed. However, she managed to knock it out in 2:27:21 and I'm real proud of her! I'm sure we'll be running another one together some day - I just need to get faster so I can keep up! (Her half marathon PR is around 2:12 while mine is at 2:20:20)

Half Marathon Training - Week 1

Well I have one week of "training" behind me, and I definitely use that term loosely. Of the five days that I hit the treadmill (Mon-Thurs, Sat), I don't think I ran for more than 20% of the time. I feel like I gotta get this weight off in order to make the running a bit easier. But I know I need to get running in order to lose the weight - gotta love Catch 22's!

But as you can see by the text in the right sidebar, I weighed in this morning down 6.6 from last week! So according to this article, that means that I've taken 26.4 pounds of pressure off my knees! And as each new pound comes off, it only helps! I have, however, been bothered with a nagging Baker's Cyst on the back of my left knee, which is also the knee that I've had arthroscopic surgeries on (2001 & 2002). It causes my knee to get a little stiff and bugs me when I'm walking around during the day - we'll see if it comes to visit again this week.

Thankfully I started off this week with a great treadmill session - I knocked out about 3 miles running over the course of the hour I spent on the treadmill (4.25 total miles). Still finding it hard to get the endurance up enough to run for more than ten minutes at a time, though. But as long as I can keep knock out days like this, I'm sure I can begin to string together some decent spurts of running. But according to Bill Murray in What About Bob? - "Baby steps!"

Well I'm off and running in Week 2! My plan is to be able to knock out 3 miles straight by the end of the week. Everyday is one day closer to the big race, there's no time to waste!

Before I sign off, I just want to say "thank you" to everyone who's been reading these last few months. Your encouragement, support and words of wisdom are more valuable than you know and keep me moving forward towards my goals. While I don't quite consider myself a true "runner" yet - especially in comparison to some of you who knock out MANY races per year - I look forward to the day where I can feel even a little bit more worthy. :)

I hope you all had a great weekend! How many miles did you knock out?

Half Marathon Training - Kickoff

Oh boy...

I get the feeling that this is going to be a rough two months leading up to the race. It seems like I'm starting to pull away from the allergies (knock on wood), and therefore have no good reason why I can't be at the gym Monday-Saturday mornings to try to knock out my training miles. (I actually tried sitting up a little while sleeping last night to avoid all this snot funnelling into my nostrils. It worked!)

But anyway, according to my 12-week half marathon training plan (which I'm trying to cram into 8 weeks), I was supposed to run 5 miles yesterday. *GULP* Yeah...I didn't even break into a jog on the treadmill... With the late start to the training, I'm already 4 weeks behind - and I can barely run a mile!

Every time I start a new training program it's a giant wake-up call. I realize how far I've let myself slip since my last race. It's 11 months since my last race and I've completely undone everything that I ever accomplished physically, That's a hard pill to swallow! Sure, I've gained knowledge and experience along the way, but I couldn't even run a 5k right now if I had to!

But that's all about to change. My wife and I have constructed a great nutrition plan for me and this week is off to a blazing start! I'm also going to look into the possibility of scoring a FitBit. I know a few people who have this fun, little toy and I REALLY want to get one of my own A.S.A.P! I'm a complete sucker for statistics, graphs and numbers (I think I'm part O.C.D.) and this sort of thing is 100% up my alley! So we'll see if I'm able to score that in the near future.

But in summation, these first couple weeks are going to be an uphill battle until I can be able to knock out a few miles at a time. Once I get there, it's just upping mileage and gaining that endurance. But what am I saying? You all know how this works!

Currently training for a race? How is it going for you? What goals have you set for yourself?

FREE Half Marathon Registration Discount!

Wow, the good news keeps coming and coming!

If you're still on the fence about registering for The Allstate Life Insurance 13.1 Half Marathon in Chicago on Saturday, June 9th maybe this will persuade you to sign up! Not only was I able to give away one, free registration to one of my readers, but they've also given me a $5 discount code that ALL of you can use to register for the race!

So if you're interested, just visit the registration page at the 13.1 Marathon Series website and enter the coupon code 131BLG5 before you check out.

Let me know if you'll be running on June 9th! I'd love to meet you!

Spring Cleaning

For today's post I'm feeling quite scatter-brained and absent-minded. I feel kind of frazzled and unable to focus intently on a single topic for this post, so I think I'll touch on a group of things that I feel I need to update you on. Got that? Great. Read on.

1. As you may have seen, my weekly updates have not gotten off the ground yet. I know it just sounds like an excuse, but allergies have been whoopin' my behind these last, two weeks and I haven't been making any progress that warrants a legit 'update.' However, I PROMISE you that updates will be around the corner. With Easter weekend coming up I will be visiting my parents in Wisconsin, so you can plan on my first update coming to you on April 14th. Let's see what kind of numbers I can have for you in two weeks!

2. I mentioned that I have a goal of losing 40 pounds by June 9th. If I do, I get to sign up for the Chicago Half Marathon. My lovely wife has also just informed me that she has an awesome gift she wants to give me as well that she and her brother have been collaborating on. In order to get that, I need to string together two great weeks of eating and exercising. Can't wait to see what it is! (And don't worry, I'll fill you in when I receive it.)

3. Also in that same vein, I got an email this morning telling me that the aforementioned Chicago Half Marathon is 33% ahead of its 2011 numbers, and that it will likely sell out in the near future. That's a bummer for me because I won't know if I can sign up for it until June 9th... Thus, I will either have to just sign up for it now to guarantee my spot, hope it'll still be open by June, or just accept the fact that I won't be able to run it. Or maybe just sign up for the Chicago Men's Health Urbanathlon in October instead!

4. I've recently started a new job downtown and I knew things were going to be different than my last job. The commute is much longer, the hours are longer and the work is harder. What I didn't expect was for there to be a break room stocked consistently with chips, soda and lots of other snacks. Needless to say, that has been a major struggle in my first, two weeks at the new gig. I really wish I could take a lunchtime run outside, but I would come back quite sweaty and smelly if I tried that. Maybe just a nice stroll will have to suffice. And lay off the Sun Chips, man!

5. As a result of the allergies and work snacks I assume that I have made negative progress on the scale. It's pretty frustrating, to be honest. But it's more of a frustration with my lack of effort, discipline and self-control rather than a frustration with the scale or the snacks. I'm the only one who can control which way the numbers go, and lately I've been quite lazy, complacent and out of control. With each day I string together I gain more confidence, so I just have to put the work in and get the ball rolling. Easier said than done...

And finally, I'll have to admit that I'm a bit jealous. I've been reading a lot of posts or seeing a lot of 'after pictures' lately by great individuals who have progress to show for their efforts. And while I'm happy for them, it's just kind of hard to see everyone ELSE doing well while I continue to tread water and sometimes almost sink at times.

But like I said, that will only continue if I allow it to. And let's start making each hour of the day count! Tomorrow morning I'm making my 6:00am-7:00am count by hitting the gym! I'll post proof tomorrow

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone! Even though the weather in Chicago today is dreary, rainy and chilly, I feel pretty good today. Allergies have cleared up a tad after a two week-long barrage of sniffles, sneezes and snorting; I got in some treadmill time at the gym for the first time this morning, and work is slow (which means blogging time is prime)!

As I get started on this half marathon training, a couple things come to mind. It's been awhile since I've purchased a new pair of running shoes, and I feel my dogs are going to be barking for more comfort sooner than later. That may have to be addressed when the time comes since most monetary income is going to bills, student loans and other forms of debt. Not thinking that 'running shoes' rank high on the "Needs List," unfortunately.

 

I also was running the numbers on my attempt to lose reach 240 pounds by the day of the Chicago 13.1 Marathon in early June, and as I figured, it's going to be an intense 2+ months if I want to reach my goal. It's looking like I'll have to lose about 4 pounds per week if I want to register for the Chicago Half Marathon in September. (I really want that third medal!!)

I've also been concerned about how the old feet and ankles will hold up during this vigorous stretch of training time both on and off the treadmill (eventually). I have a lot of weight bouncing around on these feet (and my knees are a whole, different story!), and I want to make sure that I'm treating them how they need to be treated so they will treat me nicely in return come race day(s).
Thankfully, I was contacted by the folks over at the HealingFeet.com recently, and they let me know about their blog. There you can find numerous entries on things from how treadmills can negatively affect your feet to different foot injuries for different types of athletes and even to how wearing flip flops can affect your feet! I'll be referencing some of their articles in the future and encourage you to go and check out all their helpful tips!

13.1 Miles ... x 2?

Alright, come in close, everyone.

As you know, I've recently signed up for the Chicago 13.1 Marathon on June 9th. Well, I also found out that there's this thing called the Windy City Challenge.

The Windy City Challenge consists of the Chicago 13.1 Marathon (6/9/2012) and the Chicago Half Marathon (9/9/2012). If a person accomplishes running BOTH races this year, you are awarded a THIRD medal! When I read this, I knew I just had to do it!

Well, rather than just simply pay the entrance fee to get my name in the running, I decided to make it a little more challenging. If I weigh less than 240 pounds by the date of my first race, I am allowing myself to sign up for the second one. That means...

I have two and a half months to lose approximately 40 POUNDS! 

Let's do this, shall we? :) Is anyone else participating in the Windy City Challenge?

Giveaway WINNER!

I know I said I was going to wait until April 2nd to reveal the winner to my half marathon registration giveaway, but as I was writing up my training schedule for the race, I realized that the recipient of the giveaway may want to get started as well. So I've decided to name the winner TODAY!

So let me just cut right to it - congratulations to Mark Boys! And an early congrats on the arrival of your second child! I'll be sending your registration code in the email, so keep an eye out! I also dug around and found a picture of Mark at last year's Urbanathlon downtown. A race I'm hoping to run in 2012!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in this giveaway! I'm so grateful for your readership and feedback. I'm hoping to have more giveaways in the future, so keep checking back!

That being said, I'd like to ask you all for a little more feedback.

What are some things that interest you in the health/fitness realm that you'd like me to write about? Moving forward, I'll be reporting on how my half marathon training is going as well as how my weight loss is progressing, but there's MUCH more to the arena of health and fitness, so let me know! Any products you'd like me to try out or foods/recipes you'd like me to try? I'm open to anything!

Let's Get It Started!

Well, if you've seen my last post you know that I've suddenly decided to run a half marathon this June. I know, pretty unexpected for me too! But when I got a free registration code offered to me for this year's 13.1 Chicago Half Marathon I saw it as a great opportunity to give me some structure to my workouts.
As of now I was half-heartedly doing a Couch to 5k program at the gym during the week, but really didn't even have a 5k event in mind at the conclusion of my program that I could participate in. I was really just using it for the sake of having a structured program. Without a final goal I didn't see a huge urgency to get my miles in or push myself, to be honest.

However, now that I have a flippin' HALF MARATHON staring me in the face in just over two months, I don't have any choice but to get my miles in and stick to the program. I am in NO way ready to run a half marathon and I refuse to embarrass myself since this is my 5th race of this distance. By this time I should be able to train well and compete well - if nothing else compete with my own PR of 2:20:20 (easy to remember, right?)

So if I had to set a goal for this race initially, I would say that I want to beat my current PR. Even though I don't have a FULL 3 months to train for this, I do plan on being at least 30 pounds lighter (unless the endless supply of snacks in the break room at work have anything to say about it), and hopefully the "lighter load" will help the old knees push out a sub 2:20.

That being said, I plan to report to you all on my training as it progresses. It's been around a year since my last race, and I can't afford to deviate from my schedule this time around if I want to knock it out of the park. And I get to take one, lucky reader along with me!

So if you aren't already registered for the Chicago 13.1 Half Marathon and want to add it to your 2012 schedule, visit my prior post and leave a comment with why you want to run! Winner will be chosen on Monday, April 2nd! But if interest seems to plateau sooner, I'll pick one sooner so they can get to training!

Free 1/2 Marathon Registration Giveaway!

Attention all runners! Or...people who want to be runners!


I've been granted a fantastic present to give away to one, special reader of this here blog, and it could be YOU! It's real simple, I promise!


The 13.1 Marathon® Series is making a stop in CHICAGO on Saturday, June 9, 2012 and YOU could participate...for FREE! You could join 5,000 runners on the streets of Chicago as they run along Lake Michigan  for a beautiful 13.1 miles (with 20 party stations along the way), and then attend the Michelob Ultra 13.1 Marathon® post-race party to quench your thirst and celebrate your accomplishment!

You could also find me since I'll be there running it too!

And I know you're saying, "Jordan, how can we be eligible for this unbelievable prize?"
Well let me tell you. All you need to do is leave a comment below convincing me why you should be awarded the free registration. Also, make sure you'll actually be available for race day - we don't want anyone winning and then not running! This contest is open to ANYONE from ANYWHERE in the world! 


So let the comments fly! I'll be choosing a winner on Monday, April 2nd - so make sure to get your name in the hat now! 

2:28:56

Sunday marked another milestone in my so-called "athletic career." While it's a career that's seen its share of ups and downs, I feel that it's on the way up once again. The peak of said career came in November of 2002 when I won a Wisconsin state soccer championship - not too shabby. Think I can top that with a complete marathon someday? I don't want to get ahead of myself, so let me back up to what happened this past weekend.

On Sunday I participated in the First Midwest Bank Southwest Half Marathon in Palos Heights, Illinois. My goal going into the race was just to NOT set a personal, slowest time. Back in August of 2009 I ran a 2:33:11 half marathon when I ran the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in downtown Chicago. I trained poorly and struggled for a majority of the race. In the weeks leading up to Sunday's race, I managed to destroy my back doing yard work for the future father in-law (which put me out of commission for almost a week), and I used my "winding down" week before the race to eat whatever my heart desired and only run one day.

Needless to say, I was slightly worried.

But once that gun sounded, my buddy Rick and I hit the road together. Even though I had an entire playlist set up to listen to as we ran, I pulled the earphones out after a couple miles and stuffed them in my pocket - deciding that I'd rather talk to and joke around with Rick. And that's what we just did - we talked with other runners, made jokes about roadkill and just did a great job keeping our minds occupied with things other than how bad our hammies were burning.

Unbeknownst to me, every time I would encounter someone I recognized (fellow runner or enthusiastic fan), my legs would magically move faster! Just seeing familiar faces was a nice break to the pothole-ridden pavement and half dead trees that I saw for the majority of the 13.1 miles. With a little under a mile to go, I turned to Rick and let him know that he was free to release the hounds and finish strong since my legs weren't moving too fast by the time the last mile rolled around. After he took off and I made my way closer to the finish line, the cheering from the crowd and seeing the huge "FINISH" banner stirred up some fire within me and I managed to "sprint" the rest of the way. (It felt like I was finishing quite strong, but it may not have actually happened that way.)

When all was said and done, I beat my worst time and finished at 2:28:56. As I assumed before we even started, my sister Erin smoked me by over 17 minutes. Maybe I'll get her next time :) From here, I plan to stay on task and ride the tidal wave of motivation into this month of May in hopes of chipping away at the number of pounds I want to lose before the wedding. Let's see how it goes!