Today marks the end of the first year since I laced up a new pair of running shoes and started the C25K running plan. A running plan designed to take a complete couch potato and get them to the stage where they can run 5Km (3.1 miles) at a time.

I had just turned 38 the previous week and after evaluating my weight (230 lbs) and fitness, I had decided I wanted to be in the best shape of my life by the time I turned 40. I wanted to lose at least 50 lbs and I figured 2 years would be a good start. I had tried running in the past and only stuck with for 3-4 weeks. I had tried to lose weight in the past, but would usually stall after losing the first 10-15 lbs and then I would gain it back. I was determine to not repeat the cycle again this time around!

Even now when I think back to those early days, I’m amazed at how far I’ve managed to come. At the start, I could barely run 60 seconds, and now I just did an 18-mile long run this past Sunday. I was able to lose 50 lbs by the end of 2006, and while I haven’t lost any more in the last 6 months, I’ve kept it off.

Here are some of my accomplishments:

The following chart shows my daily runs since finishing the C25K plan:

The following chart shows my weekly mileage since finishing the C25K plan:

When I started running, my only goal was to lose weight. Since starting though, I have managed to set new goals for myself. I initially wanted to run a marathon around now, June 2007, but I realized that I would not be properly prepared and even though the general advice for first-time marathoners is to just finish, I can never be satisfied with that. My goal is run a sub 4-hr marathon. I don’t know if that is even a possibility, but it’s something I need to strive for and work towards.

On my long runs, I actually spend a lot of time thinking about why I’m there running and what motivates me. I think the answer is improvement. There are three ways I can improve:

• Lose weight
• Run further
• Run faster

As long as I see an improvement in one of those areas, I’m motivated to go out running the following week. In the beginning, I would see improvements in all three at the same time….oh how I miss those beginner days. Now I still see improvements, but it tends to come in just one of those areas. Today, it’s running further as I gradually increase my weekly mileage and my long runs.

The other motivating factor I have right now is knowing that every day that passes, I’m one day closer to the Chicago marathon. I can’t say that I enjoy running and as matter of fact, if given a choice between going for a run at 5 am or sleeping an extra 2 hours, I would much rather sleep the extra two hours. I’m too competitive with myself though and I know I wouldn’t be satisfied with my marathon performance unless I gave it my very best attempt.

I haven’t lost any weight recently, but this week, one year after I managed to set goals for myself to lose weight, I’m setting new goals. I really want to lose another 20lbs to get down to 160. I’m going to resume tracking everything I eat and ensure I maintain a calorie deficit so I can lose about 2 lbs a week.

There is a website I monitor on a regular basis called SlickDeals where people post various deals out there. Two weeks ago, a deal was posted for a BowFlex at Amazon.com. It was on sale for $600, but there was a coupon code you could use to get a $200 discount and it included free shipping. The deal was even better because Amazon.com would send you a $100 gift certificate in about 6-8 weeks. For $400 out of pocket and a net cost of $300, my wife and I couldn’t resist.

The BowFlex came less than a week after we ordered it. The first problem we had was where to put it. It’s unbelievable, we have a 3,500 sq ft house and have no where for the BowFlex!

We decided to put it in our media room. We already had an elliptical trainer in there. The BowFlex is kind of big though and while it is open, it actually blocks part of our screen. Here are some pictures of it:

Our media room has thus now become our media room/exercise room. If you look to the far right, you see the elliptical trainer:

I realize I can’t do any lower body work, but I think I’m going to some arm and upper body work 3 days a week.  I’ll do it on Mon and Fri which are rest days and on Wed which is a recovery day.

For the past week or so, I seem to have been struggling with my running, having to take walking breaks which is rather rare for me.

My kids and wife have had the cold for the last couple weeks, but until the last few days, I was fine.  I’m hoping that the reason I’m struggling is because I’m not 100% healthy.  E.g. today I woke up with a sore throat, but that’s the only symptom I’ve had so far…no sneezing or runny nose.  I went out for an easy 4-5 mile run and about 0.25 miles into the run, I came pretty close to vomiting.   I pushed on and took it half-mile at a time and eventually ran 4.5 miles

Yesterday was supposed to be an 8-mile run with 4 miles at tempo pace.  It was tough and after about 3 miles I was starting to wonder if I should abandon the run.  I took a few walking breaks and turned the speed workout into a fartlek.  Like today, I ran it half-mile at a time.  I’d run a quarter-mile at tempo pace and do a quarter-mile recovery walk/jog.  I managed to repeat that until I did the 8-miles.

Sunday was a medium-long run of 12 miles.  This is the longest I’ve ever run, but I’ve done that distance about 4 other times.  I ran it an average 10:15 min/mile pace.  It’s not my slowest for the distance, but the last time I ran 12 miles, I did it at a 9:55 min/mile pace.

I have an easy 8-mile run tomorrow.  I’ll see how it goes.  If I struggle through it, I may abandon my Saturday run and take an extra rest day.

I’m hoping I’m struggling because I have (or am getting) the cold.

I am so focused on my training plan, I made my plan into a JPEG and I’m using it as the background on my desktop. This way, I can see what I need to running whenever I use my computer.

Since I have a quad-monitor setup, I pretty much see the plan whenever I’m using the computer, regardless of how many windows I have open