6/19 - 2.65mi , 9'28"/mi, 511 cal
6/20 - 3.87mi , 9'06"/mi, 746 cal

Long weekend of drum corps ahead. Might get a run in tomorrow evening depending on when I get home, but most likely won't get another run in until Tuesday.

Day 2?? Crap...

Ok, so a couple posts ago I declared that my marathon training had begun and I'd be posting frequent updates with my runs and weight loss etc. Apparently I'm a complete liar! I obviously haven't updated in awhile and the marathon training? Horrible! I've been running sporadically at best. A couple runs here and there, but nothing consistent. The motivation just wasn't there. I'd get home from work and decide the weather was too crappy for running or last week I worked nights so it was too late to run by the time I got home. What?? No. Those are all rediculous excuses!
Thankfully over the last few days some events have occured which have really spurred the motivation. Last Thurday I was getting ready for work and tossed on a nice pair of black dress pants only to bend over to tie my shoes and rip the pants wide open. Not much is more humbling than demolishing one of your few remaining pairs of dress pants and not having much else to wear because half of the ones you own don't fit anymore. So with the combination of that and actually having to go clothes shopping last week and buy pants one size larger it really hit home that I need to get my butt in gear. The other event that occurred over the weekend that has really been helpful to me is that it finally feels like summer outside! I feel SO good when I get back from a run and I am completely drenched in sweat. I really feel like I've accomplished something. I don't get that same accomplished feeling when it's cool and I hardly sweat. Maybe a little weird. Bring on the 90's already!! So with that...

6/16 - 2.69mi , 8'49"/mi , 517cal
6/17 - 2.65mi, 8'37"/mi , 511cal

I know these runs aren't long, but due to my slothfulness I have to start my training program from square one. The bright part about todays run is that it was my best cumulative pace for a run, even including the runs from running frenzy two years ago

Ok I'm not sure how much I've run this week since I was poor at keeping track. But TODAY I ran 8 miles!! Yeesh! That's a long run! I hit my first wall at around the 4 1/2 mile mark and another at about mile 6 1/2, but I finished strong. I was able to keep my average at around 9'30" per mile too, which is awesome. I still have a long ways to go however.

Weigh in: 252.2 Progress!!!

The first day

Ok so do you all remember wayyyy back to my last post when I was talking about my trip to Rome? Well, it's cancelled. As much as I REALLY want to go, my employment is very week to week at this point and I don't know what the future holds. So I decided to postpone that trip for now. Who knows, maybe if things look more secure in the coming months I'll re-book it.

In other news, after tomorrow I'll have officially gone one full month as a vegetarian. A vegetarian you say? Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Why?? Well, it wasn't a moral objection, nor do I intend in staying a vegetarian, far from it. In fact I've already talked with some friends and we're going out for steak on Thursday night in celebration. For me, this experience was a simple test of willpower. I'll admit it wasn't always easy, but it was much easier accomplished than I figured it would be. Really, to be a vegetarian you don't always have to eat a salad or even vegetables for that fact. Hell, you don't even need to be healthy. Pasta! Beans! Fruit! Cheese! (I didn't go vegan) There are plenty of options out there. And let me tell you a little secret, those Boca spicy chicken patties are amazing!!

And now for the biggest news item of this update, in a rather impulsive decision (much like buying a Wii a couple weeks ago) I signed up for the Twin Cities marathon. A marathon??!! Yeah I know. For someone who's only run a few 5k's, a marathon is a HUGE step. But I'm committed to this. As a result of this, this blog is going to turn into my workout / weight loss blog. I'll be updating weekly with how much I've run and how muchweight I've lost. I figure if I make everything public it will assist in the motivation. Because really, who wants to be seen a failure in the public eye? Besides, it worked really well for me last time I blogged my weight loss journey and helped me acheive some fantastic results.

So here are my main goals in this realm over the next 5 months:
Finish marathon (mini goal - in under 4 hours)
Weight down to the ~200 range (10lbs a month)

I need to figure out a nice prize to myself for completing those goals. Any ideas? When I was able to accomplish dropping from 265 to 205 a couple years ago I congratulated myself with a nice big HDTV...which probably helped me gain most of the weight back, but still. It's a damn nice present to myself. Any ideas? (not a trip to Rome. Be more original than that!)

First weight in
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256.5
http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/?l=training,1757377386

Fly, Fly Away

It's done! I've placed the deposit on my trip to Rome this October. I will fly into Italy on the morning on October 5th and fly back on the 11th. I was kicking around a few other intersting ideas such as travelling to Japan or climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, but Rome was a wiser financial decision and plus I'd rather do a once-in-a-lifetime trip like Kilamanjaro with someone else. I was also hoping for a longer trip, but since I don't earn paid time off at this point, longer than a week would be way too expensive.

I'm also in the market for a new Ipod right now. My Nano isn't terribly old at a little under 4 years, by I've used that thing so much the battery life is horrible on it. I lose at least half the battery on my train ride in the morning and if I listen to it on the way home, it's almost dead. which means if I want to go for a run with it, I need to plug it in and wait awhile before I can go. And my motivation drops with each minute I sit on the couch. I don't know if I want to just get an ipod classic or shell out a little more and get the shiny ipod touch. Decisions, decisions...

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Man what a gorgeous day today huh? I felt bad for all the sucker who had to work all afternoon. After work I drug my butt outside for a run, then took an hour nap and went back outside for a walk since it was still light out. It needs to be nice like this more often!

In other news, my passport arrived in the mail yesterday so I'm now busy trying to plan my trip. I still haven't decided exactly where I'm going to go yet. I have a few ideas other than Rome I'm kicking around. But nothing final.

New Music Saturday!

I added 5 new songs to my playlist today! I hope everyone enjoys them and perhaps finds a new artist they like. I've reached the 100 song maximum on my playlist so rather than creating a completely new playlist, I'm just going to start deleting from the bottom since people probably don't venture that far down anyways.

Tonight I decided I was going to walk over to Sweeney's and have some food and drinks and chat it up with complete strangers. Upon arriving however, the place was absolutely packed! A crowded bar at 9pm on a Saturday night? Who'd have thought?! So I walked down to The Muddy Pig and...same thing. Packed. After that rejection I just gave up on the whole idea and walked home. On my way home however I saw something pretty cool. There was a guy walking 4 small dogs on leases with two unleashed cats prancing along behind the group. It was like Dr. Doolittle or something! There were probably birds following this guy too, but it was dark so I didn't see them. haha