Stop USED to BEING something....



1992

When I graduated from high school back in 1992 I weighed 242 pounds.  During my high school years and even before, my mother would encourage me to eat better and take care of myself.  My mom has always exercised and been conscious of keeping in shape but it never seemed to rub off on me.  After high school I was around home more during the day and she would help me plan out my lunch when I was attending college.

At home after a Hulls Gulch ride 1993

In the spring on 1993 I got serious about eating right and I took my mountain bike with me to school everyday for exercise and to help me cross campus quickly.  Many times after school I would take my bike to the foothills and ride the Hulls Gulch loop or the Table Rock loop.  My mom was going to Jenny Craig at the time and they said I could use their scale for my official weigh in every week.  They all got a kick out of me coming in there and were amazed at my results.  Over the course of two short months I lost about 60 pounds and got down to 180.  When I joined the Navy in May of 1994 I was 175.  Over the course of the next 7 years I gained it all back plus another nearly 80 by 2001.  All a result of not taking care of myself and not paying attention to my health.  

Fall 1993

Summer 1993

Over the course of those 7 years I started many stories with, "I used to..."  I was usually talking about how I used to ride my bike all over the foothills and was in really great shape.  Or when I used to be an awesome water skier. 

I remember feeling ashamed saying I used to be good at anything given my situation at the time but never did anything to change.  Between 2001 and 2009 I was about the same weight.  I can't tell for sure because we didn't have a scale.  The only time I remember my weight was when I stood on the rock scale at Victory Greens Nursery one day when we were buying landscaping materials  in 2003 and I was 298 pounds.

Spring 2008

When I decided to make the commitment to get in shape in 2009 I remember thinking I needed to make some new memories so I could stop recalling those days so long ago.  I have done lots of fun and amazing things since I started getting back in shape to replace those I used to stories. 

Boston and Bear

I was in my bathroom the other day and noticed something that made me smile.  I have my St. George Marathon, Lake Lowell Marathon, and Pocatello 50 miler race medals hanging on the corner of my mirror and they are collecting dust and cobwebs.

On the counter, my Boston Marathon medal is proudly displayed in a ziploc sandwich bag that sits on top of my Bear 100 miler plaque that is stuffed in a Walmart bag and surrounded by junk.

Medals with cobwebs...

I say it made me smile because it was a new reminder that I always need to be moving forward and have a new goal as soon as possible after finishing the last one.  Race medals to me represent a lot of hard work, training and commitment but I don't run races for medals or belt buckles.  I run races to test myself and stay as active as I can. I read a statistic recently that said 95% of people who lose weight gain it back in 3-5 years.  Most people gain it back because they fail to change the behaviors that led to their weight problem in the first place.  I am doing everything I can to stay in the 5% minority, medals or not.








Stop USED TO being something and be something RIGHT NOW!

Wilson Creek Frozen 50K

Who you are....

Interest vs. Commitment

"There's a difference between interest and commitment.  When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient.  When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results." - Unknown

I saw this quote yesterday and it really hit home for me.  People have asked me why I push myself to insane limits, goals, and running distances.  The simple answer, I enjoy doing it.  Most people exercise to stay in shape or lose weight.  That is exactly where I started myself, but over time I began to enjoy what I was doing and it was no longer something I HAD to do but something I WANTED to do.

Having this mindset makes my commitment to my goals easy.  Who wants to join me for a 30 miler on Sunday morning, guaranteed to be a good time!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Quote

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Saw this today and wanted to share.

Runner's World Quote of the Day

If we write our dreams and goals down, we dramatically increase our odds of realization. If we share them with others, they become potent and alive.

Kristin Armstrong, Full Cup, Mile Markers blog, Runner's World.com

Why People Quit

I saw this picture on Sarah's blog, On My Weigh to Happiness, and had to share.

So you had a bad week, learn from it and move on!!  Don't sabotage all of your progress due to a short term setback.  Stick to your plan you can do it!

Daily Mile Annual Summary

This came in my email from Daily Mile showing my yearly totals by month.  It includes all exercise measured in distance so 99% is running and walking.  I thought it would be interesting to memorialize here.

I looked back and found the summary report for 2010 year just out if curiosity.  I joined Daily Mile half way through May and then added my 2010 totals for previous months in June for some reason (which skewed the weekly average. It should be roughly 41 not 63).  So the real numbers are...

Jan-219
Feb-203
Mar-191
Apr-157
May-235
Jun-232. 

Again, it is about 99% running and walking. Not to say I didn't do lots of cross training in both years but it wasn't measured in distance.....

New Goal for Salt Flats - putting in the work

The Runner's World Quote of the Day was a fitting one for me today.

"Running is just you, the work you put in, and the clock. You can't cheat yourself. If you don't put in the miles, you can't go to the starting line thinking you're going to pull a miracle out of nowhere. You get out exactly as much as you put in." ~Desiree Davila

Serious training has officially begun for my next 100. It always takes putting down the money to get me fired up for some reason. My friend Dennis said he expects a 24 hour finish, Emily seconded the motion and said "Ryan shall make it so.." I accept the challenge and will be putting in the work (now that I put the money down☺)

Set a goal, tell everyone who will listen, and stick to your plan, you can do it.

P.S. I expected this of myself before, but now it's just official!!

UPDATE - I made it! 23 hours 43 minutes

Modified Leon Fat A$$ almost 50k

I wasn't going to be able to run the whole 50k if I started with everyone else at 7:15 so I left my house at 4:20 and ran 12 miles to the start of the 50k. Had a good time running with friends and enjoying some sunshine. When my alarm went off I seriously considered going back to bed and then just driving to the start and only doing half.  I pushed myself out of bed and decided to get going however.  After getting my stuff together and eating I opened the front door to find out it was SNOWING!  Now I was REALLY thinking the drive to the start was the better option.  But, I didn't give myself much time to talk myself into it and headed out anyway.  

The snow was blowing in from the side so I had to pull my hat down and dip my head so the flakes wouldn't hit my eyeballs!  The snow quickly broke and then it was just cold without the snow.  We live near the airport and they like to break up the clouds with chemical seeding so it wasn't naturally occurring snow anyway.  Oh well.  

I jaywalked about 30 times on the way down there and one of them was where Vista Avenue crosses the freeway.  Normally this is a busy intersection but at 5am on a Saturday it was a ghost town.  EXCEPT for the cop who was sitting at the gas station on the other side.  I saw him and thought there is no way.  Just after I passed the gas station I hear an engine rev up and the chirp of a police siren.  Are you kidding me?  A jaywalking ticket at this time of day?  I looked over my shoulder and he was heading the other direction but it was kind of funny.

I got down to the start with Dennis and met maybe 15 people in the Fort Boise parking lot and headed out.  We met up with another group that started from a different spot and were on our way. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time!

Glad I got my rear end out of bed today!

My muffin top got a little chafed though, I need to do something about that.

This was a bit more than half of us I think

Trail 5 looking back at town

Dennis

Otto and Christie

Me and Emily

Me demonstrating improper aid station technique



Me and Michelle



Wayne and Jenny with the AID STATION!!

Sparkle



Therapy needed

Ok, I officially need a therapist!!  Plan A, get into Western States and live happily ever after.  Plan B, run a relatively easy Western States qualifier so I can put in next year just in case don't get drawn for Wasatch or DNF. Plan C follow my own advice and dream big and just plan on finishing whatever 100 qualifier I do. The second part of plan C is not settling for a easier 50 mile qualifier.  The race I had been considering was during spring break and I am sure my kids would rather do anything but this.  Hopefully we will be able to join Michelle's family on a trip to the Oregon Coast.  In the meantime I need to get healthy, recharge my batteries, and find a comfortable couch I can lay down on ☺.