Results of my personal project, Spring 2011

I haven't really been updating my post for the last few weeks because:

1) schoolwork and practicum have dominated much of my attention, and

2) I've pretty much given up on the losing 10 pounds portion of my personal project.

Immediately after finishing the marathon, I came home and weighed myself to find that I had lost 7 pounds within a period of about 7 hours. Of course, the rest of that day and the next day, I did the least amount of moving possible, partnered with non-stop eating of everything I wanted. I ended up with a post weigh-in gain of 10 pounds, which gave me a net weight gain of 3 pounds, the night after the marathon.

Things have leveled off afterwards, and currently, I weigh pretty much what I did at the start of this semester. I'm starting to get the feeling that some of my friends are getting sick of me talking about the marathon, if it happens to be brought up in conversation, and as far as weight loss goes I'm essentially back at square one. I have to admit that I had not publicly proclaimed my weight loss goal as much as I had for the pending marathon. That being said, while I didn't really have people in my life cheering me on for the goal of shedding pounds, one of my most vocal supporters for the endurance race was easily Michelle Miranda. Not only did she drag 2 other people out into the adverse weather conditions during the Sunday afternoon of the big event, but she also repeatedly encouraged me beforehand and praised me afterwards. Completing that 26.2 mile run felt like an even bigger accomplishment because of her support.

As for reasons for not being able to achieve the weight loss goal, I think it was mostly because of my on again, off again (mostly on again) love affair with food. I can clock in a significant 60-90 minute workout any day of the week, but I can easily turn around and polish off an entire chicken plate from Dino's or a carne asada burrito from King Taco, without thinking twice about my meal's impact on my weight loss goals. Well, I do take it into consideration, but I really don't feel bad about it because I know I can go home and bike for an hour or play ball with my friends on the weekend. Despite my eating habits, I think I'm fairly active when it comes to exercise, but at this point in my life, one does not seem to offset the other enough to really make the needle on the scale go one way or the other.

The other members of my family in my household are not overweight like me, and my parents do have a regular schedule of gym time, but I am still the most physically active person in my house, by far. So, I can say that we don't share similar weight loss goals. While I do have a few friends who could lose a few extra pounds, they mostly don't have the level of motivation to want to do something about it when I do have that motivation. Basically, another challenge is that I have difficulty finding people around me who share similar goals and weekly schedules.

A third barrier I have identified is the pattern of nearly stopping any efforts of healthy eating or staying physically active whenever school work starts to pile up and the deadlines get closer and closer. This is basically a time management issue because a well structured pattern or routine should be more resistant to stressful situations like school or work. Doing a better job of including healthy meals and exercise may even improve or benefit my management of some of those stressful situations. So, that is definitely something that I need to be more aware of and continue to work on.

Despite my lack of progress in the weight loss department, I did learn some things about my own personal motivations to make healthy changes in my life. Also, as a result of Dr. A's demand at the beginning of the semester for me to abandon my sheepish approach to registering for the LA Marathon and "just do it", I ended up achieving one of my near-term life goals, which was to run and complete the LA Marathon before I turn 30 years old (I have about 5 months left). Many people have asked me whether I'll be doing it again next year, but we'll just have to see. I'll have numerous opportunities to best my uncle's marathon times before I match his current age of 54, so whether it's next year or 1o years from now, I will eventually want to run another one.

update update update 4/12

So, I ran the marathon.

In the weeks leading up to the big day, I could have told you that any number of things would happen in life's attempt to make things like running a marathon even more difficult than it is. Although it was not really a huge surprise that obstacles were going to present themselves, I would've never guessed how exactly it was going to go down. I ended up getting sick about 2 weeks before the marathon. I never get sick. I honestly don't think I've been really sick for over 2 years. But, I am attributing this to the dentist visit that resulted in having to take antibiotics, which probably weakened my otherwise usually dependable immune system. That little episode killed about a week of training. After that, I started to develop a very uncomfortable tightening in a muscle in my left leg, which prevented me from running for longer than 30-40 minutes without taking a break. This muscle cramping/tightening continued for the last two weeks, all the way through the marathon.

The night before the race, I found out that the weather forecasts all confirmed rain for the next day. I ran out to the closest store that would be open at 10:00pm, Walmart, only to find that they were sold out of rain ponchos, but I ended up finding one at CVS. The morning of the race, I woke up at 4:00am to have some breakfast before getting ready to head out. Oatmeal with milk and plain yogurt, strawberries, red grapes, bananas, green apples, dried cranberries, and sliced almonds. I ate as much as I could and got ready for the car ride to Dodger Stadium. It rained moderately all the way there. I found out that the cars were all lined up on the 5 freeway, waiting to get off the exit to go up to the starting line. The starting time crept closer and closer, so I decided to jump out of the car (my dad was driving) and run the last 3 miles up to the starting area, before the race even started. It stopped raining at that moment, so I thought at least the earlier part of the race would be somewhat dry, but I was wrong. It started raining as our section of people started moving, and not only did it not let up for the entire race, it rained ridiculously hard at times, even horizontally. My leg started tightening about 2 hours into the race, and it persisted for the next 3 days. I ended up finishing in about 7 hours 2 minutes, not my estimated finishing time, but a finishing time nonetheless.

I could barely move the next day, except for getting up to eat or go to the bathroom. For the next week, I carried my finishing medal around with me in my pocket, not to show off to people, but more to remind myself why I was in so much pain. It was one of the toughest things, both physically and mentally, that I've ever done in my life, and I think there have been few times in my life when I felt as accomplished as this. I'm glad I did it, but for now I wish people would stop asking me when I'm going to start training for my next marathon.

Spring Break!

This week has consisted of mainly catching up with some practicum related work, and of course some anticipation/minor anxiety related to the countdown to this Sunday!

I still don't feel quite 100% after being sick a few weeks ago, but my friend gave me a pair of knee-high compression socks that are supposed to help improve the venous blood flow from the lower parts of the legs, reducing symptoms of cramping and fatigue. I think I'll try them out for a short run either tonight or tomorrow.

I have made a short shopping list of things that I will be eating in order to carb load, in preparation for the race.

1. spaghetti with tomato sauce

2. mixed baby green salad with cherry tomatoes

3. oatmeal made with skim milk and plain yogurt

4. grapes

5. banana

6. strawberries

7. almonds

8. raisins

Being sick is no fun

After my little dentist fiasco, I had to take the antibiotics, and I think it led to me getting sick as a result of my weakened immune system. I basically couldn't do much of anything that week, and I barely even got to class.

In order to stick to my training plan for the marathon, I will be trying to follow up my previous 10 mile milestone with a 15 mile run, and eventually, a 20 mile run that I am hoping to do about 4-5 days before the big day. In between the distance runs, I am planning to do some strength training and periodic interval training.

It does not help that there seems to be friends' birthdays about every week, with celebrations at places like Yardhouse, but playing basketball on Sunday mornings with friends does help break up the monotony in running multiple times each week :)

Stuff that happened this week

These weeks are going by fast.

At this point I almost want to just give up on my stupid weight loss goal because it basically hasn't changed, even though I feel like I'm in the best running shape of my life right now. But, I'm going to make changes to try to affect this, like making more of an effort to improve my eating habits than I have been.

So last weekend on Saturday, I went over to my local water feature at Lake Balboa to hit another milestone for my marathon training. I ran 10 miles, and it took about 2 hours and 10 minutes. In the beginning, for about 30 minutes it was raining/drizzling too. I felt good for the first hour and half, but my legs started getting a bit sore after that. By the end of my run, except for my legs, I felt like I could've kept going a lot longer than I did. Afterwards, I went to one of my favorite sandwich spots and finished a whole sandwich for lunch, but about an hour later I started getting hungry again. Maybe I should've ordered a horse. It was a good run.

Last week I also went in for a routine dentist check up. I found out I had to go in for a procedure this week because there was a complication from something I had to have done a long time ago. So on Monday I spent a couple hours at the dentist and it resulted in some stitches inside my mouth, some swelling that is still noticeable today after 3 days, and having to take antibiotics and ibuprofen for another 4 days or so. Needless to say, this has put a hamper pretty much any training for most of this week. I think my body has recovered from the 10 mile run last week, so I might try some light running or even some hill training today before heading out to class.

On an unrelated note, when I am home in the evening, a little after it gets dark, my dog Mimi starts barking to let me know that she's hungry and wants some food. Last night, it got close to 10:00pm and I didn't hear anything. I don't know exactly how old she is because we got her after she was given away by a family who didn't want to take care of her anymore, but I do know she's been showing signs of age, like less energy and reduced hearing. So, I went outside with a bowl of food and looked for her but she wouldn't come out of wherever she was in the backyard. I went over to her little dog house and it looked like she was sleeping in there so I tapped on the house a couple times and she wouldn't move. I sat there looking at her for a minute and it didn't look like she was breathing. When I reached over to try to wake her up, I immediately felt a cold, familiar, stiffness....familiar because I've had a dog that passed away before. I really loved the way she would play with me for hours and chase after the tennis ball seemingly all day long. I'll always remember the way her tongue would hang out of her mouth and she would drool after we ran around for a bit, how her legs would twitch and mimic running while she was sleeping, how she found my dad's lost reading glasses in the garden and waited at the door in the morning with them in her mouth, and the quirky things she would do when she would try to get comfortable in a particular spot or when she tried not to get wet when it was raining. I miss her already.

It is done.

I am officially registered for the 2011 LA Marathon!

Week 4

This weekend, I was able to make some progress despite the inevitable food-fest that is Superbowl Sunday.

On Friday, I woke up to the sound of my phone that ended up being the call that started what will eventually become my practicum experience for the MPH program :). I felt pretty good after that, so before I headed out to HSA to meet with group members, I decided to go for a bike ride. I didn't have a particular destination picked out, but I ended up logging about 8 miles after about 45 minutes. After I got back from HSA, I felt like I needed to do some road work before the weekend officially kicked into gear, so I decided to go running late in the afternoon that same day. This casual jog turned into a solid hour run. I need to point out that it really sucked to smell people cooking steak in their kitchen while I ran through their neighborhood.

The next day, Saturday, I had already committed to going on another MPH hike to Echo Mountain in Altadena. Despite my exercise from the previous day, I wasn't feeling sore or tired at all, so I thought it would be a nice, fun change of pace to contribute to my conditioning. Others in our group told me that our planned hike was estimated to be a ~4 hour hike. It was a much steeper climb in elevation than our other recent MPH hikes, and since it was fairly sunny, we all really worked up a sweat by the time we reached the top. However, the hike back down, which is usually much easier than going up, ended up being anything but that. Long story short, the dude in our group who was "experienced" with this particular hike decided that we would make our way down faster if we took a "shortcut" which "didn't look so tough." The descent took almost 3 hours and I could barely walk by the time we got to the bottom. Our 4 hour hike turned into a 6 hour treacherous expedition. It turned out that the unmarked trail that we followed was about a 70% grade down the side of the mountain. That was Saturday. It's now Tuesday night and I'm still uncomfortably sore. That day was easily one of the most physically demanding days of my life. I'm sure that this experience has helped better prepare me for another 5-6 hour endurance test in the near future...

Anyway, since then I've gone through a 90 minute dim sum bonanza, 3 hours of Superbowl fatty cuisine, and more undisciplined consumption of deliciousness. I really want to squeeze in some weight training this week before the weekend comes up, but I'll really have to stick to some strict time management with schoolwork, practicum, personal stuff, etc. to get that in there.

look closely and you can see the others making their way down the mountain

Progress for week ending 1/29

This week I got to go running a few times, ranging from 20-30 minutes.

Yesterday, I went to Lake Balboa and I biked for 7.5 miles, which took about 45 minutes. The hope was that I could map out a course around the area, so that I could come back later to run it, and I would know the distance/time I would be doing. I overshot the park area and ended up taking a 2.6 mile detour, which became part of the 7.5 miles that I biked. I was hoping to return to the Lake today to actually run it, but it was raining, so maybe I'll do it tomorrow.

Next to the lake itself, I had to dodge and weave a bit around roller bladers and kids on their training wheeled bikes, but it was still a nice day for a good ride.

"Obstacles" to Success

This semester seems to have really kicked into gear now. Not only are initial deadlines for various assignments getting closer and closer, many of the personal/professional things I need to accomplish at this point in my life are also tapping me on the shoulder asking for some attention.

Anyway, during my brief stint as a furniture mover last week, I seem to have hurt some muscle in my back, and I've been periodically writhing in discomfort for the better part of this last week. Despite that, I did go hiking at Escondido Falls with MPH homies on Friday, get in a 30 min. run on Saturday, and go hiking at Eaton Canyon with other MPH homies.

I haven't been particularly strict with my attempt at healthier eating in conjunction with my training. But, I did get a haircut over the weekend, so bonus point for losing some hair weight and becoming more aerodynamic?

The tension in my back prevented me from doing much of anything besides attending lecture during the rest of this week so far, but since it's bearable right now, I'm gonna go running. I mean, I'm gonna warm up, stretch, and then go running right now.

Making Time

Last night, my services were required to help some relatives of mine in lifting and moving some really heavy boxes, shelves, and a refrigerator, from 4:00-9:30pm. I am mildly sore this morning, so I guess it would have to do for my workout for yesterday. But, one helpful thing that came from my brief moonlighting as a mover, was the fact that my uncle was there too. To my knowledge, he's run the LA Marathon at least 4 times, and he's over 50 years old. It's pretty clear to me that he has been one of my primary inspirations in recent years for planting that initial marathon seed in me. I decided to pick his brain a bit and gather some pearls of wisdom while I had the chance. He told me about:

1. The importance of stretching.
2. Building speed and endurance through interval training or hill training.
3. Making sure to run a longer distance of 18-20 miles at least once, possibly twice or more, before the marathon comes up.

The benefits of the first two are obvious, but he told me the third tip would prepare my body for that type of running and my body would start to adapt to the longer distances better. Makes sense...but still intimidating to do to say the least.

I had some things to take care of before class today, but I really felt like I had to do at least a little bit of running to start the day, so I went for a 20 minute jog around the hood. The new shoes felt great. I totally forgot what a huge difference it could make to have newer shoes. I totally had a spring in my stride! I live about a block away from an elementary school, so when I was about 2 corners away from getting back to my home, I saw what looked like a bright red poop on the sidewalk getting closer and closer. As I stepped over it, I realized that that color comes on one thing and one thing only. It was a Hot Cheeto puff. Oh nutrition, the interesting ways you send me reminders about you.

Initial Thoughts

So, this is the beginning of my personal improvement assignment for PM562.

The things I've decided to try to accomplish during the course of this semester include:

1. Register and participate in the 2011 LA Marathon.
2. Lose 10 lbs by the end of the semster, which would be April 29? (last day of instruction).

The first one seems easy enough...well, I mean the registration part. I think some mental preparation will certainly be necessary, in addition to a disciplined approach to physical conditioning for the event. I will need to think, act, eat, and train like a marathon runner. It makes sense that the first goal and its success will possibly help contribute to achieving the second goal.

I don't think anybody would disagree with the idea that behavior change can be a difficult endeavor. I will need to make some changes during the course of this semester to help achieve these goals too.

This isn't really a behavioral change, but my running shoes are fairly worn out, so I got a fresh new pair for my training :)