Chimeric Dream

My multi-faceted reverie

Posts Tagged ‘doing life’

Not going to make it…

22 Jan 2011

… to 10 miles for the week that is. I blame this:

The sidewalk on the way to Holcom Rec Center


and this:

And this is what I had to run through to get to that sidewalk...


Still, it wasn’t a completely bad night for running… except when you consider that my phone lost its data connection 5 minutes in and I couldn’t get my Pandora tunes to load. Plus, my run-mapping app wouldn’t upload my run data, so I had to write it down the old fashioned way.

Oh yeah, and there was someone on the treadmill already… I just could not win tonight. Here are the numbers from my jog to/from Holcom:

Walk/jog to Holcom Rec Center

0.41mi, 5:50min, 14:13 min/mi pace
MapMyRun workout

Walk/jog home from Holcom

0.74mi, 11:35min, 15:42 min/mi pace
MapMyRun workout

Total:

1.15mi, 17:25min, 15:08 min/mi pace

Not terrible… but I really need to find a treadmill on Craigslist. The only question is, where the hell would I put it?

And now to go entertain the friends I’ve got coming over. I think I’ll post something embarrassing about Nick and Emily at some point in the future. They’re good kids, those two. ;)

Starting another semester

19 Jan 2011

As I get ready to start the next (and possibly hardest) step in my college journey, I want to bring you (the people of the interwebs who may visit this site in the future… though not necessarily the three people who currently read my blog) up to speed.

After coming back to school in Fall 2008, I have taken 14 classes totaling 51 credit hours. It’s not quite a full-time load, but by taking summer classes I am managing to stay relatively on track. In addition to just taking classes, I have been admitted to KU’s School of Engineering as a Computer Science major.

In the Spring ’11 semester, I may have my biggest challenges yet. I am taking 3 classes for 11 credit hours – nearly full time – while working my full-time job at KU, working with Nick on Eternal Second projects (I need to write an update about how that’s picking up as well!), and increasing the amount of freelance work that I am doing. Sadly, I’m not taking easy classes; one of them has been described to me as the “hardest class I will have in my entire time at KU”.

But I’m going to do it. I will kick ass this semester – and probably have a minor break down at least once. At the end of it, I know I will come out the victor.

So that’s the latest on the school front. If all goes well and stays on track, I should be graduating at the end of the Spring ’13 semester. That’s right, only two years to go!

Catch you later.

Ow ow ow

18 Jan 2011

My legs aren’t waiting till tomorrow to let me know they are unhappy with me… it will be interesting to see how standing all day at work goes tomorrow.

Tonight’s numbers:

Walk/jog to Holcom Rec Center

0.32mi, 5:27min, 15:23 min/mi pace
MapMyRun workout

Treadmill

3.05mi, 40:00min, 13:06 min/mi pace
MapMyRun workout

Walk/jog home from Holcom

0.36mi, 5:32min, 14:40 min/mi pace
MapMyRun workout

Today’s total

3.73mi, 50:59min, 13:40 min/mi pace

And I have to say, it felt damn good when the treadmill clicked over the 3 mile mark and I knew I had run for more than half of it.

See you tomorrow… or maybe Wednesday. We’ll see.

Time to put up or shut up

15 Jan 2011

So I have been putting off this post for a couple weeks now, but to help me keep myself accountable I think it’s time.

As my close friends and family already know, I have a ridiculously low body image. By no means am I a huge person, but I have always thought of myself as “big”, “fat”, or any number of negative words.

A few months ago, I saw a video by a guy named Ben Davis. Ben was a regular guy who played too many video games, ate too much, and worked out too little. Over time, he got big, and then one day he started running. I won’t get into his story too much, but I encourage you to watch the video and follow his blog.

Ben’s story is a lot like mine… I have spent years exercising too little, eating too much, and generally feeling sorry for myself while saying “I’ll start working out/running/swiming/exercising more next week/month/year”. When I saw the progress Ben has made, it inspired me. I won’t lie… I cried when I watched that video, and bawl pretty much every time I re-watch it.

But what got to me the most is this: Ben has come down to a little under my current weight. That’s right, a guy who runs marathons and Ironman triatholons weighs close to the same as me (a little under, but we won’t worry about that). What does that say about me? It made me realize that I don’t have to lose tons of weight (even though it would be nice sometimes) to be in shape.

I’ve started running now, and I have been at it for about two weeks. I’ve already had one slump of laziness, but I’m signing up for some 5k races in the next few months, so hopefully that will help me stay motivated. Do I think I’ll ever run an Ironman? Maybe. It would be pretty damn cool to do that, but at this point, I’m just hoping that I can run a 10k by early- or mid-summer. After that, we’ll just have to see.

So here are my “starting stats”. I didn’t take any pictures or get on the scale two weeks ago, because actually knowing my weight and seeing pictures of myself are some of the hardest things I can do. But it’s high time I stopped feeling sorry for myself and kicked my own ass into gear to get better. My true goal is to be able to say, at some point in the future, “I am proud of myself and happy with my body.” I’m not there yet, but maybe someday…

Me on 1/15/2011

Weight: 251.5 lbs
BMI: 37
Water Weight: 45%

Me on 1/15/2011

Me: 1/15/2011


Weight at 251.5 pounds on 1/15/2011

Weight: 1/15/2011


BMI at 37 1/15/2011

BMI: 1/15/2011


Water weight at 45% on 1/15/2011

Water weight: 1/15/2011

End of the week run and totals

15 Jan 2011

Let me be blunt… I really didn’t want to run this morning. So, instead of running my planned 2 miles, I ran almost 2.5 miles, and I have to be honest: I feel proud that I did. My feet and legs hurt and hate me right now, but what do they know?

As a side note, I went for a walk on Thursday, but I forgot to post the link, so here it is: Thursday’s walk with my dog, Orion.

Today’s route is a bit bigger (like, almost 5x bigger) than Thursday’s. Not too shabby: 2.36mi, 31:40, 13:22/mi pace.

Saturday’s route

Weekly totals

Wednesday: 2.07mi
Thursday: 0.48mi
Saturday: 2.36mi
Total: 4.91mi

Not terrible for a week early on, especially since I got lazy for the first half of the week.

Going for a total of 10 miles next week.

Say “hi” to my mom

13 Jan 2011

So, for the two or three of you who actually read/subscribe to my blog, I want to mention that I’ve given my mom the address and even set up her email account to get my posts. So Mom, say hello to the world; world, say hello to my mom!

My mom and a pirate

Scared of nothin'... except maybe losing her fanny pack.

A few notes about my mom:

  • She loves her fanny packs
  • She’s awesome
  • She is one of the strongest people I have ever met
  • She’s only a few months away from totally kicking the shit out of breast cancer

So there you have it: my mother in a nutshell. Say “hi” to the internet now, Mom! (and I apologize in advance for the occasional foul language… you know me.)

Edit: Mom, if you want me to show you how to comment on my blog (since you read via your email), let me know and I’ll stop by next time I’m up in KC.

Holy crap it’s cold outside

13 Jan 2011

So after not running since Saturday morning (weather and laziness got to me… sue me), I ran just over two miles today. 13:30 mile, which isn’t bad, all things considered. At this rate, I’ll do about a 40 minute 5k in a couple weeks.

Let’s see if I can get that down to a 35 minute 5k, shall we?

MapMyRun Workout

Not a great run

8 Jan 2011

I forgot my inhaler, my earmuffs/hat, and my gloves… the original plan called for ~2 miles, but I only made it through ~.9 before I called it quits.

MapMyRun Workout