Monday-fleeing the fat man

Greetings to all.

I've decided to try to run the Mercedes Half here in B'ham about a month from now. I will be doing it in survival mode. Susan has not been able to train adequately and I am going to run in her place since she is raising money for the Bell Center (see link at right). Of course, I have not been training for a half marathon so we'll just see how it goes. This is a hilly course and I may resort to walking on the uphills. The best part of the race is that every finisher in the half and full marathon qualifies for a chance to win a new mercedes SUV. And there is one heck of a party afterwards with BBQ and mucho fluid replacement.

I actually lost 1 pound over the weekend. I know it doesn't sound like much but considering the weekend is when I do my "heavy" eating, I'm pretty pleased about it! I've been watching my intake and trying to control portion size based on my WeightWatcher training. I am sitting here at my desk at work during lunch hour eating my small can of tuna, 2 dozen pretzels, 5 ginger snaps, and diet soda. That's about a 6 point lunch for those of you familiar with counting points.

I ran last Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Monday was tough because it was New Year's eve and I had lots of things on my mind but I did 4 miles.

Wednesday was the kind of day when you really want to stay inside. We had been having normal weather for Alabama-low to mid 50s. Well, old man winter struck with fury on Wednesday. The temp never got over 30 and there were 20-30 mph winds. By the time I got home from work, stretched and headed outside, the temp was 28 degrees and the wind was NASTY. It was doubly tough since I live on top of a ridge and the wind just seems to cut you in half. I managed a measely 3 miler and called it quits.

Thursday was almost the same as Wednesday except the wind wasn't quite so bad. I did a 4 miler but still wished I was indoors! Also lifted weights after I ran.

Saturday was a very nice day. It was warming back up and it felt like running weather. I did about a 5 miler. I did 3.1 mile loop with my neighbor Dom. He calls it his super loop and includes the big hill in the 'hood. I did a mile before and after the loop.

I am looking forward to my run this afternoon. The temp is near 70 today, the sun is shining and I actually feel pretty good considering I took a tumble down the hill behind my house this weekend.

Thank you Susan for the kind words, the patience, and the trust.