Hit it Hard

Wednesday we had some problems with the house, so I had to deal with an electrician instead of getting a run in. Ah, good times. So by thursday morning my nicotine threshold was reaching a dangerous level. Also, wednesday was World Vegetarian Day, so I went veg for the day. This had both caloric (fuel) and intestinal consequenses on thursday. Ah, more good times. It was actually pretty cool to eat vegetarian for the day. I'm not far from it normally, only chicken or turkey sandwich for lunch and chicken, turkey or fish for dinner. 2 of 6 meals a day with meat is a pretty low ratio anyway.

Combine that with some weak fueling thursday morning (only about 500 calories) and I hit the wall during thursday's workout. I got dropped off at the gym because Wifey was going shopping in that direction anyway, so I thought I could work out a little harder in the gym. I did an hour on the elliptical (7.5 miles, 700 calories) then took the bike 4 miles back home. With less than half a mile left on the bike that wall came up and smacked me hard right across the face. wow.

They say everybody hits the wall sooner or later and you don't really know what it feels like until you definintely know what it feels like. Holy shit, they are right. I was biking it uphill on Taylors Rd towards Taylors First Baptist Church when it hit. I stopped in the church parking lot to rehydrate, catch my breath, take off the sweatshirt and regroup. I felt like I was going to vomit, pass out, and crap my pants. The street corners in Greenville are 90% churches, 5% gas stations, and 5% CVS & Walgreens drug stores. This particular church is the one that I grew up in, so it seemed like an appropriate place for someone to find me dead in the parking lot. I'm just glad I made it up that hill to the parking lot. So let's call that one a lesson learned. Fuel fuel fuel fuel fuel fuel fuel.

Having said that, I'm really getting pissed on the weight loss front. 4 or 5 days a week I burn 700 - 1200 calories each workout. Yesterday I weighed in at 203. Monday it was 205. Last week it was fairly consistent at 204. My caloric threshold is 3300 calories a day. Eat less than that and I should lose weight. Since Wifey just hit the one year mark on weight watchers she only buys low fat high fiber food, mostly all natural stuff. No HFCS, mostly organic. Organic gardening is another passion of mine, so we eat a ton of fresh veg from the garden. I have seen a loss of body fat from my arms and legs and around my waist. But that doesn't help my knees, shins, and feet when they are in impact pain. The only thing that can do that is less weight beating them up.

I got this big on purpose. Back in 2001 - 2002 I was really into bodybuilding. I took weight gainers, whey protein, creatine, and plenty of other manmade synthetics. I packed muscle onto my frame and was fairly scuplted except for some belly fat. I did no cardio because that would make me lose muscle mass. So now that I do nothing but cardio, why am I not losing muscle mass? When I stopped lifting weights, I gained a bunch of bodyfat and put on another 10 - 20 lbs. That's what got me up to 235. When Wifey went on weight watchers and changed her grocery habits, I got down to about 195. Now I would love to get back down to 190 for total smoking ripped hotness. I'm 6'1", so 180 - 190 lbs on my frame would put me in the single digit body fat % with decent muscle mass remaining. I honestly thought after 3 weeks of weight loss workouts and closely watching what I eat I would have gone below 200 lbs. So what's a runner to do to lose some lb's? Comment your advice please, it's all welcome.

I've also started reading See Bride Run for food advice. http://www.seebriderun.com/ I really like her approach and recipes.

And finally, tomorrow marks officially 20 weeks until our marathon in Myrtle Beach. So I adapted a Hal Higdon training plan from 18 to 20 weeks (his Novice2 Marathon plan) which kicks things off with an 8 mile long run tomorrow. I feel pretty good about the plan, and I've already got an 8 mile route mapped that's close to the house. Going down East North St from the Fresh Market to Eastside High School (my alma mater) and back again. I should be leaving about 9 am if anyone wants to meet me out there.