Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Free Week

We got lucky this last week. Kelleys mom kept the kids. At her house.

FOR THE WHOLE WEEK.

Let me repeat that in case you missed it. For the first time since Bigun was born (5 and half years ago) someone else took both girls home with them for the whole week. The entire week. We had no kids in our house from last monday afternoon until today. TODAY!! No kids. It was good to see the kids when they get back today. It was also good to stay out past 8 pm while they were at nana's.

We went out to dinner. a lot.

We saw the new TRON movie in IMax 3d. It kicked ass. very cool. I loved the old Tron as a kid, so this one was a lot of fun.

Sunday was Kelley's birthday. It was epic. Fantastic.

I did not workout thursday or friday, or Sunday or Monday for that matter. I did however get in a run on Saturday. We both got to go to the same gym at the same time. People can do that! I knew I was due for a long run. So I got on the treadmill and went for it. I ended up feeling good and holding a 9 minute pace. In fact, I did that for the first 10 miles, then I felt ok so I bumped the speed up to 8:34 for the last 5k. I ran 13.1 miles on the treadmill in 1:56:00. That's my first time breaking 2 hours in the half distance! I've got to find a race.
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Found one! We signed up to run the half marathon at Myrtle Beach in February. Yes, Kelley did the full marathon there a few years ago. But we're looking for a half, have a ton of friends running the half, and until I finish the weight loss I'm not going to do anything longer than a half.
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Today I got in a good run over lunch. 4 miles total in 32:21 including a warm up and cool down. Between the warm up and cool down was a 5k run at an 8.0 speed (7:30 per mile). That would be a 23:18 5k time if it was a race. Dang it, got to find a 5k race. I'm starting to line up a 2011 schedule.
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MMNW:
This week: 188.8 lbs, 22.5% body fat
Last week: 189.8 lbs, 22.7% body fat
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I lost 1 stinking pound during my free week, and 0.2% body fat. This is ok. I can live with it. I didn't work out very hard or often, and while I did eat ok, I let the portion sizes slide and we ate out in restaurants a lot more. I still maintained the vegetarian diet, and tried to pick healthier things on the menu's. I could have done much worse than only losing one pound.


Finally, the epic conclusion. Saturday Raleigh got some snow so there wasn't too many people outside. My first target when I started putting together a weight loss plan was to cross 190. Once I got on the other side of 190, the reward was a new tattoo that I had been thinking about getting for a long time now.

I came up with the concept and meaning about 7 or 8 months ago. It took me that long to convince myself to get it. It's a tree. I liked the design idea of having the tree grow up my right shoulder. The tree is a metaphor for life. You have to know your roots; where you came from. That also helps point where you are going. You have to have a strong core. Values and beliefs that are strong and living like the trunk of a tree. And it is also very important to be open minded, and be willing to branch out in many different directions. I would not have been able to extend my comfort zone into marathons or triathlons or parenthood without being willing to branch out in different directions. So that was my concept for the tree tattoo. Roots that surround my arm, the trunk going up to the top of my shoulder, and branches on all sides (chest, top, and back) that extend out of a normal comfort zone. I wanted to put some red blooms on the tree just to get some color on the tattoo. They are also a reminder of how short life can be (tree flowers fall off after a short amount of time).

This guy hurt. The "Balance" tattoo I got on my chest was really a primer to see if I could take the pain for this one. This one bled. There was lots of pain and lots of bleeding that did not occur with the first tat. At one point I got pretty light headed. But then I drank a Coke (that was huge, I stopped drinking sodas in college but this time I needed the sugar), and thought I was going to puke once too. While that used to be typical Saturday night behavior, it's a pretty unusual side effect now.

The same tattoo shop I went to before was open and had the time to draw out the design. Tony came up with an amazing stencil. Then after the stencil was on my shoulder he filled in the rest of the design by hand. So this is a completely custom design. Ready to see how it turned out? scroll on down. These pictures aren't going on facebook.











No Regrets is a really cool shop. Lots of fun stuff there. And this is the last chance to see the bare shoulder. Ever. you know these things are permanent?

Finishing the design...


The final design is stenciled on.

Still smiling. He hasn't started yet. That's the face of a dumbass.

He's getting started. Turns out, this part of the body hurts a lot more than the "Balance" area on my chest. a lot more.

Yowsers that one must have really hurt! That's a pain face right there.




OUCH!! That one really hurt. That was by far the worst part, when he was up on the top part of the shoulder. Some of that is right on my collar bone!


The smeared ink on this one makes it look like a different tree. Pretty neat effect.



Shading the roots

The artist was hilarious! We both really enjoyed hanging out with him while he was working my shoulder.





Almost finished with the shading!


That's not blood (although I did bleed plenty!). It's red ink while he was filling in the flowers.


This is the best shot we could get of the whole thing.


I even had the girls names put on a couple of the branches. Pretty neat huh?

I hope you all have a great Christmas! We're going nuts around here.





15 comments:

Badgergirl said...

Just looking at the pictures of you getting the tattoo was painful! The finished product looks great though!

Amber said...

Very cool! I like the whole concept and meaning behind it!

The pain face is hilarious. It's been a few years since my last tattoo, but I remember it being pretty freaking painful!

Tryon Running Club said...

Congrats on the tat and LOVE the meaning. I believe we all need reminders of where we came from and how far we've come...keeps us motivated. Have an awesome Christmas and kick more butt in 2011! - Scar

Ryan said...

What's next??

Crusin' around Raleigh with your fixie, wearing girl jeans, dreadlocks, and preachin' the benefits of chronic to everyone you meet?

Ha!

Puff Puff Give... don't screw up the rotation.

Merry Christmas to your entire family and I WILL BE SEEING YOU in 2011

Georgia Snail said...

I think you need to grow back out your mustache, hipster...

Big ups on the new found speed!!!!!
Don't forget Sweetwater when you are looking at your April race schedule!

Merry Crimas!

Kim said...

john - looks AWESOME. i love the concept and that you put so much thought into it. totally awesome. i am SO glad my pal didnt take pics of me getting my 2nd; it was the most pain i have ever felt and my entire face showed it!

Jess said...

OUCHHH that looks painful! But I am a wimp and needles scare me.

I like how you got the girls' names on the branches too. That's very cool.

Sun Runner said...

It's fantastic. :)

Tat number FIVE for me coming up next week!

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

Nice Tat!!

That's awesome that you guys got soem extra alone time and the girls got extra bonding time w/ the grandparents. That is a win win situation!

well doen on the sub-2 hr 1/2... on the dreadmill!! Wow! I haven't ran more than 4 miles on one since the marathon. I feel like I will lose my mind!

Wes said...

ugh! you are a far braver man than I :-) Nice work on the weight, and late Happy birfday to the missus!

Anonymous said...

You took it like a champ! I cried the entire hour I got my tattoo. I'm such a puss.

I'm glad you guys had a child free week. It's been rare for us but it does happen. My mom is taking both boys next week all week. I'm so excited!!

Merry Christmas, John!

Unknown said...

John, that tattoo looks amazing! Such a meaningful story too!

Yay for time without the kiddos and happy birthday to the wifey!

Hope you and your family have a fabulous holiday!

sarah said...

I LOVE IT!!! I have 4 tattoos so far and want to get a sleeve. I know, I know. But I've always loved them. My last one was by far the most painful and it was also on my upper arm. It was THROBBING for awhile. But I love and it's beautiful. I can say it's beautiful, right?

Congrats on the one pound loss. A loss is a loss you know.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Jebus ChryslerBuilding, Cletus! More shirtless pix?

And now a tattoo. Why not just throw rusted car parts in your front year and complete Teh Hillbilly Trifecta while you're at it?

I will say this: You're getting fast. Congrats on the speedy running times and the continued weight/fat loss.

joyRuN said...

I'm in lust for a cherry tree going from my right flank going up my side.

It'll probably hurt a lot more than my little ankle tat.