I'm Still Alive!!!

What?  Oh yeah, hey there.  Yes, I am still alive!  I haven't posted in what feels like forever!  So what do I do?  Yeah, I am probably going to post two posts in one day to get caught up.  I know, I know, I need to be more consistent!  I'll work on that...

So this post will be a fitness update.  And since that seems to be all that I blog about, my next post will be about family and what I've been doing other than work and fitness.  Yes, I do other stuff than that!

So, how has the fitness thing been going?  Well, it has been going pretty darn good.  Since switching back to my other shoes I have seen an improvement and reduction of pain.  My knee still acts up, but nothing compared to what it was.  The ankle is doing much better.  Which is really good since sand volleyball season starts tomorrow evening. Yes!!!!

OK, I'll talk about my stats first.  First off, I have been really bad about remembering to weigh in on my regular day and time for consistency.  So if you see a duplicate, it just means I forgot and picked back up the next week.  Here is how I have done since the last time I shared my stats:

Sooo, how have I done?  Well, I am sure you can read it for yourself.  I had a great showing on 05/20/2012 and was very excited.  But then Memorial Day weekend came and also I have been really bad about eating (read: staying away from ice cream) and drinking my water.  So that low body fat % didn't stick.  We'll see if I can get back on track now!

Other than that, I have been sticking to my regular routing of weights M/W/Fr and running Tu/Th/Sa and rest on Sunday.  I have been getting a bit discouraged with the weight training since I need to add some new dumbbells to the mix, but don't want to spend the cash on them.  

OK, back to report.  So now for the running.  I have been improving significantly (well, at least in my opinion) since returning to the pavement and shoe change.  Which I still need to replace what I am using, but it is better for now.  So here are a few milestone runs to point out.  All within the last couple of weeks:

The run above was from Memorial Day weekend.  We were in Toledo, OH (visiting in-laws) and I must say, the flat terrain must have improved my times!  I ran 6 miles with an average pace of 7:34/mile.  I was pretty happy about that.  Also, not sure if I had a surge of energy or what, but my last mile (mile 6) was my fastest one at 7:06!  Wow!

Then I went my farthest distance (at the time) on May 31st before work (above).  It felt good, but I felt like I had more in me.  I had to stop at 6.76 miles to stop and get ready for work.  You can tell that I had more in me from the last mile pace being tied for the fastest pace (yes, it was downhill too).  

Since I felt like I had more in me, I decided to test it out this past Saturday!  Here is what happened:

Yep, that's right.  My first 10 miler!  It felt great and I felt accomplished!  The weather was great and I hope to improve on the pace next time.  Definitely not something I can do during the week though.  On a side note, I probably should have let my wife know that I was going to go for a longer run so she didn't worry about me...  Oops!

OK, that's about it.  I have been a running fool lately.  Looking at my runkeeper stats, I ran 25.3 miles in March, 36.9 miles in April, and 47.6 miles in May.  Add the 10 miles from Saturday and I am up to 119.7 miles since March.  Crazy! Also, if you like to run, you really need to check out the runkeeper app for your phone, it is great and FREE!

Well, I have bored you enough, so I hope you stuck with me through this post.  I will try to remember to post more frequently.  Until next time blogosphere...