1 Month Anniversary

A few days ago, I had my 1 month anniversary from not running. It's kinda funny how quickly things can turn for the better or worse... and in my case it has been for the better (I hope). Let me explain....

Cheryl, who is my office administrator, gave me this time article to read a few months back, and the cover read Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin. I remember looking at it, and shrugged it off... actually I think I even said to her, "This article is probably written by a frustrated, overweight person, who is trying to convince themselves and others that it's all pointless (exercise wise)"... I never read the article. Cheryl still tried to press me to read it, and I think I just told her, "When I have time.." Well my oh my...look how things have turned for me.... A little over 1 month ago, I remember trying to purge through all of our magazines at my clinic to find this article, and I finally read it. Due to reading that article, I am proud to say that even though I have gone from my typical 150-180 miles of running/month to a big fat 0, I have not gained one pound....actually, I think I lost 1-2 pounds.

In a nutshell, the article stated that because we exercise, we almost feel entitled to eat whatever we want. Now, I know that there are some people that don't do that, but I was not one of those people. My eating habits were absolutely horrendous. My typical day of eating would consist of

1. Very little to no breakfast

2. A huge lunch (anything from Burritos, burgers, pizza)

3. Lots of candy

4. Maybe a redbull or two...or three... or four

5. Dinner (Wifey cooks pretty healthy, so that wasn't a problem)

6. Ice cream, especially when watching sports before I go to bed

7. Fruit drinks, usually apple juice diluted with water

Couple that with my 35-50 mpw and my weight stayed stable for the most part.

Well, that has changed radically for me. What I realized is that I was running and eating for comfort, and just soothing my cravings at all times. My marathon readers will understand this when I say this, but running changes your mood, makes you feel good...it's a drug, albeit a positive one....but also, when you are running the distances that I was running, I was putting in a 800-1000 calorie cushion to my typical day, so 2,500-3,000 would not create any damage to my weight control. Then if you add my eating habits, I was eating lots of comfort foods...tons of sugar and salty foods, which would again satisfy my cravings...day after day... it made for a really happy, but honestly not the healthiest person (at least on the inside). So now, Greg and food have a different relationship... it's more of a business relationship. I use it to satisfy my needs for energy, not for cravings... it initially was really difficult, but it had to be done...because I couldn't substitute my running for any other exercise without setting myself back again... and it has been extremely successful.. so far. So this is basically my typical day.

1. Morning (I will have cereal with skim milk and usually cut up bananas)

2. I try to take in about 70-85 oz. or water a day. (I'm telling you, water is the key...it fills you up)

3. My lunches are usually pre made from home, or if I do eat fast food, it's a Turkey Breast sandwich on wheat bread from Subway (300 calories for a 6 in.). I will get a foot long, and then have the other half between sometime between 4-6 pm.

4. I use a power juicer (celery, garlic, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, etc.) or make a protein shake every day.

5. No more coffee

I basically have tried to limit my intake to about 1600 calories/day.

I had to mentally change my attitude toward my food and obviously "detox" myself from running. I truly think I am finally on the road to recovery...

Out for the season

I'm done running for the 2009 calendar year... And I might not be
running for a few months beyond that.
If you have read my previous entries, you know that the last few
months have been a rough patch for me with re: to resuming training after I
finished my 4th marathon in San Francisco. A few weeks after the race
I got a very bad flu, and I have struggled to train ever since.
Consecutive weeks of 25+ miles would just suck all the energy out of
me, and my paces for running have slowed down by about 2 min/mile. I'm
basically back to where I was at about 2.5 years ago, when I initially
started to run. Not really knowing what was going on, I continued to
train, but just took it week by week, and got some extensive blood
work done. Finally, and with at least some relief and closure, I have
been diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus. It's basically mono, but
it lasts for longer, usually 6-12 months. There is no real treatment
for it... You just have to wait for it to leave your body.... Or should I
say go dormant, because it never actually leaves your system. Rest,
fluids and patience are what I have to live by right now.

My MD basically put it like this..."Greg, you are not getting slower,
but you are certainly getting sicker. Running as much as you do puts a lot of stress on your body, and will prolong your recovery"

So it's been 3 weeks of no running, and I have had to develop a little
different perspective on things.

Being a Type A person, and loving structure in my life (can we say
OCD?), I have had to change my routine drastically. The 5:30-6:00 am
10-12 mile runs are done. I can't stuff my face with whatever I want
because I'm no longer burning 1,000 calories/ day. I'm not exercising
at all, so I have really had to clean up my eating and get very
serious about my nutrition.

I always feel like God always allows good to come out of what seems
like a negative situation. This situation is no different.

Probably the most positive result of my running over the past few
years has been my weight loss... And I have promised myself, that I
will do whatever I need to do to keep myself from not gaining the
weight back.

Over the next few months, that will be my main concern and where my
attention will have to focus. NUTRITION!!

This blog attracts a few runners, but I know that the majority of
people that read this blog are my weight loss clients based out of
Cypress Creek and patients at Renewal Rehab. I hope that by me posting
about my current situation, that it will serve two purposes.

1. Realizing that WE all go through situations that stink, but we have
to deal with the hand that we are dealt. All we can do is to try our
best to deal with it and rehabilitate ourselves to return to whatever
it was that previously made our lives feel complete. That might be something as trivial as what I am currently going through (not being able to run), or it could be walking, being able to eat without assistance, drive a car, or many other things.

2. Having a strong handle on my food intake is new ground for me. Just
like my running exploits, I feel like my best way to stay accountable
with this is to make this open to others that are currently struggling
with the same situation. Using this blog is my best way of
accomplishing that.

Thanks for reading and I will be posting early next week.

I've HADD it!!!

The last few months have not gone as initially planned. The plan was
that the San Francisco marathon was supposed to be a fun race, which
wasn't run too hard, but didn't take much recovery time, so that I
could continue my training that had gone so well up to that point and
throw down some blazing times in all running distances from the 5k to
the marathon. Well, that plan has been scrapped... and that is
putting it lightly. I have struggled with illness and have not been
able to fully recover to get back to the running shape that I was in
during July. My running low point came during September, when my dad
and I ran at the beach and he was able to hold a running pace 2 min/
mile faster than I could. It has been a struggle since then. I would
take off a week, run a few miles and then it didn't seem to help... Or
if it went well, the next run would be terrible. Last Thursday, I
decided to leave the heart rate monitor home, and just run by feel.
What I learned is that although my legs feel fine at the paces I used
to run, my body just couldn't handle it. I nearly had to stop at one
point after clocking back to back 8 minute miles. What???Yessiree.
That's where I was at. So, I have decided that all races that I
planned on signing up for the remainder of 2009 ain't happening.
Luckily for me, the races that I actually paid for allowed me to
transfer my race fees to races that they have scheduled for early
2010....so that's a really good thing. I had 4 goals for 2009 with
re: to running. One has happened (18:54 5k), one is still on schedule
to happen (2009 miles for 2009), and 2 aren't going to happen (sub 40
10k, and sub 1:30 half marathon). I have decided to rebuild my running
base by using the HADD principles and run based on low heart rate
efforts until at least January 1st. It will allow my body to fully
reset itself, and fully get back to where I was before all this crap
happened... Who knows maybe even better??

I tell my patients all the time.... "Sometimes you have to take a step
back in order to take multiple steps forward". Now, I have to live it
out with re: to my running.

Although this process has been a little frustrating, it helps
tremendously that I have the opportunity to work in the field of
orthopedic physical therapy. Every day, I'm dealing with people that
have had many aspects of their lives stripped away from them. In some
cases, it's running or maybe it's strength training or even the
ability to walk and put on clothes without assistance. So it's
actually made me put my silly little setback in proper perspective,
because the fact is I'm still able to run... I just run slow as snails.

Two of the people that I work with (Chris and Julie) are currently in
the same boat I am. They are struggling with various ailments that are
limiting their running and not allowing them to go after goals that we
all previously set earlier in the year. We are all helping each other
get back to previous fitness levels, and I have encouraged them to
start to blog about their ailments. Its good for our patients to know
that although our issues aren't as pressing as theirs, we still deal
with doubts, frustrations, etc., when something unplanned, such as an
injury and/or illness rears its ugly head. So, I guess we'll see if
you all will not be subjected to having to only read my blog, but also
one of theirs... Thanks for reading!

Pete Pfitzinger - Lab Reports - Overtraining

Oh Lordy... I think this is my plight..
Pete Pfitzinger - Lab Reports - Overtraining

Because I Can….

Some Tuesdays, Kerry and I are able to go out to breakfast together… its kind of our time together; even though we have to bring two of the kiddies along (we just usually hope and pray that the little one sleeps while we are at the restaurant). Anyways, this past Tuesday, on our way to having breakfast we saw a man running on the Suncoast Trail. As some of you runners know, whenever you are driving, you look out for other runners… it's almost as if we are bonded together, through our likeness for the sport. Anyways, this guy was an above knee amputee, and he was just cruising along running on the Suncoast Trail, and I pointed him out to my wife. So, a few minutes went by, and Kerry seemed lost in thought, and I said, "Hey is everything ok?" She says, "Yeah… I was just thinking about that guy… why is it that he has one leg, and feels the need to go out there and run, and I don't even do it, and I have two legs?" So, I said to her, "Because he can." You see, IMO, we take so many things for granted… and the thing we take for granted the most is our health. Maybe I feel so near and dear to this because of the profession that I am in… but I always find it amazing to hear numerous patients of mine, or even runners that have a common story, in that it took a health scare, whether it was a torn up knee, a heart ailment, a bad habit or set of habits, to get them to change their lifestyle. I am one of them as most of you know, and over the past week, I have seen a few stories of individuals that have transformed their lives to do incredible endurance feats after some life changing health event.

Ed Rousseau is a 70 year old man that just ran his 163^rd marathon. Former alcoholic.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/10/04/kare.mn.man.run.163.marathon.kare?iref=videosearch

Or how about this guy?? Kyle Garlett, who is attempting to complete the Ford Ironman Championships in Kona, has battled cancer 4 times… is only 37 years old, and will line up for the race…. With someone else's heart… http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/13/heart.transplants.ironman/index.html?iref=newssearch

Don't take your health for granted… savor everything that you do. Enjoy every breath that you take…and do something with what God has blessed you with!!!

My Funky Week (and my plans for the rest of 2009)

I've been in a week funk. Ever since I came back from my San Francisco trip, the stresses of life have just gotten to me, and it finally caught up to me this past week. Last Sunday, I went out for a 10 mile run, and when I finished, I just felt exhausted. I didn't feel physically exhausted, I just felt mentally exhausted. I knew I had a lot of things going on, but usually I can just press through everything and it will just go away. Well, this time I realized early that I might need to just chill a bit. I took 3 days off of running, and then ran on Thursday. I felt much better than I did on Sunday, but still not like how all my runs usually are. I usually always come back in the house with a big smile on my face, shower up, and feel ready to conquer the world. Well, Friday it was evident why I was feeling the way I felt. I just went into a full downward spiral with my energy all day. By about 2 pm, I had the chills at work, and actually got ill in between seeing patients at around 6 pm. My last 3 hours of work on Friday were more grueling than any marathon I have ever been a part of... that's no exaggeration at all. I just kept telling myself, "You're nearly done... only 6 more...5 more....4 more patients" Chris and Julie finished up my last patient for me, and I got in my car (my body was so achy, I had to lift my legs in the car) and drove home. I was so out of it, when I opened up the garage, I didn't realize that I didn't park the car all the way in, and as the garage door came down, it hit my car.... kinda funny now, but at that time, I didn't give a shiznit... I just walked to my bedroom and collapsed. At least I now know that my body was fighting something... I thought I was just going into an abyss or something.. LOL.

Anyways, I'm still trying to fight this nasty bug, and I can't wait to get back out there and start running again. But with all my downtime, I have had a little chance to come up with a plan for my running for the rest of the year.

I have just started P90x, which is an extreme home workout program. (Thanks Chris for letting me have... I mean borrow the DVDs) There are 12 workouts in the whole program, but I only plan on doing 3-4/week.

Legs and Back
Ab Ripper
Chest and Shoulders
Core

I did my first workout last week, and during the workout there was a series of calf exercises in which it was burning so much that I felt like my calves were going to lock up... now.... the only other time I have felt this is during the marathon... hmmm... maybe I just have some weak calf muscles??? Yup.

I'm planning on running around 35-45 miles/week for the rest of the year, in combination with the 4 P90x workouts/week. If I do that, I will hit my goal of running 2009 miles for this 2009 calendar year. I truly believe that strength training, especially with emphasis on the core and legs will help me stay injury free, and who knows?? It might even improve my running. I realize that the main reason that I have had such big improvements in running over the past 3 years is because I rarely get injured... and now that I want to put more stress on my body as I gear up for bigger and better things next year, I need to focus on building a strong base, so that my body can handle it. I'm also at the lowest weight since high school, but I only run...I'm slowly looking like a pudgy Kenyan runner...LOL... and I want to get a little more cut in my build.

BOLT!!!

This is so huge!!! This guy is absolutely amazing!!! Usain Bolt has broken the world record in the 100m and 200m 5 times in less than 12 months. Yesterday, Bolt broke the 200 m record, which he previously held by 11 /100th of a second. That's just absolutely insane!! The great thing about this guy is that he does it on the biggest stages, which says something about his mental fortitude. As a fan of sports, I love it when you see athletes show up and showcase their best on the biggest stages. Most of us would shrink when the lights come on and the pressure is there...but not these people. Jordan, Phelps, Bolt, Tiger, Serena, Federer... they all have this uncanny ability to do this. I just love it!!!

As for him being from Jamaica... it's just icing on the cake. Most of you know that I was born in Jamaica, and although I left at an early age, I spent most of my summers from the age of 5 until I went to college, in Jamaica with extended family and friends. It's such a small country, which has many problems (poverty, crime, etc.)... so when something like this happens, the country is in complete amazement...no crime, no pain... just celebration, and it makes me feel so good for them.