massindex

Still need to work on this nutrition thing but inspite of that, I was able to turn in a 4:41 in my first full marathon, Pacers were so good I probably could have finished at 4:30 but my quad knotted up at 25 miles and I walked from 25 to near the finish before jogging across the finish line. Couldn't stand the thought of walking across the finish line. Even though I thought it might be stupid at the time, I biked to the airport and home for my flight to the marathon. Turns out the bike ride home was one of the best things I could have done to loosen me up. Legs feel great.

This is my first "this time of year." Haha. I've got another half coming up in June, and then my first full marathon is November. I went ahead and signed up for the RocknRoll San Antonio marathon. That should be a blast.

Among the reasons are:
- you need to get your Protein in and liquids take some space, replacing where your protein would go
- liquids help food bypass the digestive process so you don't get the nutritional value from your food. If you have watched those championship hot dog eaters, they soak their food in Water before swallowing it. That way it doesn't go directly into the stomach and they can eat more. You eat more without feeling full.

Among the reasons are:
- you need to get your Protein in and liquids take some space, replacing where your protein would go
- liquids help food bypass the digestive process so you don't get the nutritional value from your food. If you have watched those championship hot dog eaters, they soak their food in Water before swallowing it. That way it doesn't go directly into the stomach and they can eat more. You eat more without feeling full.

Among the reasons are:
- you need to get your Protein in and liquids take some space, replacing where your protein would go
- liquids help food bypass the digestive process so you don't get the nutritional value from your food. If you have watched those championship hot dog eaters, they soak their food in Water before swallowing it. That way it doesn't go directly into the stomach and they can eat more. You eat more without feeling full.

Among the reasons are:
- you need to get your Protein in and liquids take some space, replacing where your protein would go
- liquids help food bypass the digestive process so you don't get the nutritional value from your food. If you have watched those championship hot dog eaters, they soak their food in Water before swallowing it. That way it doesn't go directly into the stomach and they can eat more. You eat more without feeling full.

Among the reasons are:
- you need to get your Protein in and liquids take some space, replacing where your protein would go
- liquids help food bypass the digestive process so you don't get the nutritional value from your food. If you have watched those championship hot dog eaters, they soak their food in Water before swallowing it. That way it doesn't go directly into the stomach and they can eat more. You eat more without feeling full.

Among the reasons are:
- you need to get your Protein in and liquids take some space, replacing where your protein would go
- liquids help food bypass the digestive process so you don't get the nutritional value from your food. If you have watched those championship hot dog eaters, they soak their food in Water before swallowing it. That way it doesn't go directly into the stomach and they can eat more. You eat more without feeling full.

Among the reasons are:
- you need to get your Protein in and liquids take some space, replacing where your protein would go
- liquids help food bypass the digestive process so you don't get the nutritional value from your food. If you have watched those championship hot dog eaters, they soak their food in Water before swallowing it. That way it doesn't go directly into the stomach and they can eat more. You eat more without feeling full.

I posted my success story over here:
http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/67034-here-is-what-the-local-paper-had-to-say-about-my-success-story/
I was 437 and now I'm 185. You can read the article in the link and listen to the radio round table I did here if you have any questions. http://www.knpr.org/son/archive/detail2.cfm?SegmentID=9672&ProgramID=2699

BTB - nice job! I took it easy on my trail half marathon, mostly because the course was all sand or boulders. It would have easy to not do it but I'm glad I did.

You're a machine Mass. I love it.

BTB - nice job! I took it easy on my trail half marathon, mostly because the course was all sand or boulders. It would have easy to not do it but I'm glad I did.

Tuesday night came down with severe intestinal pain and my wife convinced me to go to emergency. They diagnosed me with pancreatitis and admitted me. After a couple of days of poking, prodding and running every test they could think of, they couldn't find the cause. My cardiologist and my gastrointestinal specialist came by to talk with me. After filling me on their inconclusive results, they asked if I had any questions. I said, "Just one. I have a half marathon on Sunday. Can I still run it?" The cardiologist looked at me said "You know you're in the hospital, right?" I laughed and told him yes but I was serious. They looked at each other, shrugged, and told me they couldn't think of a good reason not to do it if I felt good enough. Picked up my bib number yesterday. Everyone thinks I'm crazy but they just don't understand the highs. It can be a little addictive and I know I already have an addictive personality. Am I out of my mind? I feel pretty damn good, other than a little sluggish from breaking my training regime.

I ran my half marathon yesterday. What a fantastic event. Had a great time and the feeling of accomplishment cannot be matched by anything the scale says. To me, this kind of thing is the big payoff after having VSG.
The run was terrific. It was inside Davy Crockett National Forest. About half the miles were on dirt or gravel roads, which was no problem for me since I live in the country anyway. The run went very well although about mile 10 I got pretty fatigued. Cardio wise I was ok but my legs were letting me know that I am not yet a seasoned long distance runner. I was hoping for that second wind but it never came, until about the last 3/4 mile when I saw my wife standing on the side of the road. She had walked down to meet me and she jogged the last stretch in with me. That really lifted me up and made my day.
The other thing that really motivated me was seeing all the "senior" runners participating and having fun. Many of which had no trouble finishing ahead of me. There was even a lady there who received an award for running her 100th marathon...and she was 69. I want that to be me someday.
So now I'm thinking I need more training, but my next big goal is definitely the marathon. And since I love Oregon, I may make my first one the Portland Marathon next year. It's supposed to be a great choice for first timers. Either that or Honolulu!

Tuesday night came down with severe intestinal pain and my wife convinced me to go to emergency. They diagnosed me with pancreatitis and admitted me. After a couple of days of poking, prodding and running every test they could think of, they couldn't find the cause. My cardiologist and my gastrointestinal specialist came by to talk with me. After filling me on their inconclusive results, they asked if I had any questions. I said, "Just one. I have a half marathon on Sunday. Can I still run it?" The cardiologist looked at me said "You know you're in the hospital, right?" I laughed and told him yes but I was serious. They looked at each other, shrugged, and told me they couldn't think of a good reason not to do it if I felt good enough. Picked up my bib number yesterday. Everyone thinks I'm crazy but they just don't understand the highs. It can be a little addictive and I know I already have an addictive personality. Am I out of my mind? I feel pretty damn good, other than a little sluggish from breaking my training regime.

I posted my success story over here:
http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/67034-here-is-what-the-local-paper-had-to-say-about-my-success-story/
I was 437 and now I'm 185. You can read the article in the link and listen to the radio round table I did here if you have any questions. http://www.knpr.org/son/archive/detail2.cfm?SegmentID=9672&ProgramID=2699

Your body becomes a creature of habit and if you go into starvation mode, it will hold on to every calorie it can find. Dr. Oz had some good advice one day. He said you body needs a state of confusion. This applies to your food and your exercise routine also. Try upping you intake every third or fourth day to 2,000 calories (smart calories and not fat calories). Also, change up your exercise routine. If you are only running, adding a day or two of swimming or biking. Keep it aerobic though. While weight training can be beneficial, you probably don't want to lose the edge you are building up with your endurance. Don't worry about your speed. As long as your heart rate is accelerated and in an optimal zone, you are doing fine. Also look at it this way. What's the alternative? Six feet under?

You can't go the low carb route and exercise with any decent level of intensity or duration. I know there is this thought that in order to lose weight, you have to do low carb. That may have been true pre-sleeve, but for me, it never holds Water. You need energy to exercise. Carbs provide that. With that energy, you can work out stronger, longer and really burn the fat. It worked for me and many others who have discovered that dieting with a sleeve with exercise just doesn't work.

So the process is that in Water up to 78 degrees, you can wear a wetsuit. Under the wetsuit I wear my tri-suit, which is a one-piece combimation of bike shorts and a race singlet. Under that I usually have compression clothing. When you come out of the water, you strip the wetsuit off, jump on the bike and start the bike portion, When you finish the bike, you run, all of this in the tri-suit. Sprint tri's are only 5K runs, Olympic distance is a 10K run, 70.3's involve a half marathon run and 140.6's involve a full marathon. Try it one time with a Sprint Tri. All the different training requirements breaks up the training monotony of a single event.

My first half marathon is next Saturday. Looking very much forward to the day when I can schedule several events in a row. I'd like to do a triathlon, but not sure how I'd handle going without a shirt during the swim portion. No one I know has committed a crime vial enough to deserve to see my deflated belly. I either need a TT or therapy....or both.

Don't want to go shirtless? No prob. Rent a wetsuit. You'll fit right in AND knock a few seconds off your swim time. www.wetsuitrental.com

Heh, that's awesome. Running in a wet suit gets you the title "scuba man" in the papers. I like to run shirtless because I usually sweat up a flood anyways.

As for longer term event goals ( next year?), I have been thinking more and more about ultra marathon trail runs.
Have anyone of you done these before? I think it is possible in my future because I have a pretty good endurance and stamina when running hills and distance with my training so far. Getting better every day as I push my fitness levels in new ways. I have hiked 50 miles in a day before when younger ( high school).
I would like to get out there and run a huge distance over the ups and down of a trail like the PCT between Stevens and snoqualmi pass. I've seen runners do this before when out back packing the trail. It is 72 miles from end to end and goes up and down between 4000 and 7500 feet. I think it could be done in a day with the right training and preparation. I am very familiar with the trail as hiked it many times. The biggest unknown to me is how one would fuel and drink along the way, especial since it will be an isolated run. Another trail to run would be wonderland around mount Rainer. However, I am not familiar with it so well. I would prefer to pick a trail that I can easily visualize from end to end in order to systematically prepare both physically and mentally.
I have already read the popular ultra marathon books that are usually recommended. I would also want to work regular shorter day trail runs into my training like mount si ( 8 miles round, +- 4000 feet) or a slightly longer one like tiger mountain from I18 to I90, 22 miles round) to start out with. Need to research this more to determine how to train for a trail ultra marathon.