No More Pizza

Yesterday, I ate a good amount of pizza. Too much, in fact. I felt the effects of this in my run today. A pretty sluggish 17:31, a full minute (and then some slower than my PR). Started P90X w Bubba as a precursor to BCT. Getting late.

12 year Mile PR

A New 10 year street mile PR is upon us (read: me). Time: 8:47. It's unofficial, but I ended up burning 160 cals in the process. It's probably closer to a 12 year record, due to my last mile I've ran in earnest was when I was 17 (which ended up right at 7:00). I need to beat that record. It will happen.

A quick note about Taco Bell nutrition
Calories in Taco Bell Fresco Bean Burrito: 370 sodium: 1100
Calories in Chicken Burrito: 420 sodium: 900
Wow. I had 2g of sodium for lunch. It works when I'm working out. That is, it replenishes the sodium I've already lost whilst running.
But wow. 2 grams is a lot of salt for a meal. I suppose Taco Bell uses that much sodium as a preservative. At least I won't get the TB employee dirty hand squirts.

It may be 88 outside...

...but it's flippin' hot on the surface of my head. It feels like god has a magnifying glass trained on my scalp, as he laughs hysterically, while I suffer on the track. Oh well, he (she, it?) works in mysterious ways. It seems that if we applied the same logic to convicts...
<end digression>
I finished today's run in 18:08. Not bad at 47 points, but it still needs to drop. It seems that it is more difficult to exert myself in the middle of the summer heat. And while it may be easier to run as time goes on, and my times are dropping (or at least the average times are dropping), it's still no easier. On the bright side, It is getting a bit easier to exert myself in those back 4 laps.
Let's see what Elena thinks:

Why don't you want to hug me after my run, honey?

Oh well. Here's my progress:

That's not dandruff, that's salt crystals
 from my sweat on the camera lens.
"Mmm...salt crystals" said the deer.
PS - Kathie Lee Gifford (see TV in bkg) had to
have been lobotomized at some point in her life.

I haven't yet done any pushups or situps regularly, an oversight I'll live to regret here in about 2 weeks. However, I'll start working on those starting today.
Pushups: 21 (41 pts)
Situps: 18 (0 pts)
These need improvement. However, as I lose weight, (I weighed in at just above 240), I'll be able to perform more reps.
Tomorrow we go to Johnson Shut-Ins, but it's no vacation from PT. I'll do my next post when I have a decent signal. Either way, it'll be more spartan than my normal posts. See you then.

13 mile hike

Today i hikes 13 miles from several trails in Greensfelder Park to Rockwoods Reservation, with mom. Our original intent was to take the northern portion of the Eagle Valley trail, but got turned around for a few miles, due to the confusing signposts along the trails. There needs to be trail signpost reform at Greensfelder. Regardless of this, we found the trail we were looking for after a few twists & turns.
Great hike, about 13 miles, I recommend it, and I will definitely do it again. Maybe next week I'll get back on the trail for a proper, brisk hike.

Edit: Started hike at 09:38, ended at 14:20

Yesterday's run (not hot at all)

A New 2 Mile PR!

My time is 16:29.11 (65 pts.)
Lap times:
1. 01m 56s .70
2. 02m 03s .00
3. 02m 06s .44
4. 02m 05s .60
5. 02m 07s .08
6. 02m 08s .26
7. 02m 06s .86
8. 01m 55s .14

Still working toward 16 minutes!

A hot Lunch

I had lunch today before my run.
I timed the laps of my 2 mile. They are as follows:
2:04, 2:10, 2:13, 2:14, 2:20, 2:15, 2:23, 1:59 (total 17:39, 52 points)
My quickest so far. On the final lap, I really caught a second wind on the back stretch of the track straightaway. However, the curve taxed my endurance. I want to strive for laps like that from now on. I have to rest tomorrow, but I'll work on striding out Friday.
The shoes helped too. I wore more snugly fitting sneakers I usually wear to work. I think I'll stick with those for running. My other tennis shoes are too broad.

A hot mile

Supplemental 1 mile run in the afternoon to prepare myself for the balmy SC August. I ran on the street, and my time was a sluggish 9:36. I seem to have trouble getting my stride. It didn't feel too hot, but it was still a tough run. That first hill kills. My goal by the end of the month is to diiminish my time by 1:30 to 8:00. I'm sure I can do it, but I have to work my ass off to get there.
Stay focused.
Don't give up.
Stride, Stride Stride.
I get the privilege of sleeping tonight, to recover my body from such punishment. Since tomorrow's a new day, I'll have another chance to tackle that 2 mile monster, and shave some time off my mile.

This picture of the mile course I ran today, was provided as a personal reference only.

One thing I've learned: it's hard to be funny, or to clown around when you're physically tired. Time for homework. Also, nonsequiturs abound when I'm out of breath. Time to quiet the monkeymind.