22April2008
Posted by Nick Katsarelas under: Nick Katsarelas.
I was born a chubby child (I entered this world at nearly 12 lbs.) Based on the baby pictures, I was a chubby toddler. I’ve carried excess weight with me all my life. (I was the kid who had to wear “huskies.”)
I was destined to be hefty. Having some fat was my fate. Obesity runs on my mom’s side of the family. My mother, her two sisters, both maternal grandparents, and my two siblings are overweight. I attribute part of my own weight issue to genes, and the rest to sweets. We Greeks love our desserts. Desserts were a staple of the dinner table, much like salt and pepper. It might have been pudding or Jell-O, fruit cocktail, peaches in heavy syrup, or a Hostess snowball. To the upper left of our plates, where the salad bowl should be, was a dish or bowl holding dessert.
To this day, when all of us get together, a meal –even one at a restaurant – never ends without dessert. This practice wasn’t shared by my wife’s family, and we are good at limiting desserts in our own home.
So while I don’t consider myself fat, I am overweight. And though I hide it well, I have a big midsection. OK. Gut. It’s a bit embarrasing to say, but if I relax and measure, it’s a couple of inches more than the length of my 36″ belt. This is why people never believe me if I tell them what I weigh (188). Most of it is abdominal fat, and it’s easy to hide.
And it scares me, because there are all sorts of risks associated with abdominal fat. For instance, men with excess abdominal fat face a much higher risk of heart attacks than men who are just overweight. I just read about a study that concluded that men with excess abdominal fat during their 40s run a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life.
The reason I started running was to manage my weight. I quickly grew to love running, but it still serves that purpose of burning calories. It’s apparent that I still have to reduce my calories, but because the gut has got to go.
So if anyone has some gut-reducing tips (crunches and situps only seem to strengthen my six-pack muscle group), I’m all ears.
21April2008
Posted by Deborah Pieri under: Deborah Pieri.
It’s been a very busy and long couple of weeks. Tomorrow our son, Sam leaves to go back to California for more training at Camp Pendleton. It’s been great having him home, but boy did those 10 days fly by fast. Yesterday my mom came over to take pictures of Sam in one of his uniforms. It was torture for him, but you don’t say no to Grandma. . . especially when she bakes you cupcakes. Our oldest son, Nick also was in town for 4 days to see Sam. Nick left early this morning to fly back to Boston just in time for the marathon! So anyway after a weekend full of festivities. . . . . a party for Sam Friday night, a wedding Saturday, and a birthday dinner for Sam on Sunday I think we are finally settling back into the normal pace of life. . . whatever that is!
I had a tough time getting out of bed Saturday morning to head to John Ball Park for the 15K. I had gotten about 4 and a half hours of sleep. Still I felt great once I started running. I ran with my friends Amy and Joann. Amy I hope your knee is better. . . I’ve been thinking about you all weekend! Joann, you’re awesome and it was fun sharing the miles with you! It was an incredible morning to run. After the 15K, my husband Tim and I ran 6 more miles to bring our total to 15.3 miles. After a shower we headed to the wedding. We danced long into the night, not arriving home until 3:00AM. All that dancing on top of the 15 miles, and a few glasses of wine had me moving slowly by Sunday morning. By the time I met the road warriors I was thinking of a nice easy run around the lake and that’s just what I did. Thanks Terry for running with me. Tonight I ran 6 miles just before sunset enjoying the last moments of this beautiful day. And now it’s off to bed and up by 4:30 to take Sam to the airport. I’m amazed that I was able to get so much running in this weekend with our busy schedule. I make it a priority and run whether I feel like it or not. Most of the time I feel so much better after the run! I hope everyone’s training is going well!
Happy running!
Deb
21April2008
Posted by Charles Mockridge under: Charles Mockridge.
11th-post.doc
21April2008
Posted by Mike Dopke under: Mike Dopke (Coach).
I was trying to figure out why I am so darn sore today and then realized I ran 22 miles this weekend. OK that explains it. Saturday I started the day with the 15K training run. It was a beautiful morning with a great turnout. The weather was perfect for an early morning run and I hope we get a day just like Saturday on May 10.
I was especially excited to see Jamie who was one of last year’s Road Warriors come walking up out of the mist. It was just like a scene from a movie. It’s been a while and it was great to see him again. I know Terry and Steve were excited too. We chatted for a bit and then it was time to start the run. I didn’t see Jamie again during the run but I was waiting at the finish. It was good to see Jamie still has his finishing face. It was the exact same look as he had finishing the Riverbank Run last year! Good to see ya Jamie!
Saturday afternoon a few of us got in a little more running at the Schmohz Brewery 5K. This is a fun race that I plan on doing every year. It’s not a P.R. course by any means, but it more than makes up for that in party atmosphere. I think I even saw some normally speedy young hooligans playing leap frog on the course. They very nearly got beat by Shelly. You should have sprinted Shelly (just imagine that blog title).
I had run easy in the morning trying to conserve some speed for this race, but the unexpected heat got the best of me. I think everyone else was tired too though. I was fortunate to finish 5th running a 19 flat. After the race we all enjoyed free beer and chocolate cake. It was a great day.
Sunday I met Terry a little early and we got in a few extra miles at Reeds Lake before the other Road Warriors showed up. I had forgotten to apply sunscreen to my head and am paying the price today. Oh well, I’ll take a sun burn over a cold wind burn any day. I am so glad that the warmer weather is finally here!
21April2008
Posted by Steve Kelly under: Steve Kelly.
What a difference a week makes, eh?! Compared to the O’Brien death march last Saturday this weekend was paradise. I hooked up with my fellow Warriors and a pile of people at John Ball for the 15k training run. My new Garmin 305 at the ready, we were off at 8. Beautiful day. I over dressed and fought a nagging cramp for the first couple of miles, but kept my time up. Once we got to the first aid station and I had some water things got better. I’m not sure what I was thinking with a long sleeved shirt…
I fell in with a gal who had the most unreal ability to pace! I was glued to my Garmin the whole way (mainly because without glasses I can’t read the thing!) and she just ran, no watch, nothing. I told her after the race I could have saved a couple hundred dollars not buying the watch and running with her. A lot of people would think that was creepy, you know a little sweaty guy complementing a complete stranger on her pace…not her. She and her friend just laughed saying it’s been noticed before.
It was amazing to see the really fast ones of you passing by at the end. I’m in awe of your abilities. Hopefully, as I continue to improve, running will become more intuitive. I know I’ve come a long way since the start of this grand adventure so I’m on the right track. My watch at the end of the 15k said I averaged 8:44 and I’m happy with that. If I can slow up a bit per mile for the 25k I’ll be right on for my goal time (which changes almost daily). I wasn’t happy with my ability to drink on the run. A couple of aid stations I had to slow to a walk for a couple gulps and plod on. Otherwise I have the tendency to suck water into my lungs and blow it out of my eyes. That doesn’t help the effort much either I can tell you.
We met up Sunday at the East GR library for a what was to be a slow loop of the lake. I broke off with coach Mike and his equally Gazelle-esque buddy. I’m not sure how fast we were going (my arms were swinging too fast to read my watch) but, when we finally stopped, a rush of debris floated by. Thanks guys, that was really relaxing. I have lactic acid everywhere including my ears (from flapping) and I can’t get this vein in my forehead to go down. I’m taking a day off just to let you know.
Road Warriors you are looking great, I’m proud of you all. Julie we’re praying for you. It was great to see Jamie, a Warrior from last year and spend some time with him, way to keep at it. Don’t look now, May 10th is almost here!
21April2008
Posted by Kristin Linscott under: Kristin Linscott.
Funny how things work out…
You have to read my previous post ‘Priorities’ to understand the rest of this blog.
So, I got an email from the professor today saying that there is also one other person in the same class that will be running in the RBR on May 10th. So, he made the decision to make an exception and meet with the two of us at another time…we just have to get the notes from our classmates.
Now I’ve re-enrolled for the class and am totally excited!