Hey. Remember me? Yeah. I’m that guy.

I’m not dead. Heaven forbid I should become one of those teeny-bopper rumors we all heard in high school (I think the big one that really impacted me was that Mark-Paul Gosselaar had died…if you know me at all, you probably know that I’m a huge Saved by the Bell fan. Go ahead and make fun of me, but there’s no way you’ll EVER beat me at SBTB trivia).

So, it’s been a while. A LONG while. And, frankly, I don’t have much to account for my absence other than the semester from hell. I’d tell you about it, but it would only throw me into a foaming-at-the-mouth rage witnessed by few, and only comparable in nature to the time Sarah Palin mocked community organizers at the Republic National Convention. Well, either that, or the time FOX cancelled Arrested Development.

I have, no doubt, lost readers, but I want to thank those of you who’ve kept up with me from time to time. Your support has not gone unnoticed!

However, I am back to regain my journey. I made a significant dent by losing 30 pounds. I haven’t stepped on a scale lately, but the fact that I don’t want to should tell you something. The time has come to re-engage my goals and get serious about them.

When I started this, I realized that I might fall a couple of times. In fact, of the stories I had read of really successful weightloss, many had to lose and regain several time before the true success took place. If this is one of those times, so be it. I’m ready to get back to it, and I’m ready to share my endeavors with you again.

I went for a run last week and it felt really great. I need to remember the fact that I can do it. That the despite the fact I weigh…what I do…I AM A RUNNER. I need to be grateful that I can use my legs to carry my corpulent body a few miles in under an hour…and I need to use that to get me back on track.

Who’s with me?

Hi from the Silver State

Taking a cue from MizFit, I decided that I would make a video entry for Wednesday’s run. I uploaded the video, and 439 tries later, I couldn’t get the clips to work. So, I hope you’ll settle for the lovely picture of Arizona I found online.

But trust me, it’s no loss.  Wednesday’s ‘run’ was horrible. It was probably already well over 100 degrees by the time I left around 7:15 a.m. Not joking.  I picked a route along the Tempe Canal, and after my five minute warmup walk and got through the first three minute interval. Great, I thought, I’m going to actually do this.

Or not at all.

The sun was a killer that day. My energy was sapped in no time, and I walked most of the way. I was hot and disappointed.  There are a million reasons excuses I could give, but it’s just a day I need to put behind me. I might need to repeat this week of Couch to 5k, but since my first 5k isn’t until August 30, it’s not going to hurt.

We made it to Nevada fine. We agreed to take our niece and nephew with us to relieve our sister who just had her third. They were quite well behaved, but it was probably too many hours in the car, thus making me a little stir crazy. My wife talked me out of the run (it’s just as hot in Nevada as it is in Arizona), because it was so hot, but I needed to get outside and do something. So, I went outside with my father-in-law and learned to vacuum a pool. I burned a whole five calories, I’m sure, but I just had to be outside.

Tomorrow we’re headed to the track and I’m going to try my intervals again: 3 min. run/90 sec. walk/5 min. run/2.5 min. walk/3 min. run/90 sec. walk/5 min. run. My brother- and sisters-in-law are in much better shape and better runners than I am, so hopefully I won’t keep them waiting too long!

I’ll be sure to return and report…

“Some weeks are just better than others…”

This is something my wife just reiterated to me.

I didn’t realize traveling would be so hard on my exercise plan…because let’s face it, I don’t want to consider exercise being hard on my traveling. I did a run this morning, and while I was still happy that I did the requisite 3 minute intervals, the course was not as long as I hoped. However, I guess I shouldn’t be too upset because I’m about to make a pivotal turn in my Couch-to-5k training. I’m starting week four (week five for me since I repeated a week) on Wednesday and am about to kick up the running time. I am truly excited for this…call me crazy, but I just can’t wait.

My diet has been crap, and I should have done better in planning ahead while traveling. The past few days will surely incur the wrath of my coach when I call him. He’s maybe 5′7″ tall and lives in Salt Lake City, but the distance is the only cushion…that fire of his will definitely burn through the phone line.  But I deserve it…it’s a lesson learned, and I’ll need to do better in the future.

My back seems to be improving. It’s still sore when I’m sedentary or immobile, but seems to be fine when I walk, or even run. My father-in-law and I went to Massage Envy the other night and I greatly underestimated my therapist. She found all the right spots…nearly killed me, in the process, but I think it helped.

Friends, can I just tell you how great I feel despite all of this? Sure, I have complaints, but this is the best I’ve felt in a very long time. I am still flabbergasted that five weeks later, I’m still here, and I’m still doing it. I can actually see a difference in my body. My belly is shape-shifting, my man-boobs are shrinking, and I think I’m slowly going back to one chin. I run in the mornings and see people who smile and say “Good Morning.” This is the opposite, in fact, of a bad dream I had where I was running down the street with people pointing and laughing and making some really horrible remarks.  Eh. If it happens, they can say what they want. I’m doing this to make a better me.

It’s been hard for me to say this, but whether one agrees with me or not, if one perceives something differently, regardless, I can now categorically state:

I am a runner.

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both…

…and there you have, the facts of life. I’ve realized that there are going to be good days and bad days on this journey.  Today was a bit of both, but I will say that in terms of overall health, it as definitely good.

Today was not the most stellar of runs I’ve had thus far.  It seemed like I had been improving my pace to less than 15:00 a mile, but in all actuality, today ended up over 16:00. Yikes.  Would anyone think it a bad idea to repeat this week of the Couch-to-5k? This week is running intervals of 90 seconds and walking two minutes in between.  It seems as if I have enough energy and stamina to do maybe four intervals with 90 second runs, but by the end, I feel like the most I can do is 60.  Is this relatively normal — kind of a getting worse before I can get better thing?  Regardless, I’m not giving in…I’ll just have to spend an extra week giving it a try before moving on.

ON THE CONVERSE, I weighed in today and am happy to say that I am now legitimately below 360. Since starting the blog and training regimen, my weight actually went up almost to 370.  It was discouraging at first (ok, I wanted to punch a hole in the wall), but then I realized that that is how it’s happened almost every time I’ve started something like this.  I gain first, and then see some results. I feel like my primary goal is now officially under way as I weighed in at 359 – just about 110 more to go!

And just for fun, here’s the theme song that I took this post’s title from…one of my favorite shows growing up:

When to weigh and how often?

Is this not one of many perennial questions on one’s journey through weight loss?  I have had suggestions all through my life that the best time to weight yourself is in the morning…and of course that makes a decent amount of sense to me, though I am curious to know how often people weigh themselves…

Daily? Weekly? Fortnightly?

I had been maintaining a decent exercise regimen from January until April, weighed in weekly and was happy to see that more often than not, the numbers were decreasing. Then we moved across town, and I have been slow to regain my momentum ever since. Right!  Like I could really afford to NOT exercise that long?!  So, now, I’m back at it and after a few days of good exercising and healthy eating, I hop on the scale and see that…I’ve…GAINED FIVE POUNDS?!? Wha..?

Needless to say, I put on a mini-freakshow in the bathroom.

So, I’m somewhat discouraged, yet encouraged at the same time…I guess in a way, it’s motivating me to work harder. Though the goal is now seemingly shifted from losing 115 pounds to 120. Fan-bloody-tastic…what a way to start off one of the biggest transformations in your life.  I just have to beat it and not let it beat me.

Have I acquired any readers yet?  What are your thoughts?