Ahh..

Back from vacation, and I brought a few things back with me.
1) A nice calm mind.
2) A renewed sense of purpose for getting in shape
3) About 10 extra pounds :)

So, as with all things, the first day weighing in after eating like a mad man is super super heavy. This morning I was 195.1. So... I'd guess my actual weight right now is around 188-189 or so. I will be a good boy from now on and get some serious work done before Kalahari and Myrtle Beach.

I've changed a little bit of my direction as well. I now desire strength over running. I know that I will never be a super fast runner, and will never be a race winner. I'm quite happy being able to comfortably cover the distance. I need to get up to full marathon, but I don't see a need in shaving 10 seconds off my 5k time. I competed for the first time at my last 3k. What I mean by this is, I never knew anyone running who was similar in ability to myself, so I was only ever competing against my own personal records. At the 3k, a friend was running who was right around my same ability. I edged him out to beat him by like 20 or 30 seconds, and really took no joy in it. I've always known that I'm not a competitive person, but I was a little shocked that I didn't care about beating him. I guess that just goes to show myself that getting faster and winning races wouldn't really matter to me. I'm happy to get out and run. I really don't care how fast I do it.

Now strength on the other hand, I could use. I would REALLY like to be extremely strong. I think my body is better built for strength than speed anyway. Running has been a constant pain inducer for me. I have more troubles with running pain than anyone else I know. I have some friends that are already up to running half marathons after less than a year of running, and are pain free. It took me years to get up to that, and I still have sore legs after simple 4 mile runs. I still can't run back to back days. It's really rather annoying. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to drop running. I'm just shifting my focus a little. Lifting has always been something I did on my off days because I couldn't run two days in a row. Now I want to have the mindset that running is the cardio I get on my off days because you're not supposed to lift two days in a row. I found myself going through the motions on my lift days, and not working as hard as I could. I want to change that for now.

So... look for me to get a lot stronger, and talk about lifting more than running. That's all.

Stay tuned!