Congrats to Will

After my run this morning, Anna and I went over to the Astros Race for the Pennant 5K to cheer our friend Will and his sister on to hopefully a PR. We parked and walked out to about the 2.9 miler spot, just as the runners turn on Congress onto the home stretch. We cheered on lotsa peeps and saw a lot of familiar faces. Will came around the corner EXACTLY on time. It was almost spooky to know exactly, based on his goal time, when he was going to be coming around that corner. I told Anna to start looking for him, he should be coming just about now. And there he and Jill were. I still had my tennis shoes on so I thought I'd follow them in running on the sidewalk. I had to just give up. Will and Jill were bookin' it. I mean they were MOVING. Ok, maybe the cup of coffee and the fact that I just ran 5 miles slowed me down a little but I knew Will was close to his sub-40 goal. I don't want to steal Will's thunder but ... oh, heck I will anyway... 39:11... That's a huge PR from just a month ago. Will's been working hard and it paid off this morning.

CONGRATS!!!

Flying FIRST CLASS with In Flight Training

I don't want to sound too much like a paid advertisement but I just can't say enough about In Flight Running...and we JUST STARTED!!! Planning for this morning's run started Wednesday when Michael e-mailed us our respective routes. Micheal had 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 mile routes available on MapMyRun.com as well as .pdf files if we wanted to print out our route. Sign in, filling out Smart ID tags, and dropping off keys, all took about a minute. We had bug spray, water, gatorade, gels, whatever we needed. No time wasted. Michael intro'd the coaches, reviewed a few instruction, and we were off, right on schedule. Great job, Michael, Duval, Armani, and coaches.

Now, to the run. I had 5 miles on tap for this morning. The route was basically out Memorial Park short to Allen Parkway and back short. The temperature and humidity were atypically low this morning which had me feeling quite frisky. Running with the group, I wasn't paying much attention to the Garmin. I was just running easy, keeping that slow, groovy pace where you can talk with no problem and just enjoy the miles and spend the time on your feet. I really had no idea what my pace was and really didn't care this morning. But when I got home and downloaded the run to SportTracks, it said average pace was 13:45. That really surprised me. 13:45 is a little quick for me. I really dialed it back this morning and was being quite stubborn about keeping it at a slow, easy effort as directed by coach. Guess the temps DID have an effect on my run. No doubt eating PERFECTLY yesterday and this week and staying hydrated, getting good rest last night were major contributing factors to a good run this morning as well.

So, I'm ready. Day 1 down. Let's roll.

Not a fluke and steamy trails

It looks like the sub-300 weight from yesterday was not just a fluctuation but was actual, real weight. This morning when I weighed, I was still under 300. In fact, I was well under 300 (298.5). So, it's definitely official and I'll NEVER go back!!! I mean NEVER. I was this side of 300 before and then fell into darkness. I know what it's like. I've been there twice in my life now. I HATE it. I HATE not being healthy. I HATE not having clothes to wear. I HATE not honoring God and loving my family and serving my employer with a healthy, energetic body. I HATE it! I HATE it! I HATE it! and I'm never going back. Sorry for the negativity there. I just HATE weighing over 300 pounds. Did I tell you I HATED IT? Ok, it's over. That is behind me.

On to better things. I had a couple of options for the run last night. On the one hand, the Striders organized a Pub Run with general fun, food, and frivolity at a number of stops along the way. The other option was an earlier PIM run with the possibility of doing some trails with a few trail running converts. I was quite torn about the whole thing but ended up with option B and boy was it ever a good workout. 3.8 miles from the PIM picnic tables, through Ho Chi Minh, and back. I was wiped but felt great. I had some great company on the run as well. Much fun PIMsters.

We got our In Flight schedule today. Actually, it's just the schedule for the next week, not the full training schedule. That is promised to follow soon. I think for now, Michael's just trying to not overwhelm everyone with information. Michael does provide us with a LOT of information and it looks like this 1st Saturday long run is going to be well organized indeed. Michael has runs mapped out for 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 mile runs, based on the race you are training for and your current running level. Every distance is mapped out on MapMyRun.com plus, Michael has provided .pdf files for each route in case you want to print it out. Sweet, huh? They've got a key drop so you don't have to carry your keys and water stations set up all over the place. I'm anxious to see this all go down.

sub-300...AGAIN and Hot miles

It's confirmed. The National Department of Weights and Measures has certified that on the 27th day of May, 2009, Vic Kaiser weighed under 300 pounds, 299.75 to be exact (to the nearest .25 pounds). That was my goal by the end of May and it looks like I'm juuuuust going to squeak under that with a few days to spare.

I got out around the hood last night after supper and logged a couple miles, 2.25 actually. The kiddo rode his bike while I ran. The night was clear and the sunset was beautiful. Little tike provided a plethora of observations include moon phase, position of the Big Dipper, the probability that the Little Dipper was there but just could not be seen at that time, and the fact that all the ducks were the same color, white.

I'm sure hoping the weather reports are right and the storms get in and out of here by 3 or 4 this afternoon. That will surely make for a STEAMY 3 or 4 miles tonight with a high possibility of MUD ON THE TRAILS!!! Yipee!!!

In Flight Starts Saturday

"Flight Training" as Michael and Duval like to call it begins in 5 days. I AM PUMPED about the training season and ready to get rolling. I attended one of In Flight's informational meetings last week with Will and Amber (and a half dozen other folks) and got even MORE excited about this program. I'm definitely sold. Now, I'm anxious to see the whole thing put into action.

I've had a couple of GREAT Saturday runs the last 3 weeks. A small group of PIMstas have sort of formed a group of "regulars" for early Saturday morning and we've been mixing up our routes, venturing out from "the loop", and keeping it fresh. I've gotten through Spring, PIM, and the following weeks and am right where I wanted to be going into marathon training...healthy, right at 300 pounds (1.75 to get below that), and feeling REALLY good. I'm up to 5-6 miles VERY comfortably on my long runs and ready to attack these next 7 and a half months.

I registered for the San Antonio Marathon last week. Yes, that's right. My next marathon is November 15. I know, I know..."Vic that's too soon!" "Vic, why don't you just train for Houston?" Just chill. I have a plan. Yes, Houston is my GOAL RACE!!! Houston is what I'm working towards. My ultimate goal this year is to run Houston 50 pounds lighter and 1 hour faster than 2007. So, where does San Antonio fit in? I wanted to do San Antonio as a practice marathon. I plan on running it easy, even doing some walking if I absolutely have to. I want to do a marathon with NO PRESSURE!!! The 7.5 hour time limit means finishing before the course closes is a non-issue. And if I can knock half of my ultimate goal (running my next marathon 50 pounds lighter than 2007) then I can concentrate at Houston on the 1 hour PR. Either way, I'm NOT letting San Antonio get in the way of Houston. As far as I'm concerned, it's a loooooong training run/walk and I'm just going to have fun.

6 Miles like I knew what I was doing

There's nothing quite like a good, confidence-building long run and this morning was just that. I started around 7, a lot later than what I had hoped but the sun was still behind a lot of clouds and it wasn't too bad for most of my run. When I woke up this morning, I decided I was looking at 5-6 miles. By the time I got to the park, I had committed to 6, no less. I've run a couple of 5 miler the last few weeks but not continuously. Those runs have all been divided into 2 runs, a couple or 3 miles before meeting up with PIM and then a PIM run. I've been doing a loop and taking a good 5 or 10 minute break and then runing with the Power in Motion crew. So, I didn't quite know what to expect.

Since I was committed, I thought I'd do a commitment run. That's a run where you go OUT half the target distance and then you have run back. There are no shortcuts, no chance when you pass your car to cut the run short. You just must run back the 2nd half. I started at the tennis center and headed east out of the park towards Shepherd. When I got to Shepherd, I cut over to Allen Parkway, up to Waugh, across to the other side, and then back down Memorial to the park.

When I got back to Shepherd, I looked at my Garmin and asked myself, "Do you have 2 more miles in you?" "Yes." "No, I mean do you have 2 more GOOD miles in you." "Fo sho!!!", I answered. I stopped for water at Starbuck's and never looked back. Those last two miles were GREAT. Here are the splits:

Mile 1 - 14:48
Mile 2 - 14:43
Mile 3 - 14:47
Mile 4 - 14:39
Mile 5 - 14:59
Mile 6 - 13:58
Avg. pace - 14:38

It was soooooo great to see a bunch of PIM graduates out there keeping it going. I saw a bunch of familiar faces that looked like they were STILL having fun running. Caught the bug, did y'all? I ran into Will and we enjoyed some breakfast and a beverage at Starbuck, chatted a little, then headed out to get the day started. :)

Steady loss!!!

Since the beginning of the year, the weight has been coming off slowly but surely. I'm looking at the graph above and see that there few weeks where I lost ground but it's very apparent that I recovered and got back on track every time. Here's to FEWER and LESS FREQUENT hiccups and to continued progress.

Ramping up (a bit) in April

The month of April was a good month. I feel like I'm out of a slump and over my ankle injury/pain. I ran a lot more consistently and added in some resistance/boot camp workouts the last half of the month. Motivation remains high and I'm PUMPED about May. I've set some goals for May and am ready to ATTACK!!!

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