Reading, UK and Copenhagen

I’ve been in Reading, UK and Copenhagen this week and I am flying back to Seattle today. Its been a rough week work-wise… its always tough coming over here. By the time you are done with a day full of meetings the team in Seattle is just starting to work, so emails start flying. I could let them go and wait until the next day to respond, but then I’ll have a huge mountain to go through and decisions will be made without my input. So last night I stayed in my hotel room- I arrived back at 5pm, but ended up working until 9pm. I ordered “Penne a la Bruschetta” which was described as Penne with fresh tomato tatar and basil. Yes there was pasta, yes there was basil. There were even some ripe red tomatoes. What kills me though is that they put in a bunch of green tomatoes which kind of ruined the whole thing for me. Not to the extent that I didn’t eat it..I was really hungry from not having had any breakfast (preferred sleep to food at that hour) and a small lunch. I’ll be happy to be back in control of what I can eat! On Monday night in the UK we went to an Asian restaurant that was “highly” recommended by a UK colleague as “excellent” Asian food. I think my Danish colleague put it best: “If that’s their best Asian food, then I don’t want to know what their mediocre Asian food is like!” Other delectable dishes this week included prawns on a bed of Rice (with tomatoes and beans mixed in)…sounds good, but it was only ok…very bland. I avoided the haggis at the hotel yet again….Someone must eat that stuff because each time I have gone to this hotel in the past 8 years, its being served in the buffet, and it looks as though someone has had some. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Haggis, here’s how Wikipedia describes it:
“sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal’s stomach for approximately an hour.” Yum yum yum…think I’ll quit my day job and start a fast food chain centering on Haggis…sure to be a crowd pleaser at any county fair!

What a week

This week has been extremely busy…I've had a ton of work things going on, and with my departure tomorrow evening for Europe again, it seems like I'm not going to have much of a weekend. I've been eating well all week and sticking to my calorie goals for the most part. But I haven't done any exercise this week at all. Earlier in the week it was because I was sore from my long run on Sunday, but once Tuesday arrived I no longer had that excuse. With all my work, I haven't been eating enough during the day and so by the end of the day I've been exhausted. But I am going to leave work early today to go do a run.

We are now the proud owners of a home theater system… All day Wednesday the technicians were crawling around in my attic crawlspace and cutting into my living room ceiling to install surround sound speakers. We watched a movie on it last night and it was fantastic…there was a scene in the rain, and it really sounded like it was raining in our living room!! Can't wait to watch some serious football on that!!

Recovered

Morning Weight: 182.8lbs

I took the day off yesterday from exercise as my legs were feeling way tired after the 11 mile run on Sunday. Overall, I think the Endurox recovery drink did a good job- my legs were not really all that sore after the run and on Monday…just tired. I think that's what the Endurox is supposed to do- speed muscle recovery.

I made a chicken/pork/sausage Paella on Sunday night and it was delicious. The recipe said that it would feed four people, but both Lane and I thought that was a bit off…this thing could have fed 6-8 people. We were initially shocked at the caloric value- something like 2800 calories for the full dish, but when we divided into portions each 1/8 of the total we realize that it's a very healthy 350 calories. And I have to say it tastes great as a leftover…I had another portion of it last night for dinner.

So I am excited because I came out of the weekend weighing less than what I went into the weekend, and I know that my weekends are normally my problem times. I guess getting a really long run in helps to burn some of the excess calories from watching football, but also going to the football game with a clear understanding of what to avoid and still watching my portions helps.

LSD and Kool Aid

I just did some great LSD. Now before you all start worrying that I am dropping acid or taking heroin, you should know that LSD in this case is the runner's acronym for Long Slow Distance.  I started from my house and went south into the Mount Baker neighborhood of Seattle. I hadn't ever run on some of these roads but it was really nice. The temperature was perfect for running- about 60 degrees. I wound my way down to the lake and found that this is a "Bicycle weekend" meaning that the street right by the lake was closed to vehicle traffic. Thus it was just some bikers and myself in the road. Very quiet for a change and no vehicle exhaust. 

By the time I turned around at Seward Park it started raining, but nothing too heavy. The only downside to the run is that since I live on a hill, I always have to climb back up a hill right at the end of a run to get back to my house. I walked that part, but I'm not going to feel bad about that because that was only the last .10 mile and I ran 11.2 Miles already today!

The run really felt good...I was nice and relaxed through the entire run...I got into a good pace and just went with it. I certainly wasn't breaking any records- my pace was around 10-10:30/mile. 

I just bought a huge container of Endurox R4 sports recovery drink, so I tried it out after my run. It is Fruit Punch flavored, but it tastes like a sweeter version of Kool-Aid. ( I can just imagine the Kool Aid guy from the commercials come crashing through the wall now saying "Oh Yeah") For those of you who do not know what I'm talking about, here's a link to the original commercial as well as a link to Dane Cook the very funny comedian talking about it. 

Anyway, I hope that this Endurox stuff helps me recover because I have a feeling my legs are going to be in pain! :)

Original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBeUGqeYsQg

Dane Cook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP1USaPMXp

Football Saturday

I started out this morning thinking that I was going to go cycling with some folks...I was supposed to meet them partially into their ride at a location convenient to my house. Well some mixed signals occurred and so I did not meet up with them. So instead I thought I would go on a long run. Well I got a mile or so into the run and realized that my lack of good sleep last night was going to hinder a long run. So I ran 3.5 miles and called it a day. Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight and will be able to run 2 hrs tomorrow.

As it is autumn, we went to Sidelines to watch the Florida Gators football game today. They were playing arch-rival Tennessee in Florida, and the results were fantastic- 59-20! Then we came home expecting to see my alma mater Vanderbilt play Mississippi on my computer (streaming over the internet). Well it turns out that ESPN has some special deal with certain internet providers to stream this video, but not Comcast cable in Seattle. So I spent 20 minutes trying to get it to work, but it wouldn't. I had to appease myself by playing XBOX 360 football instead. In any case, Vanderbilt ended up winning the game 31-17! So that's two teams I care about winning today. Then I started looking at other scores and my undergrad school Lehigh beat Princeton today. Its nice to score the Trifecta! :)

The good news is that I didn't really over-consume today while watching all that great football. Tomorrow I am planning on making a Paella, but I will try my best to eat only a reasonable portion of it and save the rest for later in the week.

Analysis

I just installed Windows Live Writer as my blog writing tool. As you install that you also get the opportunity to install other Windows Live applications, such as Windows Live Mail. Windows Live Mail downloads all my feeds and I had the opportunity to re-read many of my blog posts from early August. Truth is that I lost a bunch of weight in early August but I plateaued in mid-late August and haven't made much progress since then. I really need to get to below 180lbs by the end of the month. This blog turns out to be good because of its permanency. In the past I may have been able to rationalize the gain of a few pounds, but if I look at the trend, i need to make more progress.

 

Enough analysis. Tonight I bought a kick-ass Flat Screen TV and home theater system for my house. I will be fully equipped with high-definition flat screen TV next Wednesday, and I cannot wait! So as long as I use it while riding on my stationary bike then I'll really see some weight loss progress! :)

Feeling Great

Morning Weight: 183.2 Lbs/83.27 Kg

I'm happy to see my weight declined again… it really amazes me how much water I retain in certain periods. But I'm glad to see that my trip to Florida and Canada did not really have a lasting effect on my weight.

Meghan asked via a comment about my speed workout… I start with 15 minutes at a 6-6.5mph pace (9.6-10.kph). Then I run a half mile(little bit more than 800 meters) at 7.5mph (12kph) followed by two minutes of walking. Then I repeat that six times and then cool down for 10 minutes at 6mph. Wow… this metric stuff is hard! J

Today Lane and I will try to actually purchase our TV and Home Theater…I'm trying not to get too excited because I'm sure that Best Buy will do something to tick me off, but it really is going to be cool. A 46" flat screen and speakers that will be mounted in the ceiling will be amazing for football, basketball, hockey eh (Canadian sport), and movies! Of course it will probably take a month to get the stuff installed, but still I'm excited.

Hopefully I will get to do some strength training (something my anorexic German friend should try to build up a little bit of mass!) and go for a run.

Speed Intervals

Just got back from the gym- I had a GREAT hour long speed interval workout. I ran 6 half mile repeats at speed, and it felt great. This was the best interval day I've had so far, so I'm really happy about my progress. Yes, I'm gushing, but it was really such a great workout and I feel great. Must be all those endorphins!

Oktoberfest?

Morning Weight: 184.4lbs

Yee ha! Weight is still heading in the right direction…it's nice to see what a little bit of discipline will do. Speaking of which, I just got out of an early morning meeting and it looks as though I will be heading back to the land of mushy peas and boiled burgers in a week and a half. That is not concerning, but then my colleagues suggested that we hold some meetings in Munich on the 25^th and invite our customers to Oktoberfest. Yes Oktoberfest…home of the HUGE beers and temptation of delicious German food. Will I have the willpower to resist?

Looks like strength training is off for tonight, so I will do speed intervals in preparation for Victoria. Then maybe I'll head back to Best Buy to attempt to buy a TV again. Last night we spent about an hour there, picking out all our components, inquiring about installation. Then we inquired about their 3 year, no interest financing option that they had been advertising heavily. We were then sent to the customer service desk with a complete list of items we wanted to finance. The customer service rep did not look at the list and approved me for a standard amount. To which we complained that that would not cover the full list of items we wanted to purchase, and therefore amounted to false advertising on their part. After a long wait and a phone call things were cleared up. But when we went back to the TV area, the sales rep that was working with us was nowhere to be found. Another sales rep informed us that he had left for the evening and that after helping other customers he would be able to help us. Then he disappeared. All I can say is that I am not exactly a fan of Best Buy's in-store execution at this point. The sales rep should have been able to help us with the financing … the customer service rep had demonstrated absolutely no expertise in that area other than pushing a form into my face for me to fill out. The sales rep should have told us that by 8pm he would be gone…

We ended up leaving because by this point we were very hungry and it looked like there was one sales rep helping 3 or more customers ahead of us…not worth the wait. Please excuse my rant, Best Buy, I was only trying to purchase something from you and take advantage of the offer you advertised. I can always go to a competitor!

OK Rant over.

By the way, I am addicted to Placebos. I could quit at any time, but it wouldn't make any difference.

Morning Weight: 185.0 lbs

Its very motivational to step on the scale in the morning and find that you are almost a pound down from the day before. I realize that this is a result of my body releasing water that it was conserving, but hey I don't care what the reason is! I realize though that I have not really cooked anything myself in a long time. Sure I've done some grilling, but I haven't made any home cooked foods in a long time. Not that its an issue in the summer when its hot- the kitchen tends to get very hot, so cooking in summer is not always pleasant. But as the days are getting shorter and will eventually get cooler, I'm thinking again about cooking all sorts of delicious things. But I'll have to determine how to limit portions!

Beautiful day today here in Seattle..this is really the nicest time of the year, so I will do my best to take advantage of the nice weather. Cycling and Hiking come to mind as great activities for this upcoming weekend assuming the weather holds. Of course cleaning the house and watching football may win out.

New Week

Morning Weight: 185.7 lbs

So yes, I am up in weight vs my last weigh-in on August 24, but all in all, I'm not too disappointed. I really haven't been closely monitoring my intake while I was in Florida and Whistler, and I'm sure that part of the increase is water weight which will be released in the coming days. I'm looking forward to my workouts this week. Tonight I will hit the indoor cycle to help flush out my legs…my hip flexors and quads are very sore from all the hiking over the weekend! Tomorrow I'll do a run and then some strength training- its been about a month since I last hit the weight room at the gym…time to get back into it!

So my new goal is to be around 177lbs for the Victoria half marathon on October 7^th. I think I can make it and I'm going to work very hard to get there… I really want that race to go well, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Back in Town

Just got back into town from what seems like an eternity away....at least I was having fun! Lane and I went to Whistler this past weekend to do some hiking and some biking. Whistler is such a great place... great town, beautiful scenery, friendly people. On our hike we saw some pretty cools stuff. Including Black Bear Poo. I'm not kidding...the friendly Canadians apparently found it less time consuming to make a sign saying "Black Bear Poo" and stick the sign into the poo rather than clean it up and keep people from stepping in it!

Apart from the poo, we were amazed to see how much snow was still left over from past seasons. We both stood in front of a wall of snow that was 4-5 times as tall as we are. To think that in the winter time we would be 10 feet higher in the same spot at times because of all the snow!

Anyway, I'm glad to be home again...its time for me to redouble my efforts at weight loss. I was pretty good while away in terms of exercise, but of course I was eating too much. No worries though, I'm back and ready to get started again!