I wonder if anyone reads this or if I should go to wordpress...thoughts???
Anyways, I have now been doing C25K for a couple of months. I remember when I started, my fiancee was surprised and confused because I literally was laying on the couch all day drinking 8 cans of pop (coke for my southern friends), and one day I decide to go running on the C25K after Megan and Nathan MacDonald told me people were doing the program.
I am still on week 5...though I am running 6 mins 30 seconds per run instead of 5. I admit, it is hard, and I want to run harder, but I think it is important to just run for long intervals.
I look back at 2 months ago, when running 1 minute felt like running a marathon, that I would never be able to do it, and I see how far I have come when it comes to minutes I am able to run. This 5th week is going to kill me, because I will end up having to run 20 minutes straight.
As I look back at my freshman year in undergrad, weighing 250 pounds and being about 6'0 and last month I weighed 277 (but for some reason lost an inch and a half in height), despite all my poor eating choices the last 7 years, I realize the only thing that has kept weight off is my tuba playing. With as many cokes as I drank and eating out just about every meal in my master's, I have to say I could be way over 300 now.
During my master's degree, I started a C25K program...well, did 2 days with my best man (Alan) and another groomsman Dorian. I remember the day we ran it was 7 degrees with a negative degree wind chill....brrrrr. Later that year, my teacher encouraged me to go to the rec center and exercise. However, no matter how many times I tried to exercise, a vacation, a stressful week, the rec being closed, etc. I always couldn't keep up with the program. For those who know me, I am pretty meticulous about stuff, and if I miss a day, I have to start over from the beginning...I have overcome my personality in order to be more fit.
I went to the RPAC at Ohio State a couple times in the first year of my doctorate (last year). This year I have less classes, but more recitals and such. I thought running would mess up my tuba playing (well, after a run still isn't the best time to play), but it has been helping it. I feel 30-40 minutes of running a day is helping my vital capacity and my ability to phrase.
I have been leading 7am warm up sessions at OSU, and I live about 15 minutes north of campus, and I will say the exercise has helped me wake up in the mornings.
How has weight loss effected me in other ways. I wore a green button up shirt yesterday for a gig I had, and out of all honesty it was pretty tight. I had a couple of students say it appeared I was losing weight!!! I got my suit slacks dry cleaned over the summer, and put them on and they were too tight! Now, they are loose. I have noticed some of my clothes that shrunk/fit tight after washing them now fit differently!!! Also, I have more mental focus.
After reflecting through this blog, I have asked myself, why couldn't I have started this when I began my Master's Degree. My friend Nathan MacDonald who helped me start this keeps a blog, http://nathanalbert.wordpress.com, and I was looking at the runs he has done. He did his first 5K in April 2010! He is now training for a half marathon and has done a 10K race, now 2.5 years later, and has lost over 125 pounds. I have a non-tuba related life goal: I want to run a few marathons in my life!!! I have to start small, so running 20 minutes straight will have to do for now.
My recommendation: if you aren't exercising now, start now. The older you get, the more your body falls into a set routine and the harder it is to get out of that routine. If you need a support group, I know several guys and an online facebook group (SAWS) that would be very helpful and welcoming!
