I flunked my body fat test....

Ok, so the latest in my world is that I am FINALLY ready to get truly serious about getting in complete shape. I can run a half marathon, I could probably ride over 70 miles on a bike. But am I REALLY and truly fit? Not even a chance. And I've done my homework, I know it's so much more than a number on a scale. I was watching a guy at my gym (LifeTime Fitness North in Austin) having a body fat analysis done yesterday and after recently reading a great article about body fat, I knew I needed the same for a baseline. It's the best way there is to gauge real progress, that takes into account muscle. Weight alone is misleading, I'm pretty muscular.

So I met William ("BILL") Priesser at the gym today for a scheduled body fat analysis. The great thing is that it is FREE for members, and I can have it done monthly to track my progress. Bill is a truly nice guy, very positive and motivating. He has done several metabolic assessments (MAP testing) on me over the years and is always really friendly but in a genuine way. Never a hard sell, but really knowledgeable. Here is the hard, fat (no pun intended) truths:

Body fat analysis by their new, state of the art body fat scale:

Weight - 214 (gulp) pounds, 5'9", 53 yrs old. Body fat %....25.1%. BMI over 31. Yikes.

Body fat analysis by standard "pinch tests" with calipers:

21.9 % body fat. Wish this was the better, more accurate number of the two. It's not. Although Bill told me I am pretty muscular all around, with great numbers on thighs, arms...and not BAD numbers on belly, back and waist.....obviously there is room for improvement. The electronic machine is a better test of "visceral fat" which often hides around internal organs, and shows as excess weight. It can be hidden somewhat by a more muscular build, which is a nice way of him telling me I don't LOOK fat....the bottom line is I have about 25 lbs of BODY FAT ALONE to lose.

Bill is a metabolic specialist, and I was really impressed that he went to great trouble to map out the dietary (ick) changes I really have to make. I knew it was coming, it is obvious that I may be gaining muscle mass, but I'm not losing body fat. Carbs have got to go WAY down, and I have to up my veggies intake to make up for the loss in fiber intake. Avoid whole grains, pizza (waaaah!), cereal (easy, don't eat it), rice. Damn. But you know what? I'm ready, and it's not a sacrifice at all. It's time to learn once again how to treat food as a fuel, not an addiction.

The final bit of good news is that I'm already on track, just need to lower the intensity of my workouts to stay in a "fat burning" heart rate range. Hard as hell for me to do, and it does seem counter-intuitive. But Bill made perfect sense, I have to train my body to burn fat by not giving it the choice to burn carbs (and spike my insulin levels while I am at it).

I know that I need true balance of diet and exercise to get the body I want....trim, and strong, and able to endure long cardio workouts (aka cycle rides and long runs).

Yes, there is a vanity aspect to it. But that is the lesser motivation, I really want to feel like I did the last time I weighed 180 - 190. And to have that kind of energy.

Stay tuned and monthly I will track before/current stats. I'm excited to be on this new journey!

New bedding

Thanks to my good friend Tashia for the "phone support" while I was shopping at Kohls for some new bedding... The old comforter is more for winter and was way too warm. I decided to add some color....

New Patio....

I really needed to get working on the patio, so I unplugged from all social media for a day, hit the gym and then went at it! First stop, Target! Love, love, love Target. I already had put down some "Astro Turf" (showing my age!) and I bought a great electric George Foreman grill. Trying to play within the apartment complex's rules, since I love this place!

$18 rug from Home Depot!

At Target I found two great red chairs that are pretty comfortable, $25 each and a table for $20. On the table is a solar powered lantern that if it works I plan to hang and add a couple more. Not sure since the patio does not get direct sun. We'll see. I think it came out pretty well! I bought two long window planters that I'm going to hang from the balcony railing once I decide what I can grow......:O)

I also found a much cheaper Ikea TV stand I really like on Craigslist, $45, already put together:

This one is lower, which lowers the TV to the perfect viewing level. And it's a darker wood tone, that matches better, my older one was too modern looking. 

So, only the kitchen really left, it does not need much, just some art, maybe some baskets and fake greenery on top of the cabinets.

Oh who am I kidding? I don't think I'll ever be "done" with it. But I am having a ball doing this! My living room is better than any sports bar, and each area of my place has it's own feel and reflects a different facet of who I am. I think that is what a home should do!

Seeking a friend for the end of the world...

I can't wait to see this movie! Love Kiera Knightly and I could sure use a real laugh right about now.
It's been a busy month with the move into my new place. I can't believe how much I love it. Every room I've worked hard on. Living in an apartment is a decorating challenge, but one I've gone headlong into. I started with the living room. I finally just said fuck it and decided to decorate it like a sports bar basically. Purple walls (only 2 out of 4!), my 60" big screen piece of heaven, and every bit of Minnesota Vikings memorabilia I own everywhere. 

After

Before

I have hung the curtains my sister made me, they rule!

I love displaying all of Megan's cheer outfits, this is her wall:

Couch was a Craigslist special!

I went for "upscale hotel bathroom" in the - you guessed it - bathroom. I framed the mirror and replaced every fixture except the faucets:

Megs stuff is frilly, mine is manly!

I get one shelf, Megs gets the rest....

Next I decided I hated the linen closet and saw a magazine where someone had removed the door. That led me to thinking the shelves were ugly. And when I'm doing my reading I have to look at these every day. I found perfect length shelves at Home Depot, and added trim (same thing I used on the mirror frame). Although it's not a perfect match it was easy, no staining etc. They sit on the existing brackets so I can easily take them if I ever move, which I hope is pretty much never. I think they came out pretty cool:

Fugly old crap

New look.

I plan to fill the hinges and the striker plate holes with wood filler, sand and paint them this week. I'm that anal. Deal.

Megs needed her area, and although she is only with me a couple of weekends a month, I wanted to make it as nice for her as I can. So I turned the dining room into her room:

Ikea Hemnes daybed I bought new. My baby deserves the best!

I need to take a picture of  the bedroom, which I think is way over and above the nicest I've ever had, in an apartment at least.

Target curtains, $100 Craigslist bed!

I realized I rarely get company and any one that didn't like it I probably would not want around anyway. And I love it. Megs tolerates it. It's pretty much done, although I plan to buy this stand for the TV:

One thing I've learned in life, you have to surround yourself with memories. My place does that just fine. It's been expensive, fun, and quite a bit of work but in one month it has become a place I really love to go to. 

Austin 1020 race report....the patient lived....

I often think when I write race report posts that I should write them while I have that post race "after glow", but as with sex it fades way, way too soon! And then there are races like this one, where there is no real glow at all. I managed a nice fake "man I killed that course" smile in a post race pic, but it's more tongue in cheek that I added it to my Facebook page:

Don't be fooled people. I almost blacked out after this race, I actually went up to a EMT and told him I thought I was going to faint. He had me sit on the curb and watched me like a hawk for a while and the feeling finally passed. I faded so bad the last 2 miles it wasn't even funny - I've never wanted to quit running so badly in all my life. It was a bit warmer than any race this year, with horrible humidity (and a few raindrops) but nothing that unusual. My pre race ritual was the same as always, but 8 miles in and I was dying. Slower pace than I ran the Capital 10K in, and I felt great at the start, but I guess there are just those days you don't have it! The race was cool, you don't get to run many Inaugural races here in Austin, especially not one with 9,000 runners! Great finisher medals and t-shirts! I ended up 120th out of 190 males in my age group, so it could have been worse. Everyone around me at the end looked dead too. It was advertised as a flat course, and the elevation chart sure seemed to support that. But I felt like we were running uphill the entire time! I don't mind short, really steep hills, I love them actually....but these were different animals. Long, slow rises that seemed to stretch out to the horizon, blech!!! 

There were some really cool bands, one about every 1/2 mile. So I left the iPod in the car. Fail. I won't do that again, because there were points on this course I wanted to just shut out all the noise. Maybe it was That Time of the Month in my running cycle, lol. There was the omnipresent asshole at mile 9 telling us it was all downhill from there. It wasn't, and I shot him a look to let him know his attempt at humor was sadly lacking truth. I may or may not have said the same thing in the past at some point, but I never will again. It's just not fucking funny when you're dying out there. 

I had planned to meet my running buddies at the post race party, but I was too beat and I saw the rain rolling in. I hobbled to the car and got there just as it started raining. 

All in all, I'd love to do this race next year. I'll make this course my bitch. 

2012 Capital 10K race report

This was my 3rd time to run Austin's most famous race...and I have to say I enjoyed it the most! In 2007 I was WAY too focused on time to really enjoy the race, and although I ran a 51:49 (8:20 min/mile pace), I can't tell you anything remarkable about that race. Not a single memory. Must have had a good run, but who knows what was going on? The next year I ran it was the following year, in 2008 and my time dropped to 57:03 (Still a 9:10 pace!) and I DO remember why - I had to make an unscheduled pit stop at a Porta-Jane. Nothing will make you regret running in the "timed" category more than having to stop! I right then and there started taking my pre-race routine much more seriously! Hasn't happened to me since, knock on wood!

Fast forward to 2012 and I ran a 1:02:13 for a 10:01 pace. I woke op early on race day and I knew I was going to have a good run! The legs felt fresh - another way of saying I did NOT run enough the week prior to Sunday! I listened to some music, figured out how to connect my iPhone to my Kia Sorrento's stereo so I can control my tunes like an iPod connected and through the steering wheel controls. Sweet! I did the morning visit to the Porta-Janes, which I must say were the cleanest ones I have ever used. Something to be said for arriving early! I walked around a bit to loosen up and to take in the pre race atmosphere. It was warm, about 65 deg at the start I'd guess, and really humid. That had a lot of runners nervous, and the more I listened to everyone the more worried I got too! I looked around for some friends I thought were running and did not see them, so I headed to the "C" Corral, which I think was for 10:00 to 10:30 pace runners. After some local girl's duo murdered the National Anthem (It's "perilous fight" not "perilous flight" people!) we were off, and.....walking! With over 23,000 runners total, it can take a while. But we were actually running 5 ft before the start line, and I crossed it about 2:21 after the gun went off. Not bad! The first mile was a very easy steady climb up Congress Avenue, which is a cool way to get the legs warm before the first hill, a sharp climb after a right on 11th st. I knew what was coming, so I was trying to take things easy. I still was right at a 10 minute first mile. That was when I realized I had a shot at running under 10 min pace. Mile 2 took us over a couple rollers and down the monster that was the toughest climb in the Livestrong Half Marathon, when we were coming the opposite direction! Much easier going down, although I did see a few people with quads that appeared to be in trouble. By now I was sweating like the proverbial pig (I always do!) and I knew the one hill I dreaded was here...the longest hill and the toughest on the course. It was not as hard as it was when I ran the Turkey Trot (See The Calf history in earlier posts if you are truly bored!), and I think it was on the perfect spot on the course. After getting over it and then headed down the long downhill to Mopac, I knew I was doing well. At 3 miles I was right on 10 minute pace still. By mile 4 I was just girl watching, which I do without leering...much. Damn, runners have fine legs! The heat was starting to bother me at mile 5 and I faded just a little going up some small rollers on Cesar Chavez....but I was still doing well all things considered. I had only been bumped a couple hundred times by newbies that apparently had no idea that running a straight line is just being courteous, and I was not thirsty at all. Half of the two cups of water I grabbed on the course were just to pour down my back and on my head to cool off. My calf did not give me even a twinge, and I was really glad for that!

I really did not have much of a sprint at the end, which was cool since we were packed in the finishing chute like sardines. Sweaty, smelly sardines! They would do well to widen that a little. I might have made up that maddening 1 second that my final pace was (10:01!) But I was happy! All in all, it was a very fun race and I'll be back next year to do it again!

My final "grades":

246th of 429 in my Age Group (50-59 Male)

4,604th overall (of 9,929 timed runners - 23,000+ overall runners/walkers)

3,097th male (of  5,158 males)

7 miles....times two!

It was the tale of two runs:

Yesterday - met my running group at Town Lake and we initially thought we were running 5 miles. That turned out to be 6.6! But hey I felt great, the girls (and Mark!) are always fun to run with and I felt nice and rested after Wednesday's 7 mile loop. We ran the Scenic loop, and man those hills!!! That might have been the first thing that foreshadowed what today might be like....I was really sore after Megs and I shopped all day!! But I did get some couch time last night, watching my beloved Dukies and then the Longhorns each get hammered. Blech.

I'm always happy when I'm shopping with the Fashionista....

Today - I woke up out of sorts, and did my 3rd trip to the "library" in 8 hours. That was a omen I won't ignore again. Got to Town Lake and was stalling, it was cold, I was tired and I was irritable. Only another runner will understand me when I say I NEEDED to run. I did not WANT to run! It was a good thing I stalled, as nature called with a vengeance and I got a good sprint to the men's room in. TMI, I know! I felt OK afterwards, and I knew I was well hydrated. The fact I had to stop at 3 Porta Janes in 7 miles confirmed that!

This was one of the toughest, most mentally grueling runs I've done this year. It was no fun at all, but some runs are like that. I liken it to the last 10K of a Marathon - I am grumpy, I hate running and I want to quit. But I can't, and so I didn't. I was tired, yes. My legs were sore as hell, yes. But I was not in pain, and I knew I needed the mental toughness test to see if I could finish. In about 7 weeks I will find out if I am running New York this year, in November. If I am, I see a LOT of runs like this in my future. It takes what it takes.

I look exactly like I felt. Like Shit.

Was it worth it? Yes. Do I feel the endorphins and the thrill of another run completed? Fuck no.