Men's Health

A lady from Men's Health magazine called me at home last Friday. I thought for sure she was trying to offer me a special gift to renew my subscription or something. But...she was calling to setup an interview!! Per suggestions from some family and friends, I submitted my fitness story to them...of course, I didn't think anything would come of it. But, it turns out they have selected me for their March or April Belly Off profile!!!! Absolutely crazy.

I did a phone interview with the writer yesterday and she said the art department would be in touch with me....for the photo shoot!!?? I'm still shocked....and I'm wondering if someone is playing a prank on me... Any minute now that Ashton dude is gonna pop out of the bushes and yell 'You've been punked!'....

The October 12

I had a nice and cold 12 mile run today. The breeze was quite crisp, but it was just enough to take my mind away from my burning calves, which were still hurting from Thursday's leg workout (I think I might scale down the calf raises next week...). I haven't been able to get a long run in for a couple of weeks due to 5k races and other obligations. It felt great to get outside and off of the treadmill again. It was a tough run, but if it was easy everyone would be doing it!!

Heritage Lake 5k - 22:27

I survived the hills of the Heritage Lake 5k. As of 1pm yesterday I still had not decided if I was even going to run the race...but, I finally gave in. It was a beautiful day - a perfect day for a tough race. I would dare anyone to find a 5k course that is more challenging than this one. I expected to be about a minute off of my 5k PR from last weekend's race (21:56) but I was a little off.

I finished with a decent time of 22:27, beating last year's time by about 5:30 minutes. There were around 97 runners and I placed 11th overall. I was the 10th male finisher, with the first place female runner finishing just ahead of me. Out of the 10 people that finished before me, 8 of them were in my age group. So....unlike last year, no AG trophy for me this year. The 30-39 AG is a very tough grouping....lots of great runners. But, I placed 42nd out of 83 runners last year, so I'm pretty pleased with the improvement. :)

I do a lot of hill training, so I was fairly prepared for the tough hills. The downhill sections were probably more painful. In fact, during most of the race I was going back and forth with a guy that went to the same high school as me (he's an ironman athlete). I would pass him on the uphills and he would pass me on the downhills. But, within the last mile I really turned it on and ended up passing him and 3 other guys.

I have to admit, I never thought I would ever come close to finishing in the top 10 of this race. Last year I got smoked by my brother (26:31) and my bro-in-law (25:27), and 39 other runners. I had a blast this year, but I'm hoping we can all run it together again next year.

Ryan A Beaupre 5K - 21:56

It was an honor to be involved in the Ryan A Beaupre Memorial 5K at Illinois Wesleyan University. Captain Beaupre was one of the first US casualties of war in Iraq. He was a dedicated Marine, an IWU grad, and a State Farm employee.

Even though I PR'd today....I didn't run for time. No one did. We ran for Ryan.

On this fine October day, I raise my running shoes to Captain Ryan A Beaupre, US MARINES.

You will never be forgotten.

Sunday to Sunday Recap

Here's the Sunday to Sunday report:

Sunday: 11 miles
Monday: 4 miles, big chest
Tuesday: 7 miles, abs
Wednesday: 3 miles, big back & lats
Thursday: 6 miles, abs
Friday: arms, shoulders, pushups (4 sets of 25)
Saturday: rest!
Sunday: 10 miles (hills)

I've decided that I'm going to really focus on tone for the rest of the year, specifically abs, lower back, and legs....while also continuing a similar running plan. It's time for me to start seeing more definition in my abs - my goal for the next couple of months will be to reshape my abs and obliques. I'm also going to work on building up leg strength in order to help with my running in 2010 (full marathon training perhaps?).

I've got a 5k in Bloomington coming up this weekend and then I have the Heritage Lake 5k in Mackinaw the following weekend. The Bloomington 5k should be a fairly flat course, but it does have a lot of turns. I'm really looking forward to the Heritage Lake 5k....it is by far the most challenging 5k around (hills....big hills), but I'm anxious to see how well I've improved from last year.

This is your face.....100lb update

This is your face on not running...

This is your face on running...

Any Questions?