Lenten Specials!

"That’s what religion is... just a bunch of made-up rules to manipulate people! Why don’t Catholics eat meat on Fridays? I’ll tell you why. Because the pope owns Long John Silver’s!"
-Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), "30 Rock"

Weight: 156

I am technically over my sickness from last blog. I say 'technically', because I'm still not feeling 100%. I still have a bit of a stomach ache, and have not been able to figure out how to get rid of it - eat more, eat less, eat differently? Who knows? But it's not so bad, and I've gotten back on track with my training... sort of.

I did have to skip one day's worth of workouts this week (a 4 mile run plus a swim workout). It wasn't because of my stomach, it was just another case of 'life' getting in the way. I had to have some blood drawn for an upcoming physical, so I had to fast in the morning. By the time I was back from the blood draw, my daughter had a friend over for a play date. By the time the play date was over, well, I just didn't feel like it. I hadn't been eating and drinking like I was getting ready for an evening workout.

Look, I'll be the first to say that I 'wimped out' and made excuses. I'm sure I could've found 90 minutes to get a really good workout in. I didn't. I don't think it makes me a bad person, and I don't think doing it once or twice a month will kill all my goals (be they weight maintenance, or athletic performance).

That said, it's the people who make too many excuses, too often, who end up beached whale couch potatoes unable to run even short distances (like across the room to the phone). If there is someone you look up to, someone you envy, or are jealous of, or you idolize... even if they are someone you don't really 'know', just someone you see on TV. Doesn't matter if it's about body image or performance, or about career, love, or anything else. The difference between who you are, and who you want to be, is that the latter stopped making excuses.

You get rid of the excuses, and you can do it... whatever it is you want to do. Stop making excuses about time, or your 'bad knees', or money. The excuses are self-imposed obstacles.

That said, be realistic too. If your goal is to run a marathon... you can do it! If your goal is to set a world record in the marathon, uh, well, I'm not saying it can't be done, but you'd better understand the years it would take to get to that level (for most of us). Not just years, but years working harder than a whore on dollar night, every day.

Anyway, I'm back on track with training, regardless of if my stomach is 100% on board with the idea. The training for a half marathon (well, any race distance really) is what you make it, and for me, it's not so bad. I'm at the end of week 3 (out of 12 weeks) and my long run thus far has been 6 miles. As usual, I don't focus a whole lot on time, pace, etc. For me, that is more work and stress than I want, and it sucks some of the enjoyment out of it.

That said, I'm really hoping for a PR this race. I've only run the Half marathon distance 3 times - the first one was a training run for my first marathon. I went out too fast, was spent by mile 10, and walked a ton. My second one was my first attempt at pacing myself for the distance (but again, I was in the middle of marathon training). I paced well, but it wasn't a 'fast' race by any means. My third Half, I was ready to put up a good time (by my standards), and 5 minutes before the start, I was puking my guts out in a porta-john (just a bad reaction to the smell). Totally dehydrated and puking up during the race, I still managed a 1:50:52 which is my current PR. If I don't beat that by 5 minutes or more, I will have failed.

So... Lent. I'm not overly religious, and not going to get into the religious significance or goofiness of Lent. But I do like to test myself a little during Lent - give up something(s) to hopefully better and benefit myself, and maybe those around me.

It's really not any different mindset than dieting or training or quitting smoking or even rehab (I assume). It's making a decision, a commitment, to do something for a specific period of time. If you train for a race, you do the same thing, you commit to doing your workouts without fail. If you diet, you commit to eating in accordance with a program. you get the idea.

So this year for Lent, I'm giving up alcohol, red meat, and sweets/snacks/desserts. These are fairly typical things for me to give up. Having less of those things is good for you, and I don't indulge in them much anyway, so it's not much of a sacrifice.

But I spoke to my wife, and convinced her to give up processed sugar (which she puts in her morning coffee EVERY DAY), bread (including pizza crust), sweets/snacks/desserts, and red meat. The red meat and snacks are no big deal, especially since I'm giving them up too. But bread and sugar? HUGE sacrifices for her... I am proud of her for making that commitment.

And as a good husband, to sacrifice to the same extent, I also gave up Facebook. Sure, you can think this is stupid, because it's no big deal missing your Farm or Mafia or whatever. But I use facebook more than Email. I use facebook the way most people use their cell phones. When you can say you're done with your cell phone and Email, then you can tell me I'm stupid.

I officially put my blog 'out there' to friends and such because of the 'no facebook during Lent' thing. While giving it up is my sacrifice, I understand there is a certain weirdness that I am making them give up 'cold turkey' during Lent, against their will. I am excited I now have 'Followers'. Feel free to tell your friends - the more the merrier. And of course, feel free to comment and/or ask questions... because sooner or later, I will run out of things to say :P