2 Years Ago...

The following is a post I wrote for Steve Tomboni to publish in the Muncie Voice -

If we've not seen each other in 10 years, you may not know the following:

In 1999, I weighed 220 pounds - Today, I weigh 220 pounds - the problem is that in 2007 I weighed 310 pounds! While I blame the desk job for my weight increase, it was my own lack of diet and exercise that caused me to gain the weight. Over the last 2 years, I have made significant changes to my lifestyle, and I wanted to take moment to reflect on those with you today -

March 12, 2010 - On this day, I made the decision that for Daylight Savings Time, as I changed my clocks, I needed to change my life. I refused to be part of any diet program that would hold me hostage to counting calories or tracking points, but I know myself well enough to know that I'm motivated by very specific, long term goals, so I stated on this date that I would complete a marathon in under 6 hours. Really not understanding what this would take, I found a marathon in Indianapolis on November 7 - the same day we change our clocks again. The irony could not be ignored, and I committed to the event immediately. Did I mention I weighed 280 pounds? I could not walk on the treadmill for more than 20 minutes without being winded to a point of total exhaustion.

June 12, 2010 - A disciplined approach to walking on the treadmill at the new Yorktown YMCA, on the Cardinal Greenway and trying to make better choices about my eating helped me to my first 5k race in over 10 years with Muncie Multi-Sport at Prairie Creek Reservoir. It was only the third time that I was able to run at a ten minute pace for over 30 minutes!

September 4, 2010 - After being introduced the sport of triathlons in June, and watching my wife do a sprint triathlon in July, I wanted to try my hand at it. A healthy dose of swimming, biking, and running really helped keep me active most of the summer. So, I completed my first Sprint Triathlon with Muncie Multi-Sport at Prairie Creek Reservoir! And yes, I DID finish - however, I gave everyone quite a scare when hypothermia set in, and I was transported to the ER! Let's just say I learned a lot that day!

October 24, 2010 - I ran in the Chase Charlie 5k in just over 26 minutes - and also ran a 20 mile training run at an 11:30 pace the very next day.

November 6, 2010 - I am a marathoner! I completed 26.2 miles in 5 hours and 21 minutes - Mission Accomplished! My weight was down to 235! In 8 months I lost almost 50 pounds and went from barely walking for 26.2 minutes to running 26.2 miles!

Once the Holidays were over and we entered 2011, I realized I was addicted to this new lifestyle. I felt like I had so much more to do - for myself. My original goals were to complete another Sprint Triathlon (without the trip to the ER) and to complete another marathon -

So how did I do? Check this out - I completed 14 different running events including a stair climbing race, 5k, 10k, 5 mile trail run, 3 Sprint Triathlons, 3 Half Marathons (Geist, Indy, Muncie), and 2 Full Marathons including the Chicago Marathon! I ran over 1000 miles for the year! And the scale - holding steady under 220!

Additionally, I helped to create a new running event in Yorktown! The 4 for the 4th was a successful event with over 300 athletes, resulting in a new trail installed along Tiger Drive where no trail or sidewalk had ever existed.

Hard to top that, but again, I'm driven by big goals! 2011 was my year for running - 2012 is my year for triathlons. I plan to complete an Olympic Distance Triathlon, and the Muncie Man Distance Triathlon with Muncie Multi-Sport, and finally the Muncie 70.3 Half Ironman Distance Triathlon! My goal is to run and bike over 2012 miles this year...at a minimum!

In just 2 years time I've enjoyed the benefits of a healthier lifestyle. I'm stronger and slimmer. I have more energy for my work and family. And I did it all with the help of my friends and family here in Delaware County. I am so thankful to the Yorktown YMCA, the Cardinal Greenway, Muncie Multi-Sport and the Yorktown Running Club (YRC). Hope to see you at a race in 2012!

The Century Mark

For the third time in 6 months I am within 10 pounds of losing 100 pounds - the century mark! I MUST DO IT THIS TIME!

From 310 pounds in November 2007, I only ever got down to 285 by March 2010 - but by April 2011 I found myself at 235 - and then just before the Chicago Marathon I hit a low of 216 (Down 94 pounds). Before the Monumental Marathon I held on to 225, but by New Years was back to 232.

Today I am 219 again...Just 9 more pounds to go. Surely I can buckle down for the month of February so that I can finally say I did it...can't I? If you see me with food in my hand, you have my permission to slap it away!

Stay tuned for weekly updates!

ELEVATORS ARE FOR WIMPS!

Last year, I participated in the Bop to the Top - A stair climbing race up the OneAmerica Building - 36 floors, 790 steps, 500 feet, STRAIGHT UP! My time last year was 8:43 - I was pretty pleased with that. My legs were fine, but breathing was difficult.

So, this year I thought, why not do it THREE TIMES! They call it the TRIPLE BOP! You have no more than 3 hours to complete the climb three times. LET'S GO!

First run - 7:33!!!! Couldn't believe it, a full minute faster than last year! Wonder if I can do it again?

Second run - 7:43!!! Wow, very pleased with myself, only dropped 10 seconds! Any chance I can do it again in under 8?

Third run - 7:46!!!!! Woo Hoo! I WAS PUMPED! Great consistency. I really am just that much stronger this year!

Total time 23:04 was good for 51st place out of the 109 crazies that did the triple. Over 1000 competed in the individual competition where I would've been 4th in the 225+ pound division, except for the fact that I weigh less than 225 now! YES. I. DO!

That'll be enough stairs for now thanks.

Playing the Lottery!

Well, it only costs $11, so why not - I've thrown my name into the NYC Marathon lottery!

Confirmation: You have successfully applied for entry for the ING New York City Marathon 2012, Your entry number is 882085. Please write down your entry number or print and save this confirmation page in your records as you will need this number in the future.

Happy New Year

Don't know that it is a resolution, but I am going for 2012 miles in 2012. However, this year it will be both run and bike; and treadmill and spin bike miles count! Should be an easy goal to reach if I can stay healthy - That being said, I am going to commit to making better food choices! I must watch my calories in and will use My Fitness Pal to help me do it. All of this running and cycling needs to pay show on the scale and my eating habits are killing those efforts. So here's to a new year of better eating
Goal = 200 pounds by Ironman 70.3! Stay tuned!

Quest for 1000 miles

A year ago, I sat at a New Years gathering amongst friends where we went around the table and wrote down what we hoped to accomplish in 2011; for me, it was simple. Log 1000 miles!

Seemed simple. Easy to write. Easier to say. But how easy was it to do? The math seemed simple. 83.33 miles per month. Or 19.2 miles per week. Or 2.74 miles per day. Again, seems simple. But when I found myself at the halfway mark of 500 at the end of July , I was a full month behind.

Time for new math on the remaining 500 in just 5 months. 100 miles per month. or 22.7 miles per week Or 3.3 miles per day. Hmmm. Still possible. Sure, why not. Afterall, I'm entering marathon season!

With 2 months left though, I was even further behind and found myself needing OVER 100 miles for each of the last two months! Even with running a marathon the first weekend in November, I needed to rest and recover before I could crank the miles back up, and by the time we hit December, I still had nearly 104 to go!

No way I was letting this slip me by. The only thing that could stop me was illness or injury, and even then, good luck stopping me!

This morning with many of my best running buddies, I hit 1000+ and I did it with a new 4 mile PR!

So, How far is 1000 miles?

• New York City to Tampa, Florida
• Warsaw, Poland to Athens, Greece
• From the northern tip of the Philippines to the southern most point
• The full length of Madagascar
• Across New Zealand
• Most of the way across India

Finally, I figured out that from my home, I could run 1000 miles and reach:

• Orlando, FL
  
• Dallas, TX
  
• Quebec, QC Canada
  

Anyways, it feels pretty cool to be able to say that I've run 1000 miles this year. I never thought I'd ever be counting in the first place. So, now what do I do?

2010-2011 Highlight Video

Enjoy this movie of my favorite race pictures from the last two years...

Monumental Marathon Race Report

Is today the day? Are we really gonna do this? Let's find out...

This morning's race transportation was compliments of my running partner Pete, his wife Amy, and her dad Clete. They picked me up at 6, and we were on our way, a small caravan with another car containing YRC Prez Ted and Matt (the old Chicago crew!), they also got Brad Wilson to come down and do the half marathon today.

We arrived only to find the lot we planned to park in closed, so found a parking garage nearby, but sadly got split up from the other car, and never reconnected. We parked and went on into the Convention Center to use the restroom, stretch, and get psyched. 7:45, we walked to the starting corrals.

First sign that this is nothing like Chicago, with less than 10 minutes left, we walk right up to our 4:40 pace group that we wanted to line up with, and I could hit a 9 iron to the start line, and pitching wedge to the back. (and I'm not a good golfer). Just not as many people, nor the energy to match. It was cold, 35 degrees probably, I was layered including a sweatshirt to wear for a couple of miles before I shed it to charity.

3, 2, 1, GO...or at least walk slowly for 5 minutes until we were at the start line. And we're off. Nice easy pace, no problem jockeying for position. Pete and I knew the course, and understood how to work left to right as needed to stay to the inside, and that's what we did. Mile 1 clicked off a little early against the marker, but we're solid at 10:35 and just hanging with the 4:40 pace group.

Mile 2 we realized the course was cut out a little differently than last year. Most likely because of the construction going on for the upcoming super bowl, but we're hugging the curb, and running smooth at 10:30. But as we turn onto Virginia Avenue to angle back toward downtown, we're going through a tunnel that is more than a city block long. There was no GPS signal in there, and both Pete and I lost our pace on our watch. By the time we hit mile 3, his runkeeper is off by almost a half mile, and mine by about a quarter mile. My clock showed that mile at 10:18, but that seems fast, to show you how bad we were off, Pete's said we did it in 8:12...NOT!

I shed my sweatshirt and pitched it to the curb to be donated to charity. I actually bought the sweatshirt at Goodwill for $4 last year for this exact race with the intention of pitching it, but I saw Molly at this point last year and threw it to her. This year Molly was still at home at this point, but she'd come out later to see me finish.

The course is different yet, as we go a quarter of the way around the Soldiers and Sailors monument, where as last year we went half way around, and this was a heavily populated area. This year, I decided to heed the advice of President Ted, and wrote my name on the front of my shirt. The thick heavy C-H-R-I-S proved to be worth the ruined shirt. With my name now exposed, I would guess a minimum of 4 or 5 people EVERY mile would yell "Go Chris", "Way to Go Chris", "Lookin' Strong Chris". There's something about people yelling your name that just makes you perk up and feel strong. If you ask Pete, he'd tell you he's already tired of hearing people yell my name!

Mile 4 probably took into account the inaccurate fast mile 3 with a slower mile 4 as it showed 10:58, but my guess is that both 3 and 4 were consistent at 10:38, as we were still hanging right in front of the 4:40 pace group. This was also the last point that we saw Amy and Clete. They came out fast with us, and hung with the group through mile 4 before they started to fade back. The leader of the group was great. Quite the comedian. "Did you hear about the two antenna's that got married? The wedding wasn't much, their reception was great!" - I know, I know - but he had lots of them. My favorite was "Dr. tells his patient I have bad news, and really bad news. Patient asks, what's the really bad news. Dr. says you have cancer and there's nothing I can do about it. Patient asks what's the bad news. Dr. says you have Alzheimer's. Patient says, well that's not so bad, it's not like I've got cancer!" and now I'm laughing - at mile 4 of a marathon! Love it!
Grabbed my first Gel with water at 4.5. And we're cruising to mile 5 at 10:20, followed by mile 6 at 10:17. You know what that means? We're pulling away from the 4:40 pace group. I don't hear them anymore at all. But we're feeling good. In fact as we cross the 10k timing mat at 1:05:35 (10:35 pace), I ask Pete, you feeling good? He says yeah, you? I say yeah, is this our day? He said could be. Pete says, "of course it's only mile 6". Shut up Pete!

We continue motoring and repeat our best pace with another 10:17 at mile 7. The long trek North takes us all the way to broad ripple, and really, we don't talk much at all for several miles. Just watching the supporters, following our own plan, and maintaining pace. Mile 8 is 10:34. Mile 9 is 10:28. Mile 10 is 10:25. By this time in Chicago, I had fallen well off the pace, and was whining to Pete about him going on. Not today! We are both feeling great.

One stand out comment from a spectator that made me laugh, was a guy sitting in a reclining lawn chair, who saw my name on my shirt, and simply said in a straight face, "Here comes Chris, the prerace favorite". I don' t know why, I just thought it was pretty funny. Mile 11 holds pace at 10:29. Mile 12 at 10:36. Mile 13 at 10:35. I can't believe it. We just ran a 2:18:43 half marathon (10:36 pace). I looked back over my shoulder and the 4:40 pace group is no where to be found. We are probably WAY out of our league! But I'm loving it.

Pete threw out some encouraging words, and we're still moving. Some guy holding a football caught my eye so I threw my hands up, and sure enough he threw it to me. I caught it, and struck a running Heisman pose and lobbed it back. Some sorority girls holding signs cheered my name quite enthusiastically while holding their "sweat is sexy" signs. *smile* Having fun at mile 14 at 10:43.

As we finish mile 15, I can feel some tightness in my back, and for the first time, the split is the slowest of the race at 11:10, and I knew things were about to get tough. I had warned Amy in the car about "the Hill" at mile 16. And as we approached it, I said to Pete, "Know what I'm thinking?". I'm not sure he even said anything. I think he was okay with it too. And there it was, our first walking steps of the race. Can't believe we ran this deep at this pace. Leading the 4:40 pace group for over 15 miles; and with that thought, there they go. The 4:40 pace group went motoring up the hill like it was nothing, and mile 16 was a 12:19.

Pete says, that's okay, we got 4:45! Ha! NO! I said Pete, 5 hours is the goal. He sorta laughed and said, Let's go. If you want to stop reading here, all you need to know is that for the next 10 miles, I keep asking Pete if we can walk, and Pete keeps saying let's run. But if you want to know how it ends...keep reading!

Mile 17 is consistent with mile 16 at 12:21 as we are still able to run more than we walk, but this is becoming more and more difficult. We are into Butler's campus, and the pain is pretty intense. Pete is getting me into a good pattern of picking out landmarks in the distance. "Okay, we're running to the second stop light". "Now we're running to the cop car". And I'd continue to renegotiate. "How about just to the stop sign". I didn't win that argument very often. Mile 18 was slower yet at 12:50. Yikes.

I told Pete, we've got to find a rhythm here. On one of the short walks, I suggested we use the cones in the road. They were being used to divide the runners from the car traffic. Not knowing how far apart they are, I suggested we run 15 cones at a time. After we got to 3, we both laughed and said, maybe just 10. But as we got to the fifth cone, we agreed to walk. Pete says, let's just walk 2 cones, and then we'll go 5 more. The pain was growing pretty intense in my back, but I could tolerate it for these short runs. The 30k split was 3:26:35 (11:07 pace). I know we have to try not to fade too much if we're going to go under 5 hours (11:27 pace), but I can't do the math in my head. Mile 19 found 12:47, and I had a feeling this was the new norm.

The biggest downhill of the race is here at Mile 20, and we were able to run a little farther. But this mile was still only 12:20. With a 10k left, I just don't know how likely it is, so coach Pete kicks in with the run 5 cones, walk 2 cones theme, and this kept us moving for the next few miles better than I expected. At this point, I know that he will have to make a decision. If I can't go any faster, and he wants to break 5 hours, he's going to have to go without me. I make the offer. "If you need to go ahead, just do it". He laughs and says, I made that mistake in Chicago; it's you and I to the end. Mile 21 is 12:59 and flirting with getting into the 13s, must move forward faster. Mile 22 is better at 12:48.

I knew where we were, and I knew we were nearing an intersection that Molly could be waiting for me, but I assumed she'd probably just wait at the finish line. Thankfully, I was wrong, and as we neared the intersection, Pete first saw the kids and said, "well looky there!". Once I spotted my kids, complete with signs in hand....I broke down. *Tears*. I slowed to hug each of them. First Morgan, then Emma, then...hey where's Carter? Oh, he's standing on the other side of the guard rail, taking a leak. Which means mommy is also on the other side of the guard rail helping him get his pants back up. She jumps across to give me a kiss, but doesn't have time to get the camera out and on to take any pictures. Of course, I can't stop, or I may never get going again. So with the loud cheers from the family behind me, I push through, but I'm a mess. Can barely breathe, am trying to fight back the tears, and swallowing hard. Pete is encouraging, and immediately says, let's go run a couple more cones before we walk again. He was right, and I knew it, so we picked it back up and saved mile 23 at 12:57.
Sadly, Even with a 5k left, it's too late for me. The 5 hour pace group has now caught us, and is pulling ahead. Remember, they are running 11:27 pace, and we haven't done that since mile 16. I make another offer to Pete. "I'm sorry I can't do it, if you need to go...go". I'm still not sure why, but he refused. Laughing, "It's okay bud. We both are getting a PR today." I wasn't even sure what that required, so I had to ask, he said 5:15 is all we have to do. I could do simple math to know that we should be able to do that without much trouble.

Sticking with the strategy of running 5, and walking 2, Pete keeps us moving. He tells me he's going to be a prick for the next 3 miles. Occasionally, he says let's run 6, and through half tears, I beg him, no. But he insists, and keeps us moving, but I beg for 3 walking cones, and occasionally he allows it, but this does cost us and we finally log our slowest mile yet at mile 24 with 13:11. We are on the home stretch, headed south on Meridian, and mile 25 is no better with 13:20. The tank feels empty, but we both know we're about to get our best times.

I remember changing my tune at this point, and saying, "Don't you dare leave me". Pete laughs and says, if I was going to leave you, I would've done it a long time ago. This made me very happy as I wanted nothing more than to finish it the way we started it. Together! Digging for some late mile energy, we somehow finish mile 26 at 12:28 according to my watch, and with my Garmin still off, the remaining .2 is actually about .5, but when we pass the real 26 mile marker, there's no more walking.
As we near the finish line and make the last turn, I'm looking left and right for Molly and the kids, and to my delight, there they are....AND HERE THEY COME! All three kids run out to us in the finish chute. I'm looking around to make sure there are no course officials yelling at us, and they are allowing it. Emma grabs Pete's hand. Carter grabs my hand. Morgan is running alongside, and I yell at her to come grab my other hand. We all cross the finish line holding hands, arms in the air, 2 seconds behind Pete with an official finish time of 5:04:54!
A personal best by over 16 minutes for me, and over 10 minutes for Pete. *Tears* I lean down and hug and kiss each kid individually and thank them. I proudly bow to receive my medal placed around my neck, and as soon as possible, I grab Pete and give him a hug like no other. How do you thank someone for pulling you through the toughest thing you'll ever do, and sharing success with you like no other? I just don't know how.
As we finish our celebration together, the question becomes, Where are Amy and Clete? I clearly underestimated her ability, as I expected to wait around for 30 minutes or more. Instead, with the technology, we were able to track her to know that she was barely 10 minutes behind us. She could easily beat my previous best of 5:21, and that's exactly what she did. As she rounded the final turn holding her father's hand, I could see the emotion on her face, and as she crossed the finish line at 5:17:35, we all went crazy for her. Congrats Amy on a great time at your first marathon!
The rest of the day was filled with story telling and celebrating. We all went to dinner together at Olive Garden, and later found out that Ted ran a PR at 3:43:11, and Matt also ran a PR at 3:48:13. Amazing! Very proud and happy for all of us. And for as much as I wanted to break 5 hours, I feel complete knowing that I truly gave everything I had. I know I'm done with these distances for 2011, but what will 2012 bring? I honestly don't know either...