Gone Primal!

Welcome back! I've made a few changes and want to share them with you...

On September 25, I changed my diet in a continuing experiment to improve my quality of life and make headway on my journey to a healthier me. That’s not the beginning of this latest chapter in my story so let me start a little further back…

Two months ago I decided that I have spent enough time just breezing through my life without an appropriate focus on my health and fitness and began focusing on diet and more consistent exercise rather than eating whatever I wanted and exercising irregularly. With that in mind I signed up for the DailyPlate application from www.Livestrong.com and began tracking everything I ate. I followed the calorie calculator and began eating about 2,100 calories per day with no specific focus on exactly what I was eating as long as the total caloric intake was below my daily goal. I combined this along with 3-4 workouts per week. These consisted of P90X workouts, racquetball, and the beginnings of a running regimen. Over the course of five weeks I weighed myself to check my progress and lost a grand total of…wait for it…4 pounds! At that point I realized that something wasn’t right and decided to take the plunge and experiment with an eating lifestyle detailed in a book I’m reading entitled “The Primal Blueprint” by Mark Sisson. His philosophy states that humanity reached its physical peak during the hunter gatherer period when survival of the fittest was in full effect. Basically, before civilization began and food became more and more domesticated we ate strictly plants and animals. We didn't have grains or bread, etc...I'll go into more detail reviewing this later...Anyway,  this past Saturday marked one week of living the “Primal” lifestyle and I celebrated with another weigh-in. The total lost this time was six pounds! In one week I lost more than in the previous five combined! Needless to say, my excitement is through the roof and I finally feel like I’m on a path that is sustainable, enjoyable, and actually provides real results.

This is one more aspect of my fitness journey and something that I will discuss in length and in detail as we go along together in pursuit of fitness, health and a happier lifestyle.

If you have any questions, comments, or have experienced similar results leave your comments below. I’d love to hear from you!

C25K Week 3, Workout 1

Well, this evening I completed the first workout of week three in C25K and let me say, I'm very happy with myself! This ended up being the shortest distance I've completed in a workout but I set a new personal best for my mile time, 18:30. I was also able to do something I haven't done since high school...run (or jog) for three minutes straight! I'll admit that was killer! There were two quotes by experienced runners that helped me make it through the extreme amounts of lactic acid I had coursing through my calves...The first is from the book Born to Run and says something along the lines of, "The best ultramarathoners aren't above feeling the pain, they simply embrace it and are able to conquer it." And the second was by Dean Karnazes, a marathoner known for running hundreds of miles at a time, he said when asked if running hurt, "It does if you're doing it right!" These two quotes became my mantra starting about 15 seconds into each long stretch (3 minutes) of jogging. I actually shocked myself with my ability to accept the pain and finish each stretch without giving in and slowing to a walk.

In other news, I've missed my first two P90X workouts for the week and am pretty disappointed about that but I'll get back into the groove...My primary focus right now is dropping as much weight as possible (new plan of attack detailed in my upcoming mini-series I'm going to entitle, "Gone Primal") and getting into running shape for the Turkey Trot. My goal is to lose 30 pounds between now and then. If I continue at the rate I have been losing I'll get there!

That's all for now...A relaxing cup of coffee and a TV episode await before hitting the hay and starting it all over again.

If you have any questions, answers or comments please leave them below. I'd love to hear back from you!

Couch to 5K Program

Hi! Welcome again! I’m going to delve a little bit into the program that I’m using to prepare for my first ever race, “Couch to 5K” (C25K). If you’re a beginning (like me) competitive runner or someone coming off an injury or someone that just enjoys being outside and enjoying your surroundings this program is an excellent place to start.

First of all, it’s free! Granted it is somewhat of a one-size-fits-all type of workout program but so are most of the programs that you’ll buy in a book or workout regimen online. Even if you were to invest in a personal trainer the workout regimen, as far as running goes, would be pretty similar.

Second, this program does a pretty good job of starting you off slowly and moving you from walking the vast majority of the time to running full time over a nine week period. Here’s a quick look at the way the workouts progress.

Week	Workout 1	Workout 2	Workout 3
1	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
2	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
3	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)
4	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
5	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.
6	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2-1/4 miles (or 25 minutes) with no walking.
7	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
8	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
9	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).	The final workout! Congratulations! Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

I’ve completed the second week of the program and have enjoyed every outing so far. I’m hauling around quite a bit of weight and I’m pushing myself but the jump from jogging 60 seconds to 90, while a challenge, wasn’t a brutal as I thought that it’d be. Towards the end of this week and specifically during today’s workout at a local trail we’re working on completing a review on I noticed a lot more burning in my muscles. I’m attributing this to the increased amount of work I’m doing in my Merrell Trail Gloves. I think my feet and lower legs are being “preexhausted” before I start my jogging and yelling and screaming at me to stop a lot sooner than they have in the past. This is okay because despite the discomfort my mile time is dropping consistently. Today I completed my first mile in 17:57 minutes, a personal best since my sub 7 minute miles I completed at a couple different times in my high school career. So since I’m not feeling anything other than muscle pain, or growth depending on how you wanna look at it, I’m going to keep pushing on. I'll keep you posted as I do!

In order to keep things interesting for you if you’re just beginning the program, I’d recommend finding some variety in the places you do your workouts in. The change of scenery and terrain adds some spice and variety to the workouts and keeps them from becoming stale. Also, if at any point you feel you aren’t ready to progress to the next week’s regimen don’t! The beauty of this program is that you can move along at your own pace as long as you don’t have an event (ahem…Turkey Trot) coming up that you’re specifically working to be ready for.

I’ve been recording my thoughts and experiences over the past few workouts and will post them as time allows to give you a real life snapshot of how these workouts work and the progress that is possible if you’ll work to do your best and let the rest go. View every day as an opportunity to make yourself a better person physically and mentally and give each day your all. That way as you wind down at the end of the day you have no regrets!

If you have questions or comments please feel free to post them in the comments section or shoot us an email: offthebeatenpathstl@gmail.com! We’d love to hear from you!

Welcome and Hello!

Hello everyone! Welcome to “Off the Beaten Path!” I sincerely hope this blog can become an oasis of inspiration like it already has for me. Funny, because this is my first post! Tim, my co-author, and I have spent a good deal of time preparing and brainstorming about what we hope to accomplish through this outlet. Tim will bring his running experiences and knowledge to the table and I’ll bring my enthusiasm and candid experiences with the age-old battle against laziness, excess, and apathy. Together we’ll hopefully become better runners, get healthier, and have a blast in the process!

I’m almost 28 and have gone from being a physically fit athlete through high school, running an average of 10 miles a week, and spending several hours per week in the weight room to a married, full time college student working constantly with no time for exercise and no patience or desire to eat healthy. As a result I ballooned into the overweight, slow, large person that I am today. I’ve recently begun focusing on my diet and exercise and am going to bring you along for the journey. I've started doing a lot of research and changing my lifestyle to one that is healthier and sustainable. On here I will discuss my training plans, diet, goals, dreams, pet peeves, failures, struggles, and the blood, blisters, sweat, and hopefully no tears that I know will accompany me on this journey from fat to fit, slow to quick, and bored to alive.

If you have questions or comments please feel free to post them in the comments section or shoot us an email: offthebeatenpathstl@gmail.com! We’d love to hear from you!

Upcoming Event! Turkey Trot in Chesterfield, MO

I’m caught up in the excitement of participating in my very first ever race on Thanksgiving morning. I’m extremely excited and a little nervous. It’s been ten years since I’ve run that far and in my current physical condition I’m slightly worried. I’m not worried about being able to finish (I know I can walk 3.2 miles), I’m more worried that’s going to take me all day…Since I’m a realist and haven’t been able to break a 20 minute (per mile) pace so far in my short training history I’ve set a realistic, yet challenging, goal for myself…45 minutes. Not am I going to attempt to fun for three straight miles, I’m going to (attempt) to do so in less time than I have in a decade. To accomplish this I’ve embarked upon a varied workout regimen that will hopefully get me where I need to be to accomplish that lofty goal.

I’m working my way through the “Couch to 5K” program (C25K) and working in bouts on the elliptical and doing P90x when the weather or my schedule don’t allow me to get out and pound the pavement. I’ll go into more detail later regarding my workouts and the C25K program.

All in all, I’m really looking forward to testing myself in a race setting and enjoying being out on the road with thousands of other participants working up an appetite for the festivities we’ll be enjoying later in the day. I’m thinking a good 5K jog and a large dose of turkey will be the perfect (semi guilt free) combination of activity and feeding…Maybe we’ll see you there!

If you have questions or comments please feel free to post them in the comments section or shoot us an email: offthebeatenpathstl@gmail.com! We’d love to hear from you!

 

Tim's Introduction

My running happenings began years ago with the completion of a ¼ mile run. I thought I was going to die. At that time I remember vehemently hating anything surrounding the proverbial run. Soon after my younger sister completed her inaugural run and soon after decided to attempt a full marathon. I carefully observed and was inspired and encouraged by her careful dedication to training.

In the subsequent years I began to run. I ran hard – too hard. In one year I pulled both my IT bands, gave myself some shin splints in both legs, irritated my knee-tissue surrounding the patella in both my knees. I was irate. Looking back I was over-ambitious and misdirected in my pursuit of distance running. In the recovering months I proceeded to complete long hours researching the pertinent and the varied in the art of distance running.

Currently, I am on the “barefoot” running portion of my running story and I am thoroughly enjoying every second. Among the positive changes, I have noticed that my general comfort in running has vastly increased. My feet are still adjusting but I am optimistic that I will be completing a majority of my runs in the future with my Vibram FiveFingers SPRINTs.

My blog entries will be about my journey to complete a full marathon using the barefoot approach. I am not interested in what the “mainstream” of runners and ad populum fallacies have to offer. I am interested in what works for the individual based on their respective unique identifiers (body type, stride, goals, etc.). With that said, I hope you’ll join Michael and I on our journey off the beaten path.