back to the grind

So, I was able to get in several miles of active recovery walking in Las Vegas before coming home to go immediately back to work. I had one rest day in my office, then had to work several days in a row at the mattress store. I don't know if I can count these days as miles walked, but they are certainly ACTIVE recovery with some strength training thrown in. Sunday, I stayed at home, did some laundry and nothing else.

Monday, back to work at the mattress store. Since I like to work out in the evening, I was hoping to get off of work at 5 so I could get home in time to ride my bike for a little while, then do a strength training workout. No such luck. I was finally on my way home at around 7pm.

5pm rolls around on Tuesday and the boss wants to take care of some business late in the day. When I called him back with the info he requested, he offers to call me right back and I tell him, NO, just hang up, then don't answer when I call you back, I will leave the info you requested in a voice message because I am leaving work at 5 today, no ifs ands or butts about it. So, he got his pen and wrote down the info right then.

When I got home, I was still a little irritated, so I went rushing to change into workout clothes in a big hurry. I really felt that if I didn't get a walk done, it was all over but the getting fat again. I had not done a timed walk since the marathon, and I was disappointed in that finish time. So, I set the Garmin and took off down the street, fast. The route I took is exactly a mile from the track and I made it there in 12:33! That was a great warm-up, so I stopped the timer and stretched everything and did some of the flexibility drills. Then I got on the track and accelerated for a mile and a half. My last lap was at an 11:30 pace. It was so hot and humid that it took an entire 30 minutes for me to stop sweating after I got home...

I thought I had lost something out there in the desert near area 51, but I found it at the track. Thank goodness. I know it will take some time to get the pace down where I would like it to be... somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 minute miles, and I may NEVER get there, but I will have fun trying.

My next BIG thing on the schedule is Dave's World Class Racewalking Clinic in Dallas October 9-11. I screwed up my first chance to really learn something from Dave in Mesa last January by walking a marathon the same weekend as the clinic. Well, I don't have anything on the schedule with the exception of a 10k fun walk in Houston on September 6. And, the Dallas weekend will be devoted exclusively to the clinic. It will be nice to see my two Dallas friends and one from Arkansas who will all be attending the clinic as well.

50k in November, marathon in January, 100 miles in February.

Thinner

There is one drawback to having lost a lot of weight. I am freezing. Our high here in southeast Texas today was 39. I know some of you who will read this will think I am a weenie. Well, so be it. I have lost 70+ pounds and been able to keep it off for 4, no almost 5 years. I think the fat layer was insulation.

The building I work in is old. There are 2 a/c units, and only one of them has heat. I don't have a duct off of that unit in my office. The back wall of my office is a north facing concrete block wall. Needless to say, when it is cold, I work with my coat on. If I could type with gloves on, I would wear them all day, too. Some would say to me, get a small electric heater and plug it in when it gets cold outside. HA! All of our computer equipment is plugged into the ONLY circuit in the office. Anything that produces heat trips the breaker.

Ok, Ok, I am done whining now. Tomorrow it will be 66. That's what they say about the weather in Texas, if you don't like it, just wait a little while. It'lll change.