Running Totals for 30 Jun 09 and End of Month Totals

Well another month is in the books as far as running goes and although I thought it was a good month of running I am a little behind where I wanted to be at this point, 14 miles to be exact. I will just have to make it up next month so I stay on track to break 600 miles during my time here in Afghanistan. Today's run was a killer one because my legs are dead!! Dead, dead, dead!! Weight lifting yesterday wiped them out and I didn't even lift that heavy but when you haven't lifted in as long as I have it doesn't take too much. I just need to suffer through this week and hopefully, and I mean hopefully the pain will subside. Today I ran 6.68 miles, burned 1,270 calories, and I ran for 75 minutes. My monthly totals are as follows: I ran 150.09 miles, burned 29,084 calories, and I ran a little over 26 hours this month. I am happy with this past month and I hope to improve on it this month. Starting in early August I will start training for my first official marathon (Naha Marathon) in December. I am looking forward to that, or at least I think I am. Take care and be safe. Until next time...

Weigh In Day & Running Totals for 29 Jun 09

Well I am happy to have last week behind me now so I can move on and improve on a crappy last week of exercising. Now that I am half way through my deployment I will start to get stricter with what I am eating. Plus I have added weights to my weekly routine. I think subconsciously I was trying to kill myself today because I did squats before I ran today and let's just say that after doing squats your legs don't work so well when you trying to run. So I had to concentrate really hard on not falling off of the treadmill today. I am sure that I looked wonderful trying to run with two dead legs. I gutted it out though and got in both weight lifting and a "good" run. I am curious to see how my legs feel tomorrow though. I am sure it will not be so great! I lifted weights for 45 minutes today and I hope to keep my weight lifting sessions to 45-60 minutes each time. I am only lifting three times a week which should be good enough especially when I am still running 6 times a week. Today was weigh in day and I gained a pound but I am not tore up over it. I still hope to be in the 240's by next Monday. I will keep my fingers crossed. Today I ran 6.17 miles (because that is all my legs had left in them), burned 1,173 calories, and I ran for 76 minutes (yes it took me that long to run 6.17 miles). It was a good day for working out. I hope to throw my body off so I will continue to lose fat and put back on some muscle. I would love to get under 15% body fat, I think that would be great. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I love and miss you all. Take care, Until next time...

Running Totals for 27 Jun 09 & Weekly Totals

Well I am glad this week is over because it has been a horrible week for running. Two days out with a injured toe, two good days of running, and two days of pretty weak runs. I don't want to repeat this week ever again. I thought about running tomorrow to make up for at least one of my crappy days but I decided against it since I start lifting weights on Monday. So I will take it easy on my day off and start fresh on Monday. Today I only ran 3.65 miles, burned 691 calories, and I ran for 40 minutes. It started out to be a good run but around the 25 minute mark I really had to use the bathroom and it wasn't going to wait another 35 minutes! So I had to hop off the treadmill and they have a bathroom outside the gym but it is closed for renovations so I had to almost go all the way back to my B-Hut to use the bathroom and by the time I got back to the gym the moment had passed. I knew that I was finished for the day. This weeks totals are as follows: I ran 22.3 miles, burned 4,290 calories, and I ran for 3 hours & 56 minutes. Not the best week but hopefully I will be able to rebound next week and have a great week. I hope everyone having a good weekend. Tomorrow is officially my half way point (from the time when my replacement is supposed to arrive here). So I am pretty stoked about that. I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 26 Jun 09

Well I'm back, finally! I thought it would have taken a few more days to get my toe working again but earlier the better. The past couple of days have really sucked not being able to run but I know that a couple extra days of rest will be good in the long run, hopefully. Today's run was a pretty tough one especially only taking off two days. It is amazing how quick you can lose what takes you forever to gain! Things here are a little quieter but everyone is still on edge from the attacks last Sunday morning. I think that is a good thing because everyone will be more vigilant and more aware of their surroundings. I know I will be. Today I ran 7 miles, burned 1,326 calories, and I ran for 73 minutes. It is good to be back! Love and miss you all. Until next time...

Out of Order!

Well I am out of commission for probably about a week with this nasty quarter size blister on my left big toe. It probably didn't help that I ran 10 miles yesterday but it had to be done. I don't think it would feel any different if I would have ran my regular 6 or 7 miles. I think that it just needs time to heal. That is not to say that I didn't try to run on it this morning but it didn't work out for me and I had to stop after run/walking for 1.5 miles. About that time that I realized that trying to run through it was pointless and now I just need to NOT run which will kill me but it is a necessary evil. I hope that it won't take longer than a week to heal though. In the mean time I will try my hand at weight lifting and riding the stationary bike for my cardio until this bad boy heals and I can run again. I guess I will really have to step it up in July and August if I want to meet my 600 mile goal by the time I leave this place. Well I hope everyone is doing good and I will try to keep this blog going during my hiatus. I love and miss everyone. Until next time...

Weigh In Day & Running Totals for 22 Jun 09

Well yesterday was a nice day off except for the extra curricular activities around the base (Rocket Attacks). Other than that it was a very nice day off from work and from running. Actually I go and hang out at work because I hate spending my day off in my B-Hut while everyone else is trying to sleep. And my bed is extra squeaky so every time I move or breathe for that matter it makes a noise. Today (Monday) was a pretty good day. Since it is my long run day I thought I would actually do a LONG run which I did. Hopefully my legs will keep up for the rest of the week. Today I ran 10.15 miles, burned 1,923 calories, and I ran for 104 minutes. It was a pretty good run except towards the end when my legs kept telling me it was time to be finished. Today was also weigh in day and I hoped not to have a repeat of last week which didn't happen. I weighed in at 250 lbs. and that puts my total weight loss to 32 lbs. I am happy about this because I still have another 8 days left in this month until I hit the half way mark and I am already over 30 lbs. So I am pleased to say the least. I hope everyone had a great weekend and I look forward to another productive week. Until next time...

Running Totals for 20 Jun 09 & Weekly Totals

Well I made it through another week of running (barely) and I have to say it was a difficult week to say the least. With being sick on Tuesday and dealing with a nasty shin splint on my right leg I would have to say that this week sucked as far as running goes. But it isn't always going to be easy and at least I made it through the week regardless. There is an upside to today's run though, I ate popcorn chicken for dinner tonight and I didn't feel like it was going to revisit me during my run. That is good because I love the popcorn chicken here, it is one of the GOOD things to eat here. So needless to say they don't have it that often because that would make people happy. Go figure. I hope the rest of the weeks go by as quickly as this one felt like it did. If that is the case I will be home in no time. Today I ran 6.5 miles again, burned 1,259 calories again, and I went for 70 minutes....AGAIN! I will have to mix it up next week so everyday isn't the same. My weekly totals are as follows: I ran 33.96 miles, burned 6,559 calories, and I ran for 5 hours and 59 minutes. Obviously I hope to improve on those numbers next week and hopefully I can get this shin splint under control. I hope everyone has a good weekend. Heather hang in there, just a couple more days and you will be back down to just our two girls and you can get on with your summer schedule. I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 19 Jun 09

Well today I made the mistake of running in my new pair of shoes which it was the first time I have ever wore them. They say they're 11.5 BUT they don't fit like my other two pairs of shoes. But I thought I need to break them in so a nice long run would speed up the process. Well I did a nice long run in those shoes and what did I get for my efforts...a nice big blister on my left big toe. So I officially dubbed those new shoes my weight lifting shoes. I will wear them when I go to lift and gradually break them in...I hope. So now I have to deal with a very sore blister for the next little while. That should be a very good time. Today I ran 6.5 miles, burned 1,259 calories, and I ran/ hobbled for 70 minutes. Plus while I was running I had a nasty case of heart burn so it was a pretty rough run. I guess not all runs are going to be spectacular, but I sure wish they were. I hope everyone is doing good and I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 18 Jun 09

There really isn't too much on my mind today, just another typical Bagram day has come and gone. I am really enjoying the mild weather we are having here. I prepared myself for the worst before I arrived here and I totally expected it to be the 100's by now but we are in the low to mid 80's every day and the nights are pretty cool. I just hope this trend continues into July and August. My run today wasn't too great but I guess they all can't be wonderful. I think I am developing a shin splint on my right leg, at least that's what I think it is. I think me switching up my speed has thrown my body off like I planned but it doesn't feel to good at the moment. I am running at a slightly uncomfortable level and I hope that my body will adapt and not go on strike and protest the change. Anyways, I ran 6.5 miles, burned 1,259 calories, and I ran for 69 minutes. I hope everyone is doing good. Until next time...

Running Totals for 17 Jun 09

Well I didn't get in any running yesterday because I was a little bit under the weather so i decided to take the day off. I think that for the rest of the week I will keep my runs to 65 minutes so I can give my body a little recuperation. I think during this week I will run at a little faster speed to change things up and maybe trick my body into dropping some more weight. I am really looking forward to the 28th of this month because that will officially be my half way mark and it will be all down hill from there. I also hope to have lost 30 lbs. by that point so I can focus on dropping the other 30 lbs. that I want to lose. Today I ran 6.36 miles, burned 1,229 calories, and I ran for 65 minutes. There is not a lot going on here which is a good thing. I am a big fan of monotony when it comes to this place, because of things are changing here that means something is wrong. I love and miss you all very much and I hope that things are going great for everyone.

On a more disappointing note, our beloved Donkey's (I refuse to call them Broncos until they start making some better choices) are yet again thinking of getting rid of another Pro Bowler, Brandon Marshall. He has requested a trade now. So not only did we lose our Pro Bowl QB, but now we will probably lose our best WR. It almost makes me not want to be a football fan anymore...almost! Did I mention I hate the new coach!! Until next time...

Weigh In Day & Running Totals for 15 Jun 09

Well no change in the weight this week. I am still happy with the progress that I have made so far since being here. My day off from running was a good one. I actually ran today without my Cho-pat knee brace or the IcyHot. So that was pretty good. Another week is under my belt and I am ready to get another week over with. Today I ran 8.1 miles, burned 1,553 calories, and I ran for 85 minutes. I planned on lifting weights today but I grabbed the wrong workout, so I will have to make it up tomorrow morning. I plan on lifting 3 times a week which shouldn't be that difficult. Well I hope everyone's weekend was good and I hope everyone has a great week. I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 13 Jun 09 & Weekly Totals

Well here we are at the end of another running week which I am always happy for because that means I have a day off from running coming up. I thought that after putting in 40 miles that I would limp into my day off BUT surprisingly I feel really good and so do my legs. Go Figure! Anyways, today I ran 8 miles, because I had to make up for the mile I lost out on yesterday because of the treadmill vultures, I burned 1,534 calories, and I ran for 85 minutes. My weekly totals are as follows: I ran 42.81 miles, burned 8,197 calories, and I ran for 8 hours and 20 minutes. I am just pleased that I broke 40 miles this week. Good luck Dad on your marathon this weekend. I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 12 Jun 09

Well another day has come and gone for me here at Bagram. My life for the next couple of months is like the movie Groundhogs Day. The same day just repeating itself until that magical day arrives (Aug 28th) and I leave this not so pleasant place. It's not that it is overly horrible here, it's not home and that is where I long to be. You can tell the military build up is in full swing here in Afghanistan, Army everywhere. Most of them just passing through to other locations I am sure worse than here at Bagram. For the most part life isn't horrible except for having to eat the same things over and over again at the chow hall. But then again things could be worse and I could be eating 2 M.R.E.'s a day. Anyways, today I only got in 6.1 miles because the treadmill vultures were out in full force this morning. As soon as my 65 minutes were up, there they were ready to pounce on "my" treadmill. I will still break 40 miles for this week but I wanted to get in 7 every day this week which won't happen now. Oh well, 6.1 is still pretty good...I guess. I burned 1159 calories, and I went for 65 minutes. Take care everyone, and I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 11 Jun 09

Well this will be a quick one because I am totally wasted from my run today. Let's just say it wasn't a great run but I gutted it out and stayed on track to hit 40 miles this week. I think the reason it was a crappy run is because I ate a ton of popcorn chicken about an hour and a half before I went and ran. I normally eat something light and now I remember why. I won't be making that mistake again anytime soon. I am proud to say that I kept everything down and didn't mess up their treadmill even though there were times during my run I wasn't sure I wouldn't throw up. So lesson learned.....the hard way! Today I ran 7 miles, burned 1,342 calories (hopefully all that popcorn chicken I ate), and I ran for 78 minutes. Well I am tired so good night everyone (even though it's morning time) and I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 10 Jun 09

Not too much to talk about today, since it was a basic Bagram day. You know, get up for work, go to work, work, run, go back to work, and get off of work. That is my life for the next 79 days, exciting isn't it!! My run today was a pretty good one. It wasn't great but at the same time it wasn't awful either. The important thing is my legs feel pretty good and I'm starting to see the weight loss when I wear my uniform. It is getting pretty baggy but should be fine for another 10-15 lbs. more of weight loss. The good thing is when we were issued our new uniforms for this deployment, I got them smaller so I would have brand new uniforms to wear when I lose all the weight and get back to Kadena. Now all I have to do is lose the weight to fit into them...LOL! Today I ran 7 miles, burned 1,342 calories, and I ran for 75 minutes. I ran at a little faster speed today to see how it felt and it wasn't too bad. Well I hope everyone is doing good. I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 09 Jun 09

It is always nice getting that first day under my belt after a day off. It seems like my day off throws off my running schedule or more like whole schedule. So it is nice to get back on track with work and with running. I think it was a good decision to switch my running day off to my actual day off from work. It seems like everything flowed much smoother this past week because of that little adjustment. Here we are almost 10 days into June and I thought it would have been a lot hotter here than it actually is. The weather is pleasant in the day time, not too hot and in the night it is rather cool. I am very pleased with that. If I was in the actual desert (Middle East) it would be a ba-jillion degrees by now. So if I have to take away a positive for being here, the weather might just be it.

My run today was a pretty good one. Instead of listening to music during my run I watched "Superman Returns" and it was actually a good way to spend my run. It was a nice change of pace. Hopefully they will have another good movie on so I can spend my time running watching a movie rather than listening to music. Today I ran 7.21 miles, burned 1.382 calories, and I ran for 80 minutes. Today's run was a lot easier than yesterday's run because I actually ate something before I ran. I don't think it's a good thing if you feel like you are going to pass out after a run. To remedy that I bought me a box of Snicker's Marathon bars so I won't be stuck in that situation again.

Since I can never remember if Dad's B-day is the 9th (I always think it is this day for some reason, I hope that I am right) or the 10th, HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! I know this number bothers you but I am sure you have run more marathons than most 60 year old. Keep it going. And on a crazier note, watch out for dangerous Fun-yuns, I was eating some and broke off a 1/4 of one of my molars. They should put a WARNING label on those suckers!!! Until next time...

Weigh In Day & Running Totals for 08 Jun 09

Well since my Internet has been out off and on for the past two days I will make this a short post before it goes out again. I was very happy to have a day off from running yesterday and I think that having my day off from running coincide with my actual day off from work is best. I really don't feel like running on my day off and I normally just sleep the day away. That way my body gets rested up for the upcoming week of work and running. My run today was a pretty good one except I didn't eat anything before I ran. I slept through lunch, dinner, and midnight chow so I ran on an empty stomach and I wasn't feeling that great when I was finished running. So I think I will stock up on some power bars to put in my room so next time that happens I will have a little stash of food in my room. Today I ran 7.5 miles (I'm breaking 40 miles this week), burned 1,438 calories, and I ran for 85 minutes. I will try to run at least 7 miles everyday this week and that should put me well over 40 miles this week. Today was also weigh in day and I weighed in at 253 lbs. so I guess I overcame my first weight plateau. I was kind of surprised that I lost that much this past week. That would put me at a total of 29 lbs. so far and I should definitely be in the 240's by the end of this month which is ahead of schedule. I thought I wouldn't be in the 240's until early July. Well I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 06 Jun 09 & Weekly Totals

Well today was a pretty good day but it was freezing tonight! I couldn't believe how cold it was here and I normally don't get cold ever. I guess living in Las Vegas and now Okinawa has made me soft when it comes to the cold weather. Thank goodness there wasn't a Fallen Comrade ceremony today or last night. That was starting to get a little depressing. The week has went by fairly quickly for me and I hope that keeps up. My Nike+ sensor has bit the dust so I am back to the trusty treadmill for my totals now. I am kind of relieved because that thing was giving me all sorts of stress! It will be nice to have a day off from running on Sunday, I think I will switch my longer runs to Monday because I am normally in the gym around 1AM when no one is in there so I can run for a couple of hours and not get dirty looks from the people who want to use "my" treadmill.

Today's run felt pretty good. Today was supposed to be my long run day but I don't see how that is going to work out with running during work. Today I ran 7.52 miles, burned 1,493 calories, and I ran for 85 minutes. I am pleased with my weekly totals but a little frustrated that I didn't hit the 40 mile mark for the week. Maybe next week! My weekly totals are as follows: I ran 38.17 miles, burned 7,645 calories, and I ran for 7 hours and 17 minutes. And I probably haven't lost any weight this week because I have been eating carelessly. I guess we will find out Monday when I weigh in. I just hope I didn't gain back all 20 lbs.!!!! Well I hope everyone is having a good weekend and I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 05 Jun 09

Well we had two more Fallen Comrade ceremonies while I was at work today. One when I got on shift and then another this morning. It is just too many people losing their lives over here. It is definitely sad to see how many troops make the ultimate sacrifice for our country. This makes it all too real for me to see it first hand. I hope no one minds me posting about the Fallen Comrade ceremonies, I just want to let you know what we are dealing with here and obviously it is worse in the summer time. If anyone has a problem or is troubled by this just let me know and I will quit writing about them.

Well with that being said, my Nike+ decided to work today so I have some sort of proof that I ran today. It was a fairly decent run except that I had heart burn the whole time which sucked. But I sucked it up and ran for my usual 70 minutes. Instead of taking tonight off I am going to run tonight so that I don't have to run on my actual day off. I am just not motivated to go and run after my 12 hour shift especially when I run the rest of the week during my duty hours. So I think this will work out for the best in the long run. Today I ran 6.15 miles, burned 1238 calories, and I ran for 70 minutes. I am glad that I only have one more day this week of running and then I will have a day off, it is needed badly! I am happy that Heather found her a treadmill to use at the house. I hope that having it will keep her motivated to run and give her a little more flexibility on when she has time to run. I love and miss you all. Until next time...

Running Totals for 04 Jun 09

Well today was a pretty good day except that we had another Fallen Comrade ceremony this morning. I think it is going to be a long summer! The weather is actually pretty nice here and it kind of reminds me of summer time in Utah. It is hot during the day and nice and cool during the night which is good since I work nights. We moved locations a little less than a week ago and our new building doesn't have A/C hooked up in it yet so it is pretty warm when we get there around 630PM to start our shift. But not long after that it cools off and the nights are pretty pleasant right now. Hopefully it will stay that way in July and August.

Today was a pretty good run day. I decided not to wear my knee brace because I think it was causing my knee to hurt towards the end of my runs. My knee actually felt pretty good so I think I will continue to run without it until I actually need it. Once again my Nike+ fails me and it didn't record my run today. It was on there until I just tried to upload it and now it is gone. Go figure. I can't wait to get back to Kadena so I can order my Garmin 405 and be done with the Nike+ thing! It is really pissing me off! Anyways, today I ran 6.17 miles, burned 1225 calories, and I ran for 70 minutes. Until next time...

Running Totals for 02 Jun & 03 Jun 09

Well since my Internet account expired yesterday I was without the Internet for all of yesterday. I had to run over after I got off work and re-up my subscription for another month. And it took them all day to get around to updating my account, but at least it is updated now. We had two Fallen Comrade ceremonies yesterday which was pretty sad and really brings the reality of how dangerous outside of this base can be. I think since I have arrived here there have been around 10 Fallen Comrade ceremonies so far which is way too many. On a brighter note, I was notified of my tentative departure date from this lovely place which is the 28th of August. We will go to Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan (I really don't know how that is spelled) and wait for the rotator which we should leave out of there on the 30th of August. Obviously that is subject to change but at least it is something to look forward to. It makes my day a little happier to think that I actually have a departure date.

Anyways, on to the workouts for yesterday and today. Yesterday I ran 6.11 miles, burned 1,230 calories, and I ran for 66 minutes. Today I ran 6.11 miles (do you see a trend), burned 1,229 calories and I ran for 70 minutes at a little slower pace than yesterday. All in all, they were both pretty good runs. I think that I am eating too close to my runs so I may either try to eat earlier, if that is possible or eat something lighter. We will see how that goes. I think I will save my weight lifting until next week. I just don't have it in me at the moment. Well I will end this, until next time...