2016 Personal Progress Update

Last year, I had a great half marathon PR, ran my first full marathon, and found my ideal race weight.  Somewhere along the line, I lost my way and started overindulging with food.  I also stopped doing my core workouts and strength exercises when my marathon training began in August 2015.  I became less flexible and gained 27 pounds.  Basically, I became more injury prone.

I decided after my full marathon that I was going to get back to my ideal race weight, which is around 168 pounds. I started my journey on January 1^st, not as a New Year’s resolution, but I just wanted to wait until after the holidays since I wanted to still be able to enjoy the holiday food and goodies.  My office makes some awesome holiday treats!

I decided to take a few steps to get more fit and lose that weight. 

- I started following the Paleo Diet (for the most part). 

- I started a Facebook Group (Getting fit with RWI) where we do Workouts of the Day to strengthen our core and stay accountable. Feel free to join the group.

- I joined a DietBet.

- I signed up for some half marathons and the California International Marathon.

The results started becoming visible really fast.  I lost about 7 pounds in the first week and was down 10 pounds overall after the first 2 weeks.  This was mainly due to my elimination of diet soda and following the Paleo Diet.

I was following my Hal Higdon Advanced Half Marathon training plan and set a new Half Marathon PR by almost a minute.  I am now training using the Run Less Run Faster plan for a 10 mile race coming up on May 15^th. I am also cross training on my bike 1-2 days a week.  The Run Less Run Faster plan has really helped.  I ran a 14 mile training run at 10 seconds/faster per mile than my fastest half marathon pace and I didn’t even have the race day rush to help out. 

I have lost a total of 23 pounds in the first 3 months of the year.  I am down to under 170 pounds and am okay with where I am at, although losing a few more pounds would be okay too.  I have taken my Body Mass Index from the “High” range to the “Normal” range and have dropped almost 4% off of my body fat percentage. 

The results really are apparent in my running though.  I can run longer, at a faster pace, and at a lower perceived level of exertion.  Basically, it is way easier to run and I feel better when I am doing it.  I am less injury prone because of the reduction in weight and the incorporation of stretching and cross training.  I am becoming a leaner, meaner Brian.  I have some big goals for the year and can’t wait to keep breaking through barriers.  It is all about progress, not perfection.  Sticking to my routine has been huge and I hope that my story will inspire at least one person to make a change as well