I have a job interview on Thursday. Kind of surprised about it since I honestly don't know what to make of it. I applied to Big Y (yes...I know, sort of a downgrade from my last one) in Groton but got a call back from the one in Mystic. It's not a huge difference for me in location. I just have no idea what the job is even for. That makes it for a more difficult interview. I put in for night stocking so we'll see. Maybe they saw my receiving background from my last job and it'll have something to do with that. Who knows. I'm not gonna jump at it just yet, though. I know that. But we'll see how it goes.
So the other day on my Facebook, I decided that I had an amazing idea. Just didn't want to go into it more. I talked to my girlfriend and her friends and came up with something neat for this blog. I am going to try and record my Disney Half Marathon race in January. What does that mean? I'm going to try and run and record video and talk all at the same time. How am I going to do that? No clue. I honesty have no idea how this will work other than it being a really bad version of Blair Witch Project. I have 8 months to figure this out but I think it'd be pretty cool. I think people would like to know what I think about or what not when I'm running. I'm curious as to what you, the readers, think of this. All three of you.
This weekend I get to weigh myself. I get to the point where I want to know when it gets closer to the end of the month. I really don't care the other 29-30 days but when it gets to be the near the next month, I get anxious. I get excited. I really want to know if I screwed up eating or if I did things correctly. I can tell you that after the past week of trying extra workouts, I feel like I've lost some more weight. I'm hoping to gain muscle out of the deal eventually. And burpees...they are a bitch! I'm enjoying doing them but wow. I have no idea if I am doing them correctly. Going to YouTube them after I post this. I think things are getting better in the workout regimen. I'm getting more and more excited as each day passes.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Forerunner 110
On Sunday, I ordered the Garmin Forerunner 110 off of Amazon.com after much debate at to what I wanted for a running watch. I read a lot of reviews and finally came to the conclusion that I wanted this one. And it came Tuesday, in a cool little box. Mind you, I'm not the greatest person to review things. I find that just saying "I like this" or "I hated that" suffices. But I will try my hardest.
I busted the thing open as soon as I got it. There was no hesitation from me. Why? I love new technology. When I got my Nextus 10, it was in my hands within seconds of seeing the box. The only downfall was that I had to sit and wait for it to charge up. Sad Jeremie was sad. After a few hours, I turned it on, went outside and had it connect to the satellite so it could put the time and date in. It's really accurate at the time of the picture.
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Today I actually used it to go for a jog this morning. I wanted to check how it stood up to my Runkeeper app I have on my iPhone. I've been using Runkeeper since I started running and actually keeping track of it, which has only been a few months. But the watch was bought to replace the app since I felt that I would get a more accurate reading than the app. The problems I really have with Runkeeper on the phone are that it sometimes takes FOREVER to connect to a GPS and that it eats the battery on my phone alive. So I did my run and started them up at about the same time, give or take a few seconds since Runkeeper decided not to sync to a GPS at first. After my Wednesday 3 miler was over, I rushed home to do my other exercises and then uploaded everything to Garmin and Runkeeper. After all was said and done, the results came and I was actually quite pleased with how close Runkeeper was to my Garmin.
After seeing the results were closer to what I actually thought they were to begin with (I always had the feeling that Runkeeper was adding miles onto my total for not connecting to the GPS at random times). I definitely am going to keep using this watch for all my runs, including races. I think it's actually a pretty neat watch, especially for a person who hates watches. And the ability to upload my runs to GarminConnect is pretty sweet.
I busted the thing open as soon as I got it. There was no hesitation from me. Why? I love new technology. When I got my Nextus 10, it was in my hands within seconds of seeing the box. The only downfall was that I had to sit and wait for it to charge up. Sad Jeremie was sad. After a few hours, I turned it on, went outside and had it connect to the satellite so it could put the time and date in. It's really accurate at the time of the picture.
.JPG)
Today I actually used it to go for a jog this morning. I wanted to check how it stood up to my Runkeeper app I have on my iPhone. I've been using Runkeeper since I started running and actually keeping track of it, which has only been a few months. But the watch was bought to replace the app since I felt that I would get a more accurate reading than the app. The problems I really have with Runkeeper on the phone are that it sometimes takes FOREVER to connect to a GPS and that it eats the battery on my phone alive. So I did my run and started them up at about the same time, give or take a few seconds since Runkeeper decided not to sync to a GPS at first. After my Wednesday 3 miler was over, I rushed home to do my other exercises and then uploaded everything to Garmin and Runkeeper. After all was said and done, the results came and I was actually quite pleased with how close Runkeeper was to my Garmin.
After seeing the results were closer to what I actually thought they were to begin with (I always had the feeling that Runkeeper was adding miles onto my total for not connecting to the GPS at random times). I definitely am going to keep using this watch for all my runs, including races. I think it's actually a pretty neat watch, especially for a person who hates watches. And the ability to upload my runs to GarminConnect is pretty sweet.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Edge of the Earth
This Friday will begin "Week 6" of my training for the Hartford Half Marathon. I'm quite excited. After the four weeks of doing this, and having my long runs be nine miles, I will be halfway done with my training. I honestly didn't think that this would be coming up so quickly. I mean, I started January 4th of this year. It doesn't really feel like I've been going that long, especially when I look at my training schedule. Granted, my schedule is just on a piece of paper but it works for me in so many ways. It might not make much sense to someone else but it has helped me this much so far.
This past Friday was a great run and it pushed me over 210 miles this year. I really enjoyed it a lot. And I'm starting to get my minutes per mile at a solid number floating around 9 minutes per mile, as you can see below. It makes me very, very, very, very, very happy to know that, someone like me who complained a lot about his weight is able to do this. Doing it this quickly, too, is fantastic. I'm going at my own pace and I'm really shocked (I don't know if shocked is the right word) that I'm doing so damn well! I'm doing so well, in fact, that I've decided that I'm going to register for another half marathon in September called Surftown at Misquamicut Beach over in Rhode Island. Am I nuts? Probably. September, October and January so far will all have half marathons that I'm participating in. On top of four other 5K races I'm doing between now and October. Yea, I think that qualifies as nuts.
I'm just really happy I found something, exercise-wise, that I really enjoy. And I'm glad that I'm continuing to do it so well, too. Next month will be my first full year or running. Granted, I took some time off in November and December last year but I began my training for my first 5K last year in May. And now look at me. Been training since January for a half marathon. I've come so, so far. I just wish that I could see it in myself more often. I hope that's something that will come to me over time.
This past Friday was a great run and it pushed me over 210 miles this year. I really enjoyed it a lot. And I'm starting to get my minutes per mile at a solid number floating around 9 minutes per mile, as you can see below. It makes me very, very, very, very, very happy to know that, someone like me who complained a lot about his weight is able to do this. Doing it this quickly, too, is fantastic. I'm going at my own pace and I'm really shocked (I don't know if shocked is the right word) that I'm doing so damn well! I'm doing so well, in fact, that I've decided that I'm going to register for another half marathon in September called Surftown at Misquamicut Beach over in Rhode Island. Am I nuts? Probably. September, October and January so far will all have half marathons that I'm participating in. On top of four other 5K races I'm doing between now and October. Yea, I think that qualifies as nuts.
I'm just really happy I found something, exercise-wise, that I really enjoy. And I'm glad that I'm continuing to do it so well, too. Next month will be my first full year or running. Granted, I took some time off in November and December last year but I began my training for my first 5K last year in May. And now look at me. Been training since January for a half marathon. I've come so, so far. I just wish that I could see it in myself more often. I hope that's something that will come to me over time.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Remembering Boston
I want to write this huge thing about the attack at the Boston Marathon. I had this huge idea in my head to write this gigantic post about how I felt about it and how it meant to me. But the words won't come. I don't know if there are any words that will express my sadness for the life loss and the injuries people have had because of this horrific event. The Boston Marathon is suppose to be an event of a lifetime, something that, like Stephen Colbert recently said, people do on their day off and enjoy. There should never be a reason to have a terror attack on people in general. But specifically, there should never be a reason people should be afraid of doing something they enjoy doing. People shouldn't be scared to go out and enjoy a run on a beautiful day. But that's what has happened. My girlfriend wrote me a text the day after the bombings and told me she was scared that it might happen at any of the races that I'm doing. That I might get hurt or worse. It's sad knowing that. And it's scary knowing that whoever planted those bombs might have won. True, Boston is very strong and I will be keeping every victim in my mind whenever I run. But putting the image that this could happen anywhere or at anytime during any event into people's heads could have been the victory that the attacker wanted. I'm not going to give him or her that victory. I will continue to run and never be scared of doing something I'm enjoying. I don't think anyone will.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Weight problems
I never really thanked myself for being fat overweight when I was growing up. Wait. Did I really say that? I'm pretty sure you're probably wondering why I would even thank myself for that. It doesn't really make sense to be happy for being overweight. But that's not what I'm saying. It really starts back when I was a kid growing up. I was actually quite skinny until I got tonsillitis and pneumonia. Once I had my tonsils taken out, and I could eat again, I did what any kid would do. Eat. More than you could imagine. I blew up. I became a blimp. And there was absolutely no stopping me. Put food in front of me and it was gone. My parents even jokingly called me "The Bottomless Pit."
How did I stop so I could lose weight? I didn't. No exercise or weight loss for me. True, I played hockey and that was about the only sport I could play but being a big kid was beneficial to me on the team. So I continued to stay big, all through elementary, middle and high school. I clearly remember sitting in health class during middle school and had one of the girls in the class turn around, look at me in the eyes, and say that I had sausage thighs. Sausage thighs. Who the hell says that to someone who was already a social outcast to begin with? That stuck with me for years. I continued to get fat and just always looked back, remembering the girl laughing about that to my face. But it was never seen as a push to me. Like, I never saw it as a reason to get control for my life.
During college, I did try and lose weight. I went to the gym since it was free for students to go to. I was up at six in the morning every day and I would drag myself to the gym on the other end of campus. That eventually stopped since I was just bored. I wouldn't say bored of going to the gym. I was just bored of doing it. I didn't really care that much. I just looked at myself and would said "Well, you made it nineteen years being this way, what's another couple of more?". And that really stood out, years later, as the turning point of my life. I would eventually go into deep, dark depressions to the point where I really would really want to end my own life. Nothing drastic. Just cutting myself. In all actuality, I think it was just a cry for pity. I never once harmed myself and don't think that I could honestly do it. I just knew that I was in a dark hole that I couldn't get out of.
Afterwards, my life went into a downward spiral that I am so very surprised I was able to get out of. I went through some life changing moments. Things seemed to go from bad to worse and with that came more eating and more weight gain. I even capped myself at around 290 lbs by this time. When I was finally able to get out of the state of despair that I was in, I started to change things around. I began to start feeling better about myself, even if the weight was a huge determining factor on my life and the things I wanted to do. I still was negative with myself (and to this day I still am but not as much as I use to be) but I made it a mission to try and remove that from everything. Things were the most difficult in this time. I didn't think I could ever change back to something I never saw myself as. But I persevered.
I started Weight Watchers in 2010 and lost a lot of the weight but I couldn't see myself paying for it and went off of it the next year, gaining some (20 lbs) back. And then I met my girlfriend. I wouldn't say that she was the reason I changed but she was a huge reason behind the change. I started getting control of my life and realized what I wanted my life to be like. I knew what I wanted to do. So I got into running, something I had tried starting a few years prior but never could really see myself doing full time. I promised her that I would run a 5K in honor of her and her struggles in life (cancer) and I did it. Afterwards, I didn't stop. I continued to run and train for the next race. I wanted to get better. And, deep in the back of my mind, I wanted that little boy in middle school who was picked on for having sausage thighs to flick off every person that ever made fun of him. As difficult as that is now, me doing this training pretty much is telling all the doubters to go screw themselves. I've ran 193 miles this year so far and it is making me such a stronger person. But it does lead me to one conclusion.
Being overweight has made me who I have become now.
To me, this helps me realize that I've overcame a lot of personal struggles. I definitely have more to go but weight will not be something that keeps me down. Looking in the mirror now reveals a different person, someone that I actually like looking at.
How did I stop so I could lose weight? I didn't. No exercise or weight loss for me. True, I played hockey and that was about the only sport I could play but being a big kid was beneficial to me on the team. So I continued to stay big, all through elementary, middle and high school. I clearly remember sitting in health class during middle school and had one of the girls in the class turn around, look at me in the eyes, and say that I had sausage thighs. Sausage thighs. Who the hell says that to someone who was already a social outcast to begin with? That stuck with me for years. I continued to get fat and just always looked back, remembering the girl laughing about that to my face. But it was never seen as a push to me. Like, I never saw it as a reason to get control for my life.
During college, I did try and lose weight. I went to the gym since it was free for students to go to. I was up at six in the morning every day and I would drag myself to the gym on the other end of campus. That eventually stopped since I was just bored. I wouldn't say bored of going to the gym. I was just bored of doing it. I didn't really care that much. I just looked at myself and would said "Well, you made it nineteen years being this way, what's another couple of more?". And that really stood out, years later, as the turning point of my life. I would eventually go into deep, dark depressions to the point where I really would really want to end my own life. Nothing drastic. Just cutting myself. In all actuality, I think it was just a cry for pity. I never once harmed myself and don't think that I could honestly do it. I just knew that I was in a dark hole that I couldn't get out of.
Afterwards, my life went into a downward spiral that I am so very surprised I was able to get out of. I went through some life changing moments. Things seemed to go from bad to worse and with that came more eating and more weight gain. I even capped myself at around 290 lbs by this time. When I was finally able to get out of the state of despair that I was in, I started to change things around. I began to start feeling better about myself, even if the weight was a huge determining factor on my life and the things I wanted to do. I still was negative with myself (and to this day I still am but not as much as I use to be) but I made it a mission to try and remove that from everything. Things were the most difficult in this time. I didn't think I could ever change back to something I never saw myself as. But I persevered.
I started Weight Watchers in 2010 and lost a lot of the weight but I couldn't see myself paying for it and went off of it the next year, gaining some (20 lbs) back. And then I met my girlfriend. I wouldn't say that she was the reason I changed but she was a huge reason behind the change. I started getting control of my life and realized what I wanted my life to be like. I knew what I wanted to do. So I got into running, something I had tried starting a few years prior but never could really see myself doing full time. I promised her that I would run a 5K in honor of her and her struggles in life (cancer) and I did it. Afterwards, I didn't stop. I continued to run and train for the next race. I wanted to get better. And, deep in the back of my mind, I wanted that little boy in middle school who was picked on for having sausage thighs to flick off every person that ever made fun of him. As difficult as that is now, me doing this training pretty much is telling all the doubters to go screw themselves. I've ran 193 miles this year so far and it is making me such a stronger person. But it does lead me to one conclusion.
Being overweight has made me who I have become now.
To me, this helps me realize that I've overcame a lot of personal struggles. I definitely have more to go but weight will not be something that keeps me down. Looking in the mirror now reveals a different person, someone that I actually like looking at.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Watch
Maybe it's time I get a GPS watch for when I run. Runkeeper is good and all but every runner I see has one. I really wish I didn't get fired.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Training Is Fun
So Friday started "week" 5 of my training for the ING Hartford Half Marathon. I put quotes around week since my training schedule is a little bit different than most others. When I started training back on January 4th, I needed to make a calendar for me to run by. It was going to be difficult on an actual calendar so instead I put it on a piece of paper. I knew that running 13.1 miles was going to be the hardest thing I could ever do. Every "week" is actually three weeks, with the exception of 4 "weeks" where they are four weeks long. I'm sure that made absolutely no sense but I don't know how to write it differently. But the training is going well! October will be awesome.
I'm actually enjoying it. I have been enjoying it for a few months now. It's something that I was talking to my mom about today. I honestly wish that I was running back in high school. I know why I didn't (bad ankles) but I should have at least tried. Maybe things would be different. Who knows.
This will be short today. I'm passing out as I type this. I do have one last thing. I got in to the runDisney Walt Disney World Half Marathon. January! I'm so excited. I also want to do the one in Disneyland in August and get the coast to coast medal. So that's my plan.
I'm actually enjoying it. I have been enjoying it for a few months now. It's something that I was talking to my mom about today. I honestly wish that I was running back in high school. I know why I didn't (bad ankles) but I should have at least tried. Maybe things would be different. Who knows.
This will be short today. I'm passing out as I type this. I do have one last thing. I got in to the runDisney Walt Disney World Half Marathon. January! I'm so excited. I also want to do the one in Disneyland in August and get the coast to coast medal. So that's my plan.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
I hate titles.
Oh. My. God.
I'm currently watching Wheel of Fortune. I know, I know. It's not as exciting as it sounds and doesn't warrant an OMG at the start of a blog post. I'm just excited that they had an add for house boats! What fun that would be. Having a huge thing that's part boat, part house. And has a hot tub. On a boat. Who would have thought that'd ever be possible? Not this guy, obviously. Not this guy.
Speaking of Wheel, I like when they hit bankrupt.
So tonight I'm going to go see the Evil Dead remake. I'm quite excited. Ever since they announced it, I was ready for it. Evil Dead has always been one of my favorite horror cult classics. It's just so perfect in every sense of the word. And I'm really hoping that the new one will be just as good, if not better. The previews I've seen for it have scared the shit out of me every time I watch them. Even the PG trailers scare me. And as I write this, they just released the new trailer for Carrie. I love horror. So much.
8 miles tomorrow. For the next three weeks. Shouldn't be too bad. I have to find my extra mile to run though. I will probably do it tonight. I'm getting more excited.
Also. I'm happy that I'm not working at the Evil Corporation anymore. Things are much better in my life. Just have to make it through my unemployment hearing. Then I can relax for a while.
I'm currently watching Wheel of Fortune. I know, I know. It's not as exciting as it sounds and doesn't warrant an OMG at the start of a blog post. I'm just excited that they had an add for house boats! What fun that would be. Having a huge thing that's part boat, part house. And has a hot tub. On a boat. Who would have thought that'd ever be possible? Not this guy, obviously. Not this guy.
Speaking of Wheel, I like when they hit bankrupt.
So tonight I'm going to go see the Evil Dead remake. I'm quite excited. Ever since they announced it, I was ready for it. Evil Dead has always been one of my favorite horror cult classics. It's just so perfect in every sense of the word. And I'm really hoping that the new one will be just as good, if not better. The previews I've seen for it have scared the shit out of me every time I watch them. Even the PG trailers scare me. And as I write this, they just released the new trailer for Carrie. I love horror. So much.
8 miles tomorrow. For the next three weeks. Shouldn't be too bad. I have to find my extra mile to run though. I will probably do it tonight. I'm getting more excited.
Also. I'm happy that I'm not working at the Evil Corporation anymore. Things are much better in my life. Just have to make it through my unemployment hearing. Then I can relax for a while.
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