Warm, Happy Thoughts

Due to the polar vortex that has gripped WI, I have decided to turn my attention to memories of warmer days ... in late June ... during our honeymoon in Belize. (This is even more appropriate as this past Sunday was our six month anniversary.)

Our first stay in Belize was on Caye Caulker, a small island off the coast.

We chose Caye Caulker for a couple reasons. First, it is small and we read that no cars (only golf carts) are allowed. Second, it lacked the hustle and bustle of San Pedro, a larger island further north. Also, the unofficial motto of the island is: Go Slow.

There is not much to the island. There is one main area with shops and some places to eat. There are also a bunch of scuba diving/snorkeling/boating outfits for the tourists.

The main drag on the island, after a rain storm.

The food was amazing. Obviously, there was a lot of fresh seafood and we tried to eat as much of it as possible. Also, the other big attraction on the island are the watering holes ... and there a bunch of them. Rum punch and other Caribbean drinks galore ... with happy hours that seem to last all day.
There are a few hotels on the island. Fortunately, we found an Air B&B that was located off the beaten path on the southern part of the island, but only a 10 minute walk from the main drag.

The Hummingbirds. We stayed in the one on the right.

The place was amazing. The woman and her husband who owned them were nothing short of delightful and super friendly. It had air conditioning and all the amenities we could have hoped for to make our stay even more relaxing.

Selfie before the storm.

While on the island, we did not do much. We had planned to go snorkeling once and maybe do a boat trip of some sort a second day, but the weather did not cooperate completely. We only managed to go snorkeling, which I'll talk about in next week's post.

New Challenge

This year, there will be no Wisconsin Run Challenge. In fact, last year, we scrapped the challenge once I signed up for the Green Bay Marathon.

This year, there is a different challenge of sorts. This one involves our waistlines.

Since I stopped running on a regular basis, the waistline has grown and the pounds have returned. On May 12, about a week before the Green Bay Marathon, I bottomed out at 176.2. According to my most recent adventure on the scale, the digits now tell me I am fast approaching 190!

It might be a bit of a reach, but I would love to be able to work myself down to about 170 by the time the Green Bay Marathon (May 21)! That is nearly 20 pounds in about five short months!

I have been thinking about this ... running without 20 extra pounds! Pick up two ten pound dumbbells, jog or walk around your block. Once home, put the dumbbells down and run that same route. What a difference! (I'm not 100% sure this is the perfect analogy, but I like to think of it this way.) Such a difference that I am very keen on the idea of losing the weight.

What does this mean?

The first 10 should not be that hard. If we cut out most the delicious sweets we have been eating and reduce our sugar intake, I'm sure we'll see quick results. The challenging part becomes the next 10 pounds.

The next 10, to go from about 180 to 170, will involve healthier meals, smaller portions, and an insane amount of self control. Jody and I have talked about establishing weekly meal plans for dinner ... and sticking to the plans. Fortunately, we do not eat out that often, so cutting back on "easy" or "fun" dinners should not be that hard (at least for me, Jody may find it more challenging because of all her travelling during her busy season). I would also like to include "cheat" days or "guilt-free" dinners. That is, a night where we do go out and order that burger with the egg on top or buy a pizza from Sendick's. But these days must kept to a minimum.

Now that I am trying to return to this blog with some regularity, I may post updates on this new challenge. Hopefully, it will be my way to guilt myself into eating better and exercising more ... so I can brag to the few of you that I set a tough goal and accomplished it!

The Runner Returns ... Sort of...

Like my running, this blog has been neglect for several months. Quite a bit has happened these past several months. In September, there was a two-and-half week trip to China (no running there) and school started. Add to this, cooler, darker mornings and the motivation to run has fallen completely by the wayside.

Sure, I've had the occasional run, anywhere from 3-6 miles, but nothing done consistently. On Thanksgiving, I ran 4.0 mile race in Akron, OH (though my watch said it was only 3.8 miles), but that has been the one bright spot so far.

It is time to get back at it! The waistline is trending in the wrong direction. I have already started to plant my 2017 carrots.

A few weeks ago, I signed up for the Door County Half Marathon. This will be the third year in a row  I run this race. It is a great atmosphere and wonderful course.

I have my work cut out for me this year. Last year, my goal was to run a sub-2 hour race. I did that, finishing in 1:57:24. Ideally, I would like to run this next race as close to 1:50:00 as possible.

What this means is that I need to get off my butt in the mornings and start logging miles. I'm not talking 9 or 12 miles here and there, but regular runs of 4, 5, or 6 miles would do the body good. I need to establish a base that way, when the calendar turns to 2017, I can pick up a solid training routine and not have my body hate me for harder workouts.

Like last year, after Door County, I will also intend to run the Green Bay Marathon. I am absolutely determined to run the race under 5 hours. I was very close last year (5:03:01) but was not happy with the run -- too much walking. I have come to the conclusion that I need a more complete workout regiment that involves extra exercises -- strength training, plyometrics, and yoga -- along with all the running.

Planting the carrots are the first step. The next step is digging deep and running on those dark, cold, and windy mornings. The time to start reaching for those 2017 goals is now!