Constant Reminders

So I happen to be fortunate enough to live about a 1 minute walk away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon. On a daily basis I cross the finish line as I heard towards the T to get to work and as I head towards the gym at night. And as if it's not daunting enough to have the daily reminder that I need to get to that spot from 26.2 miles away, the running store at the finish line called "Marathon Sports" has recently placed a "countdown timer" in the window of their store that tells me there are "92 days, 17 hours, 15 minutes, and 44 seconds" until the marathon starts. While I certainly appreciate the reminder, it just makes me nervous as the time ticks away and I need to start getting into serious training mode. Tomorrow I'll be running 8 miles which is not exactly a "long run" at this point in training but hopefully will make me sleep better at night after passing by the "countdown timer of impending doom".

The one thing I'm happy about and a place where I'm well ahead of myself compared to last year at this time is my weight and fitness. I was overweight after the holiday season last year, but I wound up spending the first month and a half of training losing a good chunk of weight. I felt like I was on "Biggest Loser", one of my favorite shows. I lost the weight quickly because considering I was never a runner before it boosted my metabolism a lot and I ate smarter by ensuring I had enough iron, protein, and dietary fiber.

Today I weight around 158 pounds with a lot more running background under my belt and a lot more muscle. The goal is to drop down to around 150 pounds by marathon day which given that I have three months to do it I'm feeling confident in dropping about 1 pound a week. If you want to hear something I think is ridiculous, if you're my height, according to the BMI (Body Mass Index) chart normal weight should be 125 to 165 pounds. I'm sorry but I don't know that I would look right if weighed 125 pounds; but maybe that's just me.

And if anyone is looking for weight loss tips or tips for getting in better shape here's a final thought: Go out and buy an article of clothing that's a size smaller than you normally wear (or one that doesn't fit great if you're not looking to lose weight but gain muscle). You won't be able to wear that nice shirt out or feel good in those jeans until you lose the weight and exercise. I find that it serves as a great impetus to get out there. Plus, you feel like you just wasted money on something that you can't even use, so once again it gives a little kick in the pants.

So get out there and run some miles with me :)

As always, if you're feeling generous I'd appreciate some help in my fundraising goals for the marathon with Dana Farber

http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009