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This morning I got myself back in the Saddle, the bike saddle that is. I feel it in my legs right now but I just needed something different after all the running I have been doing lately. Bootcamp was cancelled (meaning that my total bootcamp sessions for March came to 1, go failure!) so after thinking to myself “I can’t be assed running” and thinking that I needed to still do something and not cop out. I pondered an exercise bike in the gym but with the perfect blue sky outside, I just had to get back out there.

The blue sky outside just made it seem all so much better but it was still pretty cold and without all my riding gear (still no bike shorts, gloves etc) I just sucked it up. My hands may have gone frozen but meh I will live (turns out I had actually shoved my running gloves in my pocket, I didn’t realise this till AFTER my ride.. #fail). It was good though to get back onto the bike. I was a bit shaky to start with and I hadn’t ever rode around this area so it was different to my normal routine. I wasn’t pushing myself all that hard really because I knew that I was exploring more than anything.

The ride was good as you can see

With my usual 10k smashed in not to bad of a time so that was a good bit. But now my calves feel it, but at least my knees arent to bad. But the bike goes back in the Storage area now, till I get back from Aus in 2 weeks. That trip (which I will post more about tomorrow) is coming up FAST. And I can’t WAIT!

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Tonight was a first for me in 2 ways. Firstly i stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to do yoga, something i always criticized saying it waa just an hour or so of stretching. Secondly for my first ever yoga experience I went for hot yoga, which according to my trainer is the hardest their is.

It all started when my trainer suggested that instead of a bootcamp session we could all go to the Ashram Hot Yoga in Kirkland. 2 sessions $10 what do I have to lose? To be honest I have always been skeptical about yoga. So many people swear by it. I always said it waa just stretching for an hour and it allows people to think it was a work out.

Hot Yoga takes that stretching and you do it in a sauna pretty much. Sounds easy right? Not for me! Since i have no balance at all well this was going to be interesting. The heat was not a problem, I felt like I was back in Qatar, with the heat, the warmth, o so good! Even though I probably sweated like never before the heat was not an issue. It was something I could dream of any time it drops below zero (Celsius that is).

The moves and everything was my downfall I had no coordination, no idea what I was doing at all and at times just kind of tried to keep up. With only 2 stops when I was out of breath I thought I did pretty well consideringy flexibility needs work.

Am I going to do it again? Sure. I think it might work better for me doing hot yoga over a massage (which I don’t often get because they never do me any good or so I think) when I need that stretch my muscles need.

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I woke up this morning to an email I had been hoping to see for a number of weeks now. The dates for the Paine Field Aviation Day have been set and that means the Fly Day 5K is on again! Last year I did this and I ended up smashing my expected time, and it was only a few weeks after I got here. I did blog about the run last year as it was one of the highlights of my year in 2012. So lets just hope that this year it is going to be just as much fun. But here is a problem. It is the day before the Seattle Beat the Bridge. Which I was also going to do… but now I don’t know. Beat the Bridge is an 8k run and I really don’t want to do an 8k race (cause you have to beat the bridge so it is a race) right after a 5k race. I could probably skip the Fly Day 5k, but why?

Why would I want to skip seeing this up close and personal again?

From Expat Life

That is a GE90 attached to a 777-200LR. I remember running up to that point during the run and then seeing that plane sitting there and it gave me a giant burst of energy to finish. If you check out the Course map you will see that you don’t get onto the runway, but that is ok, because your running along the perimeter road and in some cases on taxi ways. The awesome thing at the moment is that there are so many 787s out there, that they are parked everywhere, it is going to be awesome.

The race does go to support Muscular Dystrophy and there is a pancake breakfast there afterwards (mmmmm pancakes) and then after the race and the pancakes. Well its Paine Field Aviation Day. A day hopefully filled with sunshine, planes and lots of shots like this:

From Seattle Spotting 2012
From Seattle Spotting 2012
From Seattle Spotting 2012

So if you feel up to running with me, well why don’t you sign up to!

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February is now over and done with, the month kind of just flew by really. As mentioned in this post I had set myself a challenge with my trainer to keep myself within 1 pound either side of 175lb and take 2 days off training for the month. Well now that the month is over I can let you know how i went….

FAIL!

Yeah that’s right.  I failed.  But in a kind of good way.  I started off the month at 172.3lb.  I went up & down (left & right?) throughout the month, not even remotely close to 175 at all and ended up finishing off the month this morning dead on 170lb.  That’s right, I ended up overall losing 2.3lb.  A good 5lb off my target wait…. Fail 1.

Then look at the 2nd part of my challenge, to take 2 days off training.  Nope failed there as well.  I only took 1 day off.  Sure if you went through my Garmin records you would see gaps but that was either due to the fact I had watch failure (like yesterday) or it was pelting down rain and I had to go indoors for a run in the gym or I took it easy on my legs and used the exercise bike.  Either way I only had 1 day off the entire month and even then I am not sure if I should count it as there sure was a bit of running involved that day. So my attempt to take 2 days off was a fail.

So overall the challenge was an utter failure but I guess in a good way.  I still kept my weight in check, I still kept my running up, but you know what. Good news is as a small reward with a whole weekend of travel ahead of me, I am taking tomorrow off…  Stuff it 😉

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Ok I missed a week 2 update but my goal this month to stay around 175lb is failing miserably. Not failing because im way over it, but more the opposite, I just can’t stay near it! I weighed in Friday morning at 169lb. Thats 6lb UNDER where I should be. I think a bit of it seems to come from the fact that I have been so busy and stressed lately that may have caused me to just work to hard, but that’s not excuse.

What am I doing wrong? Look at some of my running this last week.

Look at the consistence there. 2 seconds difference on the same route! I failed to take yesterday off but I did something I didn’t really want to do over the weekend. I dirty bulked. Pretty much I had a bit to much junk Saturday night (though it was tasty) but I did it to try and keep the weight up a bit. It worked. Weigned in this morning at 172lb, a whole 2lb up from the exact same time last week. That is more like it! But I doubt it will do much by Friday.

I can pretty much consider this challenge failed, but it was worth the try right?

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For February my trainer, Cassie, set the group a challenge. Pick a personal goal fitness/health wise that we think we could achieve and she would help us with it. I wasn’t really wanting to do the usual fitness stuff like Run a set time or something like that, so I looked at the month ahead saw that it could be a challenge on the eating side and figured if I tried to set myself a weight and stick to it. But I have been running every day since the start of November. I haven’t had a day off running in almost 3 months.

So the goal I set with Cassie was that i would maintain 175lb (plus or minus one pound) while having at LEAST 2 days off (doesn’t have to be consecutive) training during the month of february. Cassie agreed to it, I set up my eating & exercise list (which mind you I have not stopped doing since I started losing the weight over 3 years ago) so she could access it and away we went.

So Today rolls around, the end of the first week. I started off Feb at 172.3lb… a little bit lower than my goal… Not good! I usually weigh in on Mondays (and I am still doing that) but I kept up the training last week, I was a good boy (apart from Sunday when I went to skillet Diner for breakfast #nomnomnom) and kept on track eating wise during the week and I came out pretty good.

Weighed in this morning at 173.3lb and I am pretty happy with that. I think by the end of the month I can be setting at that 175lb mark and be happy with it all. Tomorrow is my first day off running in over 3 months and boy am I looking forward to it. Although I will be up at o-dark thirty for my flight, just the fact that I am not out running will be good, and I will feel like I deserve that rest (though I won’t be getting much sleep).

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With a new year brings new beginnings. A time now to set those “resolutions” people would say. Frankly I don’t like that word. I am pretty sure I have said it before but resolutions makes it sound like I need to change something. I set myself goals that I want to achieve. That way I can work towards something and there is an end to that process. Whether it be a fitness goal or a travel goal or who knows what, it has to be quantifiable.

I generally have 2 different “Goals” being my Travel and Fitness. These can sometimes inter mingle but usually it is 2 seperate ones.

So for my fitness goals in 2013 they are:

* Run the 10k (at least) at the US Marine Corp Marathon in Washington DC
* Do a Triathlon
* Compete in at least 2 5k (or longer) events in Seattle

My travel goals for 2013 are:

* Add at least one new state to my list of unvisited states (9 out of 50 to go!)
* Requalify for Virgin Australia gold
* Visit OshKosh
* Visit some more local sites around Washington State
* Use up my Qantas Points in some way

I think these set some good goals for me overall on those two counts. In general though I do want to try and strive to get a better foothold at work and see if there is something I can do to keep me wanted around these parts. I also want to see if I can get back into some of the points game over here with some credit card churning etc. I want to try and work on my photography skills and get my photoshop processing more efficient.

I want to also grow my AirlineReporter presence, get some more stories out there on the Avgeek world. I have a few in the plans in my head, but its where/who to pitch to I need to work on. So hopefully I can do something with that in the new year.

Anyway 2013 looks to be a good year either way. It will be my first full year living in the USA and I plan to make the most of it!

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Well my first American christmas is over and it wasn’t a white christmas. Not much to talk about it really other than the fact that I have been doing a lot of thinking over the last few days. Yes I do feel lonely right now at this time of year. But that is to be expected. I am a metric buttload of miles away from my family, all my friends that I have known for quite sometime are back there as well. So yes it’s tough. But I knew that going into it.

Work helps.. but it doesn’t distract you 100% of the time, part of me wishes it could though. Maybe that was why I kind of regressed a bit yesterday to old mal for a little bit. I took my “All bets are off” on Christmas day a little to far and I ended up going a bit overboard I think. But I will cut back, work out and work it all off and get back on track ready for the new year.

I do want to thank David though. He took me in, he let me become part of his family for the evening. It wasn’t by any means a “Traditional” christmas but it was pretty damn good, and I got to teach david a few aussie things as well (like what my dad’s rocky road is all about ;))

I might be posting a bit over the next few days covering my usual 2012 round down. What I did over, what my highlights were, how I went with my goals and then also what is in the plans for 2013.

But first I leave you with this… my one and only gift opened on christmas day… thanks to my friend Kat in Canada who knows me all to well and sends me a coffee gift basket.

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Sunday I ran my last 5k race of the year. My third and final race this time was the biggest. After getting myself confused with a different Jingle Bell run that my trainer was doing (sadly she was talking about the one in Tacoma not Seattle). I ran the 2012 Seattle Jingle Bell Run
Meant to support arthritis this was a 5k run straight through downtown Seattle.

Meant to be on the 2nd Sunday in December I was looking forward to one last run and not taking it so seriously, getting some Christmas spirit as well. What I didn’t expect was just how many people. I had managed to con my manager Anna into joining me for the run and she conned her partner in.

It was a pretty awesome route though going up (and i mean uphill) 5th Ave through the middle of downtown then an awesome experience of going down through the tunnel into the I5 express lanes, where we would spend a good period of the run. But this was also what made it difficult at the same time.

The run was a mess, so many people. I was seeing race numbers in the 15000s! That is seriously another level above anything I have ever run before. The run at PFAD was maybe 100 people, the run at Halloween was maybe 400 or more, but this was crazy!

Due to the volumes of people we worked out we were a solid 2 mins behind our time and spent dodging other people and breaking out of the pack. The tunnel added more problems because you just couldn’t go anywhere at all, you were stuck in the middle of it all. I swear I stood on someone a few times.

Post race was pretty good, took a mere minute to get my bag from the coat check and 20 mins after finishing, waving bye to the boss and some rehydration I was in the truck heading home.

I will link in the run map but it’s not entirely accurate due to the tunnel but the time is spot on!

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3 Years ago today, to the exact minute this goes to post (6:30am) I showed up in what was a very non descript building in the middle of Tenneriffe. I was tired, I was a tad scared and I didn’t know what to expect. It was my first ever session with a Personal Trainer. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, only that I knew one thing for certain. I was in for the long haul.

I stuck it out, through thick and thin (hehe lol) and now look at me. 3 Years and 90kg later I stand before you (well pretend i’m standing) a very changed person.

Three years ago this was me:

I weighed in at a whopping 172kg (380lb for my American friends) and I was someone who drank copiously.

This is me now (albeit about 2 weeks ago but you get the idea)

A lot has changed as you can see. I got down to roughly 80kg (176lb tho I have been as low as 165lb) and thats where I have sat now for quite some time. It was NOT an easy journey. But I am thoroughly glad I did it.

I am sure I could spend hours guiding everyone through what I did and how I did it but, that not what today is about for me. Today is about looking back over those 3 years and knowing that yes it has been a hard slog, I don’t regret it one single iota. Today is also about thinking about those who have helped me with my journey, thanking them for their support, their love and their honesty throughout the whole process.. so here goes:

First and Foremost the biggest thanks goes to someone I am eternally grateful to. Andrew Burnes. He was my “Boss” back in Australia. It was his offer and inspiration that drove me to take that first step. I asked him back after he made his offer what the “catch” was and what did he expect in return. His words to me were simple and stuck with me throughout everything “I want you to be healthy.” So I took him up on the offer and I did my best not to let him down. Andrew made a serious investment in me and I sure as hell did not want to make that investment a failure. Seemingly it took Andrew’s push to throw me over that ledge, so to you Andrew Burnes I owe you my life. Word’s can not express just how much I have to be thankful for now, and you are to thank for it.

Secondly thanks goes to someone who stuck by me from Start to Finish. Day in and day out. Even when I had lost all the weight, he was there to keep me going, keep me inspired, keep me on track. Pushing me to do the things I didn’t want to do. That person was my trainer and friend, Andie. In saying that he was there every step of the way is no joke. I ran 10k at the Gold Coast Marathon, he was there by my side the entire time, the only time he wasn’t there with me during that run was as we approached the finish, he told me to finish off in style and he let me sprint the end, but he was only a few steps behind. Then there was Kokoda. 8 Days slogging it up and down mountains in the mud, he was there by my side the whole time. Here’s proof:

Not to say that Andie was always a kind guy to me. He knew when to back off, but he knew how to push my buttons enough to make me dig harder. Anytime I boxed with him, that grin on his face just made me want to smack it. He constantly was giving me crap to keep me in order, to keep me grounded. But Andie kept me going. He pushed me to do things I never thought I could do, one of those was to ride a bike. If I hadn’t of taken that step to learn to ride a bike (and I copped a whole slog of crap when I was learning mind you) I am sure I would never hear the end of it. Andie, my friend, you are the reason I look the way I do now. If it wasn’t for you keeping me on track, on target each and every day, I don’t know how I would be now, so I say in the most manliest fashion possible…. Thank you

The third biggest lot of thanks goes to Julie Gilbert my Nutritionist. I definately would not be here the way I am without you. That first day we sat down, you weighed me in and we talked about our plan. It wasn’t a diet. You taught me that. You taught me to eat properly, to change my way of life, you taught me how to manage my food, manage my appetite. You changed the way I thought about food. But the most important thing, you help me change, me. I would not have the same look at food now, if you had not of helped me out. I wouldn’t look at a pile of fries and think “To Greasy, To Salty”, I would see it and think.. yum. Now I look at a pumpkin and think of a million ways to cook that and enjoy it. I have changed the way my tastebuds work, the way my brain works, the way my cravings work, all from your help. Without you, I would’t be the person I am now, so Julie… thank you.

Your all thinking, wow 3 strangers and he hasn’t yet thanked his friends or family. I do thank my friends and family each and every day. When I get up in the morning and I am alive, I thank my family and friends for being there and supporting me through it all. From Trent and Bianca who gave up their Sunday mornings to go walking with me along the river. To Adrian who ran the Gold Coast 10k with me in shoes that didn’t fit right and weren’t his. To Ross, Suzanne and Brendan who accomodated my needs when we went out and caught up. To Alisha who listened to me bitch and moan through all my crazy mornings after working out on very little sleep and coming straight to work feeling like crap. Who also took me shopping and showed me that it is not scary to be able to go into a shop with normal people and be able to buy things. To Shannan who helped me by supporting me, coming to me for guidance in how she can change as well and just being someone who would listen when I was having a rough day.

But there is my mum and dad. Each day I was able to keep on track and on target because they supported me, they supported my decisions, they helped change the way I am. Ultimately they also changed the way they are to. Dad lost a bit of weight, so did my mum (not much, I couldn’t get them to kick all their dirty habits). My mum can’t drink full cream milk now, Dad thinks differently when he cooks. So not only did everyone help support me change, they helped change my folks as well.

Now I sit here, in my apartment on the other side of the world to these people. There help paid off in making me take leaps of faith and do things I never thought I could do. But now I have a new challenge in life. I need to keep this going without them. The last couple of weeks don’t count in the struggle, but I have managed to keep it on track. I have a new trainer over here, I have a new passion for running (I have had 2 Five Km races so far this year with 1 more to go), I want to get back on my bike when the weather gets better. Life over here in the PNW is full of active people, I am going to stick with it and be one of those people. I want to enjoy life to every moment. So much stuff has happened in the last 7 months (yep Sunday is 7 months in the USA) that I have that one faithful day 3 years ago to thank.

3 years ago I walked 2km in 30 minutes, a Year later I ran it in 12. just over 6 weeks ago, I ran 5k in a little over 26 minutes. How time changes things is totally uncanny. Who knows if I will get any faster, I sure as hell don’t think I can but we shall see. I haven’t stepped back from a chanllenge in 3 years, so why the hell not! 3 years ago I set myself 4 simple goals:

1. Get to 100kg
2. Run 10k
3. Get some strength in my arms
4. Trek Kokoda

I did all of these things, I set myself new goals, goals that would challenge me and change me. So before the whole New Years Resolution thing happens I am going to set my goals for 2013 (I will recap my 2012 goals as the year draws to an end).

1. Run the Marine Corp Marathon 10km
2. Do a Triathlon
3. Do my first real mileage Run

I think the first two will keep me training and keep me fit and #3, well that’s a whole other story.

To Andrew, Andie, Julie, Alisha, Shannan, Ross, Brendan, Suzanne, Trenton, Bianca, Adrian, Yena, Jeremy, Ashina, Stuart, Michelle and every other person who was there to support me, by my friend, help me change who I am and just be the best they could be over the last 3 years.

Thank you.