Jaime and Adriene's Fitness Challenge

by Jaime

It didn't happen after the Half Marathon in Olathe.

It didn't happen after the 4-mile race last week.

And it shouldn't have had to happen at all.

I'm talking about my comeback, which is finally here.  Since my last blog entry, I've had a couple great accomplishments - a 13.25 mile half marathon, followed 3 weeks later by the 4 mile Trolley Run in Kansas City's Plaza.  But I missed a lot of little accomplishments - all the workouts that should have happened in between.  Let me help you catch up.

The last time I posted was near the end of March.  Adriene and I ended our fitness challenge with a whimper - we'd done great, but we were burned out.  Total, I lost 45 pounds, and thankfully only gained 5 back during the "off" month Adriene and I gave ourselves.  Now it's May, and we're back on the horse.  But even that didn't motivate me like it should have.  No, it took the complementary copy of Runner's World that showed up in the mail this week.  It was part of a special offer through the Olathe half marathon, and it was a life preserver.  Even when I woke up this morning, I didn't think anything of it, but I opened the magazine and started reading, and it all came back to me.  I love running.  And I love what it did for me over the last few months.  So, I ran my first non-race run in a month, and it felt great.

I started this journey January 3rd, with Adriene.  I started out dancing dangerously close to the 300 pound mark - 294 to be exact.  I had 120 pounds to lose.  Over three months, I dropped to just under 250.  Now it's time for round two.

Stay tuned for the Bellmyer Fitness Challenge #2.  I'll be wiping the site clean, and restarting a lot of the charts and such.  In fact, I'm planning to build our own blog that we'll host on my own leased server (I'm a web developer by trade), and hopefully it will be even better.  MSN has some limitations that I'm not crazy about.  My charts, for instance, have maximum size limits I've been fighting since day one.

Anyway, I just wanted to say it's good to be back!  I can't wait to bring you more, and shed the next 40 pounds.

by Jaime

If you've never read Of Mice and Men, Lenny is the big, dumb brother who doesn't know his own strength. Actually, if you've seen My Name is Earl, I guess it's pretty much the same setup. Anyway, it turns out I am Lenny (or Randy, for you Earl fans), and my weight loss is my precious little pet mouse. Okay, I could also be describing the scene from Tommy Boy where Tommy describes his failing sales abilities to a slightly freaked out waitress. I guess this is a story as old as time/mice.

So I get the mouse, I pet it, and it's happy. All is well. Then I think, if I pet him twice as hard, he should be twice as happy! So I do, and the mouse either dies or just becomes very jaded at having a stupid owner. Either way, I have failed as a mouse owner. This is the story of my recent weight loss.

Last week, I really buckled down - insane amounts of running, strict diet, salad and spinach leaves as far as the eye can see. And it failed. I only lost half a pound. This week, I relaxed - I sensed I'd overdone it the week before, and also I was tired of working that hard. And it looks like this is going to be a great weight loss week. Go figure. I think my pet is giving me another chance. Morgan is going through kind of the same thing, working extra hard and not seeing the results.

We're all Lenny/Randy/Tommy at some point, overdoing something that was working just fine. I guess last week was my week. Our fitness challenge ends in two weeks. I don't think I'll hit the 50 pound weight loss mark, which is fine. But I think I'll set myself up well to hit that by the end of April, my birthday, just with my daily running and healthier eating habits. Sweet.

by Jaime

Last night I stayed up late building a site I thought would be funny. I like it. You should check it out:

http://www.captionater.com

Basically, I put up a goofy picture, and you get to make up your own caption for it. And read what others have made up. It's actually pretty funny. I don't want to oversell it, but it may just be the greatest invention since Al Gore invented the internets.

by Jaime

I was in a really, really bad mood this morning. I knew this week's weigh-in was going to be a tough one, so I geared up for it. I put more miles under my feet this week than ever before, including two runs over 9 miles each, and 7.5 miles last night. Almost 40 miles total. The results? My lowest weight loss to date - 0.6 pounds. Just over half a pound.

Mid-week, I saw the writing on the wall, and quickly switched from the shorter, more speed oriented runs I was doing (in preparation of an upcoming race) and went back to long, easy-paced, good fat burning jogs. But it didn't help, at least not in time for today. There's some good news:

• I still lost at least something.
• Counting my 6 pound loss a couple weeks ago, I'm still averaging good progress.
• According to our fat-measuring scale, every ounce of this week's weight loss was fat.
• I broke the 34% mark for bodyfat, and I'm now at 33.7%.

Despite all this, failing to meet a goal after so much effort was really frustrating, and I just sort of let myself soak in it all morning. I knew I'd bounce back, so I don't mind the occasional pity party. Talking to Morgan really helped. A simple phrase like "these things happen" carries enormous weight (ironically) when coming from someone who has truly been there.

This afternoon started a new burst of excitement, however. I signed up for my first half marathon ever! The closest I've come was a 5-man marathon relay about 10 years ago. I know I can do it, because I can handle 9 mile jogs, and I'm certainly not looking for speed. Part of the reason I'm so aggressive in my weight loss efforts right now is because I think the best thing I can do to improve race day is to lose weight.

So I'll be running the Olathe Half Marathon (13.25 miles) on March 29th. According to last year's results, I'll be fighting for 2nd to last place with a gentleman twice my age. Man, I sure hope he shows up, because the next guy up the list had me beat by at least half an hour.