Follow along through the challenges of fatherhood and fitness

Follow me as I grow as a father, continue to improve my fitness, and hopefully continue losing weight towards my goal of 60lbs (10lbs to go! 8.25.12).

I never set out to be overweight but I love beer, wine, scotch, and all sorts of terrible food. I didn't choose to get out of shape it just sort of happened. All that changed when I found out my wife was pregnant in December 2010. I decided it was time to set myself up to be a fitdad not a fatdad.

No one ever said it would be easy though. Dealing with a newborn and trying to continue exercising as well as being there for my wife as her husband and friend. As our son gets older and our family grows what impact will that have on my fitness and diet? Stay tuned to find out! Subscribe via email, or add me to your reader. Please make sure to share on twitter, facebook, or follow along by adding your email to my list.

Do you have a diet or exercise product you would like reviewed in the blog, please contact me at fitdadorfatdad@gmail.com

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Valentine's Photo Shoot.

Haven't done a photo shoot with Noah in a bit.  Wife needed some pictures for the scrapbook...queue the cute outfit and nearly impossible to get to sit still kid.

Here are the photos and some of the outtakes.














Monday, January 28, 2013

Transformational Treadmill Run

Saturday's training block brought me to the transformational treadmill run.  That's just a fancy name for a run I did on the treadmill while watching Transformers Dark of the Moon.  Really all it entailed was running 8 miles on the treadmill because it was too cold to be outside running.

Transformational treadmill run 8 miles 63:50.  (barely sub 8:00mi pace..I'll take it!)

Bored out of my mind on this one, but happy with the result.


Friday, January 25, 2013

Progression Treadmill Run.

Thursday was my first Progression Treadmill Run ( I like to think of them as negative splits runs ).

I had 6 miles scheduled for today, here is how they broke down.

Mile 0-1 warmup (7.0mph)
Mile 1-2 Steady (7.4mph)
Mile 2-2.5 (7.5mph) -8:00 mile pace
Mile 2.5-3 (7.6mph)
Mile 3-3.5 (7.7mph)
Mile 3.5-4 (7.8mph)
Mile 4-4.5 (7.9mph)
Mile 4.5-5 (8.0mph)
Mile 5-5.5 (8.1mph)
Mile 5.5-6 (8.2mph)--10k pace (if we are estimating numbers)
I got really bored by about mile 5, so at 5.75mile I bumped the speed up to 8.5, and at 5.9 miles I bumped it up again to 9mph and sprinted to the finish.
Total time 47:17

Not a shabby run at all, felt strong the whole time.  Lungs felt good.  Was able to squeeze the whole workout in while Noah napped.  Got out of the shower only to hear the prince himself summoning me to his room.  DA! DA! DAAAAA!!!!

We spent the rest of the day laughing, chasing, and playing trucks.  I would say that is about the perfect day.

Have a great weekend all!

Be Safe! Get out and Run!!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Week 2 training update.

This update isn't terribly exciting, I have been keeping up with my runs but at a much slower pace.  Noah and I have been stricken with this wonderful bronchitis/coughing/chest thing going around.  So my lungs are a little sluggish getting oxygen to the rest of my body.  I have been pounding fluids, zinc, and getting plenty of sleep, thank you Nyquil.  Now if only I could get them to sponsor me for a commercial like Drew Brees has.

Noah has been relatively unaffected by the virus in our house.  He is still as fun as ever, albeit a little stuffier and a little sleepier.

Since this update is boring...here is some added cuteness to make up for it.




Thanks for reading!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Training Day 4.

Training Day 4 had 6 miles scheduled.  Due to an unhappy and rather coughy kiddo (who chose not to nap long) I was only able to knock out 3.5 miles.

Disappointing...BUT, time spent with Noah is more important than running right now.

Hopefully he is feeling back to 100% soon because the 4am wakeup call this morning is killing me today.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Happy Running!


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Training day 3.

Technically according to my program today is supposed to be an off day, a day of rest as they say.  But that doesn't play nice with my work schedule this week.  I was supposed to have 8 miles scheduled for Saturday this week but I am also scheduled to work for 12 hours.  It's hard enough for me to run 3 or 4 miles on days like that let alone 8.  By process of elimination Wednesday became long run day.

My original plan was to run outside, but overnight we received a light dusting of snow, ice, rain and sleet.  So it it a bit treacherous on the side roads and sidewalks today.  I was relegated to pounding out those miles on the treadmill.  Lucky for my I have been stockpiling shows on the DVR that the wife doesn't also enjoy so I had some viewing to catch up on.

8 relatively uneventful pain free miles.  1:03:30.  This was supposed to be an easy run (same as yesterday...it should feel "easy"), I set the treadmill at 8:00 miles and started running.  Around mile 5 or 6 I started to get really bored by mile 7 I felt like I was just slogging along.  I decided to try to pick up the pace and finish a bit faster so I bumped the treadmill down to 7:30 miles and finished strong.

I was sweating like a champ, feeling really good, and am definitely over my weekly average miles now.  One more run this week then I will be resting a few days this week and recovering.

Happy Running

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Training Day 2.

Training day 2 has arrived.  This program is definitely putting me out of my comfort zone of 12 to 15 miles a week.  That is by no means a bad thing, my running needed direction and I needed some spice added to my workouts to keep them from being redundant.

On tap for today was an easy 5 miles.  A definition for easy 5 miles would be a run that you can comfortably maintain pace while carrying a brief conversation with a running partner.  Seeing as my run would take place on the treadmill while Noah napped today means that the only person I would be talking to would be myself.  (as long as I don't answer myself it means I am not crazy right?).

The run went very smoothly, I set the treadmill at an 8 minute mile to start.  After about 3/4 of a mile I felt like I could comfortable go faster without really straining so I bumped it up to a 7:45 mile.  That felt great for a while and I finished strong by bumping down again for the last mile to closer to a 7:20ish mile.

Final distance 5.01 time:  38:51.

Time to refuel

Plainville Sodium Free Turkey on whole wheat toast, with american cheese, spinach, spicy mustard and a dash or three of spicy pepper sauce.  Took the edge off my hunger but I am going to need something more...I just cooked over 700 calories on that run.  Going to go grab some blueberries and rasberries and maybe an apple.

Get out and run!

Ron

Sunday, January 13, 2013

The plan for the next 6 months.

I'm back!

After a brief holiday break (too hectic in life and work to blog sorry), an extra 5 pounds around my waist, and a wonderful series of days spent with my family it's time to get back on track.

You know, if more people were like runners life would be a much nicer and healthier place.  I don't know the reason why, but in my experience runners are just happier people.  Maybe it's because they don't have as much stress in their lives because they take it out on the pavement.  Maybe it's because they eat what they want because they just cover more distance next time to make up for it.  Who knows, but for whatever reason I have to say that more and more runners are the people I enjoy being around most.  Seeing people out on the street in my runs I get more smiles and waves than I do at any other public spots.  I think runners just see life differently than the rest.

I decided to sign up for the City of Pittsburgh Marathon relay again this year.  It will probably be the last year I am able to participate in this event with this group of coworkers.  Most of my interns are graduating this year so getting out and sharing this event with them is important.  Otherwise I should probably have signed up for the half.

I have felt recently that my running lacks direction, that my training isn't helping me improve or increase distance.  So I decided to seek help. I signed up for a training program with Dave Ross of Ross Running.  Over the coming months I will update the blog occasionally with my training schedule and runs.

Today was the start of the program.  I had 7 easy miles on tap, considering my longest run in the last few months was about 5 miles.  This would be interesting, and pleasantly surprising.