Muggy, sticky, icky, Day 33.

Day 33.  The streak continues.  Good thing it ends July 4th...don't know how much more the wife can take me getting up and dashing out the door at 5:45am.  I owe her a few mornings off to sleep in soon.

I feel old.

I have been working a bit since I got back from vacation, to the tune of 36 hours in 3 days.  Needless to say this morning my legs were a bit old and tired.  Standing for most of the day really sucks the energy out of me.

Today is the last day of the stretch and the 32nd day of the Run Streak.

Slowish.
1.07

Streaky Day 31.

Streak Day 31,

Legs still tired, still sore.  No one said this would be easy (then again this hasn't been terribly hard either).  I have noticed that even though I am not losing weight right now that my body is reshaping.  I feel like fat is moving around or muscle is replacing it.

I am getting faster and I think the streak has helped because many days I just go out and only push hard to get that mile in.  I am looking forward to taking one or two days off from running once the 4th of July gets here.  I think my knees will thank me.

I still have 10lbs left to go to get to my ultimate weight loss goal.  It's not easy, I am struggling with it some days.  Vacation slapped 3lbs back onto my frame in 7 days, but I am back down almost all of it already.

I need to find some 5k's I need to put all this training to use and get some swag and some finish times to set new goals to beat.

Day 31, still streaking 2.09 miles 16:39.  (I'm no Pre, but I feel so much faster than I was a year ago).

6am sweat equity...it's not pretty...but it works better than a cup of coffee to get you going.  Beautiful morning for a run, not many left like this till probably September, here comes the humidity.

Just Turn Off Your Brain...

Just turn off your brain, it's vacation time!--it's overkill at 32 pictures so just scroll and enjoy.

(all pictures are the property of Ronald Obringer, and include all copyrights associated with them).

Day 30...Still going.

Run Streak, day 30!  Only 8 days remain until the finish line!!

Today I ran on sore, tired legs.  I did a 5k in just under 24 minutes yesterday, then got home played with Noah for a bit and then when he went down for a nap I hopped on the bike trainer for 25 more minutes of fitness fun.  A kind of reverse brick workout.

Today was a slow and steady leg shakedown to get the lactic acid out, followed by some serious stretching.

1.16 miles

Homestretch!

Only a few days left in the streak!  The proposed ending date is July 4th!

Sunday: 2.0 miles on the treadmill on very tired legs.
Monday, woke up to cool temps, light spotty rain, and the perfect day for a cool morning run.

Get out there and do something today!

Week of Streak!

As you may have noticed, I disappeared for a week, sorry about that I needed some quality time at the beach with the family.  I didn't want to advertise that we wouldn't be around with posts from the coast.

I really enjoyed running at the beach the fresh air, the sounds, the new scenery, it was beautiful.

Here are the weekly stats for the streak (with photo evidence in most cases).

Saturday:
Drove 400+ miles (took almost 13 hours instead of the 8.5 it was supposed to)
Ran 1.2 just to get it in.

Sunday:
1.69 miles.

Monday:
4.45 miles.  Ran with the wifey at her pace.  It was nice to get out and have some alone time with her jogging along the road parallel to the beach.  Forgot to take a picture of the watch, just wanted to get to the beach.

Tuesday:
1.15 miles.

Wednesday:
1.56 miles

Thursday:
2.03 miles

Friday (last day at the beach):
1.46 miles

Saturday:
Got up at 4:15 am, on the road by 5:30, home by 2:30.
Noah did wonderful on the drive.
1.57miles on the treadmill on tired legs after driving.

Thanks for reading, here is some beachy eye candy to get you ready for your vacation!

Happy Father's Day

This is a blog I created for my company at the request of my boss.  He and I are both fathers and both have struggled with the constant battle of weight gain.  Both of us have committed to improving our lives for the sake of our children.  We want to be there for them and for their children long into the future.  I hope you enjoy the post! -Ron

First things first, to any fathers out there reading, Happy Father's Day! Hopefully you get to spend the day with your children or enjoying your favorite dad hobby whether it's fishing, golfing, or just relaxing.

I became a father on August 17^th, 2011. It was a very happy and momentous day. There is a lot of emotion that comes with being a first time father and it's also a very overwhelming time because your life rapidly gets thrown into a tail spin.

Flashback to December 2010, my wife approached me with a big smile on her face and pregnancy test in hand. After the initial joy of pregnancy we settled back into our routine preparing and getting ready to bring the little one home in 9 months. I had a moment of self reflection one day (in the mirror) and realized that I was no longer the fit, svelte, young man I used to be. I looked at my waistband in my jeans and saw a number over 40”. I looked at my closet and saw a lot of XL clothes and even some XXL's. I climbed on the scale and saw that my once lean frame was now carrying close to 235lbs! I am only 5'11” tall, so that put my BMI (body mass index) at a whopping 32.8, that qualified me as OBESE, something I never imagined ever being. My joints hurt, my feet hurt, and sometimes it even hurt to bend over and pull on socks. I made the decision at that point to get back in shape and be a good role model for our child. I signed up for Weight Watchers for men in January of 2011, and begin walking on a treadmill hoping to work my way up to running again soon.

On the day of Noah's birth I had lost 35lbs and was able to run 5 or more miles at a nice clip. I was slowly getting back into form. Flash forward to today and I am currently at 185lbs and a much healthier (but not perfect) BMI of 25.8. I recently ran the marathon relay with a few of my coworkers here and plan on running the Half Marathon again next year. I am also biking and training to do a sprint triathlon this year as well. I only have a few more pounds to go until my goal weight of 175lbs. My joints don't ache anymore and my feet don't hurt even after a 12 hour day at work. My clothes are getting too baggy now, and pretty soon I am going to need to go shopping to update my wardrobe.

Adam asked me to share my story with all the fathers (and mothers) out there because it doesn't take a special person to do this. I am not special, I am just a normal guy who decided he needed to take his life back from the grasp of obesity. Your kids look up to you everyday and they emulate and imitate their parents because they don't know any better. Setting a good example for your children is the best gift you can give them.

Healthy changes in your diet are as easy as putting down the chips and having an apple, substituting broccoli for fries, or skipping the second helping. I don't profess to be an expert or a dietician, but simple changes in how we eat can go a long way. Cutting your portions down can save you precious calories and exercising for 30 minutes a day 4 or 5 days a week can help speed your metabolism and help you lose those pounds.

Are you interested in losing weight? Do you struggle with making the right food choices? There are plenty of resources available to you, just ask your Doctor. Get a physical to make sure you are healthy enough to exercise. Join a program like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, or download a calorie counting app for your smart phone. There is no magic pill that will make you healthier and there is no prescription that we can provide for you to lose weight without the will and motivation to do it yourself. Sure, there are prescription options available but unless you change your diet for good there is no pill that will ever totally fix the problem.

My father always set a good example for me growing up, he worked incredibly hard (now retired), he came home grumpy sometimes and as a kid I didn't understand why. But he didn't take out his frustration on us he took it out with weights and cardio. He religiously exercised after work for an hour to vent his frustration. He would spend hours outside in the yard chasing us kids around, playing run down, catching football, playing frisbee, or competing in obstacle course races that we created. I didn't have a lot growing up, my family was large and all our money went to food, clothes, and savings. What we did have was a lot of love, two parents that cared more for us than we could ever begin to imagine, and we had each other. We didn't have cable so my brothers, sister, and I spent a lot of our time outside playing until the streetlights came on. I want to be able to give that gift to my child too, I want him to grow up in a responsible family, and I want to teach him to make healthy choices. I won't be able to force him to do anything once he gets old enough to think for himself but I do hope that I can show him the mistakes I made so that he isn't destined to repeat them.

This father's day I would like to ask all the dad's out there that struggle with their weight or their fitness to take some time for yourself. Improve your life, take the steps necessary to make sure that you are healthy enough to be a good role model for your children, and someday your grandchildren. Getting up every day and exercising before work or finding time to squeeze in a walk instead of watching TV for an hour every night isn't glamorous, but the benefits it provides far outweigh the risk of doing nothing. I struggle sometimes to find the motivation to workout just like everyone else. But I also tell myself  that I will never regret a workout when it's completed...but I always regret the workout I skip.  Do you need some added motivation? Join me for a run sometime or if you mountain bike or cycle on the road stop by and visit me at the store maybe we can meet up in South Park. If I have time I would be happy to join anyone out there who is looking to improve their fitness. As a pharmacist I interact with the general public everyday, and I see the way being unhealthy and overweight is killing our society. If I can give back to help you out I would be happy to, just stop in and chat sometime with me. I would love to help motivate you to get out and change the path you are on.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Mahatma Ghandi

If you are interested in following me on my personal blog you can follow me at www.fitdadorfatdad.blogspot.com

Happy Father's Day,

Ron Obringer

Father, pharmacist, and reforming fat guy.  

10 MONTHS!

Run streak Day 19, set off for my brisk morning run, only to have my watch inform me that the batteries are low!  (Didn't I just charge this 2 days ago...arrrgghh!!).  I set out on my "off day" mile loop around the neighborhood.  Mad it about 2/3rds of the way through the run and the watch died...crud.  Made sure that I ran a little extra so that I could guarantee myself of the mile.   Off day run, dead watch, 1.0 mile.

Our little man is 10 month old this weekend!  I have to say that taking pictures of an infant is great, they just lay there and smile or coo.  Taking pictures of a mobile 10 month old on the other hand is a lesson in patience, timing, luck, and a whole mess of other words I can't say in front of him.

Things started off great, I sat Noah down and he just hung out there waiting for me to take his picture.  After about 3 shutter snaps he had had enough.  It was off to the races, see if I can grab dads camera, chase me over here dad, now over here, oh lets play with this ball, and so on.

Enjoy the disaster that was the 10 month photo shoot.  At least I got a few keepers.  (All kidding aside I actually like the pictures of him rocketing around the room because it's the perfect capture of the child he has become).

One of the few good ones:

Oh Hi dad, my personal jungle gym:

Dad, dad, dad, dad, look at me:

Yep, I can pull to stand:

I am pretty funny huh dad?:

I'm gonna go over here now:

Hey Dad! I'm over here!:

Did you see this ball?:

Can I touch that?:

Cute Crawling shot:

These hands are delicious:

Yep, still as tasty:

Jungle Gym daddy!:

This backdrop looks delicious, just a taste ok?:

(Yes those are my legs keeping him "contained")

No more pictures please: