DAY 17

I decided to give my knees a break after yesterday's  6.1-mile run and just walk 3.6 miles.  Although, I did do a few hard sprints for some botched intervals action.  

I should note that on Day One, after I finished my run and lost whatever water I lost, my weight was 135.2 pounds. After today's relatively mild exercise (which means less water lost), my weight was 130.4 pounds.  So it's a safe calculation that since I began training and eating better (for the most part, anyway) over two weeks ago, I've lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 pounds.  I would like to lose about another 10 pounds of fat.  As healthy as whole grains like whole wheat bread, brown rice, and whole grain pasta are, they still can pack on the pounds - although it depends on who you ask.  Anyway, I might try laying off those after I run out.

I need to commit more to the muscle-building aspect of my training.  So far, the only thing muscle-wise that I'm really focused on is the Twenty Pullups Challenge, which is going well so far. 

Also, I haven't been noting this at all, but any time I've mentioned eating toast, it has been completely butter-less. 

Finally, before having a late lunch today (3:30PM), I was feeling a little light-headed.  Even after lunch, I didn't feel totally full.  I'm assuming this is the result of not eating enough calories combined with whatever I depleted in yesterday's longest run.  I need to be careful that I'm getting everything I need.  For the record, a number of the Blue Zoners - those stubborn centenarians who refuse to die - often stop eating when they are 80% full.  I just need to find the balance for myself.

Assuming my knees feel alright tomorrow, I'd like to hit another 6.1 miles. 

DISTANCE WALKED:    3.6 miles (with a few hard sprints)
WEIGH-IN:                   130.4 pounds
BREAKFAST:               1 scrambled egg with turmeric
                                   1 slice of whole wheat toast  
                                   A few almonds   
SNACK:                      1 cup of black, pour-over Ethiopian coffee                           
LUNCH:                       Diced chicken breast (fried in olive oil)
                                   Red pepper, white onion, garlic, shaved ginger root, turmeric
                                   Steamed spinach
                                   1/3 cup of Brown rice
                                   1 handful of blueberries
DINNER:                     Diced chicken breast fried in olive oil
                                  Steamed spinach
                                  Roughly 2 to 3 ouncs of whole grain pasta
                                  Red pepper, white onion, garlic, shaved ginger root, turmeric
                                  8 ounces of Cannonau Di Sardegna

DAY 16

I ran 6.1 miles today - my farthest distance since I began training.  It felt good.  Also, I cracked the 120's today for the first time since training began.  Again, water brings it back into the 130's, but the trend has been downward - all systems go.

I read online about a great post-run meal.  It consists of 3 ounces of diced chicken breast, 1/3 cup of brown rice, red pepper, onion, garlic and shaved ginger root.  I added a 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric.  It tasted amazing!  Couldn't resist snapping a photo (see below). 

EXERCISES:
PULLUPS (Week 1 of the Twenty Pullup Challenge)

DISTANCE RAN:    6.1 miles
WEIGH-IN:             129.8 pounds
BREAKFAST:         1 scrambled egg  
                              1 handful of blueberries                              
LUNCH:                  1 chicken breast with garlic spread
                              Steamed spinach
                              Brown rice

SNACK:                  2 handfuls of frozen blueberries
DINNER:                  Diced chicken breast fried in olive oil
                               Steamed spinach
                               Brown rice
                               Garlic
                               White onion
                                Red pepper
                                Shaved ginger root
                                Turmeric                               
                                8 ounces of Cannonau Di Sardegna

DAY 15

EXERCISES:
BICYCLE CRUNCHES (4 SETS OF 15 REPS)

DISTANCE WALKED:    Walked 2+ miles (giving my knees a break after yesterday)
SNACK:                   3 handfuls of blueberries
DINNER:                  2 chicken breasts 
                               Tiny bit of hummus
                               Steamed spinach with garlic
                               Cherry tomatoes and red onion                               
                               8 ounces of Cannonau di Sardegna (The Blue Zone wine from Sardinia)
LATE NIGHT SNACK: Cherry tomatoes, blueberries, almonds

DAY 14

After yesterday's 4.9 mile run, I woke up this morning incredibly hungry and thirsty.  I immediately ate a few handfuls of frozen blueberries, drank a bunch of water, and cooked myself 2 scrambled eggs with a slice of whole wheat toast.  I ran slightly further today.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow morning.

Incidentally, I need to pick up some Cannonau di Sardegna.  It's a wine from Sardinia that supposedly has the highest concentration of flavenoids - the stuff that supposedly is life-extending.  Sardinia is a Blue Zone, and it's what they drink (about 8 ounces a day spread out over the entire day.)  Of course, their genetics definitely plays a role in their lifespan as their isolation led to a lot of inbreeding.  But if the research is to be believed, the impact of genetics in anyone's life amounts to about 20%.

EXERCISES:
PULLUPS (Week 1 of the Twenty Pullup Challenge)

DISTANCE RAN:    5.2 miles (plus an additional 2 miles walked)
WEIGH-IN:             131 pounds
BREAKFAST:         A few handfuls of blueberries  
                              2 scrambled eggs                              
                              1 slice of whole wheat toast
LUNCH:                  Vegetarian chili (wheat something) with spaghetti
SNACK:                     Cookies 'n Cream milkshake
SNACK:                     Banana
DINNER:                  Black beans
                               Brown rice
                               Hummus                               
                               8 ounces of cabernet sauvignon

DAY 13

Today was a combination of falling off the wagon plus being awesome.

DISTANCE RAN:     4.9 miles (plus walked another 3 miles) 
WEIGH-IN:              131.6 pounds
LUNCH:                   Ribs and a slice of white bread fried in something (from the Serious BBQ truck 
                               parked outside Jimmy Kimmel's lot)
SNACK:                   Frozen blueberries
                               Cherry tomatoes
DINNER:                  5 chicken tacos from "Stir" (Taco Tuesdays)
                               3 glasses ("healthy" pours) of cabernet sauvignon

Day 12

The pounds aren't coming off as fast as I'd like.  The cheating (not all of which I've been faithful about documenting here) doesn't help.  Still, I'm thinking about upping the distance I run.  When I trained for a marathon and got up to one 10 mile run a week, the pounds dripped off.  Tomorrow, I'll try running 8 miles.  Perhaps I'll try a pattern of 8, 4, 8, 4, etc.

I began the 20 pullups challenge (http://twentypullups.com/the-training-program/) today.

Watched the Stage 1 Ninja Vegas Finals tonight - sorry to see Flip go out so early.

EXERCISES:
PULLUPS (Week 1 of the Twenty Pullup Challenge)
BICYCLE CRUNCH (3 SETS OF 15 REPS)

DISTANCE RAN:    3.6 miles
WEIGH-IN:             134.8 pounds
BREAKFAST:         1 hardboiled egg  
                              1 handful of almonds                              
LUNCH:                  1 slice of whole wheat toast
                              1 scrambled egg
                              Steamed spinach
                              Frozen blueberries
DINNER:                  Black beans
                               Steamed spinach
                               Brown rice
                               Garlic
                               8 ounces of cabernet sauvignon

DAY 11

Fell off the wagon a bit again today - didn't get a chance to exercise and not the happiest with what I ate. Tomorrow will be different.

I should note that yesterday (Day 10), I ran 3.6 miles, and I did bicycle crunches (3 sets of 15 reps).  

I also drank about 5 pints of beer and had a chicken caesar salad as a late night snack, so that's not good.

LUNCH:                   Hummus, brown rice, side salad, grape leaves
DINNER:                  3 slices of pizza (2 pepperoni, 1 cheese) 
                               9 ounces of cabernet sauvignon