Date: 01/09/2019 Day: 7 of 100 Weight: 254.00 Miles: 1.00 Total Time: 8:44 Avg Pace: 8’43″/mi
One week down, 13 to go. I decided to take the dogs and run the 7th day instead of walking it. I knew we were moving pretty quickly but didn’t think we were running a sub 9, which is cool. I’ve been really strapped for time with work commitments so I’ve been having an early morning meeting with a short gap before my normal work begins, and I have an appointment during lunch so that’s out of the question – and if I wait until the evening, well, that’s too much time to talk myself out of it.
Date: 01/08/2019 Day: 6 of 100 Weight: 256.8 Miles: 2.05 Total Time: 22:34 Avg Pace: 11’00″/mi
Still sick so still pretty slow. The cool thing is I felt so sick and dizzy that I was kind of zoned out during the run so it went by quick and painlessly. I’m also helping out with some extracurricular projects at work, so I had about a 30 minute gap this morning to get one in.
Tomorrow is day 7, which brings the first week to a close. I don’t think I’m going to walk it, I don’t feel like I’ve done enough to warrant the rest. I’m going to save my “rest” walk for a day I actually need it. I’ve finished two books now, and I’m going to be moving on to the next one.
Date: 01/07/2019 Day: 5 of 100 Weight: 258.0 Miles: 3.00 Total Time: 38.48 Avg Pace: 12’55″/mi
I don’t have much to say about today. I woke up with a sore throat feeling a little sick, so I waited until the afternoon to run. It was tough to run fast so I decided to go a longer distance a lot slower. I mean, a lot slower.
I’m going to have days like these. Days I’m sick, days I don’t feel like running, but I made a commitment. So unless I’m dead or seriously injured I’m going to have to suck it up and git r’ dun.
Date: 01/06/2019 Day: 4 of 100 Weight: 254.0 Miles: 2.00 Total Time: 19:22 Avg Pace: 9’40″/mi
I ‘m getting faster. I took the dogs again today and even with them pulling off occasionally and heeding to nature’s call I still ran sub 10s again. My second mile split was 32 seconds faster than mile one.
It doesn’t seem like the progress should be coming this quickly. I’m only four days in. I’m not a runner, but starting day one running at a 10’37” pace then running at a 9’40” pace four days later (almost a minute faster on the pace) feels akin to bench pressing a 185lb Max day one and then hitting 225 day 4. It feels like a ridiculous gain. Maybe it was the pizza I ate last night?
I assume there’s going to be a plateau or regression somewhere. This amount of improvement shouldn’t come this quickly and I’m worried if it will have effects later in training. Should I be more cognizant of my pace? Should I slow it down? It’s day 4 of 100 ffs.
Perhaps I should concentrate on running more miles slower. Input from more experienced runners is welcome.
Date: 01/05/2019 Day: 3 of 100 Weight: 258.6 Miles: 2.00 Total Time: 19:46 Avg Pace: 9’52″/mi
No dogs today. I broke the 10 min mark as I ran just under a 10 min mile pace. My split was good too, I cut 15 seconds off the second mile. I’m starting to wake up a bit sore but I’m pretty happy about that, especially because I’ve been sleeping like a baby – something I never do.
I feel like sub 10s aren’t that fast but hell, how many 250lb+ people can get out there and run 2 miles under 20 mins in three days? Still feeling pretty good. It’s going to turn into a grind soon. I’ve been thinking about how to handle my first rest day – should I slowly jog it or just walk a bunch of miles?
Date: 01/04/2019 Day: 2 of 100 Weight: 260.4 Miles: 2.02 Total Time: 21:46 Avg Pace: 10’44″/mi
A smidge slower today. I took the dogs with me and when they stop to sniff around or inevitably do their business that takes a bit of time as well. I actually feel like I was faster today, especially at the start as my dogs burst with energy whenever we start a walk or run, pulling me along. I assume nature’s call just evens it all out.
Pretty much the same story today, ran 2 – walked 2. I’m okay with fluctuating a bit with weight (I woke up 3 pounds heavier today) and times at the start of this whole thing. I feel like you have to treat these things like investments. Markets fluctuate, but we’re looking at long term growth. Eye on the prize. I’m 2% done, son.
Date: 01/03/2019 Day: 1 of 100 Weight: 257.2 😱 Miles: 2.03 Total Time: 21:35 Avg Pace: 10’37″/mi
They say the first day is the hardest, but I have a feeling that this first day is going to be the easiest. Refreshed and rejuvenated off my Christmas vacation in Switzlerland, these first two miles came pretty easily. I thought about doing another one or two, but remembered this is a marathon, not a sprint – and decided to walk 2 more miles instead of running them for a total of 4 (but I’m only going to count miles I actually run).
Audiobooks are my best friend here. I enjoy reading, and getting lost in a book makes the time not so bad. If anyone reading this has any excellent audiobook suggestions, I’m all ears. As I mentioned in the original post, I just got through reading David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me and I could definitely use another page turner.
Anyway, I’m feeling great. Even though I just came off of vacation it was pretty active, as we snowboarded practically every day. 257 pounds seems like so much but I feel fine, it’s even more weird that I can run 2 miles at around 10 min/30 seconds which isn’t the fastest but like dang for day one it doesn’t feel too bad. I’m also purposely blurring the run maps. This is public, and I don’t want anyone to be able to look this up and see where or when I run.
Hubris is the name of the game today. I’m feeling like finding the will to post is going to be harder than getting after it every day. Time will tell.
2018 is all but over, there are only 12 days left in the year. By just about any measurement, I’d say it was a decently successful year. I traveled to and through some new states including Texas, New Mexico, Florida, Louisiana, and Colorado. This was my first full year at Automattic. We moved across the country and bought a home. My team and I did our meetup in Playa Del Carmen back in March, and the last 5 days of this year, Kristen and I are heading to Switzerland to snowboard the Swiss Alps. It was a fun, comfortable year.
2019 is about getting uncomfortable. It’s about evolving. I’ve always followed the “sage” advice of tripling down on your strengths – getting better at what you already have an aptitude for. I’ve always been strong, so I lifted weights for years and became stronger. I’ve always been a decent student, so I went back to school and picked up a Master’s degree, graduating back in March.
It’s time to start tripling down on my weaknesses.
Now: I’ve never been a New Years resolution type of guy. In fact, I’ve never actually made one. I’ve always considered resolutions as “things people break.” I’ve always looked at motivation like a going and coming, fleeting feeling. Some days you’re motivated, some days you aren’t. I’m a firm believer in cultivating discipline, routine, habit.
Discipline, routine, habit, callousing the mind – this is the ethos of a man named David Goggins. I had read Jesse Itzler’s Living with a SEAL back in 2016 before it was well known who the person who trained Itzler, acting as the catalyst of the story was. I watched Joe Rogan’s interview with the man in February where he gave a condensed version of his life story. Then, nine days ago when it released, I picked up and read his book/autobiography “Can’t Hurt Me.”
It’s probably impossible to give someone like David Goggins a fair shake when recounting parts of his life, so I encourage you to buy his book or do your own research on him. For those of you who have never heard of him though, this man:
Completed three hell weeks in BUD/S (the hardest evolution of arguably the toughest military training in the world).
Completed the aforementioned training on broken legs.
Completed 52 ultra marathons between the ages of 30 and 42, winning some of them and finishing top 5 in most of them.
Holds the world record for pull-ups completed in 24 hours at 4,025.
Did I mention he did all of this with a hole in his heart? How about a learning disability? One of the few black men in special warfare? The list goes on.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Again, if you have any interest or doubts – do your own research. If none of this impresses you, you’re not being honest with yourself and the world around you.
The book was the icing on the cake in helping me determine what I needed to do next. I know I’m capable of doing more, and I decided to commit to something that I didn’t want to do, every day, for 100 days. As David Goggins would say: I’m going to do something that sucks, every day.
The Plan
The plan is two-fold, but it starts like this:
Every day, for 100 days, I’m going to run at least a mile.
Every day, for 100 days, I’m going to write about and share that progress.
Why
The why is the easiest part of this whole thing: because I hate running. I am a 260 pound man (at least at the start of this). The reasons why are a bit more complicated, but stick with me:
Why Run? Because I hate running, and there’s something to be gained from doing something you don’t want to do every single day.
Why one mile? I loathe running as it is, knowing I have to get up and run at all every single day is going to require immense willpower for me. Setting an unrealistic goal like “5 miles a day” or “300 miles in 100 days” is going to set me up for failure. Perhaps I end up doing a lot more, perhaps I end up getting just 100 miles at the end, the point is I know physically I can do one a day, the rest is willpower.
Why Share? Mainly because I’m not Mr. Social media. I’m a private person by nature, an introvert. It’s going to be uncomfortable sharing my slow miles and paltry distances. I’m doing this for me, but perhaps people will see my big ass do it with the hopes that realizing anyone can.
Why 100 days? After the first quarter of 2019 there’s a lot of work and travel obligations I’m not fully sure how to work around yet. I also want an opportunity to re-evaluate and modify my goals and 100 days feels like a good initial number and goal.
What about rest? Injury? The tentative plan is to lightly jog or even walk the mile every 7th day as active recovery, but I’m still going to complete the mile. I’m going to listen to my body. The plan is to not miss any days, but if I have to, I will make them up the next training session, and be complete within the 100 days no matter what.
Accountability
I’m going to post each and every day of the 100 days on this site.
Date: X/X/XX Day: X of 100 Weight: Miles: Time:
I will also be using my Nike Run App and FitBit Versa to track miles and time.
Goals
I’m interested in seeing how fast I can get, both in short distance running and endurance. Putting a number on this now seems silly, since I have no idea what I’m doing or talking about.
I’d like to culminate all of this in completing some sort of challenge as a new way to test myself, perhaps a marathon or obstacle run. More to come as the challenge evolves.
Ultimately, however, the main benefit here isn’t how fast I get, how far I can go, or about doing or completing any races. It’s not about trophies. The real trophy here is forcing my mind to do something for me that it doesn’t want to do. I surmise I’ll find the most real benefits there.
I’m far from perfect. I’ll never be as strong as a lot of people, as smart as a lot of them, or as fast. What I can do, though, is become the strongest, smartest, and fastest version of myself. 2019 is about taking the first step in that direction.
Are you interested in following this journey? There are some buttons on the right to help make that happen. I don’t run ads, I don’t e-mail, I just post.
This post proudly written in Gutenberg, the new block editor for WordPress. I’m really starting to like it.
Huntington Beach to San Diego – Team: “My Third Leg is Hard”
So my team and I ran the 2017 So Cal Ragnar in April.
This is an overnight running relay race that begins in Huntington Beach and finishes in San Diego at the Embarcadero Marina Park South. Approximately 600-teams made up of 12-runners each will take their turns to run 3-legs of the 200-mile course that has varying levels of difficulty.
My team and I finished 17 out of 62 in our division (Submasters/Mixed) with a total time of 31 Hours 13 Minutes and 21 Seconds.
I made a video documenting the experience, which you can view below – I hope you enjoy 😀
