Wednesday Weigh In

Today's weigh-in: 213
Pounds left until I'm out of the "overweight" range on the Wii Fit: 7.5
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 40 minutes + 15 cool down

Challenges:
I gained 6 pounds while Nana and Grandpa were in town.  In response, I went back on South Beach Phase 1 for the next couple of weeks.  That was very effective at helping me take some weight off right after the Nov/Dec holiday binge.  It seems to have been very effective again!  As I said, I gained around 6 pounds with grandparents in town and have already taken that back off.  That's awfully fast to lose that weight, but I'm not eating unhealthily.

Running Revelations:
First, I'm really enjoying Born to Run. It's helped me realize how lucky I am that my natural running stride is probably also a very healthy one; and really motivated me to keep running.  It's an excellent read!

Second, I want to run faster.  I'm getting good exercise at my 11 minute/mile pace, but it does limit where I can run to in an acceptable amount of time.  I'd love to get to a consistent 9 minute mile for 10+ miles.  So, I stretched out in my last 1/2 mile today and pushed to see what a faster pace would look like.  I stretched out to an 8 minute mile.  That felt a bit fast, but I kept it up.  So, I've got something to work on and strive for other than distance now, too.

I like this running stuff -- I also like that I'm in better shape than I probably ever have been.  I had a friend from college tell me that I look like I'm in better shape than when we first met, Freshman year.