3.38 miles - an incredible feeling!

Today marked another milestone in Project David 2.0. This one was did not involve flour. This afternoon I did something that I haven't done in more than 30 years. A road run. I've never been a runner. Now I've run before. Back in 7th grade. My last road run would have been while playing soccer in 7th grade. I went to school at Oak Grove Jr High in Oregon and soccer practice was at North Oak Grove Elementary. Every day we had to run to the other school for practice. A distance of about 3/4 of a mile.

As I've shared before, I decided I wanted to change things. 9 weeks ago I started the Couch to 5K program (C25K). So, over the last 9 weeks I've been working to go from a person that walked 4+ miles a day on the treadmill (since September 30th) to someone who could run 30 minutes three times a week on the treadmill. My goal, to run a 5K (it's about the shirt). Running on the treadmill I reached the 30 minute sustained run mark. And with a combined run/walk I've covered the 3.13 mile distance in 37 minutes. A major accomplishment for me. I had been told that running on a treadmill was different than running on the road. It was easier. Works the muscles differently.

Having accomplished the goal on the treadmill, it was time to take it outside. The weather forecast this week was looking good for today. A high near 60. And amazingly, no kids activities tonight, so I was going to hit the road. Last week I mapped a route that would cover roughly 3.13 miles. My practice 5K. Biggest question - how fast could I run it. At 5:04 this evening I walked out my front door, hit start on the Nike+GPS app on my iPhone headed down the driveway. 36:07 later I had covered 3.38 miles. Wow. Unbelievable rush. I can't wait to get out and do it again.

New goals for Project David 2.0: faster and farther.

Milestone Day: 50.2 pounds!

Today marks another milestone - 50.2 pounds. It's flour time. Took a little longer to get to the fifth bag of flour. I think a number of things need to be taken into consideration on why it took a little longer to hit the next milestone. But considering we went through the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Holidays, and during the holiday window, I only gained 0.6 pounds. I have to consider that a win. To have enjoyed the feasts of the holidays, in moderation, and basically come out at the weight I went into them, that's a win.

During the past month I also made a couple of other changes. First one is that I started the C25K - Couch to 5K - program in an attempt to become a "runner". My goal, to run my first 5K in mid March. The second is that I started strength training on January 3rd. Don't know if that has had any impact on the slow down in my progress, but I do know it is making a big difference in how my clothes fit. So while the pounds aren't coming off as quick as they did during the first 40 pounds, the inches are. The Wellness Zone on the Best Buy campus has a fitness contest called Drop it Like it's hot. I signed up for it. It's a 12 week contest. Next week is the 6 week check in and I am very curious to see how things have changed in 6 weeks.

Next week marks 6 months of Project David 2.0. It's been an amazing journey so far. Hard to imagine what can happen during the remaining 5 months of this project. I know I can't wait to find out!

I'm running? What's up with that? It's about the shirt.

I've never been a runner (well, there was soccer in junior high), and I never planned to be one. Of course I never planned on Project David 2.0. That all changed 4 weeks ago when I decided I was going to run a 5K before my project goal date, my next birthday.

4 weeks ago I started the C25K - Couch to 5K - program. I had seen tweets about it, and decided to check it out. The concept, for those that are not familiar with this program, is a running program that takes you from the couch, or a non-runner, and in 9 weeks gets you ready to run a 5K or 30 minutes non stop. Since I've been walking 60+ minutes a night since the end of September I jump straight to week 2 of the program. My wife asked me why I wanted to run since I've never shown any interest. Told her it was about the shirt. You always get a shirt when you participate in a 5k. The real reason was that I wanted to shorten the amount of time I have to spend on the treadmill each night, so I needed much a faster pace. I was already walking at 4.2 miles per hour, so I was going to have to start running. Tonight was workout of 2 week 5:

00:00-5:00: Warmup walk

5:00-13:00: Run

13:00-18:00: Walk

18:00-26:00: Run

26:00-30:00: Cooldown Walk

I continue my usual walking for another 30-40 minutes beyond the C25K program. I don't have the speed there yet. More focused on actually being able to sustain a run. I figure the speed will come once I can reach a sustained 30-40 minute run. So far in a combined run/walk on a treadmill, I can cover a 5K in 42 minutes. That's with 16 minutes of running in that 42 minute window. The next workout, on Friday is a 20 minute run. Crossing my fingers that I'll be able to make it!! In a little over 3 weeks I'm supposed to be at a 30 minute run. That will be amazing. My first goal will be to run a 5K in under 40 minutes. There are two in St. Paul around St. Patrick's Day, and I am thinking that maybe that will be my first. I think I need to commit to that in the next week before they close registration.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it - another goal added to continuing to be successful Project David 2.0.

402.97 miles down, 597.03 to go.

I am 22 1/2 weeks into Project David 2.0. 6 weeks after I started I added cardio to my plan. For me, someone who was not a runner, that meant walking on the treadmill. Tonight I went over 400 miles. I don't count all of the walking that I do during my work day, just the miles from my focused treadmill sessions. As of tonight I have walked 402.97 miles. That's the equivalent of running from Minneapolis to Kansas City.

I didn't not set a mileage goal when I started this project but having watched my friend Bob Stanke set and achieve a goal of running 1,000 miles last year, and now setting a goal of 1,200 miles for 2012, I thought maybe I should consider a goal. So tonight I am announcing my goal of walking/running 1,000 miles by the end of Project David 2.0 on July 17, 2012.

Can't remember the last time I saw that.

This morning was a major milestone in Project David 2.0. This morning the scale showed 199.6. Yes! No leading "2" on the scale. It's probably been 20 years since that has happened.

This project, as those that have followed me in this journey know, has been about milestones. A bag of flour at every 10 pound increment, 25 pounds by Christmas, getting my weight to match what my driver's license has shown for the last 15 years, and removing the 2 that was at the front of the scale. There are several other goals, and I'll do a "project status update" soon, but this was a major one for me. So much so that I left a message for my wife this morning announcing it - wrote "199.6" in big numbers in lipstick on the bathroom mirror!

Happy to arrive at the new century!!