Games & Challenges

This is a Motivation/Challenge designed for Men.  This is a continuation of the April Fool's Challenge and the July 4th Challenge for men started by pinksalmon.

Pick your personal goal: Weight Loss, Increased Fitness, or Fat Burn.  Post it and commit to it.  This forum is here to challenge you to meet your goal.  The Purpose of the AIM Challenge is to provide:

1.  Accountability:  Weekly check in to update your progress.  Weigh in each Wednesday Morning. 
2.  Information:  We will share our experiences, what is working to get into shape, nutritional suggestions, fitness advice, and best practices for results.
3.  Motivation:  Encouragement to make and continue life changes that lead to burning fat, increased fitness, and overall health.

Challenges follow a quarterly time frame and are open to any men willing to commit.  Do you want it?  We are getting it DONE!

AFC Result:  277.5 lbs and 971,250 calories burned off
J4C Result:  172.6 lbs and 604,100 calories burned off
2008 combined total: 450.1 lbs and 1,575,350 calories burned off

Check out our previous challenges here:
http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/716 05.html

Want your current BMR?  check out Phord's BMR page 

Check out our results:  AIM Challenge Results

bobev with all that lingo im not sure if I should congratulate your or prey for you.

W5D1 or c25k sound like characters on Star Wars.

Im a former New Yorker myself born and grew up in the projects of the Lower East Side.

Im also a Former fat guy

Former diabetic

Former Hp candidate

My wife's a former Brooklyite so "forget about it"

 

I will never surrender. I will never forget.

I am not on a diet, I am changing my life style.

 

And with that good night and welcome tropical storm Fay.

munrori,

Thanks ... actually meant to reply to WW email about the topic of eating during race that he emailed me earlier.

I thought too late to address this as had noticed last training run of 9 miles and like almost 2 hours I was drained due to no added nutrition outside H2O and propel (only like 25 calories), before added length just could roll out of bed and run 4 or 5 miles.  However reading about gels, feedback was to try before race as they can cause stomach cramps in some.

So I decided to add some extra Calories before race day and make sure I drank all the poweraid I could when offered.  The night before I ate normal good carb dinner and some healthy late night snacks, as luck would have it  ..... I could not sleep night before (only got 4 hrs sleep 1:30 - 5:30AM) so when up at 1:00 AM had an Ensure (read very good pre-meal as 250 calories in 8 oz and like 42 g carbs and 40% of potasium, with little protein, etc.).  Pre-meall at normal 2 hrs before race of oatmeal and/or small cereal (this time small bowl of cherrios) and banana, added in another Ensure so normal 300 cal was like 550 cal and then ate 1/2 power bar on way to race about 1 hr before start.  That combined with probably 3 full cups of poweraid (seemed to offer at every other water station) seemed to fit the bill as did not seemed any lack of nutrition/energy.

For the 1/2 marathon I am going to experiement with Gel and Cliff shots before to see what works best and hit something midway.  For Full marathon what I have researched you can not make it without something along the way as Body only stores 2000 calories and you burn at least 100 cal per mile (2600 - 3000 cal).

WRM,

Please add based on your experiences as I know WW and I also need advice.

 

Original Post by bobev:

We discussed my training and he flipped out when I said my long term goal was a full mary! He said "Forget about it" I almost thought he was a New Yorker like me! Basically, I shouldn't do more than a 10k, and maybe not that before talking to my Cardiologist again.

 Bobev,

I would definetly talk to Cardiologist, but I bet he gives you OK on a good slow/steady long term path.  Actually I think shorter races are more stressfull on heart than longterm as a 5K you are closer to your V02 max than long term races.  A short race or sprint can easiely shock the  heart but as you see your heart will grow stronger as you slowly progress and often your body will fail your before your cardio.  Check out the end of a 400 M race and Marathon and look who is breathing heavier.... I know I am more winded after 5k than 10k or 10 mile as shorter race I have pedal to metal the whole time.

Based on your discipline and monitoring of HR when you workout I would not see a problem, granted I only play a Dr. on the Web.  I would not recomend a 10 month ramp up like me given your situation, but maybe Spring 2010?? 

abner: sorry about the acronyms... here's the secret decoder book!:
hr = heart rate; c25k = Couch to 5K Coolrunning 5k training program; W5D1 = Week 5, day 1 of the 3 day/week training program.

My wife was born in Brooklyn, raised in Flushing. I'm an Astorian born and raised in the 4th & 14th street area in the shadow of the Triboro bridge! We left in '72 but haven't lost our accents!

rk1: thanks for the comments. I'll be seeing the Cardiologist again Sept 16th and will ask about another stress test as well as discussing hr management during wogs. He told me to keep hr under the mid 120's at the last visit. Interestingly it was right after he told me to ignore hr for workout intensity & calorie burn! Said that I should rely on the exertion scale. Now I do both and have noticed that both hr and exertion have been coming down during the c25k training in spite of the meds I take - which is what you predicted awhile back wasn't it. I'll only increase speed as hr allows, so it will be awhile before I get close to V02 max and who knows where that is for me or how its affected by beta blockers etc. Slow and easy is definitely how I'll win this race!

 

Yesterday was 'dessert day' at work;  people brought in doughnuts, pies, brownies, cookies, etc.  I obviously skipped it all, but thought it was amusing that as soon as I am watching what I eat, it seems like there are more pizza parties, food theme days, etc.

Things are going pretty good.  Did four 1 hour kettlebell workouts last week.  The workouts are pretty intense and are lead by certified russian kettlebell instructors usually in a circuit.  One particularly challenging workout had us doing various kettlebell exercises broken up by 1 minute of jumproping.   So it was kb swing 30 sec, 20 seconds rest, 1 minute jumprope, 20 seconds rest, kb snatches, 20 seconds rest, 1 minute jumprope, etc.   I like the high intensity workouts and am usually fairly beat by the time we do the stretches at the end.  My endurance and strength is increasing which is nice.

The scale has been fluctuating back and forth a bit, especially the day after workouts where I am probably retaining some water for muscle repair.   My 'trend' when keeping track of weight on here is slowly but steadily declining, so I am not too worried.  I know this is going to take time, and six months from now I expect that I'll have gotten a lot closer to my goals.

Warrior Diet is also going good. Sticking to fruits and veggies during the day, having a recovery protein bar after working out, and eating salad, protein, and healthy fats at dinner.  A few other people I routinely work out with are getting on board with the Warrior Diet as well so it will be interesting to see what they think of it.

Keep up the good work guys and hopefully we'll all have some good news for weigh day. :)

Congrats on your race, rk1. You appear to have a solid grasp of race strategy, and it appears to have paid off. You've got to love it when you can pass up runners late in a race, rather than see them whizz right by you. The insight that you have gained in these shorter races will be extremely helpful to you when you race the marathon this year.

Hey rk1, ww, and munrori--Here are some guidelines I have tried to follow when it comes to hydration/supplements/food (both in training and racing):

Under one hour--water only

Greater than one hour, but less than two hours--Gatorade (or similar type drink)

Over two hours (particularly for very long training runs or running in a marathon)--GU/Sports beans every 45 minutes, along with water shortly thereafter.

I'm in a bit of rush right now, but once I get a moment, I'll write more about this...

bobev i am going to need to print and place on the fridge. or do I have to eat the code.

got married and moved to Brooklyn, Brighton Beach area. Left in 1990. 

any way Fay left our area  but seems like she will be back.

 

wiliwigi

Still at 210 needed to do this early or I would have been late as always.

 

good luck all.

 

OK--some more thoughts on hydration/carb intake.

Although I outlined my suggestions (and guidelines that I try to follow) in the previous post, in my races this year, I have done the following:

8K race (March 30)--no stops
10K race (April 19)--no stops
5K race (May 3)--no stops
Marathon (May 18)--I took water at every other aid station throughout course. In addition, before the race, I attached 4 packets of GU on the waistband of my running shorts with safety pins and set my Garmin to sound an alarm every 45 minutes (at which point I ingested a GU).
Half Marathon (August 10)--Gatorade at two stops, both after the halfway point, but no water.

So far my plans have worked pretty well, although I felt somewhat bloated and nauseous at the end of the marathon. I've read that bloating can be the result of taking too much fluids/carbs during your runs. Although I made it a point to stick to the schedule as planned, I probably should not have taken that extra gel packet (given to me by a child who was watching the race). So in addition to taking a gel packet at 45 minutes, 1:30, 2:15, and 3:00, I had an extra packet somewhere around the 2 hour point--this could have caused the bloating. As far as the nausea, I probably need to do a better job of keeping track of which flavors of GU I take--it's possible that the ones with caffeine may be upsetting my stomach.  

While I fully advocate trying out different foods/gels to determine your ideal source of carbohydrate and electrolyte replenishment, I do warn against becoming too dependent on them (either physiologically or psychologicially). I have purposely avoided taking anything for any of my long runs so far this training cycle for that very reason--I wanted my body at adapt to the challenges of my program, and I feared that relying on gels or other related items would interfere how my body should be responding to training. However, now that race day is less than eight weeks away, I do intend to experiment with GU/Sport Beans/Clif Shot Blocks to see what works best for me. I think that at this point, having put in a great number of miles (including three 20-mile runs and many runs in the 11-15 mile range) without carb/electrolyte replenishment, that my body will truly gain an "added boost" once I start taking them.

This weeks progress report.

GW: 160 (+ -  5#)

CW:157

Fitness Goal: Run 40k per week minimum

Fitness Accomplishment: Run Total of  80km/50mile this week

Longer Range Goal: Preparing for 5km race on Sept 21, and full marathon Oct 12.

Had a really good week. How about everyone else?

 

 

I'll chime in with my progress report:

Starting Weight (July 21): 273.5

Weight when I joined challenge (last week): 257

Goal Weight for Challenge: 251

Long-Term Goal Weight: 195

*drum roll, please...*

Current Weight:  255

 

I'm fairly happy with that.  I didn't have a great week in terms of food choices ("Great Wall of Chocolate" at PF Chang's has something like ~2200 calories, as it turns out... heh), but I was pretty disciplined at exercising daily and pushing myself to do better/more/longer.  Overall, a successful week.

And, for the record, I only ate about a third of that really bad (and really good) dessert. :)

CW: 196
GW: 189 (LDC)

Well, I am making progress on the overall goal but I am not sure that I will be able to make the last 7lbs. within the 14 days remaining.  Undaunted we press on!!

munrori: Man you are right this has been a fantastic week so far.  I live in coastal VA and for August we have had extremely mild weather.  This has made morning workouts a joy.

wrm: Thanks for the guidence regarding fueling and runs.  This morning I substituted sports drink for water for a 6 mi run this morning.  I have been experimenting with Power bar gels for my long runs and I can tell a difference. 

abner: Thanks for the update.  It is good to hear from you.  I hope you are recovering well and that Fay does not come back. 

rk: thanks also for sharing your running saga.  It is most helpful.  Hope your recovery goes well this week and your race experience adds to your training.

Everyone is making progress.  The summer is closing fast.  Is 2 or 4 more pounds in the next two weeks realistic for anyone out there? 

UGH--174.2 this week. While I'm encouraged by my progress in my training, my weight loss efforts aren't much to celebrate.

That does it--from now on, if I can't measure how much I'm eating, it won't go in my mouth. No more guessing or estimating... 

New to the challange.

Starting Weight 264

Labor Day Goal 250

Total Loss Goal 14

I expect big numbers next week because a normal diet and exercise routine will shock my system due to the fact I haven't done anything in the last 3 months.

Football season always gets me going to get in shape. Some habits are hard to break even though my last football camp in college was 16 years ago.

Plan of attack. Elliptical Crosstrainer and Calorie counting.

LW: 267.2

TW: 265.6

GW (for this challenge): 263.4

GW (overall): 200

Fitness Goal: Continue with the C25K program (currently on w3d2)

8/20 - CW: 163.0; LW: 164.2 GW:160 by labor day.

Starting Weight: 169 (7/10)
1st Goal: 165 - met on 8/2 at 164.6
2nd Goal: 160
Longer Term Goal: 150-154 - Normal BMI &  HS, Military, Marriage until 1979!

Fitness Goal: being able to jog w/o exceeding cardiologists heart rate limits. Would like to run 5/10K in the near future .
Fitness Accomplishment: Completed Week 5 Day 2 of Couch to 5K training

The C25K program has helped accelerate weight loss. Losing over a lb in a week is huge for me. I was stuck at less than 1/2 lb/wk before starting the wogging.

Never Give UP, Never Turn Back!, Can Do!

CW:  182.8 lbs

LW: 183.2 lbs

LDC: 175 lbs

SW: 221 (10/29/08) heck want some credit like new guys!

Fitness Goals: Ran 10 mile race Sunday and also set record High for 20 miles for week, which given few rest days before race was pretty good.  shooting for 10% increase each week and 12 mi sunday and 22 miles for week coming up.   Its a little more than the10% recommended increase but I am stretching things a bit to get above 13 mi before 9/7

18 days till 1/2 Marathon!  That sounds short ... where has the summer gone?  I am glad i ran 10 mi race for confidence for 1/2, but sure wish had more than 3 weeks in between.

bobev & dybo70:  I'm interested in the whole "Couch to 5k" concept, but I'm trying to figure out if it would be right for me... or *how* to make it right for me.  Maybe with your experience being halfway (?) through it, you can give me some advice - although anybody else is welcome to chime in as well.

One could claim without too much fear of contradiction that I had embraced the "couch" phase wholeheartedly until about a month ago.  (I would argue that I simply didn't find time for exercise, although I didn't like being a couch potato. Until recently I would have argued I didn't *have* time, but that was obviously just an excuse I'd convinced myself of; not truth.)

About a month ago, I decided I was going to get serious about losing weight and getting into shape.  Since that time I have been working out on the elliptical machine (at home) between 1 hour and 90 minutes, 6 days per week.  During those workouts, I have been striving to keep my heart rate in the 70-75% max range.  I find myself (according to my HRM) burning about 700 or so Calories per hour on the elliptical machine.  In the last month I have felt like I've had a very good start not just as losing weight (although that's part of it), but also at getting in better shape - I no longer am huffing and puffing for several minutes after I'm done exercising, my HR drops by 30-40 bpm in the first couple of minutes after I stop exercising, etc.  I've felt successful enough that I'm thinking about the possibility of doing something like trying to run a 5K run this fall or early 2009.  (To be honest, I don't really have a desire to be "a runner," but I really *do* have a desire to prove to myself that I can do it.

Now... I am considering trying this C25K program, but I have a couple of questions.

1)  One of my concerns with running is that I have a bad ankle from an injury way back in high school. I have basically no cartilage between my leg bone and my ankle joint, other than some fragments - and they just cause problems.  (That's why I own an elliptical machine instead of a treadmill...)  Would it be possible/feasible/reasonable to do the C25k workouts on my elliptical and expect to get similar results to what I would get if I went out and did them on the street?  I think my ankle is good enough that I could do a 5k run, although I undoubtedly would be feeling it for a while afterwards.  I am concerned, though, with a day to day beating on the ankle joint doing a high impact activity like jogging.

2) Since I have been very disciplined about exercising on my elliptical for the last month - even though I haven't been on a program like C25k - the beginning workouts in week one and week two look like they might be fairly easy in terms of overall conditioning (disregarding the joint stuff...).  Would it be reasonable to start on week 2 or 3 of the program based on the work I've done so far?

3) I did see that there are some podcasts to help with the C25K program.  Have you used those, and did you find them helpful?

Thanks for any thoughts anybody would like to give.

rk1 said:

CW: 182.8 lbs...

SW: 221 (10/29/08) heck want some credit like new guys!

You certainly deserve it!  Way to go!

ledgehanger: I don't know what to say about the ankle issue. You could try it since it starts slow and see how it behaves. I did that with my knee and it has actually felt stronger with no twinges in W5 versus some in W1! I don't know how that translates to the ankle joint tho.

I would start with W1, especially with that ankle issue. I burn more calories wogging than I do on an elliptical. At my age, and medications, its harder to achieve a high burn rate on elliptical or arc trainers. Although the C2 Rower does a good job.

I participate in a Couch to 5K Motivational  forum  that you might find interesting. http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/104 682.html

I use Robert Ullery's (sp?) podcasts to manage my wogs and have found them very useful. I've even used some of them to manage intervals on the C2 Rower!

 

 

 

Hi ledgehanger:  I would strongly suggest that you consult your doctor about your ankle before you get started.  Having said that here is some information to consider.

1)  Make sure that you get proper running shoes.  Good shoes can make a huge difference.  They don't have to be the most expensive they just need to be the right fit and support.   Go to a running store where they sell shoes.  Where I went the sales people were runners/walkers who know how to assess your gate and what shoes work for different people.  Where ever you go, if they don't ask to watch you walk/run in the shoes, don't buy from the store, go somewhere else.  I got a second pair of my best shoes in the US for 50$.

2) I took the "learn to run" clinic from the Running Room and it provided me with valuable information on running, running technique, dressing for weather, safety, nutrition and other topics.  There is an on line version on their website at. www.Runningroom.com.  if your interest in doing something on line. Following a program is a really good idea.  One of my clinic sessions was on running mechanics. A local Chiropractcor who specialized in running came and ran with use. He helped people run in proper form.  It really helped me to reduce the effort and stess of running on my body.

3) The one thing I am grateful for having done before the clinic was walking.  It helped me establish a good base before I starting running.  It sounds like you have your elliptical training going for you.   I would however start the schedule from the beginning.  You will be using different mussels and movements that your body needs to get accustom to.  It is better to start slow and work up.  Going to quickly or overdoing it can lead to injuries and you don't want that.

4) When I first started I used my iPod to listen to up-beat music to help keep me going.  It really helped me to find my running rhythm.  I am currently training for a full Marathon (Oct 12) and run about 6-8 hours a week. As strange as it may seem,  I now like to listen to news and talkshow podcasts that I wouldn't ever have time to listen to otherwise. Each to their own I guess!

I know that learning to run for me as be a life altering experience. I had no idea when I started how additive and rewarding to could be.  I feel like an athlete for the first time in my life.  Good Luck with your journey.

 

I think my ankle is good enough that I could do a 5k run, although I undoubtedly would be feeling it for a while afterwards.  I am concerned, though, with a day to day beating on the ankle joint doing a high impact activity like jogging.

Ledge,

I think a lot of us started on C25K (WW, me, phord) and it seems to work.  I personally kind of jumped into week 3 but I am a hard head.  Anyways two parts to running Cardio and building body stregth / endurance.

If you were to just run a 5K straight out without road work I would garauntee that you will hurt yourself.  Try the early weeks which a pretty easy to ease you in to running and you would be surprised how body adapts.  Buy a Pair of running shoes and stop running if feel pain.  

I always had a bad knee from HS football and really not a lot worse as long as I train properley and times I have had signifigant pain for prolonged time it was a result of not following proper training ( ie - tackling big hills too often; increasing miles too fast)  Last Wed on 6 mi. run I had sharp pain in knee cap and thought "oh no runners knees back 4 days before race" .... walked last 1.5 mi home.... rested 2 days and did not feel even a twinge in 10 miles on sunday .... of course legs were a little sore but "good sore" monday and even tue (last nights recovery run helped) and today back up and going as normal.

Short story .... Long .... Try to ramp up slow and see, else I would not do the 5K.  Maybe do a swim or Bike event??