How I am going to get fit in 2012

I'm dropping Weight Watchers. Not because I really mad at it, but because I've found a new love who can provide for me more for less. Rather than pay $18.00 a month for online logging, I have found FitBit who does the exactly the same thing. There is also a technological component to my purchase called the "Fitbit" which monitors my steps and my sleep. The device clips onto my clothes like this picture shows.

The device will monitor my steps and my physical activity as well as monitor my sleep. Along with having the ability to log my results wirelessly the website provides a great way to get metrics about how I am working my body, both physically and mentally. I know I don't sleep well and having some sort of metrics that show me and can give me a better idea of how much sleep I need will I feel make me work harder to sleep more (it's currently 2:00 AM and I have taken a tylenol PM) this next year.

The FitBit Monitor only costs $99.00 and I really like the idea of it. The access to the basic features on Fitbit.com are free, however, the premium access is only $49.00 for the year. This is a far smaller chunk of money to pay than $18.00 X 12 Months.

I also purchased a FitBook, which is a book that has a way to for you to enter in all of your information about what you ate, what your activity was, and how you felt that day. I can use this in times where I don't have the ability to log on my phone and log in information. Having no excuse to not exercise and have a reason to keep my self accountable is one my goals in 2012.

Here's the book:

We'll see what happens.

A Cheap Half?

The biggest problem with being 240 lbs and not being able to train properly is that is causes you to break down about 50% of the way through a marathon training program. This leaves you frustrated and thinking in your mind that 13.1 miles is cheap and that you aren't really pushing yourself.

That all being said, I've laid off running since Dec. 13th, primarily because I have to rest my Illiotibial band before I run any race. I'm going to start ramping up in the next few days to get myself ready for 13.1 on January 15th, but that's about where my mind is race wise. I look forward to getting back into running soon, whether my goals are met or not.

Ararmco Half-Marathon,  I will own you.

2012: Making Resolutions

I'm not going to lie, I'm not terrible about new years resolutions, I'm just not good. That's probably because I spend time working on it passionately and when the passion falls out I forget that it was a resolution. That being said I'm looking towards 2012 as being a platform for to getting myself set on three areas: spiritual, physical, and financial.

Spiritual: I want to read through the bible this year. Game Plan: I want to use my kindle to allow me to get daily bible reading set.

Physical: I want to get to 200 lbs for the first time in my life. Game Plan: I have been running this year as part of my half marathon program I'm apart of. However I've seen some of my progress slow this winter with nagging running injuries. I want take 2012 to work on my upper body in order to facilitate more weight loss. I think losing 34 lbs is possible. It will take a lot of work. I have a lot of devices that will help me, and am looking at them to keep me accountable. Maybe a later blog post can reveal those as I get them set up.

Financial: I want to be debt free apart from our student loans and mortgage at the end of 2012. We have a few little items we need to pay off in the next month, then we will move to having to get a van soon. While I don't want to go into debt hard for that I fear a small car loan is imminent.

Let's see how I do in 2012. Does anyone have a goal for themselves ?

Frost Bake Shoppe

"The Little Shop that Could..on TV...sort of"

Store Presentation: Probably the anticipated place that I have been this year was to Frost Bake Shop. When you go into the store the very first thing that you notice is the tall glass that houses all of the offerings that Frost Bake Shoppe gives. I have to say the store does a good job in using not that much a storefront. Instead they fully put your eyes in front of their delectable treats that they have concocted for that day.

Web Presence: No Twitter, which is critical in getting yourself out there and known. However they do maintain and use their Facebook page quite well. I haven't seen them make special deals to their people that like their page, however they do display current treats and tell you how long that they will be in the store. I did hear that they were running a groupon/living social deal the other day.

What set them apart: The whole cupcake trend honestly came by for me by watching "Cupcake Wars" on the Food Network. The day that we visited this store was literally a day after they had appeared on the show competing. While I don't have cable anymore and haven't been able to secure video yet, I found that they made it through the first round by were knocked out during the second round. It still was pretty cool that they were on the show. 

Now regarding their cupcakes. I was honestly impressed by their selection. They are constantly offering cupcakes that aren't over the top but are combinations of popular cupcakes.

Variety: I think variety is one of The Frost Bake Shoppe's strengths. They have a wide variety (See pic below). The offer the standard staples, but have gone above and beyond in my opinion in offering a great set for multiple palettes.


Frosting: Not over-powering. That's the best I can describe it, and not because it was bad but because it wasn't exactly memorable, and that's not a bad thing.  A great icing in my opinion either needs to be a homerun in taste or something that you like, but are able to forget. If I remember your frosting because it either wasn't a true frosting or because it was terrible then that's not a good thing.

Cake: A solid cake, the taste from the cake coinciding with the taste of the frosting is always a great hit. Frost Bake Shoppe does this with panache.

Strawberry/Red Velvet: I remember having the strawberry and being rather impressed by the consistency in the cupcake to the taste. The frosting didn't run over my mouth and make me lose track of the cake which is always a plus.

Number of Cupcakes: Corrie and I decided to get a full dozen because we were going to meet some friends in Conroe. I really enjoyed getting to get the smorgasbord of cupcakes. I remember trying the Strawberry, Chocolate Vanilla, and their Banana offerings.

Photos:

Sugarbaby's Cupcakes

"Boutiquing Cupcakes Not Needed"

Store Presentation: The store is by far the worst thing about the cupcake company (this won't be a positive review, you've been forewarned). I have never felt like I was in a boutique before. Everything was overdone. I felt like I was in a spoiled brats bedroom who just happened to sell cupcakes. The one positive about their space is that they have significant room to sit down and eat which is very uncommon with other cupcake places.

Web Presence: First off, they do have an iPhone app, which apart from Sprinkles is the only other cupcake store that I have found that has an app.

What set them apart: The Gotti-ness. Seriously, I realize that cupcakes will bring an upper echelon of life type of crowd, but it was over done. I really probably didn't wrap my head around the cupcakes enough because I couldn't get over the aesthetic experience.

Variety: There is a great variety of cupcakes, which is a plus comparatively. I did see when I was there that they had a Butter Beer version in celebration of the Harry Potter movie release. I do have to give props to the Sugarbaby's for that they seem to experiment from time to time.


Frosting: I'm not going to buy several times before I review, so let me say my one experience is my view in my review. The frosting didn't hold. Sugarbaby's is pretty explicit in telling you that you don't need to refrigerate the cupcakes and to keep them at room temperature. However when I got home I didn't immediately eat ours.  A few hours later, my frosting had fell off the cupcake partially. This was not something that I expected. We had taken it from the store to AC'd car to AC'd house. We didn't spend alot of time in direct sunlight either.

Cake: The cake didn't taste bad, it seemed like it was original to each type of cupcake.

Strawberry/Red Velvet: The naming of the cupcakes to try to create their own spin, while unique provided it hard to get me litmus test done at this cupcakery. I got a Velvet Rouge which I guess is their Red Velvet. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't a homerun like I feel all cupcake places should be.

Number of Cupcakes: Corrie got 2 and I got 2 as well. I had the Velvet Rouge and the 24 Carrot Cake. The carrot cake was memorable, but once again, not a homerun.

Photos:

The Sweet Boutique

Store Presentation: 

Web Presence:

What set them apart:

Variety: 

Frosting:

Cake:

Strawberry/Red Velvet:

Number of Cupcakes:

Photos:

Celebrity Cupcakes

"Mini-Store, Mini-Cupcakes"

Store Presentation: Rice students are fat. Well they should be. This little store is within an arms throw of Rice Village. I particularly liked going into this store because of the visual appeal of it. For instance the doors, which you can see in the picture below are those huge doors that require a little bit of push. When you walk into Celebrity Cupcakes there isn't much room to get around anywhere as the counter where the cupcakes are is 8' from the front door. However the room allows for you too kind of peek into the process that owners go through in creating these great little cupcakes


Web Presence: Celebrity has a rather normal approach to their presence on the internet. They maintain a website that is informative of what days that they are serving what cupcakes. They have information available on celebrations, but they have yet to complete that page. They maintain the normal Facebook/Twitter social media strategy that most cupcake places do, however they don't do like Sprinkles ans others do and give promotional opportunities daily, weekly, or at all. It seems as if they only use it broadcast what they have made that day.

What set them apart: Mini-Cupcakes. Seriously. This was the one thing that made me go gaga over this place (yes I used the word gaga). I normally have a 2 cupcake rule when I go to any cupcake store, but alas when I stepped into this store and saw that they make mini versions of every cupcake that they are serving that day, I had to try out the minis. I got 4 mini cupcakes, making sure to try my strawberry and red velvet as a litmus test and then I branched out. I figured 2 minis were the same caloric intake as 1 regular cupcake, right?

Variety: 9-10 cupcakes served daily with a few daily staples mixed in. The variety is not over the top to the point that you can start to get their menu down, but it is a good proportional offering in my opinion.


Frosting: I didn't feel like the frosting was too sweet. I did feel like however they didn't throw in flavoring as an after thought. It seemed like every frosting that I tried had its own unique taste and texture.

Cake: Average, nothing to hit home about, but not dry really. I enjoyed these cupcakes, but they still didn't have the wow factor that Sprinkles does in my mind.

Strawberry/Red Velvet: I do remember the frosting for the Strawberry being on point. It wasn't too tart or sugary. The Red Velvet cake was very memorable. In fact, I believe it was Celebrity that made me decide to open up this little blog because I realized that I was getting Strawberry or Red Velvet on a consistent basis.

Number of Cupcakes: I believe that day because we tried the mini's we got a total of 8 mini's, with Corrie and I each getting 4. I couldn't tell you all the flavors however. I apologize.

Photos:

Crave Cupcakes

"If Sprinkles was the Yankees, Crave is the Red Sox."

Store Presentation: Crave has two different store locations, both of them are in ritzier areas of town so they both are not your poor mans cupcakes. The stores look very elegant and carry their own weight as far as "designer" goes. A point of irony is that the Uptown Park location is right next door to a "My Fit Foods" store.

Web Presence: Crave doesn't use twitter, Not that that's a bad thing. They do some free giveaways from time to time.

What set them apart: Crave doesn't try to be Sprinkles, but they do do a great imitation of Sprinkles in their presentations and delivery of their cupcakes. If Sprinkles was the Yankees, then  They are trying to move into the market that I first saw Celebrity Cupcakes do in that they are offering Mini Cupcakes. They also offer this Starbucks like drink called a "Chiller" which looks good but I haven't tried yet. They also have breakfast cupcakes with glazes on them instead of frosting.

Variety: They do well, the have their staple cupcakes such as vanilla, dark chocolate, vanilla on chocolate, chocolate on vanilla, red velvet and strawberry. Crave does a rotation of about 10 different types of cupcakes besides the daily staples and even has their breakfast cupcake lineup.


Frosting: Their frosting, while I did try some tart flavored cupcakes, was very sweet. Probably the sweetest cupcakes that I have experienced so far in trying all of the cupcakes that I have this summer. I wont bash them, but I do find them almost hard to eat in one setting because of this. You can virtually taste the the sugar grains at some points.

Cake: Now for what they lack in frosting they make up for with cake batter. The cakes do lead most of the tast of whatever cupcake you try, but their signature to all their cupcakes is their preparation. They make very small loads of cupcakes allowing them to not use preservatives or hydrogenated oils.

Strawberry/Red Velvet: I believe that the day that we visited Crave in Uptown Park I tried the Strawberry and didn't get the Red Velvet yet, however I remember the strawberries cake tasting amazing and the frosting while overly sweet being a dead on compliment. I hope to try the Red Velvet next time.

Number of Cupcakes: We got the set of 4 as you can see in the pictures. I got the strawberry and banana while Corrie got the coconut and carrot cupcake. It was great.

Photos:

Sprinkles Cupcakes

"The Gold Standard of Cupcakes"

Store Presentation: Sprinkles suffers from this in that they are trying to keep a chic look within while having to deal with the fact that they lease a building that has been going through transformations the past 2 years. For one year the left side of the building was being renovated to be used by a company that apparently didn't work out too well so they left and another group came in. That group is redoing the outside too so the whole place from the outside looks like a mess. On the right hand side of the store my favorit company, Apple is putting in their first stand alone store in Houston. Sprinkles has had to deal with alot to survive there, but I will say they have done quite well. There was even an article in the Chron about it here.

Web Presence: This is one of the biggest strengths of Sprinkles is how they use the web and social media to leverage business. First off they have an iPhone app, which has become a pretty well respected practice that will give you a list of what cupcakes are being served what day and where the nearest Sprinkles is from where you are located. There isn't a lot to this app, but it wasn't like we should expect a ton. What Sprinkles does do, and I think they were the pioneers in this is that they use social media like it was going out of style. Because of the naturally expensive cost of designer cupcakes, Sprinkles offers secret words for the day for each and every day. The first 50, 100, 200 people who walk into a store having checked their Twitter or Facebook accounts normally know a word that will get them and each member of their party a free cupcake. I've done this several times. Ironically, I remember one day where the first 50 to say a certain word would get a certain cupcake and it wasn't 3-4 hours later and they had already met their quota.

What set them apart: Besides amazing cupcakes, which I'll get to later. Sprinkles has the celebrity factor going for it. Their owner, Candice Nelson, is considered the Paula Dean/Rachel Ray/Martha Stewart of her industry. The woman went from high power attorney to giving it all up and baking cupcakes. She is a judge on the famous "Cupcake Wars" on the food network. Sprinkles to me has great cupcakes too, they know how to balance the level of moisture in the cupcake with the sweetness of the frosting at just the right level.

Variety: Sprinkles does a few cupcakes daily, such as their chocolate marshmallow, vanilla, dark chocolate, and red velvet, but where i think they excel is their rotating list of different cupcakes. You can get a "flavor card" to know what day what cupcakes come out, but honestly, would you want to know. I enjoy being forced to try other cupcakes that I haven't tried yet. Another cool factor with their schedule is that they bring in seasonal cupcakes such as right now they have Key Lime and Vanilla Hazenut Chocolate

Frosting:The frosting is not "sick to your stomach" sweet, but it is sweet. They use a little fondant top as decoration. I liken it to an old stick of gum that has been exposed to air for quite some time. It's still edible, but it's not tasty.

Cake: This too me is where they make their money, the batter makes the cupcake taste the flavor, not the frosting which is so key! The moisture level of the cupcakes is perfect, they don't fall apart but aren't so dry that you don't tast the flavor.

Strawberry/Red Velvet: My litmus test of these two types of cupcakes would have me rate them at about an 9 out of 10. The Red Velvet is particularly amazing. I won't lie.

Number of Cupcakes: We generally get four cupcakes when Corrie and I visit Sprinkles, two for each of us. At 3.50 each, we walk out having spent 14.00. It's worth cost though.


Photos:

Yummy Finds

Criteria for Reviews

These are some of the criteria that are I want to use in evaluating our trips to the store.

Store Presentation: Stores tend to give you an overall impression of what the product will be, if a store is very overly decorated it is probably because they are over-compensating for something else that is lacking.

Web Presence: Do they have a website that you can preview their cupcake flavors? Are they giving you coupons for their cupcakes, or special surprises for their social media followers?

What set them apart: This is their X-factor, what makes them different from others?

Variety: Does this shop have a 1-trick pony or are they versatile in their offerings? It's always better to have options.

Frosting: Is it too sweet? Does the flavor not add up to the name or the overall presentation? Was I disappointed, underwhelmed, or frustrated with the topping? Did they add too much?

Cake: Where is the level of moistness with the cake? Does it keep for a while? Does most of it stick to to the cupcake cups?

Strawberry/Red Velvet: This is the litmus test. Most if not all cupcake shops offer these two cupcakes. I am sure to buy these two at least.

Number of Cupcakes: I'll let you know here how many and what type of cupcakes we purchased (if we can remember the specifics.

Photos: This is self-explanatory.

Cupcakes-The New Pie

I have a friend of mine, Chris Hokanson, who is a charter member of "The Council of Pie." He as well as some guys from A&M fell in love with pie during college and created "The Council of Pie" as a group of friends that when they would be able to get back together would have pie and have great conversation.

While I don't have a group of close friends, I do have a bunch of people I know that like cupcakes. The purpose of this blog is completely for me to visit, enjoy, rate, criticize, berate, and sing praises to the cupcake factories of Houston.

I envision a blog that has literally every known shop in the Houston area and some non-storefront options as well reviewed here in this blog. Then again, it could be simply me blogging about my experience as I try to seek out and find them all!

Over the next few days, I hope to have my reviews on the first four cupcakeries that I have visited this summer. Stay tuned.

First Run with Fort Bend Fit

So I joined Fort Bend Fit (LINK) this year to keep myself accountable for the running that I need to do to be ready to run this year for marathon season. It was great to be put into a pace group to run with. I had several people who ran my pace that I met and got to talk to that morning. I'm sure that as the year goes on I'll get to know more people but I look forward to training with people where as I pretty much trained solo last year.

This is our post race seminar.  You can see me behind the man in the Red Shirt.

So anyway, I ran this past Saturday and I have to say that it was a blast. I felt so ahead of the curve where as last year I could barely run a mile before I was ready to call it quits. 3 miles now is basically a hiccup.

The Cost of Marathon Running

Probably one of the most overly stated "costs" of trying to run half-marathons and full marathons is the time commitment. There are early morning runs (which I don't do) there are afternoon runs (which I generally do) and their are weekend long runs (which I always do).

However, one of the understated "costs" of trying to run halfs and fulls is the actual COST. These races are not cheap, and I glad for that. However, I wanted to give you a breakdown of what it will financially cost me to run in the races I plan to run this year.

$20.00 Impact A Hero 5K
$40.00 Space City 10 Miler
$55.00 Houston Half-Marathon
$35.00 Texas Metric Marathon
$70.00 Texas 1/2 Marathon (Kingwood, Texas)
$125.00 Chevron Houston Marathon
$85.00 USA Fit Half-Marathon
$65.00 2nd Annual Sugar Land Half-Marathon
$95.00 The Woodland Marathon

Grand Total: $590.00

That total is actually a low estimate as those prices are if I registered for them right now. The prices go up if I don't watch the registration dates!

Post Run Analysis: Impact A Hero 5K

I ran this one last year to start my Marathon Training. I really enjoyed it.

Harold Camping

So it's Sunday, two days after the supposed "rapture" that Harold Camping and his $72 million dollar radio station called "Family Radio" said that May 21, 2012 would be the time of rapture. To quote my friend Chris Hokanson on twitter #immabehere.

I think the thing that got me about the whole rapture business is that I think the christian community had a chance to rally around this guys heretical preachings and not only denounce it but to say foremost that "no one knows the hour" as well as use it for eschatological preaching.

Why aren't we using this guy who certainly got his 15 minutes of of fame to promote the gospel accordingly. I felt like leaders of the faith didn't vocalize against it. Heck, my own pastor used it as a joke and a punchline this morning to open up the service.

Perhaps i didn't truly get a good perspective of the whole event, but I definitely did feel like Christianity got the forefront of the "news cycle" for the first time in a long time and rather than hit a home run with it we struck out looking.

Why the "rapture" had me confused?

I don't know why, I'm still trying to hash this out in my mind.

It's hard to stay focused!

That is all. I still want to be debt free, but GOSH darn-it, it seems something happens every time I turn around!

The death of bin Laden.

Okay, so on May 1, 2011 it was announced that U.S. Special Forces had killed Osama bin Laden. I wondered how big this would be immediately remembering how big it was when Saddam Hussein was captured.


Let me show you around some of my initial thoughts, reactions, tweets, and pictures in the hour or so after President Obama's announcement.


1)

 Notice anything wrong with the headline?

2)
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (who was formerly the Texas A&M President) who was with both President Bush and President Obama decided to announce 4 days ago that he was retiring at the end of the June. Let's put the timeline together: they found out that they had killed bin Laden a week ago, he decides a few days later that he's done his duty. Prediction: he's back in Aggieland atop of Rudder tower in under a year. (LINK)

3)
New York Times Square Celebrations

4)
Image of the entire night!

 

5)

If you are on Twitter, follow this guy. He live "Tweeted" the whole thing not knowing that it was Osama Bin Laden obviously.

http://twitter.com/#!/ReallyVirtual

6)

Instagram picture of downtown near ground zero

(Link)

7)

(LINK)

This link will provide you a picture of what is most likely as the public knows to be the place that Osama was at during the attack.

8)

I'm not saying that Hitler and bin Laden are comparable, but it is ironic that 56 years to the week, both men were killed/died. (LINK)

9)

I have heard before that most celebrities have all had obituaries written by most major journalistic enterprises and are updated periodically. The New York Times had a 18 page article ready to go and published around 10 minutes after the President's address tonight. (LINK)

10)

This was outside the White House tonight, I hope he came out and gave high fives.

2011-2012 Racing Season Tentative Schedule

First off, my running goal is to do  2 1/2 marathons this next year.

Well it's been a while since I've joined you all to let you know how my training has been. If you remember I never actually got to run a full marathon last year because of injuries and other life events. However, I'm trying to mentally schedule out some of my new runs for next year. Here's the tentative schedule for races I'm going to run in anticipation of my running goal for this next season.

June 4, 2011 

-Impact A Hero 5K (Link)- This race normally serves as the first race of the running season in the Sugar Land area for people that have shut down training after marathon season is over. I am no different. I look forward to this race because its the first one, but also it serves a great, great cause.

October 23, 2011

-Houston Half (Link) - This is the first race of the marathon warm up series for the Houston Marathon. It is also a pretty nice back and out course. I really enjoyed this one, although I'm hoping that the starting temp in Houston isn't 78 like it was last year, I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated at the end of this one.


November 13, 2011

Texas Metric Marathon (LINK) - What used to be the 25K in the marathon warm up series is not being given a little more road as the HMSA has decided to do a Metric Marathon that is 26.2 K long instead of the 25K. It is allegedly the first "Metric Marathon" in Texas. It's still some 16 miles or so!

December 11, 2011

Sugar Land Finish Line Sports 30K(LINK) - I love this race, and was so sad that I didn't get to race it last year, it is in the neighborhood that I run so I'm very familiar with the path. It's the closest I get to a home field advantage.

January 1, 2011

Texas Marathon (LINK) - A friend of mine ran this race last year and she absolutely loved several aspects of it which have become easily one of the reasons that I want to make this my first marathon ever. It's a 4 loop course in a park, which means that course and field are a little more intimate. I am excited to see how far that I can get and if I'll be able to finish it. I also found out that they single handidly have the hugest finishers medal, another plus.(Pic)

January 15, 2012

Houston Chevron Marathon (LINK) - I would of signed up, and probably will for lottery purposes for the Houston Chevron Marathon with the later intent to switch the half. Let me explain...in 2011 the race was held two weeks later than it is annually, which is not a bad thing, but it got back its old spot of the second weekend in January to allow its runners to use Monday, traditionally MLK Day, as a day of recovery. Since I'll have run a full marathon 2 weeks before hand, I doubt I'll be in great shape to run another one just yet, however, because they have more Marathon spots available in this years lottery for the race, I'll put in for the Marathon, with the intent of switching to the half.


March 3, 2012

The Woodland Marathon (LINK) - I don't know what it is about this newly formulated marathon, but it intrigues me, it's the first of March which means I'll have ample time to recover from running a marathon and a half in January but will have the chance to get a better time. It's a two loop course primarily under the shade of the trees in the Woodlands, which will be a plus!

Why not one blog?

If you have stumbled here you are trying to figure out why.

How much debt have I really really payed off?

I really farted it up when I put up our initial debt pie chart. I didn't include a lot of debts that I had previously paid off. So, with that in mind, our blue part of the chart goes up just a little bit more. Maybe one day when I'm feeling a little more "numbers based" I'll give you a hard line of what debts we have had and where we are going from here.

Why no recap?

I haven't really recapped on the Aramco Half Marathon that I ran on January 30, 2011 like I should. Let me just put it in terms of video and pictures:

Video: Link
Photos: Link
Stats: Link
Results: Link

I'm starting this week getting ready for the 1st Annual Sugar Land Half Marathon

How did we accrue so much debt?

Simple Answer: We went to school

Complex Answer: Our parents level of income didn't support them putting together any sort of college fund. Their answer, simply was to cash flow as much as they could. When the money ran out and we wanted to finish, we had to choose to go into debt. The fact that I really didn't want to know I wanted to be hurt me more than I expected and made me choose to add three years of state school student loans to my total.

Welcome to my financial blog!

No, I won't give you my credit account number....

No, I won't give you access to my bank account....

Yes, I will share with you how we are doing in our Total Money Makeover!


First off, a visual!

Countdown: Day 3: Running Community

I'm exactly 3 days until the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. I'm pumped about it! I'm going to try as much as time allows me to do a countdown blog posting of what's on my mind.


Today we are talking about running community. 


The running culture is amazing. When I first decided to start prepping myself for the marathon this summer I found out that I was joining a club where their was going to be supporters. I wasn't going to have to do this on my own.


I'm suprised when i'm on my own during a run and guy will come by me and encourage me to keep going.

I fell the other day when it was really dark and got back up and the guys 100 yards back that were pacing faster than me came up and asked me if I was okay.


I know that although I don't know but about 2-3 people that are racing the Aramco Half-Marathon. I'm still going to have someone to talk to for the 2 1/2 hours I'm running this race. I'm pumped about that big time! 


Meeting other "Clydesdales" like myself. There are guys out there running that tip near 300 lbs. The running community doesn't discriminate. WHo cares that I can run a twice as slow! The community doesn't!

Countdown: Day 4: Eating Habits, Weight Loss

I'm exactly 4 days until the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. I'm pumped about it! I'm going to try as much as time allows me to do a countdown blog posting of what's on my mind.


Today we talking about my eating habits and weight loss in preparations for this marathon. I won't lie to you. I'm currently 240 lbs. This is not the slimmest I have been in a while, but it's pretty low. I remember when we were in Corpus during my undergraduate work far before I ever considered becoming a runner I was tipping the scales near 300. Here is one of those pictures that make me cringe!

Now I'm not entirely different right now, but I am ranging around 285 in this picture here. I don't ever want to let myself go that much again!

In training I realized that when I run that I am losing a lot of calories and initially I thought that meant that I could just eat more food. It was after an evening where I had scarfed myself with some unhealthy food because I had justified that I had just had a "long run" of 4 miles that I felt like I was in a food comatose. 

I opted there that I had to include better eating habits into my running or it was going to be counter productive. I had recently gotten an iPod touch and downloaded the LoseIt app.

This app was calorie based and forced me to count my calories which wasn't hard. I had a lot of initial success even before I was dedicated to running. However I didn't really do any good consistent counting until this last month using the Weight Watchers app on my iPhone.

Can't lie, It's worked. I've lost 5 pounds and feel great using this app. And counting and entering in points in my iPhone is the same as calorie counting, but many things are point appraised with the Weight Watchers system already so there is some science behind it!

Countdown: Day 5: Technology

I'm exactly 5 days until the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. I'm pumped about it! I'm going to try as much as time allows me to do a countdown blog posting of what's on my mind.


If anyone really knows me, you know that I'm a technology dweeb. I'm an iPhone carrying fool whose totes around his technology and knowledge of it like he's a little pompous. However, in becoming a "runner" I have found a new set of gadgets that I own or get to experience in the whole running process.

My Watch:

Garmin Forerunner 305

I love this watch, it's seriously amazing. I would be a bumbling idiot moving around if I didn't have this watch. I know my precise time and can see my pace while I'm running. Also my post race analytics let me know how to run better next time I'm out. Bar none, if you become a runner, buy one of these!

My iPod:

iPod nano 3G

I know a lot of you are like "You have an iPhone!" I'm scared to death that I will violate the AppleCare Protection Plan if I get water inside the phone from my profuse sweating. However, I do use the iPhone only on special runs,such as this Sunday. More on how to support me using that later on! 

The Chip

Bib Chip

This is one of those things that I still kind of find interesting is the bib chip. I'm not entirely sure what this weekends race will use. I'll find out on Saturday when I go downtown to the EXPO to pick up my packet. However the timing, which is important to runners, works like a charm.

Countdown: Day 6: Running Music

I'm
exactly 6 days until the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. I'm pumped about it! I'm going to try as much as time allows me to do a countdown
blog posting of what's on my mind.




I'm not one of those runners that likes the sounds of where he is running. I like my music, and I like it loud. I want to completely shut out everything that is around me when I run except for what I see. If I talk to you when I run, it's only because I'm lost, or your lost. My whole playlist is 2 hours and 20 minutes long. I hope by this Sunday I only have to go through this playlist once!


That being said. This is my current play list that is on my iPod that I listen to each week when I run. I'll embed a youtube for you to watch if there is one for each song.




Bed Intruder Song (feat. Kelly Dodson) - Antoine Dodson






We used to Wait - Arcade Fire




It's Going Down - (Featuring Bonecruiser & Dru) - Baby D



Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) - Beyonce'



Just A Friend - Biz Markie



Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) - C+C Music Factory



I'll Be Around - Cee-Lo



Dad Life - Church on the Move



Viva La Vida - Coldplay



What Would You Say - Dave Matthews



Ants Marching - Dave Matthews



Schizophreniac - Earthsuit



One Time - Earthsuit



Welcome to the Jungle - Guns N' Roses



Count Bass D (A Reading From) - Grits



She's Fine (feat. Superstarr) - Hurricane Chris



Curbside Prophet - Jason Mraz



Mudhouse/Gypsy MC (Live from Amsterdam) - Jason Mraz



No Turning Back (Incorporated Elementas/Fistpic Records) - Out of Eden


Here it Goes Again - Ok Go



The Fox (live from The Freight and Salvage, Nov. 16, 2000) - Nickel Creek



N Luv Wit My Money - Paul Wall & Chamillionare



Hey, Soul Sister - Train



Yeah! - Usher feat. Lil'Jon & Ludacris



Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice



It's a New Day - will.i.am



Live Your Life - T.I.



Billionare (Glee Cast Version)-Glee Cast



Billionare (feat. Bruno Mars) - Travie McCoy



Empire State of Mind (Glee Cast Version) - Glee Cast