It’s done.

I have achieved the 2 mile mark. Now it’s the inevitable 3.1 mile mark that I need to comfortably be able to run.

My diet over the past couple of days has been crazy. I've been trying to eat healthy and not eat so much. I think it may be working.

That may be one of the toughest part of this whole thing is not eating what I want.

Today I want a meat lover’s pizza, with some chicken wings and a Coke.

I will probably have a turkey sandwich with mustard, 10 baked lays chips and water.

Turns out I had the remainder of the breakfast pizza. I couldn't eat all of it which is a huge step in the right direction.

I went to work out last night and did some weights. We were at the gym for about an hour and a half doing all types of ill stuff. I felt like I accomplished what I needed to. My arms are sore, my legs are ready to run today and my mind is set on my goal.

I have lost 2 pounds this week. I need lose 1/2 pound more to be on schedule.

However, according to my forecasting chart, if I continue on the pace of weight loss, I will achieve my desired weight on Tuesday May 27. That would be super to lose 60 pounds in 98 days with 2 months till the wedding to bulk up.

Reality says that I will be cutting it close, especially if I keep eating Harold's Bar-B-Q. Our department had lunch brought in to celebrate a good February. However, I think this was a mastermind scheme to get us to work through lunch. In any event it was worth it.

His sauce is excellent.

Posted by James Mayo · March 11, 2008 9:41 PM · Comments (2)

As of today I am still at 12 pounds.

However, that doesn't mean I am out of it. I need to lose 2.5 pounds this week to get to my goal.

Here is the weekend recap of what went down.

Went to Gatti's and ate 6 pieces of pizza and some desert. That may have had something to do with me not losing weight.

I have been notoriously bad on weekends staying inside of my parameters. I had a Dr. Pepper on Saturday, my first in weeks.

I didn't run Friday or Saturday. But I did run on Thursday. I ran so hard that I forgot which lap I was on and lost count. So I took the smallest number I remembered and ran a total of 9 laps. 9 laps, one more than 8 which is my personal best.

Today, Monday I went to Sharky's for lunch because they are handing out free drinks to those who have the coupon in the newspaper, which I did.

I'm in some sort of a funk right now. Don't know how to explain it, but there is jealousy, pain, anger and uncertainness about everything right now.

Sometimes you get that way and my body wants to blame it on the Dr. Pepper. However, yesterday I tried to run 10 laps. I brought my daughter with me so she could keep count, because I had lost faith in my brain. It started lightening pretty heavily and nothing looks more inviting than a large man running like a sloth on an open track during a lightening storm.

We left shortly after.

I really wanted to run 10 laps for her. She was so supportive. I feel like she needs to see me accomplish goals when I set out to do them so that she will understand what success feels like.

But I think she gets it. On the way to another engagement, we were talking about how excited I was about running in a real race and she said, “Daddy, I understand. You've always wanted to run in a race just like I've always wanted to be a flower girl!" She did get it. In July she will be a flower girl and she is super ready to walk down the aisle and then stand on stage next to her mommy. She will be beautiful.

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HOW TO CHANGE A TIRE by James Mayo
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My oldest and I decided to go fishing on Saturday night at Charlottes’ Cove, on Fort Phantom. Just to let you know, you need to pay to fish there and make sure you do. The owner will visit with you; I may or may not be speaking from experience.

So when we arrived, I opened the car door and heard the HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS sound escaping from my tire. I am familiar with this sound and thought that it could wait till later, because I wanted to fish. Then realizing that I had a little lady, the light was quickly going away and we had no real time to be home, I began my tire changing ritual.

NOTE: I had never changed a tire on this car before

I found the jack and located the tire, underneath the car. I saw that the tire was secured and tried to loosen it with some pliers, my hands, my feet and my fists. All that dumb tire did was mock me. I could spin it around but it never came loose.

That's when I made the call of shame to my father-in-law

I called my father-in-law because he has been helpful in these situations before. I would have called my dad, cars aren't his strong suit. Blackjack theory, flex capacitors and electrical stuff, I send his way. My stepdad didn't get the call, not because of his lack of expertise but because his knowledge is more centered on 1992 cars and older. If you ever feel like restoring a Mustang or fix-up a 1979 K-5 Blazer, call him and not matter how crazy it sounds, listen to every word.

So he answers the phone in 2 rings (I think he thought I was my wife because of the area code) and I explained to him the wheel is underneath the back of the car and is secured by a wire rope. He says there must be some sort of wench to get the tire down. Seriously? You would think I would be able to tell if there was a wench and be able to get the tire down without having to call. So I look around and decide on my own that he is crazy and I will be sleeping in the car tonight. However, as I crawl out from under the car and notice there is a cap in the back of the van on the floorboard that I lift up. Sure enough if there wasn't a screw that lowered the tire down on to the ground. Being the concerned Pappy my father-in-law was, he called back in 30 min. to check on us. I let him know that he was right and appreciated the help. He’s real good about these newer cars.

After that I went in to my normal routine of taking off the tire and putting it on all the while having my oldest hold the hub cap cover for me so I could put the nuts in them. Not really because it was a big deal or that she really wanted to help (she did). I did this because of The Christmas Story movie. I remember that scene and thought this was a perfect time to reenact it. It went flawlessly.

You know, I should give my oldest more credit. She's so careful and sweet and responds well to direction. Sometimes I take that for granted and fishing trips like this, she seems to understand.

Any way we got the donut on the van and headed down to go fish.
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Fishing with a little girl should be about me catching the minnow, baiting her hook and putting it in the water. Not her, she caught the minnow, wanted to bait her hook (no way I was going to let that happen), and put it in the water.

Then the conversations we had. I'm not going to share those because those are my memories but I did realize early on that my knowledge of dolphins was no where near hers.

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I need to lose 2.5 pounds this week. I plan on running 10 laps today.

Wish me luck.

Posted by James Mayo · March 10, 2008 3:45 PM · Comments (0)

Every other day, every other day of the week is fiiiiiiiinnne yeah,

2 MILES.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

I was able to get out and run before my Dad rolled into town.

I ran 2 miles, I could have run further. I was so pumped about running two miles that I sprinted the last half lap. Sprinted, this for most people would be considered a gallop.

I made the mistake of mentioning to my wife that I should work on my abs more regularly. She AGREED and said we should do this one exercise together that we used to do when we were first married.

That made me smile until I realized she was talking about this crazy ab exercise I used to do in soccer when I had muscle and loose skin.

You lie on your back and have your partner stand over your head and you lift your legs up to them. The partner then pushes, throws moves, whatever your legs to the ground. Your job is not to let them hit the ground while keeping your legs straight.

Then you do it side to side and down the middle.

WEDNESDAY MORNING WEIGHT LOSS: 10 pounds

You bet it was ten pounds. This is so huge. I ran two miles without stopping and am eating healthy.

Morning breakfast of Carnation Instant Breakfast and then someone brought in doughnuts for the circulation department. I had one.

For lunch I had breakfast pizza. I LOVE BREAKFAST PIZZA. It the best and recommend it to anyone. It takes about 20 minutes to prepare and cook. You can't beat it. It's not the healthiest thing in the world, but I was planning on running tonight.

We had church this evening where I tried to convey the message of the importance to teens of being in a relationship for the right reasons. Some of the kids are getting into relationships for the first time or second or third and thought it might be best for them to understand what is expected of them in these types of relationships and how they can be close but not too close, if you know what I mean. And if you don't then ask someone.

My wife and I told our story, which is a great one and how sometimes marriage can be difficult. I realize now that whenever someone says that marriage is difficult, its 100% the man's fault for it being difficult. This is general observation and 99.9% true of our marriage.

No running, no ab work, went to bed at 9:30pm

THURSDAY MORNING WEIGHT LOSS: 12 pounds

I skipped breakfast, not because it’s not important but because I was cranky this morning and thrown off on my routine.

It’s snowing in Abilene right now, weather men/women are putting on their best suits, and web sites are going to red alert, desktop weather apps are scrolling across the bottom of screens.

I have to go to Gatti's pizza and congratulate all the boys and girls who will advance to the regional Spelling Bee on Saturday. A definite perk to the job. These kids work real hard and can spell better than I can. It should be fun.

Plus, I get a free lunch. Or it comes out of my budget, but I tell myself its free.

Can’t wait till I write tomorrow about how much I ate and how much I had to run to feel better about myself. You know now that I say that, its kind of true. I could see how this might lead someone into anorexia, I physically feel better about myself after running. Maybe I’m starting to get issues. I’m not too concerned for myself right now because I still have 48 pounds to lose in 19 weeks or 2.5 pounds per week. I think its achievable.

My other goal is to run an organized 5k which is in April 19. I will be running in the 25th Annual Kirk Goodwin Run. 3 miles, I think I can do it if I am at 2 miles currently. The problem is that I have been to the two mile mark before and had some sort of hangup about going further. I think this is when I can push through. I will get to 3 miles on the track first and then work on running the race route.

So in two weeks I have lost 12 pounds, I can run 2 miles and more importantly I feel better about myself.

If I run a 5K, I’m buying myself a waterpack for my back, because I will be that hardcore. However, I’m still deciding on my attire for the race: High white socks, high shorts and some sort of runner’s shirt with a number on it. Plus I will be wearing sun glasses to tone down my radiance as I prance down the street.

Oh that will be the day, that will be the day.

Posted by James Mayo · March 6, 2008 4:52 PM · Comments (0)

Yesterday I was supposed to run about 2 miles. However, Mother Nature had other plans.

It snowed in Abilene on March 3rd. Write it down!!!

For dinner I had a Lean Pocket at 8:30 pm. I think that was my down fall.

Tuesday Morning Total Weight Loss: 9 pounds

My body is a yoyo and I'm the string. That's right the string, not the hand, not the ball, the string.

I was pretty disappointed with my weight and decided to take it out on my stomach.

For breakfast, carnation instant breakfast. You're gonna love it in an instant.

For lunch . . . one bird.

Yep, I attacked a whole rotisserie chicken. I think I really ate about half of it, but man it was sweet.

In other news, I will be playing softball on Monday's. You want to see something funny, besides my strike zone, watch me try to make a single out of a triple.

Hopefully I will get participation points.

Still drinking tons of water, still plan on running this evening, still plan on trying for two miles. However, my dad is stopping in town tonight, so I will need to get this out of the way either late at night or as soon as I get home.

Since the wife is busy at home cleaning, I doubt I will be able to get away and run for 45 minutes. That's 15 minutes of running and 30 minutes of rest before I get home.

Oh and its 67 degrees outside

Primary day: If you're a republican there is no need to vote, if you are a democrat you better get out there and pick your winner.

But I am sure you are all very educated readers and know that.

Posted by James Mayo · March 4, 2008 9:49 PM · Comments (0)