The first week of 2019 is in the books and it was my first week after concluding my weight loss journey. It feels a little weird not focusing on losing weight and I will admit that my brain isn’t quite into maintenance mode yet. I will get there but it is quite the mental adjustment.

2018 Personal Records

I am going to start with last reflection on 2018. I want to list my personal records / bests from the year because these are the numbers to beat in 2019.

• Total weight lost to-date: 132 pounds
• Best 5k time: 28:03 (9:02 pace)
• Best 10k time: 1:01:20 (9:50 pace)
• Best half marathon time: 2:44:48 (12:35 pace)
• Fastest Run (1 mile+): 9:13
• Longest distance run: 13.44 miles
• Highest monthly running miles: 72.08 (March)
• Average monthly running miles: 49.93
• Best deadlift: 205 pounds x 3 reps
• Body Fat: 12%

I am not expecting to beat all of these personal bests in 2019 but I am going to do my best to crush as many as possible!

Starting Strong

This year my New Year’s Day was a bit different than years past. Instead of sleeping in, starting the day off slowly, lounging on the couch and regretting my choices from the prior night I made a different decision. I used the first day of the new year to make progress towards one of my goals – to run one race per month.

On New Years morning I ran the First on the First 5k hosted by OhioHealth. I joined about 1500 other people who got up early and ran a 5k race in 40 degree weather. This same race had below zero wind chills the prior year so we were pretty lucky with this years weather. This was a very well organized race with great energy and I am so glad that I made a different choice to start this year.

It wasn’t my best performance but I did significantly better than all of the people who didn’t start the new year working on their goals. I ran with a bit of a cold which complicated breathing so I was slower than I wanted to be. That meant I had to slow to walk more than I wanted and also ended up in a bit of a coughing fit at the finish line. I didn’t set or tie my personal record but it was my second fastest 5k to date.

Ramping Up

My plan is to run the Cap City Half Marathon at the end of April and my goal is to do better than my Columbus Marathon pace. That is almost 4 months away so I have plenty of time to train and get myself ready to perform. But it means that I need to get moving. Plus I am trying to acclimate myself to colder runs so I can keep running outside and Saturday’s run helped.

This weekend I started to increase my running distance for my weekly long runs. I did an 8.2 mile run on Saturday that ended up being a tour of Columbus’ urban parks – Schiller Park, Columbus Commons, Bicentennial Park, North Bank Park, McFerson Commons and Goodale park. It was a good way to spend my Saturday morning.

I did need to use my marathon strategy of a walk / run mix but I did a lot of running and only a little bit of walking starting in mile 4.

In all my pace was 11:35 which was a full minute faster than my Columbus Marathon pace. So I am improving and just need to keep it up.

First Week of Maintenance Mode

As I have said over and over this was my first week after concluding my weight loss journey. So far my brain isn’t comprehending the idea that the weight loss is over. I averaged 500 calories under my goal each day which is about where my prior daily target was. I was still focused on my weight every day and was still concerned about eating too much.

I know that my brain will get there but I need to build a new routine focused on my new goals. Once I get fully immersed in the new goals I will stop focusing on trying to get more out of the old goals. After all I did exceed my weight loss goal by 32% since my original goal was just 100 pounds. So I need to stop moving the goal posts and just enjoy the new me.

Today’s approach to doing that is to take an active rest day with no weights and no running but I am going to do my first yoga class. Hopefully I like it and can make this a Sunday morning routine!

My Weekly Stats

Shown below are my normal stats that I show every week but they reflect the full year of 2018 instead of just the past week. Starting next week I will start reporting a new set of weekly stats that are less focused on weight loss (calories, pounds, etc.) and are more focused on my new goal.

2019: Be It!

Be a fit, healthy and impressive amateur athlete capable of significant and inspiring achievements.

Thanks for reading!

Last year’s final stats (1/1-12/31):
Distance walked/run: 2,127 miles
Total calories burnt: 1,288,562
Total calories consumed: 784,833
Net calories: -503,729
Weight change: 55 pounds lost, 132 pounds total