To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[run.minnie.miles]

Look forward to hearing more about your new PR! Congrats!!

 

[roxymama]

@pixarmom with a 4:36:08!!! I can't remember what your marathon PR is but I'm in awe of that time! What's in the water up there in Wisconsin?

 

[ZellyB]

@pixarmom with a 4:36:08!!! I can't remember what your marathon PR is but I'm in awe of that time! What's in the water up there in Wisconsin?

Way to go, @pixarmom

 

[mrsg00fy]

I know it's not the specific time you wanted. But I'm still in awe of your speed and improvement year over year. Unicorns are a tough thing to catch, but that's why we chase them. Keep chasing!!! Just maybe take a day off

Very well said @roxymama.

Congratulations on another PR Billy. Can't wait to see the recap.

 

[dis_or_dat]

Way to go @pixarmom !

 

[sourire]

Congrats @pixarmom!!!

 

[BikeFan]

Great job by both of you! Congrats on the PR, Billy! You're an amazing runner and you should be proud of this effort. You've made an incredible journey and the best is still to come.

 

[Z-Knight]

Post race pic of DopeyBadger:



good job

 

[Sailormoon2]

What an incredible Marathon time!!! So impressive

 

[xjillianpaige]

Congratulations on races well run today, guys!

 

[rteetz]

Congrats @DopeyBadger and @pixarmom

 

[Dis5150]

Great job on a new PR Billy! Can’t wait to read about it!

 

[pixarmom]

Congrats Billy!! Really love this race and looking forward to your report! Happy to see a familiar face at the start, great to see your family, and I really appreciate the encouragement!

Many thanks to @roxymama for tracking and really appreciate the extra support from Billy's thread readers! I'll post a review over on the running thread, but this was not a PR. First half of the race was incredible - I felt great, taking an easy pace with great breathing, clear head, lots of energy with lots left. As roxy mentioned, I was 2:00ish at the half, and because I almost always run negative splits, was thinking it possible to finish in under 4:00. At mile 15, really horrible leg cramps hit suddenly in both legs - this has never happened to me before and it was truly awful. Now I'm just proud of adjusting my expectations (with no tears!) powering through and finishing! Tried to keep a @ZellyB smile on my face all the way through, and it must have worked!

 

[KSellers88]

Congrats @DopeyBadger and @pixarmom! Y'all are both amazing and should be so proud of your accomplishments! So inspiring!

 

[Ariel484]

@pixarmom that’s tough but sounds like you are tougher - mentally and physically. Way to go!!

@DopeyBadger congrats on the new PR! Looking forward to the report!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Thanks for following along everyone! I always had you guys in the back of my mind during the whole race.

Looks like dopeybadger and pixarmom both have crossed the start. It appears at 7:30 exactly. Let's go! Checking back at near 8:12 for Billy's 10k split.

Thanks for the play by play today!

My text alert said "you started running at 7:30:01" and I was like "ummm, I'm drinking coffee and eating an apple cider donut in my chair..."
Then one minute later the text for Pixarmom said "you started running..." and I started wondering if I should go start running????

LOL!

[Looks down at coffee cup. Looks down at lack of apple cider donut.]

Clearly, I'm not living my best life.

03:14:05 - well done!

Thanks!

Amazing job Billy!

Thanks!

Wow... I can't wait to hear about your race. Followed all morning. You're amazing!

Thanks for following along!

I just got back from spectating and made it early enough to see Billy! I was at the park that's along the course right before mile 20 and he looked great! I also managed to catch the lead woman go past.

All the runners looked amazing and it was very motivating! This race is definitely on my radar perhaps for next year!

Fun! Sorry I didn't notice you. I remember that section, but I was kind of in the "zone" by that point. You should definitely consider it. The Badgerland Striders consistency put on some of the best events in the state.

Congrats!!! What an awesome race!!

Thanks!

I know it's not the specific time you wanted. But I'm still in awe of your speed and improvement year over year. Unicorns are a tough thing to catch, but that's why we chase them. Keep chasing!!! Just maybe take a day off

Thanks! It's just another step in the right direction. More on that to come.

Congratulations Billy!! And...what @roxymama said...

Thanks!

As always Roxymama said it best!! Amazing job Billy, and most importantly amazing journey!!

Thanks!

Great job Billy! You inspired me to run my first mile.

Thanks! Hooray! That's awesome to hear!

Congrats on the new PR!!

Thanks!

Any PR is a great race!! ...and a 3.4% improvement in your PR is very impressive. I look forward to hearing the play-by-play. Congratulations!!

Thanks and I agree! Not what I thought would happen, but another PR and another step in the right direction.

Great PR Billy!

Thanks!

Congrats on the PR, Billy. I have no doubt it was your best today because that is what you always give. Hope you know what a motivation you are to me and many others!

Thanks! More to come on the how and why of the race.

Look forward to hearing more about your new PR! Congrats!!

Thanks!

@pixarmom with a 4:36:08!!! I can't remember what your marathon PR is but I'm in awe of that time! What's in the water up there in Wisconsin?

Woot Woot!

Very well said @roxymama.

Congratulations on another PR Billy. Can't wait to see the recap.

Thanks!

Great job by both of you! Congrats on the PR, Billy! You're an amazing runner and you should be proud of this effort. You've made an incredible journey and the best is still to come.

Thanks!

Post race pic of DopeyBadger:

View attachment 273909

good job

Thanks!

What an incredible Marathon time!!! So impressive

Thanks!

Congratulations on races well run today, guys!

Thanks!

Congrats @DopeyBadger and @pixarmom

Thanks!

Great job on a new PR Billy! Can’t wait to read about it!

Thanks!

Congrats Billy!! Really love this race and looking forward to your report! Happy to see a familiar face at the start, great to see your family, and I really appreciate the encouragement!

Many thanks to @roxymama for tracking and really appreciate the extra support from Billy's thread readers! I'll post a review over on the running thread, but this was not a PR. First half of the race was incredible - I felt great, taking an easy pace with great breathing, clear head, lots of energy with lots left. As roxy mentioned, I was 2:00ish at the half, and because I almost always run negative splits, was thinking it possible to finish in under 4:00. At mile 15, really horrible leg cramps hit suddenly in both legs - this has never happened to me before and it was truly awful. Now I'm just proud of adjusting my expectations (with no tears!) powering through and finishing! Tried to keep a @ZellyB smile on my face all the way through, and it must have worked!

It was a pleasure meeting you and your family this morning! G and Steph had a great few moments of chat with @mateojr! Proud of you and your performance today. As we were driving out of the marathon finish area I happened to glance out the window and see you. You were about 0.25 miles from the finish. I didn't react fast enough to get the window down and yell back at you. Well done today! I'll be interested to read your thoughts on your first non-Disney marathon.

Congrats @DopeyBadger and @pixarmom! Y'all are both amazing and should be so proud of your accomplishments! So inspiring!

Thanks!

@pixarmom that’s tough but sounds like you are tougher - mentally and physically. Way to go!!

@DopeyBadger congrats on the new PR! Looking forward to the report!

Thanks!

And congrats to @FelisLachesis for the win (3:07:15) in the prediction contest. Taking the over was beneficial on this day. Send me a PM and I'll email you your $10 Amazon gift card.

 

[canglim52]

Congrats @pixarmom!! Fantastic job fighting through adversity!

 

[DopeyBadger]

1922 days, 100 pounds, 8511 miles, 180 minutes and it all started with a single step…

This is my journey. A journey about weight gain. A journey about weight loss. A journey to stop letting others set my limits. A journey about learning how running can be simple and running can be complex. A journey about someone who is mildly gifted at running who wanted to set the bar as high as he thought ever achievable in a lifetime. My story isn’t unique and I hope you can find similarities in your own journey to mine. But like all journeys, they have to start somewhere and likely with a single step…

Part 1
Here comes Fire!
A hint that I might actually like running.
When the weight gain went too far.
The ups and downs of weight.

Part 2
It’s finally time for a change.
And so, it begins…
Time to train for my first adult race!
Half Marathons – that’s my wheelhouse!
Half Marathons – that’s my wheelhouse! A 5k, 10k, and HM before a Marathon?!?!?

Part 3
Now that Dopey is behind me, it’s time to nail goal #2 – a sub 4-hour marathon

Part 4
Now that Dopey #2 is behind me, it’s time to nail goal #2 – a sub 4-hour marathon
If you want it, PROVE IT, by doing what is necessary to get it!

Part 5
Hi, my name is DopeyBadger!

Part 6
Time to take training to the MAX!

Part 7
I feel the NEED for SPEED!
2017 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon Training – The first sub-3 hour and BQ attempt

Part 8
2017 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon Recap

Part 9
Just a matter of time - This chapter has yet to be written...

 

[DopeyBadger]

Here comes Fire!

My earliest memories of running occurred during middle school PE. Back in 1996-1998 it was standard practice at Memorial Middle School in Conyers, Georgia to have the kids participate in the mile. I certainly wasn’t the fastest kid, as there were a few in the mid 5 minute miles. I also wasn’t the slowest as some did their best to come in under the 12-minute goal pace. The PE class would get popsicles if everyone got under 12 minutes. I was a middle of the road athletic middle schooler. Most of my athletic time during childhood was spent in various rec sports (soccer, tee ball, etc.) and Tae Kwon Do. I was also on the heavier side of the class. This is based on memory from usually being in the heavyweight category for Tae Kwon Do sparring competitions (including the 1998 Junior Olympics). But one thing that never seemed to come naturally was running.



I remember during those Middle School years getting a red and orange pair of Nikes. For some reason, I decided that I’d mix the “Ki-ya” (an expression used in Taw Kwon Do sort of like yelling) with my running. At the end of the mile, there was a long stretch of road to the finish where everyone would be sitting on the sidewalk. I decided I would “Ki-ya” down the stretch as I pushed as hard as I could down the back stretch. I was never in contention to win anything. But I felt like it gave me power. In hindsight, I’m sure it looked and sounded pretty silly. But when I started to do this, the PE teachers took notice. They started saying each time we did the mile, “Here comes Fire!” This was in reference to my loud approach and my shoes which looked like fire on my feet. The shoes didn’t perform incredibly well on the hot Georgia asphalt either as the soles of my shoes did tend to get pretty hot during this sprint to the end. From memory, the fastest I ever ran the mile in middle school was a 7:18. But I was more commonly in the 8-12 minute range. That 7:18 one mile PR would stand for a very long time.

A hint that I might actually like running.

The next time running would come into my life were the days I would run around the track with my mom freshman year of high school. At the time, I knew others were faster than me. I couldn’t out pace them, but maybe I could out distance them. From memory, my mom used to do 5 miles at the track at a 10 min/mile. I joined her on several occasions and always got a sense of accomplishment when I would finish a 5-mile run. But the desire to run never really seemed to stick.

During my sophomore year of high school, I joined the football team to try something new. I had been in Tae Kwon Do for seven years and achieved first degree black belt status, but I was ready for something new. As was common for football players, we joined Spring sports to stay in shape. I joined the Track team and was a thrower (discus and shot put). But the throwers also go to do something else fun! The Fat Man Relays. As a non-point scoring competition, the throwers from the different schools would form 4x100m teams. Each team needed a combined weight of 800 pounds (just by honesty). We really wouldn’t practice anything, but during competition we’d toe the line and off we went. Bumbling and stumbling around the track. In my years on the track team, our school went undefeated in the Fat Man relay. Helped to have a future D1 athlete on the team who was also quite fast. But other than the occasional warm up jog around the track, or the 4x100 FMR we didn’t do much running.



During those track days, I thought to myself maybe I could do the two-mile. I remembered liking the 5-mile distance when I could keep a steady pace. So, maybe I could excel at the longer distance races. So, I talked to the coach at the beginning of the season and tried out for the 2-mile team. While I was proud of my performance, I finished last amongst the boys and most of the girls beat me as well. From memory, my time was around 17-18 minutes (8:30-9:00 min/mile pace). Unfortunately, that wasn’t good enough. So, the coach let me know I should stick to throwing because running wasn’t something in my future. I’m sure I misinterpreted the meaning behind the comment, and let’s be honest I didn’t do any type of training leading up to this try-out, but it definitely set me back in attempting to run again. So, I just stuck with the 4x100 FMR and once I ran with my sister’s 4x400 team when she didn’t have enough team members (PS-I held my own in that race neither gaining or losing).

At some point during this time my mom and I signed up for a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot. It was a 3.1-mile trail race. I remember attempting a goal of a 10 min/mile. I don’t remember much else. I know that I placed because I still have the trophy. But I don’t believe I hit the 10 min/mile goal pace. I think I was more in the 32-34 minute finishing time range for that 5k.

When the weight gain went too far

The real start to the story occurs in December 2001. I had just wrapped up my Junior year of football. I was approached by a football coach during a weight training session. The coach let me know I was too light to play offensive line on the football team. While normally my weight was in the 170-180s during the season, I was down to 165 after the season ended. So, the coach told me that in order to have an attempt to starting on varsity, I needed to gain weight. I probably didn’t take this the right way, and I certainly didn’t approach the next few months with any well thought out nutrition plan. If the coach wanted me to gain weight, well then, I’ll just need to eat more food. So off I set on eating as much food as I could. This simple conversation and then decision on my part on how I would accomplish this weight gain would have ramifications on my life for years to come.

I changed my eating habits across the board. For lunch, I use to take a giant cooler of food including a baggette roll more intended for a family than as a solo sandwich, about ½ pound of deli counter lunch meat per day, and oodles of chips/pretzels/carrots/raisins/peanuts, etc. Just a ton of food. On the weekends, I used to have a Hungry Man frozen meal. Or even worse was my Tony’s pizza (all by myself) and then my triple decker peanut butter sandwich. The triple decker was three slices of bread, peanut butter on all 4 inner sides, melted Hershey chocolate bar (as jelly of course), coconut, sprinkles, peanuts, M&Ms, etc. Let’s just say this was not a wise choice. And this was in addition to the pizza. But man did it taste so good. I also had a bad habit of eating lots of candy bars. I’d try to limit it to one per day, but let’s not kid ourselves those things were being consumed way more often than that.

By April 2002, and in time for spring football practice, I had gone from 165 to 245. That’s an 80-pound weight gain in only 4 months-time. It was around this time that I brought in my mom’s hand-held body fat analyzer. Those who were fit seem to get results to suggest so. Those who were larger got results that seemed to suggest so. That’s to say the device seemed to be working for most everyone. I gave the analyzer to one of our coaches who was much larger than I was. From memory and a guess, I’d say he was closer to over 300 pounds. When he used the analyzer, he got a body fat % of around 32%. Anything over 25% for a male is considered obese. So, it came as quite the shock when my value was 38%. Well over my much larger coach’s value, and yet for some reason this didn’t seem to drive home the fact that I had not made a good decision about gaining weight.



But if having more body fat than my coach wasn’t enough to send a signal that things were wrong, then it should have been even more alarming when I started having chest pains during football practices. It got so bad, that I eventually had to get a stress test physical at my doctor’s office. They hooked me up to an EKG machine and explained the purpose of the treadmill stress test. They would slowly increase the speed and once we hit a threshold that they didn’t define to me they’d stop the test and analyze the results. So, the doctor’s started the test and off I went. And after maybe a minute of warming up/walking on the treadmill, they said “Stop!” You’ve reached the max limit for the test. I was like “HUH?” I haven’t even started running yet. They said nope, you’ve reached the max for the test and can’t continue. I was so confused. I play football. I run around the field during practice all the time. I do sprints at the end of the practice. Yet, here I am on a doctor monitored stress test and it ends during the walking portion. It should have been another signal that things were certainly wrong, but it just never clicked for me. No heart defect was noted.

The ups and downs of weight

After graduating high school in 2003, I moved to Wisconsin to gain in state residency for attending the University of WI. During that time, I worked third shift at Target. The constant workout of the back room allowed me to lose some weight. Although I didn’t keep a scale around, I’m sure that I dropped some of that 245 pounds, but I’m fairly positive I didn’t get back down to the 165.

Although things certainly bounced back up when I attended my first year of college. The dorm life and food wreaked havoc on my weight and back up I went. Again, no scale, so I’ve got no idea where I was during those years. I’m fairly confident this pattern of losing and gaining weight would just keep happening over and over for the next couple years.



One of my worst vices was my love of ice cream. Specifically, peanut butter ice cream. Specifically, PB ice cream from a carton in which I would just take to the couch and eat out of. I’d just get lost in eating it and before I knew it, eat way more than I should of. Just one more bite. Ok, just one more. I really had little control when I got on a roll. I could always justify “just one more” and it would snowball from there. I also used to take PB from a jar onto a spoon, then Hershey’s syrup and make whatever PB ice cream I had extra PB flavored.

My girlfriend (now wife), Steph, and I would occasionally work out on the row machines, elliptical, or do some situps. But it was never something we did with any rhyme or reason. In July 2008, I visited the doctor for the first time in a long time. My weight was 239, BMI 33, BP 130/82, and resting heart rate was 84. The highside of normal for BMI is 25, so 33 is certainly beyond that. Ideally, my blood pressure would be <119/<80 and I had a BP of 130/82.



It wasn’t until April 2009 when things finally reached their peak. Steph and I were engaged to be married. Preparations were being made for our June 2010 wedding. And on one day I just broke down in tears. I was up to 255 pounds and I wasn’t happy about it. I struggled to walk up stairs. Out of breath walking around campus. My heart would pound of my chest during normal day activities. I needed to make a change. And I needed to make it soon because our wedding was coming up and those pictures would last for the rest of our lives. So, it was time to make some changes.

So that’s when I brought running back into my life. Maybe if we got out there and did some exercise (other than our full court 1v1 basketball games) I’d lose some of this excess weight. So, I used my little ATT slider phone that had some sort of basic GPS tracking on it (I think this was after my days of the Cingular Wireless phone). My wife and I just laced up our normal shoes, wore some basketball shorts, a tech shirt and I headed out the door. The route we ran was around 2 miles. I remember I used to run it as fast as I could every time out. I believe the fastest I ever did the first mile was 8:20s, but the pace would crumble on the second mile. It always seemed so impossible to run any faster. I used to finish up those runs around 22-25 minutes. So that second mile was usually in the 14-16 min range. I could do a mile, but I had no endurance to keep it up. I was always so exhausted at the end of those runs.

During one of our trips to the basketball courts where we used to play full court 1v1 games, we crossed paths with the Crazylegs Classic 5 mile race. We were just exiting the court when we saw the leader of the race running up the street. It was magical to watch him run with no one around him. He had a car ahead of him with a clock on the top of it. And it was raining no less. As we walked home, we crossed paths with this guy again as he had completed a massive loop and we just walked a straight line between them. It’s then when I realized the course of the 5-mile race went right in front of my then apartment. I stared out the window in wonder as all of those people ran by in the rain. They all seemed so happy. I mean it was running in the rain, and yet they seemed to be having fun with it. I thought to myself on that day. Someday I’ll be able to run a 5-mile race.

By October 2009, I had gotten my weight down from 239 in July 2008 to 225. My BMI had dropped from 33 to 31, and my resting HR had increased from 84 to 108. My blood pressure was 140/79.

The running didn’t stick though. I kept it up but only on rare occasions, and of course when winter in Wisconsin starts who would actually run outside? When the wedding happened in June 2010, I had successfully shed the pounds and gotten down to 210. A 45-pound loss and a victory for sure. My BMI was now 29, resting HR 80, and blood pressure of 129/74.

 

[DopeyBadger]

It’s finally time for a change



After the wedding, the bad habits started happening again, and things shifted back to bad again. I had packed the pounds back on, but it didn’t bother me too much because I was still less than my peak. It was January 2012 when I decided to visit the doctor for a voluntary routine physical that I got another wake up moment. I was having some pain in my groin and decided it would be wise just to get it checked out. Everything ended up being fine with that, but it was during that physical that I had a life changing conversation with my doctor. He asked if I had intentions to have kids. I let him know that having a kid was one of the most important things to me. The doctor informed me that I was carrying a lot of excess weight around my mid-section. I had weighed in at 222 pounds with a BMI of 30.1 and a resting HR of 83. He let me know that if I wanted to enjoy my children’s lives to the fullest I needed to make changes. The path I was on could very well lead me to an early grave. He wanted me to get my weight down to the 170-180s. It was a very important conversation for me. I wanted kids. I wanted to be a good dad. But it’s possible, my weight was going to be an issue going forward. So, I had to make changes for the future child I might someday have.

For some reason, this again wasn’t a eureka moment. I didn’t end that meeting and start dieting and exercising more. Honestly, I don’t know why. I took everything he said to heart, but it still wasn’t enough for me to be proactive. It wasn’t until my wife started exercising more regularly and using MyFitnessPal that it really took hold for me. In addition, I was going to start doing more consistent business trips and none of my nicer clothes fit. So, when I went to get some clothes and realized I was a size 42 pants, it was time.

So finally, in the middle of April right before I left for a business training class, I decided today is the day. I will start using MyFitnessPal in a real attempt to completely change my life. I don’t have any records as to what my weight was in April 2012 when I started. My memory says 230s, but I found a Facebook post from October 2012 claiming I had lost a certain number of pounds and was as little as sophomore year in high school. This would suggest my weight in April 2012 was in the 200-215 range. I’d venture to guess that the Facebook post is the most reliable starting point, although I’m pretty certain that weighing less than sophomore year was a stretch. Where ever the starting point was in 2012, I know that in 2009 when I had that breakdown it was when I was at my peak at 255 pounds and this was less but still too high.

When I started using MyFitnessPal in April 2012, I set it to an aggressive calorie goal. I had no plans to exercise. I didn’t like it. But restricting calories felt like something I could do. For those who know me, they know that I have tendencies to become obsessive about things. When researching a new TV purchase, I spent countless hours reading every review and hemming and hawing about every little detail. When a new video game was coming out, I was reading every little bit of information I could my hands on. As the UW football/basketball seasons progressed, I became a college sports junkie and would devote hours upon hours of time reading and watching. If there was something I was interested in, then I would give it supreme attention. So, when I finally made the choice to lose weight, I did so with the same veracity as those other ventures.

From memory, I set the calories goal somewhere around 1800-1900 calories. I had done a little number crunching and found that my normal diet prior to that was around 2500 calories. But I cut out many of those items. Healthier deli counter lunch meat, no more chips/pretzels, added carrots and yogurt to my lunches. Dinner would always become an issue with X number of calories left. I even took a knife to girl scout cookies and had 1/4s of 1/2s of cookies just to make sure I stayed under the calorie goal. I was also known to equate a certain number of sit-ups or pushups to a single cookie. But the one thing I never did, was I never had a cheat day. I stuck to that goal no matter what on every day. And this level of dedication paid off. As I most assuredly dropped weight. I believe I dropped pretty consistently for the first 6 weeks. I think I might have finally dipped below 200 pounds. I hadn’t seen a weight like that on the scale since before my decision to gain weight for high school football. It had taken me nearly 11 years to reverse that decision.

But as with many weight loss journeys, there came a point where my weight loss plateaued. Things slowed down and I wasn’t losing weight anymore. So, I came to a crossroads. Do I drop my calorie consumption again or do I start to exercise? I really despised exercise, so I went with a further calorie reduction. I dropped my consumption down to 1650-1700 calories. And it worked. For a little bit. Because I lost weight for a few days, and then at the end of two weeks on the lower calorie diet I had bounced right back to where I was. I read online that when you see this drop and then bounce back, it means that your body has made some sort of adjustment to the lower calorie count and you’re unlikely to continue to lose weight doing this. So, it forced my hand. No longer could I continue to drop the calorie consumption. It meant I needed to start exercising. It meant that I should probably pick up a new fitness hobby. So, I finally made that choice, that choice to take the first step.

And so, it begins…



It’s a valid consideration. When was the first step? Was it during the middle school days and being nicknamed fire? Was it when I ran a few 5 milers with my mom in high school? Was it during the winter of 2001 when I gained 80-pounds in a four-month period of time? Was it in January 2012 when I went in for a voluntary physical and had an honest discussion about my weight? Was it when I signed up for MyFitnessPal in April 2012? Or was it June 27th, 2012 the day I went for my first run in an effort to continue to lose weight?

The decision to start running wasn’t because I was in love with running. It wasn’t because I had any long-term goals with running. It was merely a means to an end. I wanted to lose weight, but I couldn’t lose any more weight through calorie restriction (or at least not at the rate I was previously losing at). It was on June 27th, 2012 that I went for my first run. Day 1. I’d be lying if I stated I remembered it at all. No epiphany run. The only thing I can remember from the general time is that I went out and ran the neighborhood as fast as I could. I likely wore a tech WI t-shirt, basketball shorts, and my normal everyday shoes. I ended up running 2.59 miles in an 11:28 min/mile (splits of 10:11, 11:28, and 13:14).

*One thing I learned years later is that my app (Runtastic) at the time was about 5% off from reality. So, all of the training times I quote until I get my Garmin are adjusted for a 5% error.

Again, this was an all-out effort. From the looks of it, I stopped to walk about 15-17 times throughout the run. I wasn’t a run/walker, but I just didn’t have the stamina to run for longer in between. I know during those initials few weeks I was always out of breath. I would be pushing up the hills as hard as I could, and then I’d reach the top and have to take a break. I remember thinking to myself there’s no way someone could be doing these hills faster. And especially without a break afterwards.

I’m a creature of habit – always have been. So, something that I did over the next few weeks is run the same route every time. My wife and I would both go running at the same time. We weren’t the same pace, but we’d race each other to the finish. She would do slightly less distance so that our total duration of training time was similar. It always led to fun sprints at the end. So, we became competitive with each other with our daily training runs. In addition, we both sought improvement on our individual routes. Always looking to shave off a few seconds from the final finish time.

After about a month of running (sometimes 2x in a week and one time 4x in a week), I had seen improvement. That same route that took me 29:44 a month ago was now completed in 26:06. I was running splits of 9:15, 10:03, and 10:14. I had gotten my walking breaks down to 7.

After about a month and a half of running (mid-August) I was ready to increase the challenge. I moved up my 2.6-mile training run to a 3.5-mile training run. Adding this extra mile slowed me down, but not too bad. I had splits of 9:27, 10:36, and 10:37.

I was starting to really like running. It gave me feedback. It was a self-fulfilling hobby. I had always enjoyed video games and college sports. But those things always felt so much out of my control. So when things went poorly for the UW Football/Basketball, it effected my mood. But as I got more and more into running, these things started to come more into focus as things I couldn’t control. But running was something I had an influence on.

It’s around this time that I had another life changing experience. One of my wife’s friends was looking to sign up for a Halloween themed race. She asked my wife if she was interested in running a half-marathon. I asked what a half marathon was because I had no idea what that meant. She explained to me it was a 13.1-mile race. I said a 13.1-mile race, I could probably do that. So, I pulled up the event’s website and checked it out. I was looking at the pricing structure for the race and noticed something called a “marathon”. I was like, oh what’s that? It looks like it is 26.2 miles. Well the cost is only $10 more and you get twice as much mileage. That seems like a better bang for your buck if you’re going to do it. So, I asked my wife’s friend if we should do the marathon instead. She had done one prior, but told me that I couldn’t do a marathon. I took that personally. No one tells me I can’t do something. If someone doubts my ability to accomplish something, then challenge accepted! I now realize that her comment was not so much you “can’t” do a marathon, but more so you “shouldn’t” do a marathon. As in, there’s only 8 weeks until race day and the furthest you’ve ever run in the last 10-12 years is 3.5 miles. I made the decision that during the week I would attempt to run 6 miles on Wednesday and 10 miles on Friday. If I could accomplish both of those runs, then I’d sign up for the marathon. If I couldn’t do it, then I’d sign up for the half marathon.

Time to train for my first adult race!

So, on 8/16/12, I ran the furthest I had ever run in my life. Six total miles (well actually 5.9 miles after an adjustment). Pace wise 10:01, 10:37, 11:00, 12:13, 12:02, 11:15. Finished the 5.9 miles in 1:06:24. Again, as always this was an all-out effort. Once I finished this run, I was feeling more confident I could run 26.2 miles. I mean it’s only ~4x longer… I took a few moments to look over online training plans and just “winged” it. Said I needed a 10 miler, 12-miler, 18-miler and 20-miler. Any weekend with a 12-miler “maintenance run” was with a 6-miler during the week too.

I also sat down and said, if I’m going to run a marathon then it’s time to set some goals. So, it was in mid-August 2012 that I set the following three goals:

1) Finish a marathon
2) Run a marathon in less than 4 hours
3) Qualify for the Boston Marathon

Finishing a marathon seemed like an obvious goal. I signed up, so I want to finish. Based on my research a sub-4 hour marathon was a good amateur US marathon running goal. I had also read online how the Boston Marathon was the pinnacle of the marathon distance for amateur runners. Only the best of the best could qualify. So, why not aim high? Who cares that I had only just run over 6 miles? Who cares that I had only started running 6 weeks prior? I said I want to qualify for the Boston Marathon. So, I set that goal. I knew it would take years to achieve. But it gave me something to strive for. A goal that felt completely unachievable that would drive me constantly.

For my age and gender a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time meant a low 3-hour marathon. But just how rare is a sub 3 hour marathon (2:59:xx). I reviewed the finishing statistics from the top 10 US marathons (NYC, Chicago, Boston, LA, Honolulu, WDW, MCM, Philadelphia, Twin Cities, Grandma, and Milwaukee Lakefront) from 2016 (so this analysis on the sub 3 hour marathon performance was done at a later time than setting the goal).



These 11 races accounted for nearly 50% of all US marathon finishers in 2016. A marathon “finisher” means a single person would be counted multiple times if they finished more than one marathon per year. The data collection showed that in the top 10 US marathons, by number of finishers, that roughly only 2% had a time less than 3 hours in the marathon, and about 4% of males 30-34 had a sub-3 hour time. That meant there would be around only 10,000 US marathon finishers faster overall and only 1600 males of 30-34. That’s not a lot of people. But first, before I could even consider Boston Qualifying, I needed to actually finish a marathon.

I finished one 10-miler (1:51:32, 11:43 min/mile), 3x 12.2-milers (2:25, 2:27, 2:00), one 17-miler (3:42, 13:06 min/mile, with a fade to a 16 min/mile at the end) and lastly the 20-miler (which was actually 19 miles in 3:34, 11:14 min/mile). I can remember that I was EXTREMELY sore during these runs. I was just dead. When I did these runs, I just set a small 16 oz water bottle on the street next to my house and had some sips as I ran by. I also invested in a tub of Endurace brand Powerbar because I read you should train with what’s available on the course. I consistently came home exhausted, dizzy and seeing spots. I couldn’t move for hours. I was training way too hard for my current fitness and I wasn’t drinking nearly enough water. I was also not replenishing calories from exercise. I continued to eat my weight loss calorie diet which meant on some days I might have burned more calories than I even ate. This is all to say, this was a DISASTER of a plan and would NEVER recommend someone follow my suit here. It was downright dangerous on so many fronts.

But with all that being said, on October 13th, 2012 I lined up at the start line of my first race as an adult. I had never run a 5k (other than the Turkey Trot as a kid), no 10ks, and no HMs. I was here to run a marathon. But while I stood at the start line of the marathon, it honestly felt like the finish line. Today was the end of a long journey of losing weight and getting in shape. This race was just the finish line of this journey. Just reflect on how 3.5 months earlier I was doing whatever I could to not exercise. I’d rather have eaten less food. And now after being “forced” to run, here I was voluntarily running 26.2 miles.

I hoped to finish the marathon in under 5 hours. So of course, I lined up with the 4:30 pace group (only the beginning of good first-time marathoner decisions to come). They gave me confidence that if I could just stick with them, then I’d finish a marathon and do so under 5 hours. I mean I had just run a training run of 20 miles in 3:34 (well actually it was 19 miles, but I didn’t know that at the time). So, I only needed to cover another 6.2 miles in 1:26 to be under a 5-hr marathon. No problem, I got this. I planned to use the on-course nutrition of powerbar liquid. No gels, no chews, just the liquid on course. I was also wearing the shoes I had trained in during the last 8 weeks (a pair of Adidas running shoes I bought at an outlet store for cheap which I later discovered were trail shoes). It was about 40 degrees out and raining. Actually, near perfect conditions outside of the rain. I said my goodbyes and lined up ready to run.

So, a 4:30 marathon is a 10:18 min/mile average. I made it about 0.2 miles in and said, wow this pace is way too slow for me. I can run so much faster than this. So, I decided since I’m so fast, I should bank time in the beginning of the race. I’ll run fast in the beginning and then as the race proceeds it’ll be easier and easier to hit my goal time because of all the banked time. (Another one of the bevy of great first-time marathon choices…). I hit the first timing mat at 5 miles around an 8:11 min/mile pace (41 minutes). Just around 6 miles after the hairpin turn, I saw my 4:30 pacing group. They yelled across the sea of people to me. What are you doing? You’re going way too fast! I told them not to worry, I was feeling great. I was on 3:34 marathon pace. Today’s my day!

I had trained during the last 8 weeks with the Endurance powder that they had on course. I did this to get a feel for the taste and make sure it worked for me. Except the first time I hit an aid station, I could tell the concentration wasn’t the same as what I had trained with. The course had a much-diluted version.

I reached the 10-mile timing mat around 1:27 with an 8:45 min/mile pace. Still feeling good. The pace had slipped a bit, but that’s why you bank time in the beginning, right? It was about a 9:20 min/mile pace between the 5-mile and 10-mile timing mat. Somewhere around this is when the 4:00 pace group passed me. I remember them saying they were a bit behind pace, but they’d make up the time. I was like, wahoo, I’m at around 11-12 miles and hanging with the sub 4 pace group. Maybe I could hold on to them and do sub 4 too. Although it does seem like things are getting harder…

I remember hitting the HM timing mat at around 2:05. I was doing so well. Halfway through and I’ve got 2:55 to finish under 5 hours. This is in the bag. I just have to maintain pace.

I hit the 15-mile timing mat around 2:21 with a 9:27 min/mile pace. The pace was really starting to slip and things were getting tough. Between the 10-mile and 15-mile was a 10:50 min/mile pace. Funny enough, while I was running a woman came up from behind and asked whether I lived in Cottage Grove. I was like, sure do. She said I recognize your hair from you running in the neighborhood all the time. LOL! How funny to run into a neighbor in the middle of the race! Around mile 17, I passed my wife’s uncle’s house. My family was out in front with cow bells and yelling and screaming for me. It was a much-needed power boost as things were getting rough. The 4:15 pacer had just passed me. Only 9 miles to go! I can do 9 miles. I can stick with that pace group. That lasted a few seconds and then they left me. We approached a massive hill (8% grade over 0.15 miles) and it just took all the will out of me. I was going to finish, but no way I could go fast anymore…

I hit the 20-mile timing mat around 3:24 with a 10:12 min/mile pace. Still ahead of the 4:30 pacers. The last 5 miles though was a pace of a 12:28 min/mile. Things were definitely slowing down and it was getting tough. I was ahead of the 20-mile training run, although things weren’t feeling nearly as good. Only 6.2 miles to go. That’s like a normal weekday run. So, so, close.

The 4:30 pacers did eventually pass me, but thankfully the pacers weren’t the same (they switched at 13.1 miles) so it saved me some embarrassment. I noticed my phone was almost out of battery and there was no way I was going to finish with battery left. This was a real issue. My family was live tracking me with Runtastic. So as soon as my battery ran out on my phone the live tracking ended. This meant my little tracking guy stopped. My family started to get worried that something had happened to me. In fact, they sent Steph’s grandparents out to drive the course to see if they could find me. Apparently, they did find me, but never flagged me down to calm concerns on my end.

The last 4 miles after my phone quit was a massive struggle. I had no pace feedback and turned into survival mode. Once I was finally only meters away from the finish line I mustered enough strength to finish while running. It was me and a 60ish year old guy. I’ll admit I tried to run as fast as possible so we wouldn’t have to share a finishers photo.

Final Time: 4:50:26 (11:05 min/mile average pace)
Overall: 317/401 (79%)
Gender: 199/236 (84%)
Division: 33/36 (92%)

Those last 6.2 miles took me about 1:26 (13:56 min/mile pace). Funny that I had pre-predicted the need for a 1:26 6.2 miler to hit the sub-5. At the beginning of the race a 1:26 6.2 miler seemed so slow and was never going to happen. But poor pacing led to that exact predicted necessary time.






I cried like a baby when I finished. One because I had finished a marathon, but more so because I was in so much pain. I could barely walk. In fact, my grandfather in law who was in his 70s had to help me into the car to go to Steph’s uncle’s house. I had to be helped up the driveway and into the house. I swore up and down, this marathon was a one and done. No way I could put myself through that again. It was an accomplishment, but I had no desire to run a marathon ever again. The sub 4 and BQ goals were gone. I just wanted to be able to walk again. I had never heard of body glide (or products like it) and had massive chafing in between my legs and giant blisters all over my feet.

At the end, about 80% of runners finished the marathon faster than me. I was one of 487,000 marathon finishers in the US in 2012. My time of 4:50 put me roughly at 390,000 faster finishers in the US than me. Of the roughly 282,000 male marathon finishers, 237,000 finished faster than me. And lastly, of the roughly 37,000 male runners from 30-34 years of age about 34,000 finished faster than me.

As I sat in my uncle in laws house, I thanked everyone for their support on marathon day as well as through the last few years. I was trying to turn my life around and having a supportive family made that easier. I wrote the following on Facebook:

“I would like to thank everyone for your well wishes and support. This has been a long 3-year journey for me. Since April, I have lost 40 lbs and now weigh less than when I was a sophomore in high school. Today was the culmination of the journey with my attempt at a marathon. I was able to complete the marathon in 4:50 below my goal of 5 hrs. Without friends and family like I have I never would have been able to turn my life around. From the deepest part of my heart I thank you all. THANKS!”

From memory, my weight was around 175. So not sure why I said sophomore year because I know I weighed around 165 winter Junior year. But regardless, I had lost a significant amount of weight from 2009 (somewhere around 80 pounds) and finished a marathon. While my body needed time to recover, I was happy to reach these milestones.

So even though I swore up and down this was my first and only marathon, Steph decided to push the issue at the celebration. She mentioned potentially doing a Disney marathon. She’s always been a Disney fanatic. We went there less than a year after we started dating. We went for our honeymoon. So, she thought maybe a marathon in Disney would be enough bait to get me to go again. But, I didn’t take the bait. I wasn’t interested in another marathon experience in my life. Then she said she had read about a “Goofy Challenge” where you run a half marathon the day before the marathon. Oh sure, that makes sense. I loved the marathon so much let’s add another 13.1 miles the day before. Nope. Nope..nope..nope. I figured I’ll stick with half marathons from now on because that seems easier to swallow.

Half Marathons – that’s my wheelhouse!

Running took a back seat to work life. I was doing a lot of traveling for work. I wasn’t highly motivated to run during some brutal 70+ hour work weeks and 15 hour days. I learned one thing during this experience – I’m not big on airline travel because it’s so “out of your control”. So, during October I ran a total of 8 times, only 10 times in November, and only 4 times in December. I stuck with my 3 mile route for nearly every run. I finished out 2012 having run a total of 335 miles (7 total months).

After losing weight and running the marathon, I felt accomplished. Co-workers, friends, and family would let me know how proud they were of me and reaching my goals. But consistently, something that always stuck out to me was how people would mention how they noticed how big (or fat) I used to be. Everyone around me seemed to know I had a weight problem. But to an extent, while I knew I had a weight problem, I certainly never thought it was that noticeable. Many told me they just didn’t want to tell me I had a problem. But now that the weight is gone, they felt as if they could share those details. Obviously accepting the congratulations felt good, but sometimes it felt like a kick to the stomach to hear those around you knew you had a problem but wouldn’t share. It’s probably something I shouldn’t have let bother me, but it certainly did.

One of the first things I did after the marathon was go out and buy a Nathan’s water bottle belt. I felt that during training and during the race, not having that water available to me on demand was a hindrance. So, by having a water belt that I could carry my own supplies, then I could mix my carb drink to my desired concentration.

With my marathon experience behind me, I needed to focus on something else. I found a local HM (Parkinsons HM) that was literally just down the street. So, I signed up for the local April HM. January was only 10 runs with the 3-mile route (average pace of 8:55-9:27 min/mile). Unlike my brutal increase in mileage during marathon training, I was much more conservative over many months of training. While the mileage was increasing more slowly, the “PR the day” mindset was still holding true. February brought another 10 runs and with it more PR the days. March was 9 runs, but the training was certainly hit or miss. I was gearing up for the last month of training for my April HM when I got this email:

From: Steph
Date: 3/22/2013
Subject: Check this out

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...medals-to-walt-disney-world-marathon-weekend/

you can do all the races

Half Marathons – that’s my wheelhouse! A 5k, 10k, and HM before a Marathon?!?!?

All the sudden, all of those memories of how bad an experience actually running a marathon was faded away. Now I was introduced to a new challenge. The Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge - 4 days, 4 races, 4 theme parks, 6 medals, and 48.6 total miles. All the sudden my interest was piqued in doing another marathon. I really must be a glutton for punishment. I had only done one race total (the October marathon) and now I’d like to try 4 more races on consecutive days??? At some point after finding out about the Dopey Challenge and signing up for it, I stumbled across the website DISboards.com. I never built up the nerve to post, but I started reading all I could about this runDisney stuff and the Dopey Challenge.

With three weeks to go until my first HM, I ran a mock race (13.1 miles). Granted while runtastic said I ran 13.1 miles because of being off by 5% I really only ran 12.4 miles in 1:56 (9:23 min/mile). I felt confident for my first HM.

When April 9th rolled around, I officially registered for the Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge.

I don’t remember a ton about my first HM race. I remember it occurred right after the Boston Marathon bombing. I remember that the wind chill was in the mid 20s. I remember that my wife also ran the HM. I remember that instead of relying on the on-course nutrition, I decided to bring my own. I had purchased a running belt with water bottles. The biggest thing that came out of that race was a shortened course due to an error in measurement. The race was only 12.5-12.8 miles long (no one really knew for sure). So, I had originally thought I’d broken 2 hours (1:55:35), but in reality, with an adjustment for the short course it was probably just over 2 hours.



With my first HM behind me, the next 9 months were devoted to training for Dopey. I continued with 3 days per week of running through May and June. I upped my weekday run from 3.5 miles to 4.75 miles. Still doing PR the day with pacing between 8:25-8:45 min/mile. Just not a ton of variation in pacing from day to day. I had decided that I would follow the Dopey Challenge Training plan from runDisney written by Jeff Galloway. Except I did continuous running instead of run/walk and I didn’t do my long runs at 2 minutes slower than goal marathon pace. I mean I could do it faster, so why slow down to 2 minutes per mile slower? I kept up that PR the day mindset.

On 6/6/13, we got some big news! Steph was pregnant! We were going to be parents and have our first child. Since I was into running now, I decided the best way to announce was by doing this:



In late August 2013, I ran a mock 3.1 miles (actually 2.9) in 23 minutes (average pace 7:51 min/mile). So, after 13 months of running I had taken my 5k PR from about 35 minutes (from that first run extrapolated out) to about 24 minutes. I was making good progress on my short distance running. I ran a mock HM in late September in 2:03 (probably a little slower than the April HM) off my first back to back day. In early November, I ran a Galloway Magic Mile in 7:02. This marked an important moment because after 17 months of training I had finally run a single mile faster than when I was a middle school kid. I maxed out my training in November and December with 18.75 mile runs in 3:07 and 3:03. Still had that PR the day mindset. The 2013 year came to a close having run 780 total miles.

Finally, in January 2014, the Dopey Challenge had arrived. With just two total races under my belt, I was ready to run 4 races in 4 days. I went with a superhero theme for the races.



I also secretly attached a small piece of paper to my shirt.



I don’t really remember any of the races individually. I remember meeting a nice couple (who I’ve run into at each Dopey afterwards). I know that my goal going into every race was to PR. I had set goal times of 23 min, 50 min, 1:55, and 4:00. I figured I’d be able to nail that sub-4 marathon off my list and move onto the other goals. I was also aiming for a sub 7:08 for the cumulative Dopey time. Additionally, my goal was to beat my bib #. Since corrals and bibs were assigned by proof of time, then anyone with a lower Dopey bib must have had a faster qualifying time. My bib # was 31031. So, approximately 1031 runners had a faster proof of time than me. My final times were as follows:

5k – 23:36
10k – 51:45
HM – 2:11:56 (I remember this one being really hot)
M – 4:35:07
Dopey – 8:02:24
Beat the bib – 914th vs Bib 1031

I had set a new PR at 5k, 10k, and the Marathon. But I missed out on the PR for the HM. I had missed on every time goal though. But I’ll be honest, I was so emotional when I saw the choir at mile 26 of the marathon. I was sobbing again like a little baby when I crossed the finish line of the marathon. I had achieved a new high for me. Running 4 races in 4 days was hard, but it was fulfilling. By ranking, I finished in 914th place out of 6139 Dopey finishers (top 15%) based on cumulative time (thanks goes to those more crafty with Excel than myself who were able to put these summaries together – Brett and CPTHomer). Also, just beating my bib # of 1031 as well!

After the marathon, I was on the bus back to the resort. A man and his family were sitting there enjoying his marathon finish. Around his neck was a Goofy medal, but the ribbon was unlike mine. As we got to chatting, he told me that he was a “Perfect Goofy” which meant he had completed every Goofy since the beginning. I was in awe that runners were awarded special recognition for completing the race consecutively. So, I decided a new goal would be to remain Perfectly Dopey for as long as I could manage it.

In addition, my mom had started her own running journey. She ran the Disney 5k. Her goal was to run a 5k, then 10k in 2015, then HM in 2016, then marathon in 2017, and finish with Dopey in 2018.