Day 323, 42 To Go

November 19, 2013

We are a little over a week away from Thanksgiving.  I normally am pretty excited for Thanksgiving, but this year, I am not.  I'm not sure why.  It might have something to do with the 7 or 8 pounds I have put on since I came back from Brazil and the knowledge that a hearty Thanksgiving followed by a month of cookies, candy, chocolate and another hearty Christmas meal will only make that number increase.

I once read that every pound of weight you gain will slow down your pace about 2 seconds per mile.  That means 8 pounds means I am running 16 seconds per mile slower all because I can't keep Klondike bars and Christmas butter cookies out of my mouth...every night.

I do love the holidays...my ass, however, does not.  Now that ass is slower than it was a month ago.  What is the solution, other than a tremendous amount of will power?

Give in.  NO!  Don't listen to him...uh, me.  What I will do, and all of you who fall into the same holiday trap, is to give yourself a day or two every week where you let yourself go a little.  Depriving yourself of all the holiday food you love will only make you fail and fail in a blaze of glory.  A little planned cheating is the difference between a 20lb holiday weight gain and a 10lb holiday weight gain.  And that, my friends, is 20 seconds per mile difference!!

Here are my numbers:

Time: 30:00

Distance: 3.38 miles

Pace: 8:53/m

Max Pace: 7:32/m

Calories: 345

Avg HR: 131

Max HR: 144

Now go enjoy some egg nog (yuck) or fruitcake (double yuck) and stop worrying about your expanding waistline.  Just pour that worry into crafting your weight loss New Year's resolutions.

Run for Life!!