Shrimp and Grits 5K

Donna and I completed our first 5K of 2013 on 19 January 2013. The race was the Shrimp and Grits 5K which was part of the Charleston Marathon race weekend. In addition to the 5K there was also a 1/2 and full marathon. We picked this race as our first one because the race is walker friendly and we are currently in the walking stage. We also picked this race because it was close to home :).

Here's a picture of us prior to the start of the race. We were bundled up pretty good because it was cold!

Here we are sporting our bling from the race.

This is a GPS track log of the course we completed. It was a nice flat course.

Catch Up Post

Quick catch up post. A lot has been going on since my last post way back in September. For starters I injured my leg and had to stop my couch to 5K training. I'm better now but still have not running any. Instead I have been walking and doing a little yoga. My wife has joined me in the 13 in 2013 adventure and we've already completed our first 5K which I'm going to write up next.

Week 1 Day 2 Work Out Summary

Felt pretty good today. A little sore but it's all above my knees so I'm happy with that. According to the application I covered 3.20 KM (1.9 miles) at a pace of 9:23 per KM.

Week 1 Day 1 Workout Summary

They say that a journey of 1000 miles begins with one step. Well today I took that first step! I completed Week 1, Day 1 workout traveling 3.16 KM (1.9 miles) at an average pace of 9:28 per KM. I'm not concerned at all with the pace at this time but figured I'd post it because it's one of the stats the application provides.

Yours truly after completing my first workout.

Welcome

Welcome to my newest blog 13 in 2013. My other blog is Camera Guy Zack where I write about my photography hobby.

What's This Blog is About
Over the Labor Day holiday weekend my brother, Lew, and I were talking about exercise and a whole host of other topics and he said that he knew he should be exercising but that exercising just for the sake of exercising wasn't enough to get him out the door. I share those exact same feelings. You'd think that just having a doctor telling you that you are obese and have type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure would be enough to get you to change your life. For whatever reason that just didn't do it for me. I know I am an idiot for thinking that way but that's the truth.

While we were talking he told me that he wanted to start running and get in shape to run some 5K races. I got to thinking about it and since I'm also motivated to exercise by having a specific goal I emailed Lew with the following idea: We would start exercising now and meet some place in January 2013 and run a 5K together. We would then meet again in April 2013 (my birth month) and run another one together. We would also meet again in August 2013 (his birth month) and run another one together.

Last night I got to thinking about running the 5Ks and given that next year is 2013 and the number 13 is a special number for my wife, Donna and me I decided I would expand the idea of running the three 5Ks with my brother in 2013 to running 13 5K's in 2013. Hence the name of this blog 13in2013.

Goals for 13 in 2013

1. Complete all 13 races.
2. Lose enough weight so that the first digit of my weight is a 1 which means getting down to 199 pounds or less. This one is going to be difficult to obtain but I'm going to do my best and not beat myself up if I don't make it.
3. Do not injure myself. I know there will be aches and pains along the way but I don't want to do anything to seriously injure myself. I know I don't heal as fast as I used too.
4. Document my journey and share it with others.
5. Write a book about it. I've always wanted to write a book so at the end of the journey I will write a book and self-publish it.
6. Have fun!

I'm sure I will come up with other goals and when I come up with a new one I'll add it to my list.

How I'll Train
I'll be using my iPhone along with the Active.com Couch to 5K training application to prepare myself for the 5K races. I personally think the run/walk method is the best way to train. I know my body is already under a lot of stress due to my health condition and there's no smart reason for stressing it harder than I have to as I transition from a couch potato to 5K runner.

After I complete my work outs I'm planning to post them on Facebook and here on the blog. I will talk about each workout here on the blog and post the statistics for each one as well. Even though I live in the USA I plan to track my workouts using metric measurements. For me saying that I completed 1K sounds better than completing 6/10th of a mile. I know it's weird but anyone that knows me knows I kind of like weird things :).

Well I'm going to close this post and go lace up the running shoes and hit the road.