A Prize, a Goal and a Birthday Guy

In celebration of my wonderful husband's birthday I want to share a little something that makes me a very proud wife.

Like me, after we lost significant weight two years ago, he managed to put it all back on. He was super discouraged. However, several months ago, something clicked in him again. He made a commitment and he took it off again. I think there was a little bit of The Force involved. I will let him explain.

He lost about 60 pounds to get to his Sandcrawler goal of getting under 200 pounds!!  He was crazy focused.  Since then he has lost another 15 pounds.

Seriously, I think he ran straight from the scale to the box. Out of the box comes his big prize. Bag after bag of teeny tiny LEGOs.

 I love how methodical he is. Each bag is sorted by color and shape before he begins assembling.

I believe the Sandcrawler is his new favorite LEGO set. He hasn't told me which one he has his sights on next, but no doubt there will be another....

For awhile he has been toying with the idea of running a marathon. Now that has to negotiate the maintenance side of weight loss he has made the decision to stop toying with the idea of a marathon and instead make it happen. Focusing on marathon training is giving him a new perspective on fueling his body and maintaining his weight. He looks fantastic and feels better than he has in a long time.

For several months he has run up to 5 miles a day 6 days a week. Three weeks ago he ran his first official "long run" of his marathon training. We dropped him off 10 miles down the river road and met him back near town. I was a little nervous about the fog.

By the time we got to the drop off point the sun was coming out and the fog was lifting.

Off he goes. He later admitted about 2 miles in he started to wonder what he got himself into.

The Piasa Bird is a Native American dragon depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on bluffs above the Mississippi River. The original is long gone and this is a 20th century reproduction. 

I know this is a post about my husband, but I can't help but continue sharing my obsession with all things road related - man hole covers, locate markings and now drains. Have seen manhole covers from this foundry before. I love that this tells you right where the drain leads.

More quickly than I expected he comes around the bend. The blue ribbons on the pole are in honor of a local police officer killed in the line of duty. This road was part of the funeral procession a few days before this run.

As he clears the final obstacle of his 10 mile run we are there to cheer him to the finish.

Training is going well. The next Saturday he completed a 13.1 mile run - an unofficial half marathon - in just under two hours.

For my husband's birthday, we picked out some cold weather running gear. Although it has been an unseasonable warm fall, winter is coming. Wardrobe is going to be a bit tricky since he will be training in considerably colder weather. There is so much to consider in addition to just being able to run the distance.

Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out for me to go with him since the first run. I love this picture he took before his 15 mile (yes, 15 miles - I can't believe it!) run this Saturday. The happiness and pride I see on his face is priceless.

So when will this marathon take place? Ten weeks from today...January 15. He is officially signed up for the Louisiana Marathon in Baton Rouge. We booked our hotel on Priceline, so there is no turning back :)  I am super excited to just be taking a little trip with him. We have been together almost 7 years and this will be our first trip alone together. Here is to a speedy race and a speedy race recovery!! We plan to stay in the area for a couple days to sight-see, sample authentic Cajun cuisine, and visit friends. I can't wait to spend some time with a couple of my Lovely Ladies.

Happy Birthday to the Love Of My Life! I am so proud of you and can't wait to cheer you on :)

Change of Scenery

This morning my husband's alarm didn't go off. By the time we woke up he didn't have enough time to get his run in before work. I still had time to get my walk in because I leave much later than he does. Even though he didn't have time to get his run in he did have a few extra minutes to sleep in. So you know I am not going to get out of a cozy bed with a husband in it - so, I didn't walk this morning. I debated getting up...I really did. But I ended up making a deal with myself that since it is unseasonably cool this week that I could sleep in a bit if I walked on my lunch hour at work.

I packed my walking shoes and clothes and headed off to work. About a 11 a.m. I decided to get walking before it got much warmer.  My office is just a block or so off a historic street. I drive down that street everyday to and from work. I was excited to walk down it so I could get a better look at some of the beautiful houses.

This one is for sale!!  Probably a little out of my price range :(

The local school district's offices are in this old house.

Apparently I have no concept of distance.  I thought for sure I would be close to three miles if I walked to the end and back.  But, the street wasn't as long as I thought.  There was a cemetery at the end, so I walked around it for awhile to get in another half mile.

I thought this was a pretty grand entrance to the family plot.

Not to be morbid, but I think cemeteries are fascinating. I love to look at the names. I can't help but imagine their life stories. There were graves from the 1800's. (There were also recent graves as the cemetery is still open for burials.) I saw a headstone for a boy I imagined died in WWI - right year, right age. I saw another headstone with 4 sides - each one had a name and birth/death years - two of the four had died under the age of 3. One had the name and 1900-1900 :( 

I didn't realize how big the cemetery was or that it was so hilly. My legs definitely got some extra burn going up and down the hills.

On the way back to my office I took a detour down a side street to get in more mileage.  I really didn't want to do less than 2.5 miles.  By the time I got back to the office I was at 2.9 so I made a turn and went another block or so to get in a full 3 miles.

With all my exploring and picture taking my pace wasn't anything special, but I was pleased to average about 17 minute miles. I am not sure I will have too many cool summer days, but this fall I will definitely put that route on my walking schedule. I nice brisk walk breaks up the work day nicely too.

Since my husband didn't do his morning run he wanted to run this evening. We went to one of the bike trails to avoid the neighborhood traffic. I rode my bike along with him. I can't believe how far he has come. He ran 5 miles - each under 10 minutes - last one in 8:13 - CRAZY!

Of course, I took lots of pictures. The sky was incredible with the fluffy white clouds on the perfect blue sky background. Thankfully, I did not run over my husband taking my crazy shots. I was a little scared for him in this first one.

Home for dinner. Tonight was chipotle pork and pineapple lettuce wraps. It is an adaptation of a pineapple pork taco I've made in the past.

Today was a much better day than yesterday. I appreciate all your kind words of encouragement.  I know we all fight the same feelings at times and I know you understand :)