I last ran on Friday, for the first time in a long time. And, I decided to take Saturday as a recovery day. I wanted to run on Sunday but it poured rain, all day. And, yesterday, Monday, I had a “hell day” at work – a really bad one – and I had to manage my son’s Little League team in a game last night. No time to run, at all.

Actually, because of the bad day, and the game, I had to work again once we got home from the game. And, I was up until 1 AM dealing with that issue. I also did not sleep well – I woke up at 3 AM with terrible hiccups (which is extremely rare for me). Needless to say, I was not happy when the alarm went off at 6 AM to get up.

The run was OK. I took my harder route to push myself. And, I had to break it down to a walk at the 2.5 and 2.8 mile marks, for a tenth of a mile, each time. Overall, I covered the 3.1 miles in 26 minutes and 47 seconds.

Now, to push myself more, I signed up for a 5K race on June 2nd. It’s a huge crowd. (I’ve done this one before.) I’d like to run at least 5 more times between now and the race.

This is workout #33 for 2013.

Much to my amazement, I did a 5K and ran the 3.1 miles without stopping. My time was 26 minutes and 15 seconds. All things considered, this is huge for me. If I can run again on Sunday, I may just sign up for a 5K race that’s coming up in two weeks.

This is workout #32 for 2013.

Last Wednesday, my weight was 175.3 pounds. And, today, it is 176.9 pounds.

I need to start forcing myself to workout or run every morning. And, I need to lay off the pizza, chips and nuts.

Last Wednesday, my weight was 175.2 pounds. And, today, it is 175.3 pounds.

With all the crap I have been eating lately, and the lack of exercise, I am surprised that it’s not higher.

I hit the wall at the 1.75 mile mark. And, that was no shock considering it’s been a very, very, long time since I went running on a regular basis. From there, I did the alternating walk/jog thing for the rest of the route.

My total time, overall, walks included, for the 3.1 miles was 27 minutes and 25 seconds. That’s not good for me, at all. At my best, I can do this route between 25 and 25 1/2 minutes. Getting back to that pace is my next goal.

This is workout #31 for 2013.

I am not surprised that it’s up a little. It was my son’s birthday this past weekend and I ate too much crap at his party.

I am more annoyed with my lack of workouts. I have been so busy with home, work, and my son’s baseball teams, that I never get to the gym or run.

The last time I went to the gym was 63 days ago. That’s obscene. Nine weeks? That’s a sin.

The last time I went for a run was 22 days ago. And, it seems longer than 3 weeks. I had no idea if I can even run a 5K anymore without stopping or having a terrible pace.

I hate myself for allowing this to happen.

I am still in workout wasteland. Every night I go to bed and say “Tomorrow is the day where I get back into a workout routine!”

And, I always wake up the next day and it doesn’t happen – with work and life getting in the way.

Well, while I may be getting soft and out of shape, at least I am not getting fat.

I had a very salty dinner last night. And, I wonder how much of that is part of the weight gain?

In any event, I am not working out these days and that doesn’t help me. I am very busy with my son’s baseball teams. And, that keeps me out and about, and on the fields, five days a week. But, it’s not the same as running 3.1 miles or lifting weights for an hour. I need to get back to that type of workout.

I think the answer is getting up earlier and getting it done before the day gets in the way. And, I know that sounds easy. Yet, for me, right now, it’s very damn hard.

I think all this running around with Little League and Travel baseball stuff is bringing cause for me to eat later and smaller dinners – and that’s why my weight is moving down.

So, this morning, I went for a 5K run. It’s the first time that I really ran in a month. My goal was to make it without stopping to walk.

It was hard – most of the time out there, I had to distract my brain by rehashing our game last night and thinking about what we were going to do in practice today. I knew, if I let myself dwell on how I felt, how far I went, and how much more I had to run, I would have stopped. My head is my biggest foe when running.

I pushed, and I pushed, but, I made it! I ran the entire 3.1 miles without stopping. My time was 26 minutes and 18 seconds. And, that’s not good for me. However, when you consider that I haven’t run in a month, and the last time I tried to run my hamstring went out, and that I had to walk during my last 5K run/race, this is a huge victory – no matter what the time.

This is workout #30 for 2013.

I am surprised that it’s not higher given all my stress eating and not exercising lately.

I haven’t been to the gym since February 27th. That’s 33 days. And, I haven’t run since March 9th. That’s 23 days.

Granted, I had a killer stomach flu on March 12th. And, while the worst of that was for the week that followed, I was not feeling “right” from that until March 27th.

During those two weeks, I did some “stuff” – like baseball workouts with my son and practices with our Little League team. (I’m the manager.) And, I also started ripping up some carpet in my home – which has been murder on my legs (especially my knees). But, for the most part, I was a couch potato during those 15 days.

On March 28th, I started to feel like me again – and, then, I made a mistake. I went to my son’s travel baseball practice and volunteered to run the bases while the coach was putting the team through some practice on defense. I got out there, cold, with the benefit of stretching or warming up. And, the turf was loose sand and I was wearing sneakers (and not cleats). Of course, I started sprinting from the start and I really felt it in my left hamstring. It hurt – really bad.

I have been resting it since that time – but still did some work in the house on the carpet. (It’s a lot and I have been doing it in sections.)  And, my legs have been super sore.

Today, I hit my limit. I had to get out there and try something. So, at 5:30 PM, after work, I decided to go for a 5K run. My legs were still sore. But, my hamstring felt better.

I lasted all of five steps. As soon as I started to take off on my run, it felt like someone shot me in the left leg. The best I could do was a very slow jog with a terrible limp. And, after one-tenth of a mile doing that, I threw in the towel.

At this point, I am defeated. I am a total failure in terms of exercise. And, I don’t know when that is going to change.

How does someone gain 5 pounds in a week?

It’s a combination of things. First, that one-seventy was a fluke weigh-in. That’s too light for me. Second, I am not working out – at all, these days. And, third, and most important, I ate like a pig this past week.

Hey, it all adds up.

Today, at 2 PM, I took my soon to be 9-year old son to the park for a baseball workout.

We played catch. Then, we did some long toss. Once we were loose, he played first base and threw grounders to me at shortstop – where I made the plays throwing the ball to him. After a while, we traded places and did it again – with me throwing grounders to him and taking his throws. Then, he put on the catcher’s gear and I pitched to him from 46 feet. I most have thrown close to 40 pitches. Lastly, we traded places and he pitched to me – except I didn’t wear any catcher’s gear.

I wanted to throw him some fly balls too. But, he was cooked after pitching. We were out there for an hour and fifteen minutes. And, that’s a lot of throwing for him.

It’s not much of a workout for me. No where near doing a 5K run. And, it’s not the same stress on my muscles as hitting the gym. But, all things considered, it was better than nothing. So, I am counting it.

This is workout #29 for 2013.

I know why my weight is dropping. (It was 178.2 pounds on February 13th.)

I am not working out regularly. It’s been 11 days since I did any exercise – still feeling the tail end of being sick 9 days ago.

This has to change – and fast.

But, I can’t consider today’s weight as a “true weight.” My entire house had the stomach flu since last Friday. And, I was the last in line to come down with it. I started vomiting yesterday morning around 1 AM. And, as a result, sans a small snack at 8 PM on Monday, I had nothing to eat between 6 PM on Monday and 6:30 PM yesterday (when I had some toast). Along with the flu was a fever. And, I slept in bed from 7 AM to 6:30 PM yesterday (waiting for it to break).

This was the first time I had the stomach flu since December of 2001. That time was worse. But, this one was no fun either.

By rough average, I usually finish in the top 25% of my races.

Considering that I never ran, ever, for the first 48 years of my life and have only been really running now for 2 years, I think that’s pretty impressive.  And, at the least, it tells me what my benchmark should be for future races.

There were 274 runners in the race – and I finished 67th overall. Also per the results, I finished 45th out of the 135 men running the race. And, lastly, I finished 4th out of the 20 men who ran the race between the ages of 50 and 59.

The time on my Forerunner for this one was 26:14.  And, in the race results, it had me at 26:08 on the chip and 26:25 on the gun. So, I’ll take the chip time for today. That’s still a minute slower than I would like to see. I know I can do better than that time.

It was windy out there – very, very, windy.

The race was a “3 mile” there and back.  (I say “3 mile” in quotes since my Forerunner actually had it at 3.13 miles – which is a 5K in my book.)  I did good going “there.”  But, as soon as I made the turn to come “back” the wind slammed me in the face.  And, I never do good running into the wind.

I found a really big (tall and wide) guy and I ran behind him for a while to cut the wind.  But, he was going too slow and eventually I had to get round him and expose myself.

At the 2.65 mile mark, I lost my breath and I had to break it down into a walk.  And, I have never done that before in a race.  After a tenth-mile, I started running again.  But, two-tenths of a mile later I had to walk again.  I was gassed.  Nonetheless, I sucked it up and ran across the finish line.

My total time for the 3.13 miles was 26 minutes and 13 seconds by my timing.  (I still need to see what the official time is once that is released.)

When I got back to my car, I went into a coughing fit – clearly my cold telling me that we’re not done.

At the least, there were a lot of people finishing behind me.  And, this is workout This is workout #28 for 2013.

Two weeks ago, my weight was 175.4 pounds.   So, it seems like this (meaning “175″) is my new steady state.  It will be interesting to see if this changes once I get back into working out on a regular basis.

Sunday, I was sick.  But, we had things to do and I pushed on with our errands.  That was a mistake too.  On Monday morning, I was dying with a cold, cough and sore throat.

This was odd for me – since I rarely get sick.  And, even more odd is the fact that I still have it now – going on Day Four.  I feel like crap today.  All I want to do is sleep.  But, I have to work, etc.

In three days, I am supposed to run in a 5K race.  At this point, I have no idea how that is going to happen.  If I am not 100% better in the next two days, I don’t think I can even try it.

I thought I was running faster than that pace.  I had my music player blasting and I thought it was motivating me.  Maybe not?  In any event, I would like to see an overall time a minute faster than that one.

I have a race in 9 days.  It will be interesting to see what my time is that day.

This is workout #27 for 2013.  And, my pace is working out 48% of the time.  My goal is to workout 60% of the time.  So, obviously, I am behind where I need to be after the first two months of the year.

• Bench Press
• Hammer Strength Rows
• Hammer Strength Shoulder Press
• Ab Coaster
• Hammer Strength Leg Extensions
• Icarian Leg Curls
• Icarian Tricep Extension
• Icarian Camber Curls

It was hard. And, I felt weak. But, that’s what you get when you hardly get to the gym.

This is workout #26 for 2013.

Now the trick is to try and find a way to get in a run tomorrow. I am not sure if it’s going to be raining in the morning. And, at night, my 8-year old son has indoor travel baseball practice from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM – and then I have to stay home with him until my wife and daughter get home from an after-school event. And, that may not be until 8 PM.

Running in the cold and dark is not my first choice.

Saturday, my 8-year old son had a rec-league basketball game followed by a party. That took us to 3 PM. And, then, we had family errands to run.

Sunday, my son had two travel basketball games and a Little League tryout. That kept us busy from 9:30 AM until 6:30 PM.

Monday, after work, I was just tired and in no mood to hit the gym. And, yesterday, Tuesday, I met friends after work and didn’t get home until 9:30 PM.

Big day today. I need to hit the gym and stop this streak before it hits five days.