Markemmanuel

I noticed my shirts getting tighter as well.  Am I shrinking my shirts?  Did I nuke my pants in the dryer?  Maybe it’s a good time to update my look.  Cycling gear requires very specific measurements if it is to fit properly. I needed to add to my arsenal of bike clothing (I used to be primarily a runner) so I took my measurements.  I’m really disappointed after seeing the results.

I balloned a lot.  I thought I gained an inch in my waist but it ended up being three inches.  The waist and hip measurements is a big tell on health.  There’s a strong correlation between our waistlines and health.  People with high waist circumference have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.  The danger zone is over 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men.  Guess where my waistline is at?  Yup.  It’s in a bad place at 41 inches.

I jumped on the scale. My height and weight puts my body mass index (BMI) at a 30.9. A BMI over 30 is considered obese. Ouch. It’s time to put my energy into getting back to my September 2012 weight of 187 pounds.

My mood and feeling reflects this weight gain.  I’ve been noticeably less confident.  I feel lousy everyday.  My fuse is getting a lot shorter.  I like the patient, chipper, and confident me.

I bought a set of clothing that fit my current body. The gear for my arms and legs were sized for my current measurements.  I chose sizes that fit the fitter, stronger, and faster Mark for the rest of my purchases.

I’m on summer break from NIU. I decided not to take classes this summer.  The big summer sale ended at work. I’ll have time and energy to challenge this weight gain.

Every goal needs a deadline. Without deadline, goals become unrealized dreams.  I’m going to commit the next 60 days to getting myself back to my August 2012 weight of 187 pounds.

Below are my measurements as of May 25th:

• Ankle: Left – 10.5″ Right – 10.5″
• Calf: Left – 16.5″ Right – 16.5″
• Thigh: Left – 25″Right – 25″
• True Inseam: – 33″
• Hip: 42″
• Belt: 38″
• Waist: 41″
• Wrist: Left – 7.25″ Right – 7.25″
• Arm: Left – 7.25″ Right – 7.25″
• Chest: 42-43″
• Weight: 212lbs.

I don’t know exactly what exercises and sports I’ll be doing to shed the weight.  I know it will involve cycling and running.  I also know that I need to work on my nutrition and time management.  I lost a lot of training time last semester from commuting and pledging.  I definitely consume more calories than what is needed. Many of those calories are empty.

Sixty days.  We’ll see where I will be in sixty days.  I promise to document and report my progress often. Does anyone have tips, advice, and experience they can share to help me on my journey?

Almanzo 100 Starting Line

PS – If you see yourself in a photo and want a copy of it, drop me an email.

There are certain things in life that you know are special.  You don’t know what it is but you do what you can to be there.  This is one of those events.

A lot of things conspired to keep me from riding the Almanzo 100.  Matt and I did our best to make sure one of us will be able to ride. I did manage to create just enough time to support Matt on his journey.  Despite the protest of my managers at work, I switched shifts on the Friday before the race so we can leave at 6p instead of 9p. We left for Minnesota on time. Other than almost killing a opossum, our drive to our hotel in Rochester, MN was uneventful.

After four hours of sleep, Matt and I left Rochester, MN for Spring Valley.   We met up with Wade, Ben, and Sam.  They rode to the starting line as I took photos. Chris Skogen, the founder and race director, went over the rules, what this race is all about, what it meant to him, and what it meant to everyone else.  We sang happy birthday to his son Jack.

I loved walking around the start because I saw a range of age groups and styles of bikes.  An image I caught with a rider and his son reflects this awesomeness.

I drove back to Rochester, MN to take a nap and plan the rest of my day.  It was a gorgeous day and I can’t let waste a great weather.  I wanted to ride.  I viewed Minnesota as being super bike friendly and expected to find bike trails and routes around the state.  Minnesota did not disappoint. There were many trails in the area. I decided to ride the Harmony-Preston State Trail a trail that connects its namesake towns.  Even if I didn’t ride bikes, there was a ton to do in the area, like see the Trout Days parade!

I drove to Preston, “Minnesota’s Trout Capital.” I parked at the trailhead of the state trail and rode my bike into town. By pure luck, I saw Matt refueling.  We chatted a bit. He sounded fine.  He appeared that could ride another 60 miles.  His body language said, “Ugh… sixty more miles?!” Matt, Wade, Ben, and Sam grab some fluids. Wade shared his spoke wrench with a rider in need.  They headed back out on the course.

I rode out of town with them.  I wanted to ride either 20 minutes or if we hit the missing bridge.  Before you know it, we get to the bridge.  Cyclists took a minute or so to decide whether or not they should remove their shoes and socks.  The guys decided to remove the shoes.

I stood there slightly jealous and took photographic evidence that they did indeed go through the cold spring fed water.  I told them that I’ll see them at the finish line. We parted ways.  I headed back into town to check out the car show and ride the Harmony-Preston State Trail.

After a couple hours of riding and a broken spoke, I returned to my car and headed back to Spring Valley.  I waited and took in everything at the finish line. Hugs, cheers, and stories were shared by all. My brother said that Chris Skogen was supposed to be at the finish line shaking everyone’s hands.  Through the Twitters and conversations, I found out that he went to mile 81 to personally reroute the race because a river crossing turned into a raging river crossing.  Instead of sending a volunteer, he went by himself to ensure everyone is okay.  Later that night, Matt drilled into my head, “First right. First right. Right on pavement. Left on Orion. Look for 210. Got that?”

In the interest of rider safety, I will not be at the finish line to shake your hand, but rather manning a reroute to avoid disaster.

— Almanzo 100 (@Almanzo100) May 18, 2013

They finally crossed the finish line at 8:18p.  They did a great job. They looked like they rode 100 miles.

They slowly packed their gear up and change into ‘civilian’ clothing.  They were hungry but the pizza placed closed at 9p. We ate at the Spring Valley A & W. There were so many cyclist grabbing a meal there. The guys exchanged a few comments about Almanzo.  The tables around us buzzed about Almanzo.

While sitting there, I thought, “How awesome is this?! This was started by one guy and his friends five years ago. Today it brings cyclists to ride as friends.  Groups became closer. If you rode solo before the Almanzo, you’ll make friends during the 100 miles. One guys love for cycling has brought a positive economic and cultural impact to Southern Minnesota.  Amazing.”

A lot of things conspired to keep me from riding this year. I’m glad that I went through the headache of trying to switch and giving away shifts at work so I can support my brother.  As a non-rider, it’s still an event to experience.  This race has inspired me on so many levels.

A BIG THANK YOU goes out to Chris Skogen and the whole Almanzo crew for running this great event.  I’ll see everyone at the starting line in Spring Valley, MN in 2014.

It’s been a long rough spring semester. The weather conspired against me. My decisions this semester made life more frustrating. A certain professor caused me a lot of headaches.  I learned from this experience.  I survived it. I actually improved my cumulative GPA slightly. I’ll be making adjustments so the fall semester will be amazing.

Foul Weather

I love and loathe commuting to NIU.  The Chicagoland area receives a mixed bag of weather.  I dealt with a few nasty winter storms, lots of spring rain, and a flood. I never understood how NIU decides to cancel classes for weather.  During one winter storm, NIU didn’t cancel classes in the morning despite weather reports flowed in about its heavy impact.  I drove to school in REALLY bad weather.  I felt confident in my driving but I saw cars slipping and sliding all over the place.  I arrived to school 20 minutes late for my 8am class. There were only five of us that showed up for class.  The funny thing is that despite NIU being known as a commuter school, most of the students live on campus or in DeKalb.  Three of the five students in class were commuters. The school finally sent a text and email alert around 9:35am to cancel class.

The most frustrating experience was the Spring flooding.  Interestate 294, a relatively good tollway to commute on, turned into a crawling nightmare.  There was no where to go because local roads were flooded too.  Curiously, NIU didn’t cancel classes. I have more foul weather experiences but these two examples are enough to paint the picture.

Decisions… Decisions…

An economics club did not exist during my first year at NIU so I decided to join the school’s professional business fraternity so I can get my nerd on and social on at the same time.  Let’s just say things didn’t go as well as I planned.  I spent too much time pledging and not enough time studying.  Towards the end, I began to feel awkward due to some of the questions they were asking me.  With all the time I invested, I did not get initiated (partially due to my error) and most of the fraternity brothers I met decided to not keep in touch with me.  C’est la vie.  There are other schools of fishies in the sea.

I decided to take to take early morning classes this semester.  It was a great decision and a bad one.  I enjoyed getting to class at 8am because there is a ton of available spots in the parking lots. Seeing the sun rise above the Chicago skyline was a wonderful treat in the morning. It gave me an opportunity to listen to personal development audio books.  I began to hate it because I had a pledge meeting on Monday nights, recitation on Tuesday evenings, study tables for pledging or work on Wednesday nights, and pledging quizzes on Thursday nights.  Fi you blend all that with a 1.25 hour commute each way, you get a dude that is short on sleep, unfocused, and grouchy.  I definitely wasn’t a happy camper.

The Confusing Professor

I had one frustrating economics class.  I would read the textbook and thought I had a decent understanding of it. I found myself confused after attending his lecture.  There were a number of problems during lecture.  First, he seemed unsure of the material. Then, students would throw variables at him and he faltered under them.  Students would ask him questions that would trip him up. His lecture time rules were quite annoying.  It got so bad that after the second exam, a classmate and I went to Molly’s to vent and re-cooperate. It would have served him and the class better if he just focused on core ideas and re-direct questions asked of him back to those core ideas.

Adjustments

A lot can be learned from this past spring and a lot of adjustments to be made.  Moving closer to campus can alleviate a lot of headaches and frustrations for me. My long commutes will be reduced as well as the risks associated with it. (I’ve seen way too many car crashes, fires, and rollovers on I-88!) I can commute on bike to get my exercise in for the next Almanzo and marathon. It’ll give me more time to sleep, establish an economics club, volunteer, study, and focus on training.

I decided to reduce my course load from 17 credit hours to 12 credit hours.  I did this to make time for my outside study of economics and to work on my business plans. I think this will be beneficial to my future career and opportunities.  Employers want expert knowledge from a person who can think and act critically.  I want to be that person.

I also gathered intelligence on my next set of professors. I don’t think I will ever take a class with someone so fresh to lecturing unless they had years of on-hand real world  experience.

Remember how I said that there’s not economics club at NIU?  As luck would have it, I bumped into a few guys trying to get it started.  The time that would have been dedicated to the business fraternity will now be invested in building the foundations of a new academic club at NIU.  This excites the entrepreneurial side of me.

Next semester is going to be great. Now it’s time to enjoy my (possibly last?) summer in Chicago.

I look forward to watching or hearing updates of the Boston Marathon each year. The Boston Marathon celebrates the human spirit. It celebrates persistence, commitments to a goal, and achievement. It’s a reflection of sacrifice, love, fellowship, and dedication.

I watched the marathon on my computer until I had to leave for my economics class.  I checked in time to time on twitter to see what the results where.  A couple of hours later, I read a few tweets that an explosion happened.  I assumed it was an accident until more reports came in.  Right after class, I headed to my car to listen to WBBM. Disgust, anger and sadness filled me. I arrived home from Northern and turned on the news.  I finally saw what unfolded while I was in class.

Allison Rosati interviewed their sports anchor Mike Adamle about the experience of the marathon and what it means to us runners.  You can see the distraught in his face and his fight to keep certain emotions in.  I couldn’t fight the tears back.  I cried.

My thoughts were about the families and friends to see their loved runs achieving a dream.  Thoughts focused on the runners who had loved ones injured or died. I thought about my mom, brother, friends, and other family that cheered and supported me at my marathons.  It makes me sick to my stomach to see what happened to the spectators who loved and supported us runners.

In the darkness that fell on Boston, many lights shined that day. I hope we won’t forget that.  Photos and videos showed fellow spectators and runners helping those in need.  The first responders (police and EMS) sprang into action to protect everyone. We read of runners who was unable to continue their run to the marathon running to find a place to give blood. The light will blind the darkness. Love will always conquer hatred.

My fellow runner, Jennifer W. wrote, “I have two choices. Watch the news coverage or lace up my shoes and go on a run in honor of all of those in Boston. I’m choosing the latter.” I ran a few rainy miles with my brother. My thoughts, prayers, and heart are with everyone that was involved in Boston that day.   The Chicago Running community is taking action by organizing a 5k. Runners are uniting tomorrow by either wearing their race shirts or wearing the Boston Marathon colors of blue and yellow.

I am a runner. My heart is in Boston. My prayers are for those who support us and run besides us.

More Love and Prayers:

• Boston Marathon Love – Sara Runs
• Boston and the Bond of Runners – A Foodie Stays Fit

Today I trained to train.  CARA’s 2013 Summer Marathon Training Program begins June 15th and I volunteered to be a group leader.  Pledging for my school’s professional business fraternity, taking 17 credit hours of academic work, commuting, and work took a took away time from my health and athletic pursuits.  I need to get back in shape to lead marathoners through a summer of training and successfully cross the finish line of their chosen race.

I accomplished the most important step.  I took the first step and did something to train.   When you’re out of habit, it is the hardest thing to do.  I did it and so can you.  The first step doesn’t have to be epic.  It has to be something.

What was my first step?  I walked for one hour this morning.  It’s a small step but a piece of a larger puzzle.

What’s your first step in your endeavors?

It looks like this year is becoming the “Year of the Bike.” My butt will be in the saddle for much of the spring and summer.  I’ve got rides upon rides scheduled or wanting to get scheduled.

I’m seriously considering doing the Grand Illinois Trail again. This time, I’ll be rolling along on a more capable bike to haul my gear from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River and back.  There will be an additional twist to that trip.  I’ll write more about it later.  It’s an epic twist that embodies the vision statement for myself. It’s awesome, so very awesome!

Matthew wants to circumnavigate Lake Michigan and ride the Blue Ridge Parkway. Those sound like great trips.  I also wanted to head to Europe to ride.  I miss riding in Ireland. I want to ride in the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain.  I need to figure out how to make a boat load of money to do a ton of riding this summer.

The Boss Man didn’t approve my time off request to do Almanzo 100.  I have my eyes set on Gravel Metric in DeKalb, IL.  Matthew wants to do a few more gravel rides this summer.  We’ll see how that pans out.

There’s this thing call the triathlon I want to train for.  I found the right bike for me for my current needs.  She’s pretty cute, fast, and fun! I can’t wait to get her built. I want to peak around September.  All the bike touring and CARA marathon training should help.

The Year of the Bike.  I’m so ready for it.