Possum Ridge 5K Registration - -It is Official!!

Official Registration for the Possum Ridge 5K, running on June 12th - - -  I am stoked!

Moment of Self Indulgence

For any of you that are struggling with this fitness thing like I am; it is important to pay close attention to the milestones; and some of them are not as readily apparent as others.  Reading through some of my earlier posts, I came across the Versions of Me post.  Glancing through it, I realized that most of the photos that I was in were either taken without me knowing, or I obviously was avoiding contact with the camera - - big burly guy like me - - and I ached with self-consciousness . . . . now look at me - posing for pictures - -IN SPANDEX . . . without even realizing it I have become comfortable with myself.  I'm not saying that you have to lose weight or be skinny in order to be self-accepting - -my point is, for me, and my perception of my self - -that I had not realized how "down" on myself I had become; and that the effort required to get "in shape" and lose weight; be diligent with my diet . . . .that has given me a sense of pride I have never had before . . and I still have a long way to go . . . it is important that you acknowledge yourself; pat yourself on the back . .but most importantly - -be patient and understanding with yourself.  For the fun of it, Elliot and I decided to "reenact" a photo taken of the two of us at Thanksgiving 2009.  Once again, I was avoiding the camera - - - my weight was well over 300lbs.  The new photo - taken this morning - - my weight is . .you know what . . it doesn't matter . . . . look at me . . . . . . I'm smiling.

C25K - Week 3 Day 3 - - but a mere memory . . . . .

Completed Week 3 Day 3 of Couch to 5K today.  It was fairly easy.  Here I am "pre-run"

One of my new friends from the C25K forums, Emmz, thinks it would be a stellar idea for me to exercise in a running skirt - - purely for her amusement I am sure - - and I wanted to say here - -specifically to you Emmz - -despite the "tent-like" appearance; this is not a running skirt.  They are "old me" (size 44) gym shorts.  For what it is worth, I am wearing a pair of size 38 shorts right now as I write this - - yes, that honking you hear is me toot, toot, tooting my horn . . .But I DIGRESS;

WARNING - - Children under 18, those that take a presumptious moral high-ground, readers with weak stomachs, and, my wife - Summer, due to embarrassment, should turn away at this point

WHATCHYOU GOT UNDER DEM SHORTS MR. JONES?????

TA-DAH!!!!

As you can see, unlike the first photo, even my faithful dog Molly abandoned me when it comes to Spandex . . .but ooooh . . . .between the sheer Under Armour running shirt (Retail $25; Goodwill $2.50) and my velvety smooth compression shorts (Summer splurged - -Walmart $10), I almost felt sensual.  Man_Boobs has been touting the benefits of nice running apparell and I have to give it to him . . .me Like-ey;   Under Armour should make condoms.

Author's Note:  Honey - -When you took that picture I know I said it was purely for reference purposes - - at that point, to the best of my limited understanding, and with the information I had available, my intentions were to never use a picture of me in Spandex so I can say with a clean conscience that I did not intentionally mislead you.

The tent-like shorts were placed back over the spandex prior to my run. We are in the Bible-belt and I would hate for any of the house fraus that are in our neighborhood, get a glimpse of me running in my spandex and start "percolating" that early in the morning.

Each running session is going well, and aside from the obvious factor of increased fitness, I may have figured out "Why?".  As ridiculous as it sounds, to a small degree, I was experiencing a disappointment that I was not getting "wasted" or "blown out" after exercising . . .that my tail wasn't dragging . . . not struggling through the intervals.  My speed was there - - Man_Boobs did some ciphering on my mile time from yesterday and gave me somewhere around 6.86 m.p.h . .and I run the same pace every time . . .so why wasn't I feeling tired?  Worn out?  Struggling . . . then it dawned on me - - here for the first time is an actual excerpt between me and Man_Boobs

ME writing to Dave:

"Yep, just finished W3D3 - - - it was awesome . . . . it wasn't too awful difficult and here is my theory - -from January 1st through the middle of March I walked 4 miles every day - - 4 miles in 60 minutes - - didn't miss . . . so I think I had a good foundation from a cardio standpoint when I started C25K - - and from the beginning of C25K - - my challenges have been post running aches and pains, primarily in the knee area - - -I think now after 3 weeks of the running, the physiological aspect is catching up with the already established cardio - - in other words, my body is getting used to running. It was sweet"


DAVE to ME (excerpt)

"All that walking had your cardio spruced up ... but also, you've lost a good chunk of weight. So, it looks like a triple-whammy of goodness - your heart was strengthened to take care of the bigger you; now the heart has less work because you've lost weight; and you made it stronger by walking so much. Plus, you've been an athlete, so you've got some good muscle in there. (I started with only gristle!)". . . . .

Gristle, Dave?  If you were gristle, friend . . then it was a very lovable gristle . . . . . .

But I believe Dave hit the nail on the head:

"... your heart was strengthened to take care of the bigger you; now the heart has less work because you've lost weight; and you made it stronger by walking so much.. . . " 


From being such a Fat-body, I must now have a massive, mutant Super Heart

Well .. probably more like

Nevertheless, the theory is strong and I am going with me having a Super Mutant-Ogre heart.

Today's run went excellent.  Zipped right through it.  Since today was the final day of Week 3, there is now a 2 day rest period; so I have decided to incorporate the 100/200/200 Pushup/Sit-up/Squat program into my fitness regimen starting today.

More to come . . . . . .

The kids

Now that I know that periodically my mother, my wicked stepmother, uncles, aunts and other varying degrees of relatives are checking out my blog - I am going to post some general  recent pictures of the kids.  This is the introduction to that series.  Additionally, this will provide some of my new friends an idea of the circus we have going on here at the Jones household.  With past postings you certainly are getting plenty of me.  Because she is such a large part of my life, my wife Summer has been featured here regularly as well.  With six children though, names and pictures come and go and with possibly a certain degree of confusion.  Before introducing the kids . . .a quick lesson on Daddy Physics

Here are the kids

Justin - 14 (soon to be 15) - our oldest.

Justin is in high school now.  He is a member of the high school football team, loves his Xbox 360, and can text at Mach 8.  One of his biggest loves is University of Kentucky basketball; although I do have him growing as a fledgling West Virginia Mountaineer. Justin is at that stage where he isn't too keen on humoring his old man when it comes to pictures so I am lucky with what I have.

That is Justin on the left with Andrew, a foreign exchange student from Scotland that stayed here with us.  I wish I had a nickle for every time I called him "Groundskeeper Willie" and yelled "Yeah, Baby!!" (I know, Austin Powers wasn't Scottish but they were short on English kids and I wasn't going to let a good catch-phrase go to waste)

Justin also has an "egg-cellent" sense of humor.

As a brief aside - -this is Anton - -one of Justin's closest friends - who also happens to be my best friend's son.  Anton's father and I have been friends for 20 years - - we even have adjoining yards in the same neighborhood -- Anton is here at the house ALOT . . . and the only thing that is rivaled by his presence here at the house is the amount of food he consumes

Keelin - 11 (soon to be 12) our oldest daughter

I find it difficult to even take a bad picture of Keelin.  She has her mother's natural beauty.  One of the most pleasant dispositions I've ever encountered in a human being.  She could be an incredible athlete if she so desired, but at this stage in the game, she, like her brother Justin, appears to be in training for the World Texting Championships.  Her laugh is infectious and she gets incredibly goofy when she is tired.

Regrettably, Keelin is getting older.  In this photo with her little brother Jackson, I believe I have captured her last Halloween (sniff, sniff).

Below is Keelin and her best friend, Moriah.  Moriah is here at the house as often as Anton, but doesn't eat quite as much.

Elliot - 10 (soon to be 11) - Older Middle son (Jan Brady of the Family)

Elliot is our second oldest son.  Elliot has a near photographic memory and is an excellent singer.  Last week he sang the National Anthem for his school.  Elliot can usually be found either on his laptop or on his Nintendo DSI.  His latest interests include cooking, Boy Scouts & his upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.  At times having a conversation with Elliot, I feel as if I am speaking with one of my college professors.

Like all of the rest of our children - - Elliot has a boisterous and "unique" sense of humor.  Summer swears they get it from me (wink, wink)

Oh yeah, Elliot is always pulling down the academic "Bling"


Sammy - 8  - younger middle son - but the most direct "Big Brother"  & liason to the two youngest kids.

Sam loves all things macho - -army, cowboys, zombies.  Sam is at a really cool age where he can float between the 3 older kids - -and true, sometimes be the little tag-along - -but then move to his younger brother and sister and be an absolutely worshipped  Addonis of a Big Brother.  Sam loves chocolate, puppies and his Xbox 360.  Sam, at a young age, was one of the children that was most obviously afflicted with a near debilitating genetic trait - - Bulbous Head Syndrome aquired from his father

Sam has grown into his head size and functions perfectly - - only occassionally suffering a Charlie Brown or Dwight Schrute reference.

Once again, per his shirt,you can see another child possesses their  father's sense of humor (Come On!  It is a Halloween shirt -- cute vampire bat . . . it says Happy Halloween in small print - - it works, trust me.)

Jackson - 4 years old - Daddy's Little Buddy and Mommy's Sweetheart

Jackson has been pretty well chronicled thus far in his Daddy's blog.  Not a day goes by that Jackson doesn't have us laughing uncontrollably at something.  Jackson can be exemplified in a small story from this last Christmas - - several of us were lounging in  the family room, watching televsion and listening to Christmas carols.  Jackson, who was seated by my side, rose and began to walk out of the room.  After a few small steps, Jackson cut loose with a "ripe one" . . you know, the rump trumpet . . gaseous maximus . . . he didn't miss a stride or even acknowledge the infraction with an "Excuse Me" that his mother is still trying desperately to teach him.  I heard the glutteous explitive and I said . ."Uhhhh . . .Jackson . . . .what was that?"  Without missing a beat, and in a perfect Stephen Wright dead-pan,  Jackson responded, "Frosty the Snowman" and proceeded to walk out the room.  That is Jackson . . .

Kyra - 3 - Our Baby Girl

I still am not capable of describing Kyra adaquately . . .most of the time I get choked up . . she is Kyra, and she is our baby

Summer believes Daddy is way too enamored with Kyra at times so it would be remiss not including a picture of one of the times when her halo was a tad "tilted"

Hopefully all of the proud Mamaws, Meemaws, Mee-Mees, and any other relative associated with my gang enjoyed the pictures.  In closing, you will be left with this - - - my favorite picture.

This photo was taken last Christmas.  For weeks leading up to seeing Santa Claus, both Jackson & Kyra were thrilled - - they were a bit less enthusiastic when  it came to "crunch time" or would it be "lap time?"

Man, I love my kids . . . . . .

Mmmmmmmm.. . . . .Shrimp . . . . .. . . . . .

This is a performance piece - - no narrative

Life is good . . . . .

Goodwill Featured Outfit of the Day

This is going to be a new ongoing feature of my Blog - -Goodwill Featured Outfit of the Day

Let me begin with a disclaimer - -my daughter, Keelin, featured in today's offering is not, I repeat, is not wearing any items from Goodwill and would probably be mortified if that mistake was made.  Today's outfit features a Ralph Lauren Polo short sleeve shirt; retailing for $85.00.  Additionally, I am wearing a pair of Columbia Cargo Shorts; retail - $29.00.  Total price retail: $114.  My Goodwill price?  $5.00 for the complete outfit - shirt and shorts.  I rest my case . . . . . . .

My first complete mile ran today - - Yay, Easter!!!!

I'm just going to jot this down real quick while the numbers are in my head.  Normally today would be a rest day - - but I guess with it being Spring, beautiful weather, and Easter; something inside of me took over and I decided I was going to run 1 mile completely uninterrupted and time myself - - just as a point of reference.  Plus, this being Easter, I figured should I keel over, I would go with the Law of Averages and if there was going to be any one day of the year that a fat guy kicks the bucket from overexertion and rises back from the dead . . .. this was the day....    

I did it - - and it was relatively EASY!!  Two/Thirds of the way through Week 3 and I chugged out a non-stop mile.  My time was not blistering - 8:45 - - which with all variables staying constant would represent a 26:24 5K time - - around 6 miles an hour (Check me on this Dave).  I would use Dave's fat chart to figure out how much speed I could gain; however Dave doesn't include those of us with a current weight just north of "Holy Crap" - - so I will  bask in the glow of my 260 pounds of flesh with my speculated time of 26:24.

(Stolen from Dave ala Sufficiently Melodramatic)

I made sure my numbers and distances were accurate.  I "Mapped my Run", Google mapped, Fitness Tracked and drove it in my truck - - -I ran a mile.  Psychologically I've just jumped two weeks in C25K.  W3D3 is still waiting for me tomorrow  - - but I scoff at a 3 minute run now . . . .I ran nearly 8 full minutes  - at a respectable pace . . . nothing will stop me now

"We're Watching Fat-boy . . . ."