Redlegs 5k Race Day!

Today Melissa & I got up and ran in the Redlegs 5k Run for Home race. I told Melissa I was going to run fast and try and beat my time from the Pig, that worked but boy did I feel it around mile marker 2. Melissa and I both shaved about 1-2 minutes off of our times respectively. I will post the results as soon as they are available. Check out the pictures from the day below. After the race, we went and took April on a walk and then came back to the apartment and rested for a little bit and then headed out for a 10 mile bike ride. On another note, Melissa and I are doing well with our weight loss and we are 1/2 lb. away from our goal weights for the month. I am also going to be doing a 5k this summer that is going to be a surprise so keep your eyes peeled for an annoucement. I think it's BIG!!! 5 mile run tomorrow to prep for the 10k next week!

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend Melissa and I had a lot of fun. Saturday we went and did not participate in the recession by going to Old Navy and buying flip flops for $1.⁰⁰ each. Next, we went to Trader Joe's to buy some salsa and a few other things. After that we went and picked up our registration packets for the Redlegs 5K. We have the Redlegs 5k this weekend and then next weekend we have the Sunburst 10k, I am so excited!

Sunday started off with Melissa & I running 7 miles in preparation for our Mini-Marathon in October. After that we went to church and then Subway for lunch. We then watched Transporter 3 and then went to Cheeseburger In Paradise for dinner with a friend of Melissa's from Buffalo. She brought her 2 grand daughters with them who you can see in the picture to the right. This is always fun since she brings us a case of the best beer from North America, Labatt's Blue Light. We also got Troyer Farm's cheese puffs, Bison's Chip Dip, & Sahlen's hot dogs.

Monday, we went to Play it Again sports and picked up some free weights and a medicine ball. We have decided to turn our former spare bedroom into a workout and exercise room! We keep you updated as to it's progress. We managed to get April out for her walk before it rained and we will be running inside a couple of miles to finish out our weekend. Tonight's dinner consists of our usual weekend favorite, blackend salmon, sweet potatoes, and corn on the cob.

Zip N Steam

Another nifty product we have discovered is the Ziploc Zip N Steam Bags. Since we both work we try to take as much of the guess work out of "what's for dinner" as we can. I can't count the number of times Greg is on the other end of the phone at work asking that question! We discovered these nifty little bags when we were watching The Biggest Loser and decided to give them a shot and we love them.



You can pick them up in the grocery store and prepare them a week ahead of time. We use them for steaming our veggies. We pick up 5 dinners worth of veggies at the grocery store, package them up in the bags on Sunday and pull them out and throw them in the microwave for the amount of time it says on the bag and bam in 3-5 minutes fresh steamed veggies and they haven't lost all of their nutrients. This makes one third (every meal must consist of three items - not sure why, it's just always been that way - Greg even notices when I don't have a "third") of the dinner planning a piece of cake!

Fun Weekend!

Melissa & I had a great weekend. Yesterday, we started out the day by going to Dream Dinners which is a place where you can go to order pre-packaged meals that you can freeze and then pull out of the freezer, defrost, and the cook and serve. What happens when you go is you don't just pick up the food and leave they have several stations set up for you to prepare the food yourselves! Melissa and I had a blast and loved doing this. We ended up with about 12 - 15 meals which will help out tremendously when Melissa is working late hours at her job next month. We will let you know how they come out.

After that we made a trip to Old Navy because we both needed another pair of pants due to our recent weight loss. I was happy to find out that the size 38 pants that I put on were too loose, so I had to try on a size 36 which fit! It has been a long time since I have put on a pair of pants that are size 36 and have them fit. Then we placed some bets on the Preakness, darn Rachel Alexandra and Mine that Bird :-( & came back home to rest for a little bit.

After watching some TV we went out to ride bikes at a local airport which has a 5 mile loop and we figured we could do at least 2 laps without a problem. After doing 1 lap we decided that we would only do one more lap which turned out to be a sign of things to come. Before we left it was nice and sunny outside with nothing on the radar. Around mile marker 8 the sky started to get really dark and we tried to pedal faster back to the car but we didn't make it. Luckily we found a nearby doorway to a local business that we could hide under from the rain. The main reason we were hiding is Melissa had her body bugg on which cannot get wet and if it did we would have to replace it. So being the nice guy that I am I told Melissa to stay there and I would pedal back to the car and come and pick her up. I was almost back to the car when the sky decided to open up completely soaking me, it sucked. We finished the day with some blackened salmon, corn on the cob, and sweet potatoes.

Sunday morning we went out and practiced for the 10k in June by running 6 miles straight, the most we have ever run straight. We were able to do it and it was a breeze and we both made great time. Melissa and I should be right on target for the Sunburst 10k. We then went to church, stopped by Subway for lunch and came back to the apartment and while Melissa took April on a walk I decided to make good on my promise and took back the spare bedroom since it has had a disassembled bed in it and we haven't been able to use it for a while. I am happy to report that I am typing this post on the newly relocated desk in the clean up spare bedroom. Tonight we are having ribs for dinner, YUM! Talk to you soon.

Long Time No Blog...

Hello everyone, sorry I haven't blogged in a while. This week has been a complete one. First, I completed work on my company's intranet site, which was launched for beta testing this week to the sales team. I have also started working on a website that combines the company I work for with another company that many might not put together. I can't comment on it now but I will be able to after June 1^st, which is how soon I have to make the site live, wish me luck :-)!

Second, we signed up for the Sunburst 10k run, which means there is no turning back now ;-(. I wouldn't turn back now unless I was injured. I find that if I do not run in the evening I miss it! We have been running 5 miles every Sunday for the past 2 weeks and this Sunday we are bumping it up to 6 miles, 10k by the beginning of June won't be a problem! Third, we have also started walking the dog early in the morning. This gets her an early morning walk that should tire her our for the day and it get us a little extra exercise in the process.

Lastly, I want to comment on the ongoing issue of Barack Obama speaking at Notre Dame's commencement. While I do not agree with many of his policies and beliefs I do think that you should not disrupt the importance of the day. If someone feels the need to protest they should either do it peacefully before or after the event. You could even do what someone did when Bush spoke at my commencement in 2001 and silently pray the rosary with your back turned toward him during his speech, I sat 25 feet from this person. It's the celebration of 2-4 long, hard, and challenging years of college, celebrate and enjoy the day and don't let Mr. Obama ruin it for you. More to come this weekend...

Morning Walk

This week we've added to our early morning schedule.  Since it is starting to get warmer out we've decided to take April out for early morning walks. This is a great way to start the day with an early calorie burn and get the puppy's exercise in.  She is still a little confused by the early walks, she is accustomed to getting up and going right out.  This morning she had to wait until we put our sneaks on and ready to go and she was going bonkers while she waited.  Wish us luck on this endeavor, neither one of us enjoys the mornings so this is going to take some adjusting too.  We aim to start this about 3 days a week and work our way up to 5.  

The Biggest Loser!

Congrats to Helen, this season's Biggest Loser!!!!

This show has been very instrumental in our life changes. It is very inspiring!

Sunday

This morning started with a 5 mile run at the local commuter airport.  5 miles in 55 minutes, 11 minute pace (needs to be under 10 minutes/mile).  We then went to church and after that went to Kroger to do our weekly shopping.  While at Kroger we found that Clif Bars were on sale 10 for $10.  Clif bars are 70% organic and have 23 vitamins and minerals.  They are very, very good and come in a variety of flavors (White Chocolate Macadamia, Crunchy Peanut Butter, Blueberry Crisp, & Black Cherry Almond, just to name a few).  I won't lie to you they do look like something that your father would hand to you when you were a little kid and you would look at him and say, "I am not going to eat that!" and he would turn to you and say "Don't look at it just eat it!"  We then went home and shaved April, which is always fun and then we finished off the night with a dinner of Grilled Blackened Salmon, Crab Cakes, Corn on the Cob, & Fresh Tomatoes & Mozzarella.  Here's to hoping that Margie and Luke win "The Amazing Race!"

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!!

Canoeing In Ohio!!!

Today Melissa and I went canoeing for the first time together. We had a blast and planned to do it again! For a first time we did pretty well and we didn't capsize! The trip went well until we got to the bank to return the canoe and upon exiting the canoe, Melissa slipped and fell into the water. Melissa was able to laugh it off and that was a nice ending to the trip. The people who run the canoe business, Loveland Canoe, are from Buffalo, NY, too! We talked about the Sabres, Bills, Ted's Hot Dogs, Sahlen's, etc... We came back to the apartment and took April on a long walk since she seems to have so much energy in the evenings. We came back to the apartment, did a little pick up, and then we raided my closet to see how many of my clothes still fit me. Happily, many of them did not fit which freed up a lot of space in my closet. My current weight is 219, which is only 29 lbs. from my goal weight. I'll keep you up to date on my progress.

Ziploc Omelets = yummy

We tried these for breakfast this morning! Very yummy!

ZIPLOC OMELET
(This works great !!! Good for when all your family is together. The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet !!!)

Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.

Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.

Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes [we did 15 minutes]. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.
Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.

Imagine having these ready the night before, and putting the bag in boiling water while you get ready. And in 15 minutes, you've got a nice omelet for a quick breakfast!!!

The Results are In!!!

The results of the Flying Pig 5k are in. This year's results compared to our run in the Sunburst last year look pretty good! Melissa and I are going to do the Niagara Falls International Mini-Marathon in October instead of the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon.

Sunbust 5k - 2008
Runner	Division	Overall	Total Time	Pace
Gregory -	124/125	2341/2646	38:23	12:23
Melissa -	147/170	2344/2646	38:24	12:23

Flying Pig 5k - 2009
Runner	Age Group	Gender Group	Total Time	Pace
Gregory -	39/77	366/712	31:22	10:08
Melissa -	50/145	308/1170	33:01	10:39

Flying Pig 5k Completed!

WE DID IT!!!

Melissa & I ran the Flying Pig 5k this morning. I think we both shaved a lot of time off of our last year's pace at the Sunburst 5k. I will be posting our results once they are available online, which probably won't be until later this evening. We chose to run at our own pace so I finished first and I was able to get a photo oh Melissa at the finish line. We are anxious to see what our times will be and we are ready to run the next one!

iPod

My favorite song in the iPod right now is It's your life by Francesca Battistelli! Very motivational.

Clothes, Flying Pig & Goals

Greg is down a size!!!  He received a gift certificate for a clothing store for his birthday and we decided to redeem it this past weekend.  Some of the clothes arrived today and Greg officially has a 38 waist and he fits into a men's large for shirts!!!!  Check out the pictures!  

The Flying Pig 5k is tomorrow.  We picked up our packets this evening.  We will update you on how it went tomorrow.  

Finally, I want to recap how we did in April.  I lost another 5 pounds for a total of 25 lost to date.  Greg did not make his goal of 7 pounds, but he did come in at 5 pounds for a total of 43 pounds to date, still quite admirable.  For May, I would like to lose another 5 pounds and Greg has once again set a goal of 7.  We also have a 10k planned at the end of the month so we have a goal of being able to run 6 miles at a time.  Thanks for all of your continued support on our journey.  We are definetely changing our lives for the better before we start a family.