Run Forrest, Run!

Today was a pretty slow day. We had a major pub crawl last night (in the process of getting a video and pics done for the blog) and just wanted time today to relax and enjoy life in the slow lane before it picks back up Monday. While it was mainly library time on campus and quick stop at the IGA to pick up some milk and bread, I decided to go for a run.

Now it had been about 2 weeks since my last run (4km) and about a week since my last workout. I've been somewhat slack these last few weeks as student association, post grad association and classes have taken over my life. Luckily the hectic first week of classes are over and I can get back on track with the working out. Speaking of, look out for a blog in the the next day or two about my impression on classes and the education system in Australia.

When I arrived in Australia I had weighed in at 260lbs. At 5'11 I am classified by the BMI chart index as OBESE. However, I could come off as stocky, perhaps big boned? Oh, who am I kidding, I'm fat. Working 50-60 hours a week in the US did not help my health ethic, so I made it a priority to get back on track while down here Australia. Fortunately so far I have dropped close to 20lbs and since my last weigh in (3 weeks ago) stood at 242lbs. This is a huge achievement for myself as I weighed 225 going into WSU in 2004 and would like to get back to that weight and lower.

Tonight I put on my running shoes and decided to just go run. I signed up for a new program called Map My Run as well as downloaded the app for iPhone, as it seemed like the program with the most positive reviews. Needless to say, I ran a 7.10km (4.41mi) in 48:40. Roughly 11 mins a mile and while that's absolutely horrible to a healthy person's standards, that's amazing for me. In the US, I wouldn't dream of even running a block and constantly drove to campus that was merely 10 mins away.

So with that, I hope to be at 230lbs by the time winter rolls around (April-May) and to possibly 210lbs or so by the time August comes through. My ultimate goal is to go sky diving, and at my current weight I would either be paying overweight fees or just denied the option to fly with some companies. I need a catchy motto for this... Something like "Drop the weight and drop out of a plane" or "Double digit goal" (100kg is 220lbs, so 99kg, you get it...). There we go. Stay tuned!

Cheers and 再见！

-H