Marshall Ramsey

Goal Weight: 195 lbs.

Ah, the ever elusive “Goal Weight of 195 lbs.” I lost 40 lbs. in the first 12 weeks of the year. Then I lost another 10 and have been in a holding pattern since.

The last three pounds have been taunting me.

Honesty moment: I’ve never been a good goal setter.  I’ve achieved great things in my life, but many of them because of persistence and dumb luck.  I’m so right-brained and this is one area where it really shows. Unlike Hannibal in the A-Team, I’ve never said, “I love it when a plan comes together.” Yes, I knew I wanted to become an editorial cartoonist. And yes, I did everything I thought I had to do to become one. And I achieved my dream. But I never said, “I’m going to do A by this date, B by this date and break C into micro goals to be completed by this date.”

I think of what I could have accomplished if I had been more focused.

Exercise is a great laboratory for goal setting.  You can learn, experiment and implement. Pick a goal like running a marathon, break it into smaller steps and the achieve each one of them. Like the old saying goes, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

My life has gotten way more complex and busy now.  I need goals, deadlines and self-motivation more than ever.  I’m going to take what I’ve learned from exercise goal setting and apply it into my daily life.  Creativity and discipline are going to have to learn to get along.

So it’s time to:

1. Take the time to set a big, measurable goal.

2. Break that goal into smaller, achievable goals.

3. Put dates on all of them.

4. Give myself a reward when I accomplish them.

5. Get busy.

My first goal is to start setting goals. My second?  I plan on losing those last pesky last three pounds.

Today is a “rest” day. I slept until 5:14 a.m. and it felt decadent. Usually I take Sunday off, but Saturday’s rain forced my long run to Sunday.

Goal Weight: 195 lbs.

Today’s Weight: 196 lbs.

“Whatcha trainin’ for?”

A friend asked me that simple question after reading this blog.

I answered back honestly, “Life.”

“You mean you don’t have a marathon or a half-marathon coming up?”

Me, “No.”

“Then why are you running so much?”

I answered back, “My life is a marathon.  I need daily endurance. So I’m training so I can get more accomplished throughout the day.  I want to be better in every aspect in my life. You need energy to succeed. Diet and exercise are the keys that unlock my ability to have that precious energy.”

My friend shrugged her shoulders and said, “OK,” and walked off.  I didn’t expect her to totally get it.   It really seems counterintuitive. Wake up early. Wear yourself out. All to have more energy.

But it works.

Even if there are a few clouds, rejoice in the gift of another sunrise anyway.

This morning, I could have slept until noon. But I got up at 5:30 a.m and headed toward the Ridgeland Trail.  It was cloudy and the sunrise was masked by the low clouds over the Reservoir.  I headed from the Overlook to where the trail veers over to Reservoir Park. I then ran along the Reservoir to the boat launch area next to Cock of the Walk Restaurant.  I ran out onto the breakwater and then down to the trail parking area near the Ridgeland Fire Station on Rice Road.  From there, I ran and picked back up the Natchez Trace trail again and ran back home.  The stats for the run?  Ten miles. 1,598 calories burned.  My time? A little less than two hours. It was humid so I sweated profusely. In fact, I had to  stop three times to wring out my shirt — And once to wring out my socks.

But my training is done. Now to go run today’s life marathon. I have 14 hours worth of drawing to do.

I heard the distant sound of  thunder when I woke up. And then I didn’t.  A look at the radar on my phone showed a storm north of Canton. I laced up my shoes and went outside. There were clouds, which were darker toward the north, but nothing sinister.

It was time to hit the road to get in what mileage I could.

At mile one, I heard thunder again. And this time, it was loud — and close.  I turned, saw that the storm was upon me and took a shortcut through some trees to get home. The sky lit up woods from another nearby bolt of lightning.  My heart rate jumped.  Had I made a stupid decision?  At that moment, the smart money was on “Yes.”

Emerging from the woods and back into my neighborhood, I sprinted up a hill toward my street.  Three more cloud-to-ground strikes of lightning hit just to the north. The storm was going to skirt just to the north of the neighborhood, but I was still facing a threat. It was time to retire back to the house.

I got in just under a couple of miles. Not exactly ten (my goal for the day).  If the storm passes in the next few minutes, I’ll go out and try again. If not, tomorrow morning will be my long run day.

I don’t play around with lightning when I run. There’s no sense of writing a “Fit-to-Fat-to-Fried” blog.

P.S. We’re now getting copious amounts of rain and more lightning. I guess we’re getting a little bit of the storm after all. Coming in = wise move.

Goal Weight: 195 lbs.

I ran with a heavy heart this morning.  I had scanned the headlines before I hit the streets and read about the shootings in Aurora, Colorado. As my feet pounded the pavement, I thought of what a screwed-up world we live in. I took in as much air as I could. I felt my chest expand and then I exhaled. I repeated it over and over and over as I ran.  My left knee is slightly in pain because of a Patella tendon injury (the front part of my kneecap is sore).  Worn shoes and tight muscles are to blame. I thought about myself for a few minutes instead of the fate of the world.  The world seemed as dark as the pre-dawn sky above.

I had planned on only running three miles, but I craved the endorphins.  I needed the “runners high” today.  Quitting caffeine has been a challenge and has at times, left me very down. Bad news from a town that I’ve never been to was like someone throwing me an anchor in the deep-end of the pool.  I kept running. And as the dawn began to sneak over the horizon, I felt better.

I read about some new pill (whose name I can’t pronounce) that promises to help people lose weight. Good for it — although it also has a list of side-effects.  Exercise and diet have helped me lose weight, too.  And they also have side-effects. Good side effects. Like improved mood.

I finished up my five-mile run drenched in sweat and in a better spirit.  The world seems like it is going mad, but I know I can handle the chaos better than if I hadn’t run.