The Effects of EMS

I started in EMS as an EMT in 2001. I'm coming up on 10 years. It really has gone by fast, and even though the clientèle has changed the job some, it's still enjoyable, even with a personal career change still on the horizon.

Working on an Ambulance is a different beast. You can have a shift where you don't do much, or anything at all, to one where you're going constantly and never have a chance to see the station. I'm just now getting into bringing food to work. I haven't done that before short of bringing left overs for a meal. It becomes convenient to hit fast food because you're driving around, and you may not make it back to the station to get food.

Me and my buddy, Bradley, in fall 2006.

So many in EMS are overweight. It's not the easiest job to maintain fitness. 24 hour shifts, night shifts, eating out. It's actually kind of a vicious cycle because you gain weight, and still have to lift the same patients that weigh more than you. When you're not in good shape, it can lead to injury. When I started, I probably weighed 160-170.Once I finished Paramedic school at the end of 2005 and early '06, I was pushing 230, by far my heaviest. I was 145lbs when I graduated High School.

Over the years since high school and the first semester of college, I ran only occasionally. In March of 2008, my brother-in-law Jered started running. It was just what I needed to get started myself. I joined him on April 16 and started doing the Couch to 5k plan that incorporates walking and jogging over a 9 week period building up to being able to run a 5k (3.1mi) race without walking. I set my sights on a 5k only 3 weeks out (May 10) due to scheduling constraints. I got into better shape, but by race day I hadn't yet run the whole distance. I ended up running the 5k with a time of 24:17 or 7:48 per mile.

By the end of 2008 I had run a couple more small races, the 4th of July 5 mile race in Mt. Shasta, a half marathon in San Francisco and the Shasta Regional Medical Center Turkey Trot. Overall I lost about 26 pounds by running and around 40 total including diet changes.

November 2008 before my first half marathon

November 2009 at the finish of my 2nd half marathon

Presently I sit at 184 pounds. I'm working to get to a lean and mean 175, and maintain that weight and build muscle. I've been running since 2008 and plan on continuing as long as I can. I feel so much better when I'm running. It's better for my health, better for my family, better for my career, etc. 

Around the block

BrookLynn and Bradley chasing me as we raced around the block

I did an impromptu interval workout today. The kids and I "raced" around the block. The lap was about .25mi according to my Garmin. I ended up with 13 laps (a stop after each one) and overall pace of 6:48 for 3.26mi.

A couple of books you might enjoy...

I started reading for leisure last year. I know how to read, and I have read books before, but hardly anything outside of the Bible and required reading for school (BTW, I was out of school from 1999-2008...). I started last spring by reading The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. The movie had come out in theaters, and I heard that it was really good, and it was a sports related story, so I bought the book it from Barnes & Noble when the kids were getting to each pick out a book to buy. I read it cover to cover. Great book, and while the movie was good, it wasn't even close to the book.

Throughout the rest of the year I read a number of books. I was quite pleased with myself for this feat. One of the books I picked up from the library was a book by John L. Parker Jr. called Once a Runner. It's about a college track star who winds up getting kicked out of his college and running in the backwoods to train for a race,  trying to break four minutes in the mile. The same race I ran in high school, way back when. The same race I won the league championship and the large school championship my senior year. I got as fast as a 4:32 mile! That's crazy talk because I can't even think about running that fast short of doing it for a couple hundred feet. Anyway, I got hooked into the book. I saw that Parker Jr. had written a sequel (nearly 3 decades later!) to Once. I had to have it. I put it on my Christmas list.

That wonderful day came, and guess what? I got the book. The long-awaited sequel, Again To Carthage, was one of the gifts under the tree! Yay me! Now, just like the book's age gap, the main character is older, holding down a high profile job in a law firm, and has an age crisis of sorts, deciding he wants to compete to win a medal in the Olympic Games. Only this time, it's in the Marathon. I won't divulge any more details. Both are great books, which I would highly recommend, and can obviously be purchased at B&N, Amazon, locally at Fleet Feet, etc.

A running update. I was able to up my mileage to 18 last week. Still no complications with the AT. I'm shooting for 21 this week. I've got 8 so far. I got my Team MARATHON® Bar gear last week. I've worn some of the items during training. They're pretty comfortable. I posted to my Facebook friends a challenge to "win" some MARATHON® items:

Attention Friends:

Lots of requests to sample MARATHON® Bars. Here's how you can get some:

1. Get a picture of Matt running in Team MARATHON® Bar apparel.
2. Like the MARATHON® Bars Facebook page.
3. Upload the picture tagging Matt and MARATHON® Bar.

You'll get a 3 pack of MARATHON® Bars, a coupon for a discounted MARATHON® Bar purchase, and a Team MARATHON® Bar temporary tattoo.

I'll be running in North Redding tomorrow between 8 and 9:30 in the area of Beltline Rd. Just FYI.
 

Here's to another 300 miles!

I bought another birthday present today. A pair of Mizuno Wave Inspire 7s thanks to some birthday money from my wonderful in-laws. I'm not yet going to retire my Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10s (with roughly 300 miles on them). I'll still use them for occasional runs. Mainly though, it'll be switching between my GTS 11s and my new Mizunos.

Pain Free Running

I'm still running without pain. The last 2 times I've run have been without KT Tape. I'm trying to make sure I stretch before and after, and still have been able to do P90x along with running. My plan is to not do P90x on long run days once I'm able to stretch my miles back out in a few weeks.

I was hoping to receive my Team MARATHON® sponsor gear this week, but, alas, it didn't come today. Hopefully Monday. Although, for me, it's only to have the gear. I don't have any races coming right up.

My race plans for the rest of the year:
7/4/11 Mt. Shasta July 4th Run/Walk 5 miler
Sunset Through the Trees race series Tuesdays starting 7/26
9/10/11 - John Lipsey Memorial 5K - Cottonwood
9/18/11 Whiskeytown Relays **
10/2/11 San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon
10/8/11 Calico Fun Run Red Bluff
11/24/11 SRMC Turkey Trot 6 mi
12/10/11 Run for the Needy Red Bluff
**Possible...I need 3 more relay members
Subject to addition or subtraction.