THIS IS A TEST

Ok - I really need to get better at this blogging thing so that I can do more with it.... So here we go... in addition to adding pictures to facebook, I am going to add the really special pictures here for my family and friends that don't use facebook.....

Here are a couple of shots from the last couple of months.....

This is a picture of the four of us for Christmas in Marysville.....

Here is a picture of Emily and the newest addition to the family - Isabella.....

This last picture is three of the cousins... Aiden, Eli and Emily.....







Well - I think I have it figured out that I can now add pictures inside my text. I am so happy now..... Well - enjoy the pictures and please - be a follower and I will send updates as I can. I am going to do my darndest to get better at this blogging thing....

THE CAVEMAN DIET

Well - My running routine is not working off the weight like I would like - so of course the next step is to adjust my nutrition.... I know all to well that I eat too much crap.... So starting Monday, January 3rd I am going to start the CAVEMAN diet....

I have done A LOT of research on this and am hoping that this is something I can do.. I am a picky eater but meat is one thing I love and I am willing to make my self eat more fruits and veggies....

Here is the skinny if you are interested....

The Caveman Power Diet

The Caveman Power Diet increases energy, the ability to burn fat, and gets you in touch with your natural instincts. It's not just a way to lose weight, it's a healthy approach to making your body indestructible.

Doing the the Caveman Power Diet is a very natural state for your body to be in, and you will feel the results immediately. Embrace it for what it is; animal motivation. It is a very open do-it-yourself diet, that encourages you to feel content in a way that suits you personally.

The Caveman Power Diet gives you the freedom to enjoy food to the fullest, which is the most basic of animal instincts. So go ahead and feast yourself!

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The Goals of the diet

We train you to crave good healthy foods, and to eat at regular intervals.
The diet works through several stages to get you to this point. At first you will find it slightly unusual, but by the end you will know how to eat healthy, and you will be more healthier, which will become evident when you look at yourself in the mirror.

The diet will reduce excess body fat, aid in the normalisation of blood sugar levels, and reduce toxins and anti-nutrients.

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What the diet can do for you

Lose weight

You will lose weight, particularly fat, and your body will instinctively get itself to it's optimum weight. And as a result you will feel more fit, healthy, and energetic.

Increase your energy levels

The mild state of fight or flight you will experience activates your animal instincts for hunting and gathering, which makes you energetic. As you progress through the diet you will notice this energy boost actually increasing.

Detox your system

Stuffing food into our bodies, no matter what type it is, inevitably leads to toxin build up. This diet removes toxins naturally, you will increasingly feel clean, your skin will become clearer and your insides will feel cleaner.

Sharpen your mind, and your senses

The Caveman Power Diet gets you tuned into your animal instincts, and as a result your senses will become sharper; like an animal in the wild who needs all his senses to survive.

Deepens your connection with your being (some call it spirit)

When you are in tune with your animal instincts, you are in tune with your body's wants and needs. Throughout this diet you will notice yourself having more clarity of mind, and a deeper sense of knowing thyself.

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What the diet does not do

This diet does not promote the regimented eating style found in most modern diets. Those diets nearly always fail because they require an absurd amount of willpower, which is very unnatural.

Typical diets are unsustainable because they go against the grain of our natural instincts. Controlling your food intake with minute precision simply isn't in our genes, and doing things that way is a recipe for misery, if you do manage to succeed it's very hard work... forever.

Try putting a domestic cat or dog on a strict diet, and you will soon see how unnatural it is. Our primate bodies are no different in that sense. The Caveman Power Diet encourages you to thoroughly enjoy feasting at natural times, rather than punishing yourself with portion control and time deadlines.

There are three steps to this diet....

Step 1 for 2-4 weeks - graze all day long on the approved foods, then have a meal of your choice for dinner.... Pizza - hamburgers - Chinese - whatever you want....The most important part of this I always forget to say - the VERY FIRST THING you must do ever day is down a big glass of water.... And of course drink water all day long... (you can still have diet pop) it doesn't tell you have to stop drinking it.. but of course it tells you it is better if you give it up....

Step 2 for 4-8 weeks you start your morning with a big glass of water - drink water all day long, but nothing else... then for dinner - you eat a big meal of only approved foods....

then step 3 which you will hopefully for the rest of your life is to eat only approved foods. You can go back to steps 1 and 2 whenever you want.....

There are two huge challenges for me on this plan... No potatoes or bread and no processed food... After being on weight watchers it is going to be hard for me to give up the convenience of a meal in a box.... But I really want to get in to the best shape I can.... I know that with all the exercise I do, I am in better shape than I have been in a long time.... BUT I know I could see such better times in my running and events if I lost 30 lbs.... Hoping that this works for me, my goals is to drop to 150 lbs... (not going to even tell you where I am starting - but I think you should have an idea....

For more information - check out the following URL: http://www.cavemanpower.com/food/caveman_power_diet.html

Continuation of on my journey to the half marathon

Thought it would be nice to actually document my journey of my first half marathon. Not only to share it with my friends, but also so that in 5 years I can actually remember everything that happened on this glorious event…. We always want to remember our first times. J

Well, to start out I didn’t get that long to train for this event. I decided probably in the early part of October to do this event and at that point, I had never ran anything more than 6 miles…. Knowing at that point that I had to more than double my current running I quickly started to up my miles each week. I really only had 4 weeks to do this and I was only able to up myself to 10 miles… I have always been told, if you can do 10, you can do 13… Although that may be true, it still doesn’t stop the pain after wards… It is Monday 36 hours later and I am still hurting……

Additionally I had been training in 40-50 degree temperatures… The day of the event it was a balmy 60+ degrees with wind gusts of 20 +… honestly that didn’t make me happy. But when the race was done, I was very happy for the wind as it helped cool me down…. It is amazing that in November, a week before Thanksgiving, I was wearing short sleeve shirt and shorts….

The first 3.5 miles was ran within Corporate Woods. It was different, nice and fun… we ran with all the participants which was a change for me. All God knows how many people starting together and going… I had to side step, and run around a lot of people. But there was nice chatter and I got to see some friends along the way… the one person that really inspired me, was an older lady that I got the pleasure of meeting at the Olathe Medical Women’s Tri and at the Patriots Run… I hope that when I am 50+ that I will still be doing this… She was just running the 5 k because next weekend she was doing a different half marathon…. WOW….

Additionally, the first 2.5 miles I got to run with Trey… I didn’t want to slow him down, so at about mile 2.5, he took off without me.

The first 3 miles are always tough for me – I don’t find my rhythm right away. Also, I am so used to breathing to the sound of my feet – with that many people running – I found myself getting a stitch really on. I had to really focus to keep it from getting worse.

Mile 1-3 I kept a nice pace going…. 10:29, 10:57 and 11:15 respectively…

At mile 3.5 we left corporate wood and continued on the trail system of Overland Park. It was a nice trail and it was neat to see all the supporters along the way…. At this point, I just started to zone and let my mind wonder… It was very peaceful to say the least….

The next couple of miles along the trails, I was able to keep my pace were I was hoping…. mile 4, 5 were 11:42 and 11:48.

Shortly after mile 6 we left the trails and hit the road. It was a loop consisting of 119^th St., Switzer, 127^th St. and Quivera… 119^th had a slight hill at the end, and Switzer I have to say is pretty much all uphill… I was really worried about this hill especially with the wind gusts… But I have to say proudly I never walked…. I put my head down and ran… at mile 8 we turned and headed west on 127^th and again there was a pretty good hill at the very end. But again, I put my head down leaned forward and ran… I was so happy with my times on these three miles… mile 6, 7 and 8 were 11:35, 12:04 and 8 12:37… Mile 9 was on Quivera and all downhill… but for some reason, I guess having to recover, my pace only slightly improved at 12:07… during this part of the route, I got to chat with a bunch of great ladies, it was very enjoyable….I also have to add, that I realized I was still feeling really good at this point in the race. I was worried this is where I would start to have a hard time…

Right before mile 10 we got back on the trails again. I was glad to see Amy and Glen at the KCM water spot… they really got me pumped again… Between mile 10 and 11 I caught up with my long time friend Cynthia… we have worked together for over 12 years…. She has always been a runner, but I haven’t. So it was nice to get to see her and chat with her for a while. It was fun for a while because we kept passing each other.

Mile 10 and 11 I kept my pace down at 11:14 and 11:38. Towards the end of mile 11 however, I saw something that made my heart skip a beat. I saw a man down being worked on. He was receiving chest compressions by medics when I came up to him and I honestly thought it could be Trey….. I had to double check his short color 3 times before I was sure it was not Trey as Trey had black shorts on and this man had grey shorts on. I later found out that this 39 year old man, yes , 39 had gone into cardiac arrest. But thankfully come Sunday night, learned that they had gotten his heart beating again on the way to the hospital and he was in critical condition…. I hope that I can find out if this man makes it or not. Not trying to be noisy by any means. But have been praying for him and his family. I can’t even imagine how they must have felt to learn that while this man was running –living a healthy lifestyle that his heart gave out….

The next mile started to get tough and mile 12 I hit an 11:57 pace….. At that point I saw my friend Cynthia’s husband and I knew I was getting close to the finish….. I pulled everything together and pulled out an 11:41 pace for the last mile.. It hurt, I am not going to lie, but at the same time, I wanted to and needed to finish strong…. All the cheering of the supporting fans helped me accomplish that…. As I crossed the finish line, I was greeted by Trey who had finished 9 minutes before me…..

I thank my mother in law for coming down and watching the kids, but I have to say, at 2pm Sunday afternoon I crashed hard – and took a 2 hour nap… Now 36 hours later, I am still sore and stiff, but all in all I feel pretty darn good….

Now, you may wonder? I am going to do this again??? HELL YES – I have actually already signed up for my next half marathon for April 2^nd… This is the Rock the Parkway run which my friend Trish told me about… I am excited and will be raising money for the Girl on the Run organization… Look for more information to come about that race and how you can donate to the cause…..

Next year besides the half marathon, I don’t know for sure what exactly I will be doing. I hope to do the Win for KC and Olathe Medical Tri’s, and the Patriots Run, but I would really like to throw in a tri up in Iowa or maybe even a full Olympic distance tri… but I will figure that out as the time goes by….

Looking forward to a fun filled 2011…..

FIRST Half Marathon is complete

I decided to add another event to my list for the year ..I competed in my first half marathon (Gobbler's Grind)... that is 13.1 miles... but according to my garmin, I actually ran 13.19 miles...

I finished officially at 2 hours, 33 minutes and 40 seconds. That equals about an 11:40 minute mile.... I am pretty darn happy with my time... My goal was to finish is less than a 12 minute mile which would have been 2 hours and 40 minutes......

I can not lie, I am hurting a bit today.... I actually had such a bad headache at 2pm today that I took a 2 hour nap.. .I woke up at 3 and couldn't even keep my eyes open....Hopefully I will be able to post pictures soon...

It was also a neat experience because Trey and I got to do it together... The two triathlons I did this year were women only - so it was nice we could do this together... He finished in 2 hour 24 minutes... Way to go honey....

I was able to see several friends at the run which was also very cool...... Ryan and Jennifer did the 5 k run and my friend Cynthia and her husband Steve did the half marathon.... It was actually really cool that I got to run a good portion with Cynthia. What a neat experience. I have known Cynthia for many years and was nice to have her close by.....

The only sad thing for today was that a 39 year old man went into cardiac arrest at mile 11... So far he is in critical condition - but at least he is still alive.. I pray for him and his family that he makes a full recovery......

Well - that is it for now, and my next event at this time, is another half marathon on April 2, 2011.. .I will be running for the girls on a run foundation...... will be asking for donations after the first of the year.

Iowa Hawkeye Homecoming weekend

Well - I will be taking a break from any major posts about loosing weight and will probably just post this and that type stuff....

This past weekend, the kids and I went up to Iowa City... While I partied, the kids got to hang with their aunts and uncles.....

When I say I partied, I mean I partied hard... Friday I had probably 4-5 doubles of 7 and 7... inbetween a 3 1/2 hour period... I started at 8 and was done at 11:45 - had to get home to relieve my aunt connie from thet kids.... Saturday I got the pleasure of hanging with my cousin Jared again and we went out to dinner together.. then after dinner, I got to hang around my girlfriends... and a couple of old guy friends as well...

I also got to see and quickly talk to Tim Dwight - which was just so cool... I still think it is funny just how damn tiny he is - I am sure he was bigger when he was playing in the NFL.....

Well - I hope that I can say that this was just the first of my going home trips for Iowa homecoming games... Maybe next year I can start making it an annual thing... I can only hope.

today was a hard day

Well - I have actually enjoyed my runs lately and have tried to get 3 to 5 miles in every other day... Yesterday I easily got in 5 and really could have gone further if I had the time....

Today was a tough day at work... I am not going to get into the entire history, but 11 people, some of which were my good friends were laid off today... It is getting really difficult working in an atmosphere that is so, I don't know, out of control....

We had a big meeting on Friday, there are still so many unanswered questions, but I didn't get the impression that any layoffs would be occuring within the week. Don't get me wrong, I knew some would come in time, but in 1 business day - Friday to Monday, I never imagined that....

I pray for all those who were let go - I hope that you find something just as great.. you will be missed.....

2010 Olathe Medical Women's tri was a success

Sorry I haven't gotten to updating my blog before now, but just been really hectic...

My last triathlon of the year is complete... And it was a BLAST... I loved it... I had a Personal Best...at 1:26:44......

Last year my time was 1:38:38....

It is not often where someone can shave off almost 12 minutes of time.. I owe a lot of it to the bike but I also improved in every area as well... Here are some of the comparisons... 2009 is listed first followed by 2010...

Place No.   Name                  Age Sex City State          Rank Swim  100yd Trn.1 Rank  Bike  Rate Rank Cumulat Trn.2 Rank  Run   Pace  Finish  263   210 Rebecca Koeneke        38 F   Olathe KS             190 13:23  2:29  3:20  261 49:04  13.0  256 1:05:46  1:07  261 31:46 12:13 1:38:38
186   252 Rebecca Koeneke        39 F   Olathe KS             125 12:26  2:19  2:05  176 42:11  15.1  145   56:41  0:48  241 29:16 11:16 1:26:44 
As you can see I went from 263 place last year out of 303 women and this year I was 186th out of 333 women....

• Swim was about 1 minute faster
• transition 1 was over a minute faster
• bike was about 7 minutes faster my speed was up from 13 to 15
  
• transition 2 was about only 20 seconds faster
  
• run was about 2 minutes faster - going from a 12:13 minute mile in 2009 to 11:16 minute mile... this was the biggest success for me - figuring my run was that much stronger after the swim and bike.....

I am now going into a new mode of training for the remainder of the year... I am going to work on sculpting and loosing weight... I really would like to loose 25lbs this winter - but we will have to wait and see - I know my biggest challenge is food - I do not have good eating habits and I know this... but after all I have done to get into physical shape this has been the one area I struggle with the most.....

I am going to continue to run three days a week and I started the P90 sculpting routine this morning.. So M-W-F will be run days and T-Th and Saturday will be P90 days... wish me luck....

I am still considering signing up for a half marathon later this year - but I am still so up in the air about that one... 13 miles is double what I have ever done to date.....

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