Blown away!

Before we get to the scoreboard tonight, I have a few words.

I'm a very competitive person. I hate to lose. Even if it's a friendly game of cards with people I love, I can still get bent out of shape if I'm not playing competitively.

Which is why I'm confused about my current happiness.

As you will see later in the Biggest Loser scores, I'm getting blown away right now. But, as I said, I'm happy about this. I think I'm going to try to explain. I think my happiness is less of an emotion now than it is a decision. You see, if I'm losing the race...that means that someone that I'm competing against is winning. And in this case, I'm competing against people I love. So, like playing against a sibling at tennis, you can't really be all that upset that you're losing, because it means that someone you care about is getting their due! In fact, I've seen several people connected to this blog (and not connected to this blog) do better than me in things...and it energizes me! Some examples:

- My dad: he picked up his running habits while I was still marathoning. But he then continued his running while I had quit for 3 years and gained my weight. He's the instigator of my current running habits.

- My buddy Brandon: You'll remember me talking about this guy at the Shamrock Shuffle, his first ever 5-K race. He beat me by 4 minutes. On his first try. On almost no training.

- My new buddy Nathan: He's a lifelong cross-country runner, who holds the current 10-K record at Friends University. He ran his first marathon recently...in 3:05. Qualified for the invitation-only Boston Marathon. On his first try. He's trying to break 3 hours.

- My friend Lindsay: Do I talk about her a lot? Yeah, I guess so. Here I think I've got an interesting and fascinating blog...and along comes Goodbye, Martha!

- My friend Shaun: You'll be introduced to this guy's feats later in the scoreboard. This guy is a missionary who doesn't need to be told to go: he just does. He works at Koch on the side. And he's on a quest to cut pounds that puts mine to shame! And he's really doing it! (You'll see.)

These people are all amazing, and I love being able to brag about how much better they are doing than me. To me, that's what this blog is all about: encouragement.

On to the scores...

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Sunday's workout: 5 mi. run (cold...snow...puddles...mud...and no chicks.)

Monday weigh-in: 186 lbs. (+0.5)

Biggest Loser Scoreboard:

Jason: 4

Lindsay: 7

Shaun: 23

(4 weeks completed)

What? 23 pounds? Where did this guy come from? That's Shaun, and let me bring you up to speed. He started the same time we did (March 2), and lost the following amounts in the subsequent weeks: 9, 6, 4, and 4 this week. This guy is awesome, and we have only seen the beginning.

Together, we have lost a total of 34 pounds. That's as much an average-sized turkey! Bon appetit!

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You may be thinking: I want in on this!

If so, you're invited. No weights are posted (except for mine), only pounds lost. Just let me know in the comments, or send me an email at jhamlin121@gmail.com.

Maybe we can lose enough combined weight to equal a cornish game hen! Or maybe a gorilla? What about a small automobile?

Darkness

Settle in. This one's a little long.

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On Wednesday, I went for a jog to introduce myself to Coldwater, KS.

As an auditor, you stay busy pretty much from the crack of dawn until you hit the pillow during busy season. So, if I was going to run, it needed to be first thing, so that it didn't get pushed out of the way. So, it was 5:30 a.m. What was it you called that, Amanda? Freakishly early?

Anyway, Coldwater isn't very big. And so after giving myself the on-foot guided tour of the main drags in town under the street lamps, I had only made it about a mile and a quarter. And 3 miles were on the schedule. So...I needed to trot into a neighborhood. Out from under the lamps. I didn't want to. It was so dark that you literally could not see what was ahead of you. I've never been afraid of the dark, but on this morning: I felt fear!

Why did I feel fear? Was it the dark? Really? I'm not thinking so. I think it was not knowing what was coming. I couldn't see far enough ahead of me, so I didn't want to go somewhere I couldn't see. However, I gritted my teeth and headed into the neighborhood.

I'll never forget the feeling that came over me once I was in the dark, under that dark country sky. An intense sense of...awe. Like fear and wonder mixed.

(Let's pause. City kids: you may not know about this. Country kids: you already know about this very well. Hybrids: (like me) We have the wonder of having both experiences. Let's continue.)

A sky that black...It's something you simply cannot see with light around. So immense...so massive...it makes you feel like it's drawing you in, like it could reach down and swallow you up. That's awe: you're afraid, but you're drawn in at the same time. I turned Jon Bon Jovi off in my ears and just tried to take it all in...trying to catch what I thought God was speaking to me through His creation. I think it went a little something like this (JIV):

"You weren't going to see this under the street lights. You needed to be away from what you knew. You needed to not be able to see where you were going to get here. You needed darkness. Look at these stars. Look at this sky. I did this. I made darkness, and it is good. When you follow me, there will be darkness. But you will see things you'd never have seen if you simply followed what you knew, in the light."

It's not as easy as that when you have to actually live it. But it's great to have a God who speaks to you, even when you're doing your best not to listen.

(And that was the Jason International Version, by the way.)

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Wednesday's workout: 3.32 mi. run

Friday's workout: 3.11 mi. run

Saturday's workout: 3.11 mi. run

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Jason

On the road...

Good evening from sunny Coldwater, Kansas!

You're looking at the Timberwolf Cafe and Inn in said town, where I am currently working on a financial audit of the Comanche County Hospital. Among the highlights of my trip so far:

- The Lazy T: It's the local watering hole...which we were so looking forward to hanging out in tonight...if only it weren't closed for undisclosed reasons.

- The tumbleweed: I hadn't seen one of these in years! Then, on our tour of the hospital this morning, there it was! In the drive-up to the ER.

- The boots: I'll simply say this. I'm not sure tight, faded jeans, a beat-up white t-shirt, a ballcap, glasses, and giant cowboy boots outside the jeans would get you the chicks in Wichita that it gets you in Coldwater.

And so begins my 3-week tenure in small-town Kansas.

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Sunday's workout: 3 mi. run

Monday weigh-in: 185.5 lbs. (-6.5)

Say wha?!? Over six pounds gone in only one week? That's right! Except that it wasn't me working harder. It was me working smarter: putting my scale on a hard floor for the first time. It made an 8-pound difference. In fact, it makes my "loss" a little misleading. If you're keeping score at home, that actually qualifies me for my first gain in a while: (+1.5).

Biggest Loser Scoreboard:

Jason: 4.5

Lindsay: 6

(3 weeks completed)

Enjoy it while it lasts, hon. You're going down!

In all seriousness, though: that's 6 REAL pounds less of Lindsay in one week. Get on over to Goodbye, Martha and congratulate her!

We also have the possibility of more contestants in our little game in the near future. Stay tuned!

We're getting smaller!

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Jason

Anybody chafed?

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to BodyGlide! This is a substance that is applied much like a deodorant, but is intended to prevent chafing on certain parts of your body due to friction and drying of sweat on your skin. This substance saves long-distance runners many a painful shower after a long run.

As you can see, I own two sticks of BodyGlide. This is because (as any veteran distance runner will tell you) there are two primary areas of your body where the most painful chafing occurs. To keep a PG rating on my blog, I'll simply refer to these areas as: upstairs...and downstairs.

Why the two sticks? I think you can figure that one out on your own.

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Saturday's workout: 5.01 mi. run, 46:29, 9:17 pace

Longest run in three years. Feeling like a million bucks. Also had a revelation on the scale today, which shall be revealed in full on Monday.

Hint: don't put your scale on carpet.

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Jason

Smelling good!

Call it corny, call it what you will, but I think it's fun to have a body wash named after one of my hobbies. My body wash (I'm not kidding) is called Zest Marathon. So not only is it the best smelling stuff I can find, but it's also cheap motivation every day when I shower!

The motto is easy:

Going the distance to keep you smelling fresh!

Working hard to fight your odor for the long haul!

(Insert cool, athletic catch phrase here)

It got me thinking...what if my body wash were named after something else? Say, my occupation?

Zest Auditor

Tracking that odor to within an immaterial difference!

Or, how about one of my other pastimes?

Zest Ping-Pong

Smashing that odor over behind the endtable, under the piano, over where no one can find it and you gotta move everything...okay, you get the point.

Or how about this one?

Zest Facebook

Wasting an inordinate amount of time chatting and catching up with your odor before bidding it TTYL!!!

Dude, this is almost too much fun. If you've got any other doozies for funny body washes, feel free to regale us all in the comments. For now, I'll stick with my cool-kid body wash.

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Monday's workout: 45 min. doubles tennis, 15 min. singles

Tuesday's workout: 15 min. doubles tennis, 45 min. singles

That's right, tennis. Two nights straight. Hasn't been the highest heart-rate exercise, but have you SEEN these last two nights? Perfect!

For the guys.

Guys: You'll relate to this.

Ladies: Take a quick glimpse into the heart of a man.

My Sunday run is usually an easy-does-it "around the block" run. I was on this run yesterday, heading south down Rock Road to 21st Street, west to Woodlawn, back up north to 29th St., and home to 29th and Rock. All of a sudden, as I was running: there they were...

Three young, pretty ladies were walking in the opposite direction when I was heading south on Rock in the first mile of my run. I stopped my iPod long enough to run by, say hello, and head on my way (without breaking stride, of course).

Gentlemen, since we were all about 12 years old, we know this is true: there is something about the opposite sex that just drives us batty. Captivates us, if you will. It's a different manifestation for every man, but a very similar feeling. For those of us who have found "the one" (and gotten her to marry us), it manifests itself with one beautiful woman...the one who owns our earthly heart. For those of us single men, we're still enthralled with the ladies as a whole, admiring from afar what a wonderful job God's done with creating them.

Fast forward to mile 3.5 of my run. I'm heading down the home stretch, from Woodlawn back east to Rock Road when I hit "the wall." For one reason or the other, 3.5 miles is about as far as my body wanted to go on this particular day. My legs hurt, I was wheezing for air, and even considering slowing it down to a walk to finish my workout. I was done! And then...

...there they were. Again.

The same young, pretty ladies I'd seen before had been going in the opposite direction, but had followed the same path, walking around the block. Since I'd also gone around the block, I met them a second time.

The pain? The tiredness? The slowed pace? Gone. Suddenly, I was ready to remove my neatly pressed white dress shirt to reveal the bright red "S" emblem on my chest! Ready to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Ready to take off the horn-rim glasses and turn from Clark into Superman! (Can I get an amen, gentlemen?) I picked up my stride, put a smile on my face, and said, "Hello again, ladies!" as I passed them for a second time. This time, they were smiling too.

Lest this all sound inappropriate: understand what I'm trying to say here. There is something in the heart of a man that stirs when a woman is around. On this day, it was nothing more than three random ladies on my running path, but it really spoke to my heart, and made me say a quick thank you to the Lord for how WELL He has done with the ladies, and what a gift they are to us men.

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Sunday's workout: 4 mi. run

Monday weigh-in: 192 lbs. (-2)

Lowest weight: 190 lbs.

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Biggest Loser Scoreboard:

Jason: 6

Lindsay: 0

(2 weeks completed)

Lindsay and Mr. Elliptical just gotta get on the same page, that's all. Then she'll be making a game outta this!

Shamrock Shuffle 2009

Saturday's workout: 5K race

Shamrock Shuffle, Haysville, KS

28:20 (-4:02 from last race)

It's been a while since I've posted a picture up here! It's me and dad again, and I must say that it's been such a blessing to be able to race with my dad. I'd been doing this for years when I lived in Missouri, but had never been able to do it so close to family. This has been a rare treat.

I need to give a shout out to my friend Brandon, who also ran this race. He smoked us (he was around 23-24 minutes) on his first try at a 5K! I knew he had it in him.

Dad knocked 2 full minutes off of his prior time, finishing in 30:02. Well done!

And to April: we ran by your mom's house on the route. :)

Radio's off!

The radio that blares into my workout center was either off or broken on Wednesday, instead of pumping its usual loud country music. In its place was silence.

So, I turned off my iPod, and decided to take advantage of the rare opportunity for silence on the treadmill. It's amazing what God will tell you/show you when you turn off everything around you and just listen. In no particular order:

- Stay with me. Today. Not ahead of me, not behind me. Get out of yesterday, and get out of tomorrow. Stay here, today. Step for step.

- You know how you feel when you prepare a surprise for someone, and then they ask about it? You just smile, and shake your head. You delight in the fact that they ask, because that means that they're anticipating something good! But you're not going to tell them a thing. Not until it's time. It's sweeter that way, because they'll really appreciate what they get, even if it's not quite what they expected. My plan for you is good. Don't worry. *smile*

- One more thing: you don't need to worry about impressing people down here. Just do your best, like you're working for me.

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Wednesday's workout: 3.11 mi. run
Thursday's workout: 3.11 mi. run (radio still off!)

Slow...sluggish...early...yep, that about sums it up. I need new shoes. Good thing I was distracted.

(Updated on Thursday, March 12.)

A new song!

I have amazing and talented friends. They:

…design and maintain fascinating blogs
…plan and execute unique and wonderful social events
…lead us consistently and wonderfully in worship
…teach the Word and lead discussions in small groups and large ones
...defend our country every day by serving in our Armed Forces

...encourage me when I'm down in the dumps
…write songs that speak to my heart

...and there is more...much more that I'm blessed to watch people do that I'm proud to call my friends.

But it’s that last one on the list that’s bouncing around my head this week. The words “Lord Jesus, you are all I want” have been rolling through my mind, and have been so appropriate for where I am. The best part? It's a new song I heard, and it's so beautiful and well-written that it’s been no effort at all to remember the words, and make them a part of my life in recent days.

If you are otherwise uncommitted for any part of this Sunday morning (March 15), I want to encourage you to drop in at Central Christian for either the 8:45 or 10:30 services and hear the first-ever public singing of “You Are All I Want” by Brooke Skinner. It's a unique opportunity to hear the debut performance of a true worship song that I hope will bless many hearts, as it has already blessed mine.

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Saturday's workout: 3.01 mi. run

Sunday's workout: 3 mi. run

Monday weigh-in: 194 lbs. (-4)

Lowest weight: 191 lbs.

Lowest weight is a new category I've thrown in, inspired by my discovery of the encouragement that can come by making my scale say things it hasn't said in a while! If I weigh myself right after a run (when I'm 2-3 lbs. lighter due to water loss), it can be a boost to my mental state. My regular weight will still come back, but I figure any way I can get some encouragement in this process, I'll take it!

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Biggest Loser Scoreboard:

Jason 4

Lindsay 0

(1 week completed)

Yep, I'm ahead to stay!

Random

"Hehehe...I wanna see it again!" -me, yesterday

I can't remember the last time I said that in relation to stepping on a scale. I did a little informal mid-week weigh-in to check progress, and actually started giggling! To be sure, I'm still a good 50 pounds overweight. But...the poundage is coming off fast in the past 3 or 4 weeks, and so I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing!

It's all about perspective. Am I:

- 50 pounds overweight?

or...

- 22 pounds lighter than I was at Thanksgiving?

I know which one I'm going with!

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What the heck is an oboosso?

Whatever it is, I had to type it to make a sly smack-talk comment on my friend Lindsay's new blog. You know, she really thinks she's gonna win our little "Loser" wager!

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Wednesday's workout: 3.11 mi. run

Thursday's workout: 4 mi. run outdoors (around the block on a pretty day...the body said push the pace and the distance, and I obeyed!)

Biggest Loser

Hello, Biggest Loser participants!

Our scoreboard is always updated on Mondays. However, since the titles of the posts don't usually have anything to do with our game, the old scoreboards can be a little difficult to find. This page is designed to track our scoreboards. This will be updated periodically, so you can have the latest on the contest.

Plus...it's not a bad way to introduce yourself to the blog, and see the types of things we talk about around here.

The posts: (scoreboards will appear at the bottom of each post)

March 2: Momentum!

March 9: A new song!

March 16: For the guys.

March 23: On the road...

March 30: Blown away!

April 6: Forcing myself...

April 13: Yum.

April 20: "Help me overcome..."

Momentum!

Sunday's workout: 4.06 mi. run

Monday weigh-in: 198 lbs. (-4)

Goal #1 is now accomplished. I have arrived at a Monday wherein I no longer weigh 200 pounds. I have actually been under the 200 mark for several days now, and have been a little nervous about making a sudden jump in weight on the weekend to humble me in front of all of you! If it seems like a small goal to be under 200, then I agree with you. But that's the way this is done. One step at a time.

And...I remember when I weighed 216 pounds back around Thanksgiving. So, if we're looking at it that way: 18 pounds off in about 3 months. Not bad.

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"Jason, your face looks a little thinner!" -a friend this weekend

I'm telling you, it only takes one of these to make me feel like I'm getting somewhere with my appearance! I'll take it!

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And the competition begins...

I have a friend, Lindsay (who is also following this blog), who is on a mission to cut some weight, just like me. Her reasons are different, but we're in the same boat. Not terrible, but needing to shed as many pounds as we can so we can get back to where we were. We will be doing a little wager between now and when we attend the wedding of our common friend, Becky (also a follower!), in September. In chatting, we decided we're doing our own little version of...BIGGEST LOSER! So, along with my weekly weigh-ins, I'll now also post the scoreboard, where we score points based on pounds lost. (i.e. 1 pound lost = 1 point scored) This makes it simple: whoever loses the most...(which will, of course, be me)...wins! We'll use our own personal weigh-ins today as our official starting point, and we'll score our first points this week. Without further ado:

Jason: 0

Lindsay: 0

(0 weeks completed)

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Jason

It's time.

About

I'm Jason, and I welcome any feedback you have on this blog, and invite you to make comments at your leisure about the content you see here.

The 9:24 Project

Nothing more to say. Thanks for reading.

Blown away!

Darkness

On the road...

Anybody chafed?

Smelling good!

For the guys.

Shamrock Shuffle 2009

Radio's off!

A new song!

Random

Biggest Loser

Momentum!

It's time.

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