Super Bowl Shuffle

Every year for the Super Bowl, I try to go to Benji's house to watch the game.  He always has a fun crowd of people, gambling, and a ton of food.  It is great to catch up with a friend that I only get to see a handful of times a year and I always enjoy myself.

I went to Benj's place again this year and as always a good time was had by all.  I went a few hours early this year to watch the Illini game beforehand.  Even though I had just eaten lunch, I still started snacking on the chex mix almost as soon as I got there.  By the time the big game started I had begun to dip into the shrimp cocktail, bacon wrapped wienies, and cheese plate.  By the end of the first quarter, I had an Italian beef sandwich with queso dip for good measure, and then by the second half I found this dip at the end of the counter that was so delicious I could hardly pay attention to the game any longer.  When you count the beer that I had, I believe I had consumed more than 10,000 calories.  For good measure, I stopped by Avanti's and grabbed 2 Gondola's for lunch and dinner on Monday.

By the time I got up to run this morning, I felt like I was carrying an elephant in my stomach.  I was tired, sluggish, and felt completely overloaded.  When I got out on the road, my legs were heavy, my right hamstring was tight, I was having trouble regulating my breathing, and in general I was out for more of a "shuffle" than a real "run".  When I got to the playground for my pull-ups, I did not do 5 pull-ups in a row.  After my arm exercises at the playground, I finished off the 4 mile run.  I felt good that I went out and move my ass, but I was not at my peak performance.

I have no one to blame but myself.  However, it is all a little disheartening because I have not had great success losing the weight that I gained over the holidays and I swore that I was going to increase the intensity of my workouts to aid in that effort.  Unfortunately, my indiscretions with food consumption have only compounded the problem because I am taking in extra calories and feel so full and tired in the mornings that my efforts in working out have been lackluster at best.

Now that it has been a whole month since the holidays and the spring running and biking season are quickly approaching, it may be a good time for a re-evaluation and assessment of my routine.  And maybe I don't even need that much thought on the matter.  I know what I am doing wrong and I know what I need to do to get better.  Simply put, I am lacking the discipline to do the right thing on a consistent basis.  I need to be more disciplined!