Results are Results.

I’ve been working out with a personal trainer once a week for a month now. And I’ve been going to the gym and running a total of about five days a week for 4 months. I’m putting in a lot of miles, and doing a lot of calisthenic type work and lifting (not huge weights, but medium weight for a lot of reps, that kind of thing). Obviously, like with all things, I’d love it if I were suddenly to look like Tim Howard in match-fit condition, but that ship has pretty much left Westeros.

After a month with my trainer, I have officially made no detectable change. My body fat % is down two tenths of one percent. My measurements are all identical within the margin of error. I am not making obvious progress in any way. And you know what, that’s ok. Because one way I am making progress is in my time and distance on the road when I run.

I can now routinely run sub 27-minute 5Ks. I can routinely run sub 60-minute 10Ks. And I have run a half-marathon (unofficially) at under a 10 minute per mile pace. These are incredible accomplishments for me, and I’m very pleased with them. I’ve worked very hard for years now on achieving these goals. And as I’ve improved, I’ve set new goals. And I believe that unless I am injured, I will accomplish those too.

I’m going to sign up for the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC next October 25th. Well, I’m going to enter the lottery. If I get in, I’ll run it. I asked my uncle, and if I get in, I’ll have a shirt made with Phillip’s Marine Corps picture and run wearing it. A year is easily enough time to train up for a marathon. From where I am, I could probably do it in 10-12 weeks with a disciplined approach.

But the real results that matter to me are my metabolic numbers. My A1c is 5.5. And for a forty year old, overweight man with a strong family history of type II diabetes, that’s spectacular. My cholesterol is normal, my blood pressure is normal. None of that was true 5 years ago. I am, objectively, younger than I was about half a decade ago.

The only thing of concern is my fasting glucose, which, at 99, could definitely be better. Very high end of normal range. Which tells me that if I weren’t working out as hard as I am, I’d be at much greater risk for developing diabetes. But really, my risk of developing diabetes is basically 100%. My goal is to postpone and control it. And putting miles on my feet will do that.

Results are results. It doesn’t really matter where I get, as long as I stay halfway fit and uninjured. What matters is that I strive. Fight like hell for the next mile, the next step, the next hill, the next race. Every day, I give what I’ve got that day. I’m not ashamed when it’s less that what others have, or less than I had the day before. Because when I give what I’ve got today, then usually, tomorrow, I’ve got something a little more.