Thursday, March 09, 2006
Where I’m coming from
I don’t want to give you my whole biography, so I’ll just give you some background to help you understand my marathon quest. I am turning 40 this month, and am a busy dad with 4 kids (7 and under!). I ran as a teen and young adult, but in my mid twenties I became more sedentary and put some weight on. I did an incredible crash diet when about 26, and lost maybe 30 or 40 lbs (don’t remember exactly). I say incredible, because it was very easy and the weight came off quickly. When I say easy, I mean my motivation was always strong.
Of course, these things usually don’t last. Slowly the weight crept back, and by age 37 I was looking at 248 lbs on the scale. I’m tall (6’2”) but that still put my BMI in the obese category. Obese--yikes! Well, somehow I found the motivation, and lost 50 lbs on the ELEM diet (Eat Less, Exercise More). As I mentioned in the last post, I’ve slipped backwards a little. However, I’ve made some substantial life changes which make me confident that this change is for good. I just need to keep working at it. A major part of this last weight loss has been exercise, specifically running.
I have the good fortune of having exercise facilities and showers at my office building. Even better, there is a nice pond with a running path very close by which offers a run of about 3 miles (actually, pretty darn close to exactly 5k when I measure it on the map with a piece of string). I have been running that, usually 2-4 times a week, for the past 2 and a half years.
In addition to these 3 milers, I occasionally do longer runs of 6-8 miles. Last fall, I ran my first 10 mile race. I have sometimes considered the possibility of a marathon. It occurred to me that it might be a nice goal to try to run one before, or on, my 40th year. However, I sort of gave it up as unrealistic. Then recently a friend who ran his first marathon last year has been pushing me to give it a try. I floated the idea past the wife, and she is actually encouraging me. This will require some sacrifice on her part, in the shape of being on her own with the kids during some precious weekend time while I do the long training runs.
So there you have it. I 40 year old former sedentary person who has become fit again.
Of course, these things usually don’t last. Slowly the weight crept back, and by age 37 I was looking at 248 lbs on the scale. I’m tall (6’2”) but that still put my BMI in the obese category. Obese--yikes! Well, somehow I found the motivation, and lost 50 lbs on the ELEM diet (Eat Less, Exercise More). As I mentioned in the last post, I’ve slipped backwards a little. However, I’ve made some substantial life changes which make me confident that this change is for good. I just need to keep working at it. A major part of this last weight loss has been exercise, specifically running.
I have the good fortune of having exercise facilities and showers at my office building. Even better, there is a nice pond with a running path very close by which offers a run of about 3 miles (actually, pretty darn close to exactly 5k when I measure it on the map with a piece of string). I have been running that, usually 2-4 times a week, for the past 2 and a half years.
In addition to these 3 milers, I occasionally do longer runs of 6-8 miles. Last fall, I ran my first 10 mile race. I have sometimes considered the possibility of a marathon. It occurred to me that it might be a nice goal to try to run one before, or on, my 40th year. However, I sort of gave it up as unrealistic. Then recently a friend who ran his first marathon last year has been pushing me to give it a try. I floated the idea past the wife, and she is actually encouraging me. This will require some sacrifice on her part, in the shape of being on her own with the kids during some precious weekend time while I do the long training runs.
So there you have it. I 40 year old former sedentary person who has become fit again.
