Running For My Life (And Paying For It Too)

Yesterday I did what no normal human being should do: I signed up to run a half-marathon.

It should be no secret to you all by now because I’ve talked about it, but I do that a lot: talk about stuff and then not really follow through. This time I have to follow through. Wasting $65 is not something I’d like to do!

I don’t hate running as much

The last thing you heard me say about running was how much I dislike it. Well, things have changed.

I don’t hate it. I don’t even dislike it. Sometimes I don’t like how I feel after I push myself, but I think that’s normal anyway. I never liked how my body felt like falling down and not getting back up after a hard workout at the gym. Fat people are generally stagnant; Newton’s First Law is pretty spot on.

My wife and I jog three times a week, and I actually look forward to it (aside from the tremendous heat we have had lately). Yesterday after our jog, she said “I just want you to be around for a long time.”

Two races down

You can see over in the sidebar the list of races I’ve done and what I’m registered for. I’ve officially done more races this year than any past year. Again, I use the term “race” very loosely, but I am competing with myself. Eventually it’ll be challenging for my wife as well.

I plan to sign up for more (I almost signed up for a 4 miler in a couple weeks but I am trying to keep the budget light this month) before then. I need to get a 10K in, and I like these little 5K short races to see how well I’m improving.

But why a half-marathon? Didn’t you know that’s a really, really long way?

Quite simply, I wanted the challenge. I’ve done a 10K already four or five times. I know I can do them. I know it takes me a while, but I know I can do them. Right now the idea of running 13.1 miles makes me almost want to cry, and I’m using it as motivation.

Maybe I could run a half-marathon as a fat guy, but I really would prefer not to. So it’s incentive to keep losing weight. By running it I will have accomplished a huge goal that not many guys like me have accomplished. The weight loss is almost the side-effect.

How I’ll train

Now this is where things might get a little non-traditional. I haven’t decided fully how I will train. Reading the endurance chapters of The 4-Hour Body I found ways to improve speed, but they seem to assume you can already run a 5K. I can run about a .5K before I have to start walking.

I’m following a few blogs by runners (GetFitSlowly and NoMeatAthlete), and I’m looking for a couple more. @fitmacdaddy said I should check out Brian Mackenzie, and when I did I realized he’s “The A**hole” Tim talks about in the book. I’ll be reading him as well.

I’m sure I’ll get more into specifics later, but I’m planning to do mostly the HIIT-type stuff that will reinforce the “suspension” of my running. I can tell that my feet and that muscle that pulls your foot up are not used to doing that. If I strengthen my legs, feet, glutes, and core then I’m certain my times will improve.

I also got new shoes

After Kathy and I finished the 5K this past Saturday (I’ll do a recap this week) we decided to get new shoes. I’ve been looking for an excuse since tossing my oldest pair, and she’s been running in casual sneakers that have been giving her blisters.

Side story: being relatively poor in Paraguay, she’s not used to buying good new shoes. We started in clearance at DSW and found a sweet pair of New Balance, but she had been looking for something darker. While I was trying on my shoes, she saw a grey pair of Saucony and said she wanted those if they fit. She didn’t know the price. My baby ended up saving me about $25 by going with the Saucony.

Anyway, so my new shoes are awesome. I’m running in a pair of Nike Lunarfly+ 2. I had always been an Addidas man until I realized that what a toe box was and how important it is to have a comfortable one. At a real running store I had bought a pair of New Balance with a wider box and pronation control, but they are very clunky and heavy. These Nikes are a great balance of comfort, width, and weight. By far the best shoes I’ve run in.

Training started already

A guy at work asks me occasionally how my training is going, and I had been telling him it hadn’t started yet. Then I finally realized that it’s going pretty well. All of these small races and the jogging we do to train for them are part of this half-marathon training. I’m currently on the “jog 3 mins, walk 90 seconds, jog 5 mins, walk 2:30, repeat” week of the C25K training, and I imagine we’ll be there a couple more weeks. It’s hard to get past that second 5 minute jog.

But all in all, I’m happy. I feel stronger in the leg, and I believe it’s making me eat right. Getting a reminder 3 times a week how much it sucks being fat is good motivation to stop being fat!

Ask me how it’s going from time to time and tell me your experiences. I’d love to hear them! Running/training tips are always appreciated!

-j

Running For My Life (And Paying For It Too) is a post from: Finding My Fitness