The quest to fit in the Road Race Series Singlet (Read 1202 times)

I have stuck my head under the sand for far too long. I am not going to be one of those guys that ran a handful of races and then quit. In 2005, at 22 years old, I decided to get my life together and start losing weight. I weighed 455 lbs (6'5"). I just basically ate very well and walked. At some point, I got the crazy idea to start running. In April of last year, I ran a marathon which was a huge goal for me. I weighed 245 lbs then. A week later, I signed up for the local road race series (2 races of each distance 5k through half marathon, every other weekend), and trained hard for the 5k. I was really excited to run in the Road Race Series, because it was what all of the "real" runners ran, and you got this really cool red technical singlet for participating. In retrospect this was probably a bad idea. During the second 5k I developed severe plantar fasciitis. I was sidelined for the rest of the series. But, I got the singlet! My plantar fasciitis case log is very long and very depressing. It involves trying several other exercises and hobbies, none of which gave me what running gave me. Trying to run, thinking I was getting better, and then getting reinjured much worse than before, etc. I had tried everything. I have a pair of $500 custom orthotics sitting in a drawer because they did nothing for me. The only thing left to do was give up running, so thats what I did. Unfortunately, I gave up eating right as well. Lots of things happened in my life, I got married, my job got much more stressful, and I gained 50 lbs. I also had a terrible unrelated medical emergency which left me on morphine for two weeks. That sucked. I haven't run (other than every once in a while) in months. But, my PF doesn't hurt me at all. I now weigh 300 lbs. My Road Race Series singlet doesn't even come close to fitting me. It is past time to grab the bull by the horns and take control. I am going to build back up to my former glory, being very careful so as to not bring back the injury. I am going to eat right, and I am going to train right. I am banning myself from racing until I reach 250 lbs. I am also going to ban myself from using the Garmin, as I feel like my pace will only depress me and cause me to push too hard. I am going to run by time only. Phase 1, is to run/walk 2min/1min for 30 minutes, 4 days per week. Then build that up to 5 days per week. Phase 2, is to eliminate walking. Phase 3, is to replace 1 run with a long run, of 45 and then 60 minutes. Phase 4, is to increase regular runs to 45 minutes, and long run to 75 to 90 minutes. Phase 5, is to think about racing. As far as diet, that is going to be the hard part. Before, I did a low-fat vegetarian diet, Dean Ornish style. This time I am not going to be motivated to restrict myself so much. I will eat a 2200 calorie per day diet of foods low in sugar and refined flour, while eating a moderate amount of (primarily vegetable based) fats. While I have made great friends with Ben and Jerry since I gave up running, I am going to have to break up with them now. I just got a new pair of Brooks The Beast shoes, and I am about to go outside and run for 30 minutes with my dog.

Thanks PrinceJ. Luckily, advice isn't what I need. I know what I need to do, I just need to actually do it. What I need is encouragement, and accountability. Though I'm starting my training log tomorrow, I ran today. 30 minutes, 2min running/ 1 min walking intervals. I did better than I thought I would. Hit the first mile marker in 12:30. Not the 9:45s that I ran my easy runs at this time last year, but I thought I would be doing 15:00s, especially considering the walk breaks. It felt good too, not nearly as difficult as I thought it would. Little worried that with the run/walk protocol I may be going lactic during the run portions and then taking it too easy during the walks. I want to use this to ease into it, not to turn it into an interval workout. I know how important it is to keep it easy at this point. The alarm is set for 4:00 tomorrow.

Thanks PrinceJ. Luckily, advice isn't what I need. I know what I need to do, I just need to actually do it. What I need is encouragement, and accountability.

MoT - If it is accountability you're looking for, open up your training log and keep us posted in this thread. We'll keep an eye on you! Good luck, and stay focused! Q

I just joined that group actually. I am still trying to figure out how to work my way around this site (I used to use coolrunning before it changed).

Wow, that's an incredible story. All the best to you. Did they give you a one-size singlet? I once got one from a race series. I'm completely at the other end of the spectrum from you (5'6", 125 lbs), and it fit me like a pair of overalls. The only advice I can give to you is to be consistent over everything else.

You GO, MoT!! Good luck and Godspeed.

Yesterday I didn't eat ideally but it was a huge improvement. I ate good for breakfast and ate apples and raw almonds for my 2 snacks (which is good), but I ate falafel for lunch and grilled cheese sandwiches (granted they were on whole wheat) for dinner. Still I stayed at calorie limits. And I've lost 6.5 lbs since Sunday (don't expect to keep up that rate...lol), so I guess I am doing ok. Rest day today. I am going to work on stretching as I think the lack of stretching is why I had PF in the first place.

I ate good today. I know I said that I would ban myself from using the Garmin, but I am already wanting to redact that. Not that I want to do speedwork, but I want to have useful data to track.