So last October some real heavy life turmoil hit. I didn't sleep at night and it was hard to care about running. I went through with a marathon in November, but I didn't run much otherwise. I hardly exercised at all for the next couple months after the marathon. I lost my appetite and lost about 10 lbs. It was the only time in my life, other than losing 50 lbs on the malaria and dysentery diet of '83, that I accidentally lost weight.
Things kinda improved in late Jan or early Feb. I started running more, returned to playing basketball at lunch hour, and worked out at the gym on Tue and Thur eve when my girls were in swim team practice. I've done significant exercise nearly every day. And my appetite returned. Big time. When I weighed myself this morning for the first time in a month, I found I'd gained 16 lbs in the past five weeks.
So, it's back to it. I'll start recording my runs in my running log again and weighing myself weekly. Keeps me accountable. My diet is good quality, I don't have a taste for sweets or junk food, I just eat way too friggin much. Time to discipline myself again.
Last year I restarted running in January, registered for the November marathon in Feb, and had that as a goal. This year I'll be moving and taking a new job in August, so I don't think I should commit to a marathon, so I'll just have to go with internal rather than external accountability.
Sorry about the heavy life turmoil, but CONGRATS on getting back into a healthy routine! Hopefully, having a consistent healthy habit will reduce stress and increase positivity for you. Good luck with your upcoming move and the next chapter in your life!!
But The Smile That I Sent Out Returned With You.
I find that the running log helps me a lot. I'll have a down week as I did last week just because I had too much stuff going on. This week things were a bit more settled but there were a couple of times when I had the choice of whether or not to run. I ran partly because my mileage was so low last week and I had to look at that mileage every time I looked at my log.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
Hip Redux
There's a fitness coach who says that process goals are just as important as end goals in terms of fitness and accountability. So I will run 5 times/week vs. I will complete in a marathon. If you work better with a goal in place, you could formulate a process goal that will get you up to your move/new job. I find a combination of the two helps keep me focused.
Good luck
Sorry about all the turmoil, but good luck with your marathon and getting back on the saddle.
Damaris
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There's a fitness coach who says that process goals are just as important as end goals in terms of fitness and accountability. So I will run 5 times/week vs. I will complete in a marathon. If you work better with a goal in place, you could formulate a process goal that will get you up to your move/new job. I find a combination of the two helps keep me focused. Good luck
That's a nice point. I also find that, as important as being consistent is being persistent. Consistent is getting out there and running those 5 or 6 days a week. Persistence is when I end up not running as much as I should for whatever reason and then moving on past that period of time and getting back at it. It took me a while to learn that lesson. I'd have a down phase and then get down on myself for that reduced mileage and run less because I was irritated with my lower mileage which left me more irritated and I ran even less. That's a vicious circle that I found it difficult to break. Now, I try to take each week as it comes. If I have a great week, well then that's terrific but forget about it and move on. Otherwise, I'll do crappy the next week whilst resting on my laurels from the previous week. Similarly, if I have a bad week, it's time to forget about it and move on.
Dr. Cornsitter
What an uplifting post! Life certainly can hand you a festering package of shit sometimes (I'm completely on the same page as you with having to deal with some pretty tumultuous life changes through the holidays this year), but it's really a huge step to come out say enough is enough. Congrats to you on getting back tot he things that keep you healthy and happy and sane. What Oski said (and LTH echoed) is probably something we all do to a certain degree, but it's nice to hear it articulated so plainly. Good luck GC! We're rooting for you
Quote from BeachRunner3234 on 6/25/2013 at 8:20 PM:
So I'm currently sitting with a bag of frozen corn in my ass.