Mission of the Marathon
Almost 10 years have gone by since my last entry and man have I let myself go downhill (and not in a good way). I still love bikes and want to run but a sedentary job, not the best eating habits and aging have rewarded me with the body and fitness I deserve.
I told myself in my 30s, I'd try to run a marathon in every decade. I assumed, I would always be active and I would never get fat. I workout and generally don't eat a lot of carbs or junk food and physical fitness is like breathing to me. It's part of my normal life. WRONG!
I allowed myself to get up to 167lbs, well above my healthy weight recommendations of 130-135lbs, putting my BMI just above 25 in the overweight category. My clothes are uncomfortable and I even feel "fat." It's not muscle and I don't care what bullshit excuses about body positivity women try to sell. Overweight and obese leads to increased cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's and cancer. Those excuses don't fly with me, basically GTFO.
I am now 47 teetering on the edge of overweight and nowhere near ready to run even a 1/2 marathon let alone a full. My joints hurt and my plantar fasciitis in my left foot just rears it's ugly head with any amount of running or walking, but like The Anti-Pedaler says "here I go."
After 2.5 weeks I have not had any alcohol, have been eating a low-calorie high protein diet and burn about 500 calories a day between the bike and/or gym and commit to 10,000 steps each day just to get my fat ass use to time on my feet again. Currently I am down 7lbs with about 25-30lbs to go.
I can barely get through a 5k at a sub-10 minute pace these days. The pain and suffering feel the same but the pace is embarrassingly slow. My last race was the Jingle Jog 5k in December and it took everything I had just to finish in 30:22 (9:46/mile).
This is a far cry from the sub-7 minute 5k I once ran or the fact that I use to be able to run a marathon faster than 8:30/mile. Not sure how hard or long this road is going to be but people with much less do much more. Here's to not... being a pussy, making excuses or blaming everyone but myself for why I don't get shit done.
I have started by just walking 2-4 miles a day with Cash (my 1 year old puppy) for about 20 miles per week. I am doing daily PF rehab exercises (these are annoying and take less than 10 minutes, yet it's harder to commit to these than to get on the bike for an hour) and I also joined our local run club on FB (currently only a silent member).
My plan is to follow the 80/20 method for training with 80% of my runs being at an easy pace, which doesn't exist right now with my PF, lack of running fitness and fat ass. Looking to target a 12:00-13:00/min mile eventually after a few more weeks of walking. I'll probably be "Jeffing" for awhile, maybe even in my marathon.
Goal: Asheville Marathon 2026 - Time: Finish
Target Races: Summit 10 miler Oct 2024 and ???
Mileage Rundown
1/1/-1/5: 9.43M (0M run)
1/6-/12: 21.38M (1.05M run at 12:10/mile)
#TilMyLegsGiveOut, #Marathon #Training #Running
