On January 1, 2011, I was 218 pounds, sick and completely out of shape. My feet and legs hurt all the time and I never had energy to do anything. I did not exercise and I ate a poor diet. On the first of this year I was sitting at a hockey game eating a pulled pork sandwich and drinking beers, even though I was sick for the last few days. Each time I went to get another beer or something to eat I had to climb a flight of stairs to get to the food court. After each trip up and down those steps I was winded. That is the moment that I realized how much I was fed up with the way I felt and looked. And so I told myself, starting the next morning I was going to change my habits for good. I had said that a ton of times in the past three to four years since I started letting myself go, but I always fell back into my old ways. My plan was simple in theory, but having the mental power to pull it off was another thing. This time I knew I had hit that breaking point.
My plan was to start by dieting; only allowing myself to consume a certain amount of calories per day. After I got down to 200 pounds I would start walking and then start to run. After doing some research I decided I would go a bit extreme by only eating 1,750 calories per day no matter what. I was bound and determined to get results, and I did. When eating a limited amount of calories you tend to eat healthier foods. You can eat all day long on 1750 calories if you’re eating healthy, low calorie foods throughout. One of my favorites is celery and another was to have a slice of lean deli meat. Most important is not to drink your calories. I replaced all drinks with plain water or Crystal Light. By mid February I had lost the 18 pounds I set out to lose.
Part two of my plan was to start walking and running. I started to allow myself to eat up to 2000 calories per day now that I was exercising. To ensure that I would not back out of the running if it got a little too tough, I convinced my brother to sign up for a 5k road race with me that was to take place on March 26, 2011. He agreed and so the running began.
I started by walking my dog on the streets near my house. I would get in my car after we got home and drive the route we walked so I could track how far we walked. At first we were only walking between a half mile to a mile. I would be tired when I was done, believe it or not. Soon I was leaving the dog home and attempting to jog a little. I was working little bursts of running into my walks. Before I knew it, I was running a complete mile. It was not an easy mile but it was a complete mile without stopping. My plan to prep for the 3.1 mile (5k) that I was signed up to run on March 26th was to just go out each day and try to cover 3.1 miles total, walking, running, or crawling.
Soon enough, it got easier and by mid March my weight had gone down another 5 pounds and I was able to run a complete 3.1 miles. I was ready for the big day. I knew I would be able to finish and I set a goal of 30 minutes to complete the race. I did finish the race and I did it in 26:06, but not before I made one big mistake: As I approached the last quarter mile or so, I decided to kick it to the finish line. Only problem was I was not an experienced runner. I started running faster and extending my stride. Next thing I knew, I felt a sharp burning and a pop in my left hamstring. Yup, right at the end of the race I tore my hamstring. All I could remember thinking was that I had to finish this thing I started, so I lightly jogged and hopped across the finish line. My brother smoked his first race in 23 minutes and change without any injuries. I felt very proud to complete the race even after hurting myself. But now I was worried that all the hard work was going to come to a stop because of the hamstring injury.
I took this as an opportunity to do a little research and learn why I ended up with this injury. What I learned was when you want to run faster, you don’t extend your legs or stride, you need to increase your leg turnover while keeping your stride the same. I took a few days off from running and iced the injured leg. It helped but it still hurt pretty badly. Everything I read told me a trip to the ER would equate to a waste of time.
After a few days I decided to wrap the bad leg and start walking my miles while being ever so careful not to step the wrong way. I was not going to let this stop my new found love for running.
I know this sounds crazy but it is true: Two weeks after completing our first race, my brother and I signed up for another 5k. This race was to take place on the day before my birthday, April 9th. My leg was still in a lot of pain when I tried to run, but it also taught me to control my stride. Anytime I stepped out a little too far, I felt it right away and would shorten up my stride. With the bad leg I still ran a better time than I did two weeks earlier, coming in at 25:48. I know these times are not fast, but for a new runner I was doing quite well.
That night I went on the Internet to start looking for our next race, planning for around two weeks ahead again. Instead I found another 5k race the next morning. I asked my brother if he was up for a double header. What do you think he said? So off to bed we went so we could wake up bright and early on my birthday and run another race.
I don’t know how, but I ended up besting my time from the day before, finishing in 24:40. In two weeks I ran three 5Ks, tore a hamstring, and somehow improved on my time each race. If you didn’t guess by now, I was hooked! Now I was ready to challenge myself some more. I needed to up the ante. So I chose a 10K for my next race which would be just about one month from my last race. I found if I kept committing to new races I would continue to run. So far it was working.
I had settled on my goal weight. My new goal was to get down to 185 pounds. That would be 33 pounds lost in total. My first 10k was set for May 7th. By the time that date rolled around my leg felt better and I had reached my goal of 185 pounds. My approach for this 10k was to take it easy and make it to the finish line in one piece. My brother and I both completed the race and we both did well for our first ever 10k. My brother won his age group (35-39) and I finished 5th in my age group, also (35-39) out of 44 runners at a time of 50:36. I was very happy with this result considering I was only running these races as a personal challenge for myself and a way to get fit and stay fit. I could not stop now. I was running at least. Two road races a month and I was feeling great. I was rewarding myself after each race completed by purchasing a new running shirt or shorts. Each time I got a new shirt I would look up another race so I could have a reason to wear it. My 5k times had improved to 22:34 by mid May. And then something happened that I was not prepared for: SUMMER.
I live in North Carolina. The summers are HOT and very humid. As a new runner, I was not prepared to see my times get worse rather than better. After a little more reading and research I found out that on average your time will increase by 10 to 15 % when running in high heat and humidity. I continued to find and run races and my times continued to suffer. I felt like I was putting in triple the work and getting less of a reward. So to keep myself focused I went big. I searched for and found a half marathon for the fall. November 6th I would partake in my first 13.1 mile race.
Now that I had committed to this big race, one that I never had ever thought or planned to do by the way, this would keep me going through the unbearable NC heat. I had a reason now for my suffering. As the summer went on I continued to run. There were days where I planned on running 5 to 6 miles only to fall apart after 3 miles in the extreme heat. I tried running early or late with only a slightly better result. Most mornings and evenings it is still in the 80s or 90s. This summer was breaking heat records left and right. On August 6, 2011 I ran a 10k in Fayetteville in 85 degree heat and 100% humidity, and the course was murder to boot. Hill after hill after hill. I saw people pass out at the end of the race and I even threw up after I finished myself. In the end, I had added 7 minutes onto my average 10k time. I was starting to wonder if I would make it to November for my date with the half marathon.
Then out of left field my brother signs me up for the Virginia Beach half marathon set for September 4, 2011. That gave me 5 weeks to prepare. Of course my main issue was with the heat. Would it cool down by then and if it did not, could I do this race?
Since my first race on March 26th, I had completed seven 5Ks, two 10Ks, one 8K, and a four mile race I did on the fourth of July. That’s 11 races in less than five months. I had done far more than I ever thought I was capable of doing and now I had to do something that most people would not ever even consider doing: Run my first half marathon in the summer after only eight months of running.
In those eight months I have learned so much about running and about myself. It is amazing what the human body can handle and go through if you can get past the mental part of running. It’s so easy to say, “I quit”, but it’s so hard to say, “I can keep going, I am able to finish.”
The mind is the part of the body that needs the most training when it comes to running. The body will do what the mind tells it to do one way or another.
The other part of running that I had to learn along the way involved running gear and preparation. Such as what to eat and what not to eat. How to hydrate. How and when to use energy gels and recovery powders and what kinds of sneakers to wear and how to size them. And using a running journal is a must.
I have dealt with black toes, bruised tops of my feet, torn hamstring, and pain in my knees and shins from over running and not resting enough. I have learned a lot, I have read a stack of books and an even bigger stack of running magazines and I still have a ton to learn. My diet has been the hardest part. Ever since I hit my goal weight of 185, I have been stuck there. If I eat fewer calories I start to lose weight but I don’t have the energy I need to get me through my longer runs. If I eat more calories I tend to gain a couple pounds. I’m still working on this issue as I write this today. My new goal is to get down to 175 pounds for November’s half marathon.
As it stands, I have one 10k planned before the September 4th Virginia Beach half marathon and a couple 5 and 10Ks along with a 15K planned ahead of my ( hopefully cooler conditioned ) November half marathon. This has been a great journey for me, going from couch to 13.1 miles. My next piece will be about my experience running my first half marathon. Will the weather turn out good? Will I finish the race? If I do finish, will it be in my goal time if two hours? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions yet but in 20 days I will find out, then you will find out. If there is one thing I’ve learned about the running world as a whole, every runner wants every runner to succeed. It doesn’t matter if you jog a mile a day or if you run a marathon a month. We are all runners. Cheer for and support every person who laces up and puts forth the effort to hit the pavement and go. It’s go time!