A Week in the Life #1

I’ve been blogging for 17 years, with seven of those years focused on writing about my running and fitness journey. But I very rarely have gone without some big race to prepare for. I even wrote about how to plan for a season of racing, and being asked what my next race is as a way runners greet one another.

But this year it seems as though my big plans have gone down the drain, whether it’s because my body is unwilling or the race I wanted to do has been postponed.

Truthfully, I feel somewhat relieved I don’t have a race to target because it’s been eight years of being somewhat obsessive with training. I never thought I’d be burned out, but here we are.

At the same time, all the training was a way to keep the pounds at bay. My path to fitness began with an attempt to lose weight and progressed to an enriching exploration of the endurance community not just here but all over the world. But there are many good ways to get to a healthy weight; I think this year is a perfect opportunity to explore them.

I’m currently running 15 pounds over my old racing weight, which isn’t something you shouldn’t aim to maintain year-round anyway but I’m still overweight. I want to lose about 10 pounds to be within the weight range I feel fit and healthy in. Right now I can feel the extra weight making me feel lethargic and causing a bit of a back ache whenever I stand for too long.

Nothing like goal-setting to get me going! So here’s what I’d like to accomplish over the next six weeks:

• Lose a minimum of five pounds.
• Exercise consistently four to five times a week, building up to one hour per session.
• Average seven hours of sleep every week.

Once I’ve ticked off these goals as Done, I’ll publish a new set of goals. Like before, I’ll post weekly updates as a way to keep track and keep myself accountable.

Though I’m not very strict on food and am not in the habit of cutting out whole food groups, I also know that you can never outrun a bad diet. And now that I can’t go very intensely for fear of tumbling over the overtraining ledge again, I’ll have to be even more careful what goes in. (I no longer have any excuse to binge on Cheetos.)

Much has been said on social media about discipline and determination driving fitness and weight loss, but I am always keenly aware that simply to have the option to exercise and to choose the food I put into my body is something not everyone has. Many people around the world face not having enough to eat, of not being capable of exercise or movement, of not even having time because they work more than one job just to send money back to their families. Far be it from me to say “If I can do it, anybody can” because I don’t represent everybody who has that desire to be healthy and fit. But maybe in my muddling through we can all learn something new and maybe help push the needle toward helping everyone gain access to fitness and health.

Meanwhile, here are some snippets from the week that was:

getting some work done even while away from my home office

headphones are my favorite flight accessory

was invited to judge the BodyJam dance competition at 360 Fitness Club

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and sis