So weight wise, I've hit the halfway mark. I'm getting real close to leaving the 200 level behind, but whenever I want to hit a mark, it always seems to take some roller coaster hills to get through it. So I've dipped to as low as 203, went back up a few pounds, am now hovering around 204. I'd like to still go for 160 by April 2012, but that goal might fall a bit short. No matter, if I'm 170-180 in April, that's still a HUGE leap forward. And then I can just stick with the diet a few extra months, hit my goal, and transition to the maintain diet.
Now, running. I took a running/jogging class in college, but I can't remember my mile time, or whether I could actually sustain a run for a full mile. I do remember gym class in high school. I remember running with Andy Bruchey, both of us pondering if we'd need crash carts at the end of running a mile. I remember falling to the ground after the mile was up. It felt like such a labor to get through a single mile. With Shannon's surgery being a few days before the 5k, and her not likely to be released from the hospital before the 5k, my last chances to run would've been Thursday (I had a minor surgical procedure on 10/21 and was limited from running until then). So on Thursday, I broke out the cold weather gear (performance tee, long sleeve white tee, track pants, gloves, thermal hat) and decided to do a practice 5k. I did it in 34 minutes and felt pretty decent. I planned to do one more practice/tune-up run this weekend. Was originally going to try it yesterday during the snow, but I was too tired and ended up going to sleep early. So tonight, I said I need to do this. Originally planned to just do 20 mins of running...
I did a 2nd 5K. I did 10K in 4 days.
And you know what? I did not need a crash cart. I did not fall down at the end. I felt good.
I think I see the corner and I've rounded it. In just 5 months since I started tracking my runs, I've:
Run 90+ miles
Run 18+ hours
Burned 74+ donuts off
Powered nearly 15 TVs
Shaved about 2:30 off my mile pace
Just a note to my friends out there who say they need to start exercising but put it off, or think they can't do it...I did it. I went from 260 pounds to almost 200, and from struggling to run 1.5 miles to pulling off 5K in almost no sweat.
2 comments:
I'm scared to run in cold weather. I'm such a wuss when is comes to being cold. It's 74 in my house right now and I am so cold I have chills and goosebumps. Was it horrible running outside in the cold? Was the winter gear expensive? Where did you buy it? I don't know whereto buy gear for plus size.
Yes and no on the expensive...
So, the main thing is thinking about layers. When talking about winter running, you need three layers. A base layer that's water wicking, a middle layer that provides your insulation, and then a top layer which is wind/water resistant.
For me, I think about how I dress when I go outside in winter. I don't layer my bottoms, I only layer on my top half. So for the bottoms, you can probably get away with regular track pants. For the top, I got a short sleeved Starter performance tee for about 12 dollars. It's not Under Armour, but it gets the job done. I went with short sleeve so I could re-use in summer. The middle layer, for now, is just a plain white long sleeve cotton tee. Because I have the "under shirt", I don't have to worry about sweat on that. The top layer, I just got this weekend. A track jacket from Fila, it was about 38 dollars on sale at Kohl's. My main goal there was to get a waterproof jacket that was not bulky.
So that's the long answer. The short answer is that you can probably re-use a lot of clothes you use now, but may want to "invest" in a few pieces which will help you out more. It also depends on the environment you are going to run in. I go running even if it's raining. If you're not going to do that, you don't need to get a water proof jacket. And if you aren't going to ramp up to long time/distance runs, you may not need water wicking stuff underneath. That just helps to avoid getting "sweat soaked"
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