May 18: A kinder, gentler race

Hello, broccoli florets!

I come baring news of– wait a second.... I come bearing news of disintegrating fat molecules and non-death-inducing marathon participation.

I didn't get weighed last week, but I did get back on the wagon. I gotta admit, it was tough. The first couple days I kept wanting to chuck everything and dive into a vat of Kraft Dinner and eat my way out. You would think after getting poisoned as a result of over-indulgence that I would steer clear of more poison, but the opposite happens: once the floodgates open, it's really hard to shut them again. So I had a few days of really struggling to hold temptation at bay. Some days I really, really miss eating everything in sight. Of course, when I'm in the throes of it, it is rarely as satisfying as I imagine it will be. Which is not to say it is not satisfying.

Anyway, this week's loss was .8, bringing the grand total to 21.6 pounds.

On Sunday, my mom and I did our annual half-marathon walk, and I have the contraband "proof" to show for it. I like the irony but also hope I don't get hunted down and sued by the folks who want me to pay $14.95 for that image, sans watermark. Anyway, it was our best walking time ever (3 hours, 38 minutes - we usually come in around 3:45ish). Possibly this was because we just wanted to get out of the drizzly, shitty weather. For my mom, the walk was just a warm-up: she is doing the full marathon walk in Ottawa at the end of the month. Go, Marathon Jan!!

Walking 21 kilometres is not exactly a punishing workout, but it does strain the joints, especially in the rainy cold. I recovered pretty quickly this year, though (especially compared to last fall, when I decided to run as much as I could, since my mom was out with a knee injury. It was a totally spontaneous decision that I paid for over the next week - rolling over in bed was painful for the first two days, and I think I probably looked like a city slicker after a cattle drive whenever I was forced to stand or walk.) I gotta give props to L-Mac2, who has signed up to run the half-marathon this fall in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Girl's got the bug for it. I went out for a 5k run with her and some folks from work last week and she gallantly stayed behind with me and encouraged me to finish the damn thing. Goddamn I hate running. I have no capacity for pain and suffering. And I wonder, why does there have to be pain and suffering?

Jan 20: Fitness goals

So, a couple years ago when I started this blog, I decided to set a fitness goal of running a 10k. When I achieved the goal a couple months later, I reflected in a video blog that setting a goal had been a key factor in getting my ass out to the gym on a regular basis. I really do believe that. If you have to train for an event of some kind (whether it's one of your own planning or a large scale organized affair), the motivation to ensure you're prepared for it tends to get you off the couch when plain old vanity or concern for your health might not be sufficient.

So what is my current fitness goal, you may ask? Well. I am still deliberating on whether this is something I will feel comfortable attempting, but I am toying with signing up for the Good Life Toronto (half) Marathon, happening Sunday, May 15. I haven't signed up yet, probably won't until much closer to the date.

The background on this heady notion: for several years now, my mom and I walk this half-marathon route, although up until this year, the event has been held in October, not May. This past October, we were signed up to do it, and then my mom injured her knee. I decided to go anyway, with her encouragement. I hadn't done any training, hellz, I hadn't even done any running for several months. But since I was there on my own, I decided to experiment and see how much of the route I could run. I was able to alternate running and walking until about the 15 km mark, when the pain was too great to continue the pavement pounding, so I did my best to walk the rest as fast as I could. Where my mom and I have normally completed the 21k in around 3:45-3:50, I finished in 3:11. Not exactly world class, but I was pleased. I thought if I could do that with no training at all, maybe I could improve my time considerably by the new spring date. At least I have a time to shoot for. I'm sure I could get under 3 hours, and would hope for around 2:30-2:45.

The thing is, I am so fucking fat and out of shape right now! I have no lung capacity, and get the asthma-wheezies after 10 mins of running. I really need to build up to it, and I'm not sure four months is enough. So for sure I will sign up for the Sporting Life 10k again, happening 2 weeks before the half marathon, on May 1. I will look to improve my time again this year (first time, 1:09; last year, 1:07). I'm sure running will get easier once I shed some of the excess baggage, and also get back into shape.

The Good Life marathon route is similar to the Sporting Life route (although twice as long), in that they both go straight down Yonge St for much of the run, which is mostly all downhill. This is a sizable carrot in front of me. I could put off the fitness goal til the fall, when Toronto's other marathon, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront marathon, happens on Oct. 16. But I like the idea of the downhill boost. So, I don't know.

For sure I will do the 10k. For now I am focussing on just doing an hour of cardio in the gym 3 times a week, gradually introducing running into that as I start to feel more fit. Basically, I am not a fan of running. I am a fan of achieving seemingly impossible goals, though, so I soldier on.

What about y'all? Share a goal so I can hold you to it!