The Good

Some of these might not seem like big deals, but they have been for me.

• Finished my first half marathon. It took as long as some people do a full marathon, but I finished none-the-less.
• My resting heart rate is down by about 15bpm.
• I’ve only lost about 30 pounds so far, but it’s made a difference.
• I pay a lot more attention to how I’m eating. I don’t always make the right choices, but I’m making the right ones more often than the bad.

Even though the foot fracture this summer really set me back a couple months with my running, I still managed to hit most of my goals for the year, and most importantly finished my goal event. I really surprised myself with that one.

The Bad

Despite this year bringing about huge changes in my life, there are still things that didn’t work out quite as planned.

• I haven’t started swimming or biking yet. The simplicity of running let’s it fit into my life. Swimming will require I adhere to the pool facility schedule, and the bike will require a bunch of costly equipment that I haven’t acquired yet.
• I still have an issue with evening snacks. It’s a really bad habit, and I’m working on curbing it.

What’s next

Looking forward to the year ahead, here are a few things I’ve got planned:

• Start swimming ASAP. There’s a pool by my house, I’ve gotten myself a swimsuit and goggles. No more excuses.
• Get what I need to start biking in the spring.
• Run outside when possible this winter. I made a comment in an earlier post that I wasn’t ready to be “one of those crazy people” running the snow, but I think I might be there now.

I’ll have a better idea of what 2012 has in store for me as we get closer to year end, but for now those seem like reasonable aims for the rest of 2011 and early 2012.

I shrugged it off as a coincidence.

I haven’t given it much thought until yesterday, when again I seem to have been targeted for a reminder from the universe about my mission.

My motivation had dipped a little low this weekend after a couple of rough runs. I’m still building up to my previous fitness level after the fracture and it got me a little frustrated.

Walking into my office building yesterday, entertaining thoughts of calling the whole thing off, the person in front of me decided to stop abruptly and check something on his Blackberry. Thanks to being so deep in thought myself, I walked right into him.

This is not an entirely uncommon occurrence as I work in a crowded place and people are often packed very tightly during the early morning rush to get up the elevators, so after the usual exchange of apologies he started off on his way again.

He ended up in front of me at the elevator line-up and I noticed something. The backpack he had on—the one I had walked into—was an Ironman branded bag.

I thought to myself, “OK, I was thinking about giving up, and Ironman just literally punched me in the gut.”

Now, I know that Ironman and triathlons are becoming hugely popular. It’s entirely possible I’ve been stopped behind that car a hundred times, and stood behind that guy and his backpack every day for the past few years and never noticed, but could it really just be coincidence?

I don’t know.

Either way, I’m thankful for those little reminders that help keep my mind on track.

So if you’re one of those people with the bumper stickers and backpacks and other Ironman gear that you wear around town, on behalf of myself and others working towards the right to wear such badges of honour, thanks!

During the event, my foot started hurting about half way through. It hurt along with my ankles and knees, and everything else so I didn’t really think much of it. “This is a half marathon,” I said to myself, “everything is going to hurt!”

That afternoon, as I predicted, every part of my lower body was in pain. The next day, thankfully, the pain was already subsiding. It quickly turned into stiffness and the familiar ache of muscle repair. This was true for most of my lower body, except for my left foot. Not only was my left foot not getting any better, it was actually feeling quite a bit worse.

Doctor’s Orders

After a couple of days of not being able to put any weight on it without feeling like I was walking on knives, I went to see a doctor.

He told me it was likely a stress fracture, and x-rays later confirmed it. I was ordered to not walk unless I had to, and after a couple of weeks to “let the pain be my guide” with regard to when I could start putting weight on it and walking more.

Running was strictly prohibited until the follow up x-rays were taken and looked at, which happened yesterday. Looks like the x-ray came back fine, so I’m now cleared to ease back into running.

Hindsight

I should have stopped running when it started to really hurt. I know that. It’s a message I’ve seen in all the books and training guides. All of that great advice went out the window during the race. In my mind, from the very beginning of the race, there was no way I was not crossing that finish line. I really mean that literally. There was no way that I was not going to run, walk, or crawl over that line. It just wasn’t an option.

I’ve had some crazy ideas, dreams, and pursuits in my life that haven’t gone anywhere, but this one is different. I needed to prove to myself that this is something I could do; that I would do.

I like to think that some day, that same single minded determination that helped me push through the pain will help me to cross more important finish lines. That being said, I will definitely pay a lot more attention to pain in future training and events, to avoid the kind of setbacks this injury has caused.

3, 2, 1, GO!

On race day I arrived a bit early, as I was a little unsure of how things were going to proceed. I was expecting a big crowd, based on photos I’d seen from previous years, but it’s a whole other perspective when you’re walking around in it. Big doesn’t begin to describe it. I made my way to my start point, and watched the crowd get bigger and bigger as start time approached.

The weather wasn’t great, overcast with a chance of showers, but so far it was dry and pleasantly cool.

This isn’t so bad

The first K went by pretty easily. I was not expecting that. We were going at an easy pace, due to the dense crowd, and for the first time since committing to this I felt a little confident.

I remember looking to the side and seeing this guy reflected back to me in the window clad downtown office towers. I thought to myself, “what’s that big guy doing here?”

We came around to the 3k water station and things were still feeling pretty good. No pain anywhere, surprisingly little fatigue, and the dense crowds of cheering people along the roads helped propel us onwards.

Kilometer 12

At 10K, it started to rain. Lighly at first, then heavy enough to get thoroughly soaked and litter the road with puddles. Like little wet landmines, everyone was weaving to try and avoid them but every now and then one would explode near by and soak your feet.

By the time we made our way onto kilometer 12 the course had us on a piece of road that follows a big river that runs through town. Between the rain coming down, and the cold wind coming off the water, I started to get a little cold.

Another feature of kilometer 12 was a patch of steadily ascending road that also happened to be tilted from left to right. I’m not sure if it was the climb, or the slanted road, or most likely I had just finally reached the limit of my fitness level but at that point my knees started to ache.

After surprising myself with a pretty steady first half of the race, my pace slowed by about 2 minutes per kilometer.

Hills

Kilometers 14 to 16 (roughly) featured a couple of small hills in quick succession and the up and down made my knees scream, and convinced my feet to join in on the pain party.

Crossing the big bridge on the course also exposed us to a lot more wind and I went from chilly to downright freezing.

Final 5K

Coming off the bridge, onto the final 5K stretch, I was feeling pretty satisfied that I had made it so far and had so little to go. The final 5K was a loop, and as I was running along I could see the finish line across the way.

Then, looking forward, I realized as the road curved ahead of me that the loop back was not coming nearly as quickly as I thought it would. It was a little deflating, but I soldiered on.

100 meter sprint

I finally started to approach the finish line and the kilometer markers turned into meter markers. I managed to find enough steam to muster a sad little sprint in the final 100 meters. “Finish strong,” I thought to myself, as I hobbled across the line looking like someone had broken both my knees at the last water station.

Through the gate I was quickly handed a bottle of water, a space blanket, and then unceremoniously awarded a finisher’s medal.

It hadn’t really clicked in my head at that point, but I was done. I did it. I finished my first half marathon.

The aftermath

A big feast after the race, and a couple days of rest, and most of the lower half of my body started to feel close to normal again.

I say “most” because there was one thing that didn’t get better. In fact, it got worse. I’ll save it for my next post, but the story includes doctors, x-rays, and pain medication.

Despite all that, I’m still quite proud of having achieved this first in a long list of goals. It was a cold and miserable day, but I’d say it was still one of the most exhilarating I’ve had in a long while!

It’s really been a crazy month or two. I started a new job, and it’s a completely new role for me. I’ve been with the same organization for almost 7 years now, doing the same kind of work. Needless to say, switching to a new position has thrown me way out of my comfort zone.

That being said, some other things in my life have suffered from lack of time and attention. This website, for example. So, without further ado, let’s get on with the update!

Training

It shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’ve read my last couple of posts, but I’ve definitely dropped the ball on my training regimen over the last couple of months. I’m still running, but it’s not been as often or as long as it should.

I suppose when I set off on this crazy quest I knew it would have its ups and downs. I’m trying to not be too hard on myself about it, but honestly I’m pretty disappointed. I can’t let it discourage me, though, I have to learn from this and keep moving forward.

Goals

My first half marathon is coming up in less than 2 weeks. I am not ready. I haven’t put in the time, haven’t put in the distance, and my diet has been a mess. In short, the race is going to be a disaster.

Why am I still doing it? Because I said I would.

This race is the first on a long list of goals. It won’t be fast, it won’t be pretty, but I will cross that finish line. I refuse to start this journey with a DNS.

Dreams

Sometimes I think, maybe an Ironman is a little too crazy. Maybe I should aim for just doing a marathon. An Ironman is just too big. It’s too late, I’ve wasted too much time, there’s no way I can do this. These thoughts, more than any missed workouts or extra helping at dinner, are what would be my undoing if I let them.

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius

When things seem most impossible, that’s when I most need to stick to my original goals and not let myself settle for anything less. I’ve gotten off track a little. I can recover from 2 months lost out of a 3 year plan. At least at this point, it’s not the end of the world. I can refocus, adjust course, and keep moving.

I’ve never been more sure than I am right now of how much this whole thing is really a mind game. There’s nothing particularly complicated about putting one foot in front of the other. The real challenge is in going out your door and working on it every day. Doing nothing is so much easier.

I’m not sure why, but yesterday I put on my shoes and I went for a run. I didn’t bother with my heart rate monitor. I wasn’t concerned with my cadence or pace. For the first time in a long while I just felt like running.

The first few miles felt awkward, but that quickly passed. As I kicked up the speed, and my legs started to burn, it all made sense again. The fog lifted, and that spark I was missing found it’s way home.

I can’t really explain it, but I could feel myself smiling.

It happens

In a strange way, it’s nice to know that it can happen. Being in a rut means you were not already in one to begin with. I guess that’s something

Thankfully, I was able to push through the scheduled training volume anyways, just not at the effort level I would have liked. The runs were slower, with many more walking breaks than I should have needed. I’m hoping I haven’t lost too much of the progress I had made in my fitness level.

My biggest struggle, at the best of times and at the worst of times, remains the nutrition side of things. During this little rut I had some pretty bad food days. I won’t get into the details, but they are not pretty.

Despite this low point, I still managed to drop a pound and a half % body fat. Three cheers for my newly revved up metabolism!

Weekly Stats

Current Weight: 233 (-31)
Body Fat: 28% (-2%)

Next Week

My priority for the week is pretty straight forward. Stick to my workouts, and get my food intake back under control.

Also, when I tweeted about being late with this update I mentioned having a good excuse. I was not talking about the rut. I’ve been spending a lot of time working on a bit of a secret project. It’s triathlon related, and hopefully will get off the ground, but right now it’s just an idea. I’ll share more details when I can.

Now, we Canadians are not exactly known for our healthy eating habits. Our claims to culinary fame? Poutine, pies, and pastries of every variety. So let me just say, this was not an easy exercise.

I cleared out the leftover Christmas chocolates, and got rid of the soft drinks. All the white bread got swapped for whole grain. 2% milk replaced with 1%. The list goes on and on and on.

To finish off the process, I had to add some new things to replace those that were lost. I have to eat something, after all. So, my fridge is now stocked with fruits and veggies and other healthy things instead.

Aside from the occasional odd craving (last night, for example, I was dying for Kraft Dinner) but other than that it’s going really well.

Planning a food detox of your own?

Here are a few tips from my experience:

1. Be ruthless. I had to give away or toss out some things I genuinely adore. Bottom line, you have to try to think of food as fuel. If it’s not good fuel then it’s got to go.
2. Substitution is key. Getting rid of crunchy potato chips? Replace it with a healthy crunchy alternative. Do you often eat bad snack food in the car on your way home from work? Stock the glove box with almonds or some other easy (but healthy) snack food. Make sure that when you reach for your usual unhealthy foods, there’s something better waiting in it’s place.
3. Try to enjoy it! I had a really hard time eating healthy when I started this because I had just closed my mind to it for so long. Now that I’m actually doing well with making better choices, I can honestly say I’m as happy to be eating a good piece of grilled chicken with some broccoli as I was to be eating a pizza a few months ago.

Leave a comment if you’ve got any tips or advice I can add to my list. I’d love to hear how you keep your food choices healthy, or how your own food detox went!

I’m getting my energy back now, and I’m anxious to get back to work!

Last Week

Knee pain, the plague, etc. It was not a good week. I know it’s bound to happen every now and then, so I’m just going to deal with it and move on.

The good news is that despite being sick I was *usually* able to stay on track with my food choices. Not always, but enough of the time that I still managed to lose some weight this week.

My body fat % has also stayed around 28-29%, down from 30-31%. I thought it was just a random occurrence last week, but it’s held steady.

Weekly Stats

Current Weight: 234 (-30)
Body Fat: Approximately 28.5% (Yikes!)

Next Week

This week it’s going to be all about getting myself back up to my usual training schedule.

Every year in my home town of Ottawa we have a big Race Weekend where many thousands of people run in races of every size – roughly 39 000 registrants last year.

My goal for 2011 is to finish the half marathon at this event.

I thought a lot about attempting the full marathon instead, but with only 5 months to go (while trying to phase in serious bike and swim training at the same time) it just seemed like a recipe for disaster. So, the half marathon it will be.