Boston by 50, Kona by 55

Zaidnohj

I am 47 years old. In 2011, I woke up the day after I came home from Vegas and weighed in at 282. That started my journey. Today, I weigh roughly 245. I need to restart my journey. This year did not start the way I wanted to. I was positive for Covid-19 on December 28th, 2021. It was four weeks later that I finally stopped coughing and another week before the pain in between my back and shoulders stopped hurting when I breathed in.

So What?

I have run over 100 races since 2011, but have only run 3 since 2018. One of those being my last half ironman in Texas. I miss racing. I miss working towards a goal. I have read 4 books about running this year and they all asked the question at least once, Why do I run?

I run to stay sain.
I run to stay healthy.
I run because I like to be alone for a while.
I run because I like to be with others alone for a while.
I run.

By the way, I run, swim, and bike too. All give me similar feelings.

My last book said if you do not speak a goal out loud no one can know what it is.

So, I have two goals. Boston by 50. Kona by 55.

This is meant to be my journal, at least weekly I want to track my progress and my setbacks. What worked and what did not. If you are reading this may it encourage you? If you want to encourage me, please do so. if you want to leave a bit of advice, what is working for you. I encourage it.

Looking forward to the next few years.

Run hard Run well.

JMD

AnnPT77

Those sound like great goals! What's your training plan or strategy?

I started being active at about the age you are now, after the whole nine yards of cancer treatment (surgery, chemo, radiation, and more), in context of a life that had previously been quite sedentary. I realized that if I ever wanted to be strong, feel healthy, energetic and even happy ever again, I was going to need to work at it.

Through sheer luck, within a couple of years, I found my jam: On water rowing (machine rowing in Winter - if I have to 😉 - when my river freezes, because I don't want to start back at square one every Spring). I competed in some regional indoor races, won a couple of age-group medals; rowed boats in a bunch of regional races; went to rowing camp on vacations; rowed in Masters Nationals and the Head of the Charles Regatta. It was a huge change in my life, physically and psychologically. Still, I stayed class 1 obese. ( There's not as much weight penalty in rowing as in running).

Back in 2015, I got serious about weight loss, lost to a healthy weight in just under a year, have been at a healthy weight since. I'm still very active - rowing (on water & machine), cycling (paved trails and stationary), plus other kinds of active fun. I haven't competed in a while - kind of got it out of my system, I think? But I feel stronger, fitter and even younger that I did when I started down this road in my mid/late 40s, even though I'm now 66.

What worked for me was figuring out how to be active and manage my weight in ways that were at minimum tolerable, and actively enjoyable whenever that was possible. I think much of that is going to be individualized, based on our own personal preferences, strengths, challenges, life context.

Wishing you success with your goals!

cyndit1

Those are awesome goals. I started running in my mid 40s (I will be 58 in 2 weeks) and also run for all of the reasons. I don’t love to race necessarily but love to train. I’ve raced over 40 halfs and 6 fulls and love distance. This year I finally got toy elusive weight goal of 150 (been chasing it My entire adult life) and it was worth the work. I feel great. Run better. Recover faster. I want NY again. Maybe this year. I’d love Boston but only if I fund raise. Not fast enough (or at least not for another 25 year lol). Keep running and keep those goals front and center.

Zaidnohj

Love both of these replies, thank you. When I first started running I had people around me that I admired greatly. Let's just say they were a couple of age classes above me. I always said that I want to be them when I go up. I truly believe age is a state of mind.

My current plan for my weight is that my wife and I are trying a low-carb diet. It seems to be working as I have lost weight. It seems sustainable. And my wife is definitely on-board. Maybe in a later post, I will describe our situation over the past 13 years. It's a long one.

My running strategy has not formed completely, yet. My wife is currently under a coach and we cannot afford to both be under a coach at the same time. Her contract ends on April 15th. Not saying that in May I am getting a coach, but it will release some funds from that budget line.

Because, I feel like I am starting almost all the way over, especially after battling Covid at Christmas (catching country western song title). My fitness was poor before Christmas, now I am struggling to complete much than a couple of miles. It is hard to be so slow, after being so fast.

Also, I am scared. Man, that is hard to say. I fear getting in the pool and not being able to swim a 1000 yards practice. To be hurting after one lap. With running or cycling, it is easier for me to slow down. In swimming, I feel like I should always be fast.

Here is to writing a new plan, and attacking it.

Zaidnohj

Still Feeling really slow. I ran last night and felt really slow. I am also discouraged by my weight. I am stuck above 240. I have been below 245 for three weeks now. I keep getting myself down to 240 during the week and then pop back up during the weekend. I am used to this pattern, but usually, I break through the next goal weight and keep going.

I have committed but have not yet signed up for my first Sprint Tri on May 1st, 2022. I am normally not afraid of Sprints, but I have recently had really bad luck on my bike. A lot of flats and a lot of other little mechanical issues. For 5 years I was doing great and had very few issues. Now it is like I am not supposed to be on the bike.

I hope things are going well with you. The next post will hopefully, be a little more encouraging.

AnnPT77

Zaidnohj wrote: »

Still Feeling really slow. I ran last night and felt really slow. I am also discouraged by my weight. I am stuck above 240. I have been below 245 for three weeks now. I keep getting myself down to 240 during the week and then pop back up during the weekend. I am used to this pattern, but usually, I break through the next goal weight and keep going.

I have committed but have not yet signed up for my first Sprint Tri on May 1st, 2022. I am normally not afraid of Sprints, but I have recently had really bad luck on my bike. A lot of flats and a lot of other little mechanical issues. For 5 years I was doing great and had very few issues. Now it is like I am not supposed to be on the bike.

I hope things are going well with you. The next post will hopefully, be a little more encouraging.

I'm sorry you're going through a low spot: Inevitable, sometimes, but you're putting in the work, so you'll get the benefits.

Is your weekend up-bounce from eating more on the weekends? Do you calorie bank to accommodate that? (I do that, though not exactly that timing pattern. Cutting the extra 100-150 calories most days is pretty painless for me, and doesn't seem to hurt exercise performance materially, allows for some occasional indulgence . . . but I'm maintaining now, not losing, so the tradeoffs may differ for you.)

Or is it just that you're eating more carbs on the weekend, at similar calories, so seeing a scale bump from the extra water weight? The fact that you're not dropping to new lows over the week anymore could mean it's time to re-estimate calorie goal, but if exercise volume is increasing, you may just be seeing increased water retention from that (for muscle repair), too, depending on how long you've been seeing this current pattern, and what that context is. I wouldn't think you'd want a big calorie deficit while training, anyway - if maintaining, maybe that's not so terrible, depending on how much you think you need to lose.

Getting some slow running in is inherently part of faster running, or so I'm told - I'm a rower not a runner. We use "LSD" (long slow distance) as a key building block, too. Are you using a formal training plan? I know you mentioned not being able to use a trainer right now, but I think there are some free generic training plans available. Such free plans exist for rowing, and while they're not as nuanced as a personal coached plan, they do provide a decent structure for those who aren't in a position to get personal coaching.

As far as the bike issues: You know in your heart that that kind of thing happens to everyone sometimes. Yes, it can happen in races. But it's no more likely than usual, i.e., fairly rare for any given ride of that same X km/mi to include an incident. If you check out your bike thoroughly before the race, you've done everything you can to put luck on your side. If it's more of a superstitious kind of worry, maybe think that you're getting your quota of bad incidences out of the way before racing, the universe reassuring you that you can cope with challenges?

Hang in there, keep working, keep having great goals. Keep letting us know how it's going, too: Betting it gets better.