NSV - achieving the unachievable

neetneetneets

First up - any ideas on how to add pics would be wonderful!

I've always been an unfit, chubby kid. Running round the block for 10 mins was impossible. I hated being chubby but never had the self control to stop myself from eating the delicious homemade food my mum would make (something I still struggle with but it's getting there).

I remember watching my mum run a half marathon, driving around the course to cheer her on. Dad and my brother also did one. Me? No way!! 21.1kms is way too long when you can't even run 100m without being out of breath.

I went on exchange and ate all the food and put on even more weight. Tried swimming and lost most of it but it was still a struggle.

One dad, 2.5 years ago, I said something at dinner about wanting to do an outdoors leadership course, something that involves a lot of physical activity and stamina. Dad scoffed and said 'when I did that, I ran EVERY DAY for 3 weeks.'

Well, that was turning point #1. When I went back to uni after those holidays, I decided to do the same. For the rest of the semester, I ran 6x per week, resting only on a Sunday. I built up a bit of fitness but never really pushed myself to run more than 30 mins at a time.

Summer came around and a full time job, together with travel, set me back again. Not to mention settling into a new flat, and struggling with balancing uni and work. A few more kgs jumped on board and I decided enough was enough, and joined a gym. Turning point #3.

I joined MFP (turning point #4) and discovered a lot more about exercise and nutrition. Perhaps a little bit overwhelming so, and I lost a lot of weight, probably not in the best way, last year. A new flat and better eating habits emerged this year. I focussed a lot more on lifting weights, and changed gym to go somewhere with a squat rack. (Went from squatting 5kgs to 50kgs!)

And the running... well. We had a love/hate relationship. The weightlifters were saying don't do cardio, my head needed the cardio to clear itself and to explore the beautiful city where I live. My head won. I learnt that advice is bloody valuable, macros, reps, sets, lifts, all that is knowledge. But the best piece of advice is to do what works for YOU. Goals work for me, and my goal was to do a 1/2 marathon.

In Feb I was all set to go. I entered one of the largest 1/2 marathons in the country, alongside my Mum and was excited.

I cried when I went to the emergency doctor 1.5 weeks beforehand and she said that I couldn't do it. You see, fitness had made me love the outdoors too, and while I was visiting home I did a hike and got an infected blister. For another half marathon, I was on the finish line, cheering my mum on.

But I was SO determined to do one. So I entered on in June. I quit doing weights for a month and ran instead, getting super fit, doing hills, speed work and endurance work. I was in tip top condition. The day before the race was one of the coldest days all year, it was miserable and raining and I had no one to support me during the race. However, the atmosphere was amazing, and I floated through the 1st 3kms, stoked that I was finally doing something I never thought was possible! I finished it in 1 hr 55 mins, and was over the moon at beating the 2hr mark.

But something wasn't right. I'd lost muscle, go sick and although I was fighting fit, I sill wasn't happy with how I looked.

So I hit the weights again, and picked up from where I started with on NROL4W.

3 months later: well the scale shows no progress, and to be honest, if I was making more effort and being stricter with what I ate, I probably would be in better shape physically, but have still improved since June.

What's more, after ONLY doing NROL, and 2 runs that were longer than an hour (1hr 10 mins and 1 hr 35 mins, to be precise) I have just completed my 2nd half marathon! This time, finally, alongside not only my mum, but my younger sister, dad, host brother, uncle and cousin. And despite being sick at the start, managed to stick to the 2hr mark as well.

In summary, do what works for you, enjoy the journey, and if I can go from being super unfit to running 2 half marathons in 5 months, ANYONE can!

Any lifters, runners, 21 year olds, please feel free to add me

KimINfortheWin

Hello there! Such a great read first thing in the morning!

Congratulations on your success, and realizing that you can do it with your new found determination.

I don't even know you and am proud of your successes. May you have many more!! :flowerforyou: