I'm a runner...

bidimus

Guess I should post a belated introduction. I'm new to MFP but my journey started about four years ago. At the time I was 40 and around 270-280 lbs and climbing. I came close to the 300 lbs mark a couple times but never passed it. I never dieted or was particular concerned about my weight. Other than being told I had to lose weight, I always had good checkups.

I live in a smallish town with a college and it isn't uncommon to see runners on the roads of all ages. I was always impressed and envious of them. They were happy, healthy, and seemed so full of possibility. The idea that with no "gear" they could just step out the door and do what they loved rain or shine. The freedom of that was appealing and it showed on their faces. For years I told myself I wanted to be one of them.

I had no interest in races and being more than a little introverted I found the concept intimidating. But here was an activity that rewarded the solitary. For years I thought if I could just lose a few pounds I could do that too. Then in July of 2010 I read about the couch to 5k program. I could print it out and walk out my door and start at any time. This was made for couch potatoes and that was me, right?

I took that first difficult step that July. It wasn't easy and I've since learned that not all C25k programs are made equal. I also didn't have anyone to teach me "how" to run. I was enjoying it so much that for no other reason than random bravado I signed up for the Jingle Bell Run 5k. Before the race arrived I ended up with shin splints though due to poor form.

I ran it anyway (and have done so every year since too). Nothing could have prepared me for the sense of accomplishment when I crossed that finish line in spite of the excruciating pain. I had fallen in love with running by then though and nothing was going to stop me.

I had lost 60 lbs between July and December and in 2011 I hit 190 lbs. This was a side effect of running. I didn't lose weight to run, running caused me to lose weight. I stopped eating so much junk because junk didn't fuel my runs. Instead of tracking my food, I had a rule "Don't eat anything you don't want to bring on a run with you."

When the shin splints became too much and interfered with my running, the weight could creep back on. I would stay around the 200ish mark though. Eventually I ended up with some bigger injuries though that derailed my running for months at a time. I kept bouncing back but the added weight made it harder.

I eventually discovered barefoot/natural running which resolved my shin splint problems and allowed me to increase my miles significantly. I still get injured from time to time but more often it's either not running related or normal over training injuries. I'm a turtle but my heart lies in distance running. My sights are on the Ultra Marathons. I have my first relay race coming up in two weeks. The Ragnar Northwest Passage where I'm running on an Ultra team. I'm responsible for 29 miles of the course for my team.

Most recently though I let other things take priority over my running that derailed my first Marathon goal earlier this year. The sudden drop in activity resulted in a weight of 215 and climbing and I did NOT want to start over. I decided I wanted to drop some of that weight before Ragnar got here too as I really didn't want to carry an extra 15 pounds around with me during the race.

I decided to make sure running was a priority in my life both for me and for my family who are very supportive. I would watch my calorie burn and miles as I love seeing the statistics. I recently got a Garmin Vivofit to monitor my non-running activity which has been really nice. But I needed another tool to help me track my calories so I decided it was about time to track the other side of that equation.

So MFP, here I am. So far I've learned that I snack too much on low mileage days. MFP has helped with that a lot. I was pleased to learn that my intake doesn't increase terribly on long run days either. I do love my long runs. I tend to have an unconventional approach to things but it usually works out for me. I figure out why things work then figure out for myself how I'm going to use that information. I'm only a couple weeks into using MFP but so far I'm liking what I'm seeing.

Adefowler

Hey, Bidimus!!! I'm a runner too! In fact, we've got a lot in common. I'm a minimalist runner -- I wear merrell pace gloves. Vibrams never fit my short, stubby toes. :-) I'm finxta get my first pair of Luna Sandals, this summer.

I'm running Ragnar NW Passage here in a couple of weeks.

My issue is that I've been recently diagnosed diabetic (which I thought I had outrun, but it caught up with me). My problem is how to fuel for long distance with so few carbs. But I'm working on it.

I'm resting my knee right now and my next run will be Ragnar. I got ITBS caused by a piece of $#@! ITBandz that had a piece of hard plastic that rubbed against my IT band -- causing much inflammation.

Send me a friend request. I'm also on Gametiime.com if you want to follow runs there. :-)

bidimus

Heya Adefowler. You're not kidding. We have a whole lot in common. More than you know. Hopefully we can say Hi in person at the race. Our team is "Run slower so I an run faster." I'm super jazzed as this will be my first Ragnar.

Part of my story I don't talk about is Diabetes. I was diagnosed a month after I started running. I discussed it with my doctor and he agreed to wait a bit and see how the running goes. About a year later I passed the test with the major change being my running and the weight loss. Diet did change some but I'm afraid that monster will some day raise it's ugly head again regardless. I don't do needles so that will be the end of me if it does.

One of the things I did was look for low sugar/carb solutions for which I found Nuun to be a big help. Helps with hydration at least. Not a lot of energy food that work though. Things made with honey are often a good option as long as they don't have corn in them but there aren't many options I've found. Check the diabetes isle of a Target though. They have a diabetes friendly snack bar that could work if you could keep it from melting too much.

I'm also with you on ITBS. I find it's better when I can keep my strength up but if I have to take time off for any reason, it has a bad habit of flaring up. That's another reason I keep my pace slower as ITBS tends to sneak up on me more often when I'm running faster miles.

I'm hoping things behave long enough for one more long run before I taper a bit for Ragnar. I have to keep running though because if I stop too long that ITBS issue will come back.

Lately when I'm not running barefoot, my shoe of choice has been the Luna OSO. Great trail sandal. I like to run Silver Falls in the summer but the trail is NOT barefoot friendly, especially along the falls. The OSO has made that trail accessible for me. I also just added a pair of Luna Monos to my kit for road running. A little softer than the OSO but a similar feel.

I'm a bit of a fanatic about it and have tried various sandals and other options. I do own a pair of VFF Bakilas but don't really care for them anymore. Merrell trail gloves are actually my work shoe. lol

I'll have to check out Gametiime. Don't know much about that one. It's great meeting you!