Losing weight by eating cookies and chocolate and decadent holiday meals? Sound impossible? No. Just sign up for a half marathon.
I took on my 4th half marathon this winter. Having done this before, I was determined to really train this year. No half-assing it. Last year I felt miserable after those 13.1 miles, and actually did 20 seconds worse than the year before. If I was doing this again, I was doing this for real.
About about 8 weeks before the race, I buckled down. I started a program where I was running about 5 days a week, of varying distances, including speedwork. At minimum I was doing sets of sprints or 3 mile slow runs. And every weekend I would have a long run (that got progressively longer). I saw my pace creeping faster and faster. And I'm telling you, this is the only way to keep your weight under control during the holidays (I started training in mid-November).
Of course, I missed a few workouts. Like on Christmas... and New Year's... and when it was raining out... but I would estimate I completed about 85-90% of the runs that were required of my regimen. I even got super sick a few times -- apparently your digestion shuts down while running long distances because all the oxygen in your blood is going to your muscles -- anyway, not a fun thing to experience.
And somehow through it all, I started and kept losing... bonus side effect of all the miles I was putting on my body. Looking back, I have lost about 8 pounds since I began training.
The PF Changs Rock 'n' Roll Marathon race day came Sunday, just a few days ago. Weather was perfect, and my trusty and loyal sidekick Jeff was there before the crack of dawn having VIP breakfast with me. But unfortunately he's not trusty and loyal enough to run it... just cheer me on. Oh well! Thanks for being at the start, the 6-mile mark, and the finish line for me babe.
Fast forward 2 hours, 24 minutes and 5 seconds later, I crossed that finish line. 2:24:05 -- a scratch under an 11 minute mile. And I felt great. And all the pain and soreness and training was worth it.
AND...... the scale hasn't been this low since senior year of high school --> almost a better achievement than crossing that finish line. Almost.
I took on my 4th half marathon this winter. Having done this before, I was determined to really train this year. No half-assing it. Last year I felt miserable after those 13.1 miles, and actually did 20 seconds worse than the year before. If I was doing this again, I was doing this for real.
About about 8 weeks before the race, I buckled down. I started a program where I was running about 5 days a week, of varying distances, including speedwork. At minimum I was doing sets of sprints or 3 mile slow runs. And every weekend I would have a long run (that got progressively longer). I saw my pace creeping faster and faster. And I'm telling you, this is the only way to keep your weight under control during the holidays (I started training in mid-November).
Of course, I missed a few workouts. Like on Christmas... and New Year's... and when it was raining out... but I would estimate I completed about 85-90% of the runs that were required of my regimen. I even got super sick a few times -- apparently your digestion shuts down while running long distances because all the oxygen in your blood is going to your muscles -- anyway, not a fun thing to experience.
And somehow through it all, I started and kept losing... bonus side effect of all the miles I was putting on my body. Looking back, I have lost about 8 pounds since I began training.
The PF Changs Rock 'n' Roll Marathon race day came Sunday, just a few days ago. Weather was perfect, and my trusty and loyal sidekick Jeff was there before the crack of dawn having VIP breakfast with me. But unfortunately he's not trusty and loyal enough to run it... just cheer me on. Oh well! Thanks for being at the start, the 6-mile mark, and the finish line for me babe.
Fast forward 2 hours, 24 minutes and 5 seconds later, I crossed that finish line. 2:24:05 -- a scratch under an 11 minute mile. And I felt great. And all the pain and soreness and training was worth it.
AND...... the scale hasn't been this low since senior year of high school --> almost a better achievement than crossing that finish line. Almost.
