Since I started running with Jennifer from AlanStrachanPersonalTraining.com got me into running I wanted to run a half marathon.  My life is pretty busy so the amount of training needed to make a worth while marathon attempt is out of the question, purely as I don’t have the time to train and all those months of training would kill my muscle gains and send my metabolism to basement levels.

But a half marathon (13.1 miles) was definitely appealing to me.  I had set my eyes on a half marathon or a triathlon for a big goal to motivate and inspire me to keep moving with my fat loss goals, but then I set my gaze on going to Premier for a diploma in personal fitness training, which I’ll be leaving for next Thursday (Aug 19th 2010).

But that darn half marathon has been chewing on my mind since April, you’d think it would have been finished by now!

I just can’t get it out of my head, I have to get it out of my system. But until there is a breakthrough in mind transplantation then I’ll just have to RUN A HALF MARATHON!

Now looking at when to do this; as I have said I leave to fly down to Bristol next Thursday, 10 weeks in Trowbridge; studying like a maniac and working out like an athlete, then after that I am going to be in need of a holiday (my wife and I are hoping that we can go to Indonesia for Christmas)…. So when to fit in a half marathon??

How about this Saturday? Sounds good!

Now as this is my last Saturday before leaving my family I have planned a route just a little over 6 and a half miles and then I’ll turn around and head home reaching the 13.1 mile target.

Here is my route;

CLICK TO ENLARGE

This week I have relaxed my running schedule and I have been carb loading to make sure that my glycogen tank is full for the run.  I will go for a 2 mile run tomorrow (13/8/10) and then the next day I will set off for the 13.1 mile haul

My initial goal for this is to start it running and continue running until I finish.

I haven’t set a time to do it, so if it takes me half the day, so be it

I will be doing a video journal for this one and then will work on having it up on YouTube and embedded here by Monday wish me luck!

The time has flown in very fast but I guess that’s because I have been running I go into running when my personal trainer (Jenniffer Almiento) suggested we add it into my workouts.  I had always been worried about running due to it being a weight-bearing exercise and my ever aching left hip (I had hip surgery in my youth, due to a dislocated hip), so I always avoided running.

The first time out with Jennifer was tough to say the least; I struggled with a jog-walk-jog-walk pattern for most of the times we met up for a run.  But this is the best way to start getting into running with the hope that it becomes a long-term practice.  A lot of people start off running as though they are being hunted and sprint themselves to injury, then give up; it wasn’t running that caused their injury, it was training without tact.

I was lucky starting with Jennifer, I was in good hands; so I started running at my own pace. I can’t imagine what my facial expressions looked like especially on hill climbs, I am sure it looked as bad as it felt. My first circuit was 1.85 miles and I completed it in 27 min and I-don’t-know-how-many seconds   Now I can do the same circuit in 19 min and 7 seconds.

I ran with Jennifer for about 2 sessions per week for about 4 weeks and then I was on my own.  Jennifer had set me a challenge to finish the circuit sub 20 min so I started working on increasing my pace, which was the wrong move.  I would start off with power as if on a world-changing mission only to tire into jog then shift down some more gears into a walk.  This went on for weeks (running 3 times per week) and I really got fed up at not being able to increase my pace, but further more not being able to finish the circuit by running the whole way.

Then I had a brainstorm (actually it was more like a brain fart) I thought about forgetting about my pace and just focus on being able to run the whole circuit regardless of how long it took me.

This was my new goal; run from A to B that’s simple, right!?

On my first circuit I pin pointed 3 ‘block points’ were I always stopped, so before I arrived to them I would talk to myself and prepare myself not to stop. This worked really well for me and it only took one week (3 runs) to get this right.  So if you are out on a run and there’s a hill that you always stop at the top just start saying “ok there’s a block point coming up, you can’t stop, you know deep down that you can do this, keep pushing through, dig deep, etc…….. Simple ……..Not really, especially when you are big and chunky with lots of love lumps and with every foot strike your weight triples! LOL

Once I could run my circuit without stopping/walking I took 2 weeks just to build that up and then I started to look at my pace.

My pace back when I started was 14.57 min mile and I got it down to 11.04 min mile, boy did I feel quite the athlete, I was on top of my game….. and THEN!!!! I met up with some one, we can call him Gandalf… HE said that my minute mile was pretty pathetic LOL

Now I like a challenge, and I am also grateful when friend’s just tell you like it is (thanks Gandalf ) and Gandalf was right, it was a lame mile pace.

So I spent a week doing speedwork, fartlek and hill runs.  These have really paid off and I have now got my minute mile down to 9.08 and it’s still a work in progress.

Since I have gotten serious about running I have been collecting lots of data about my runs using (initially) Nike+ for my iPod Touch and then more recently I have added the Polar RS300X (with foot pod). And I will be starting to read ‘Total Heart Rate Training’ by Joe Friel this week to work on getting the best out of my Polar heart rate monitor and developing a progressive running program.

One of the major things, and the most surprising thing about my running is my hip. During the first and second month I was getting a twinge of pain during my runs BUT then on the third month nothing, no pain.  Not only during my runs but I haven’t had hip pains now for 4 months!  As I have said running is a weight-bearing exercise and it causes your bones, joints, tendons to strengthen, and I believe this has what has happened to me.  Now if you find yourself in a similar situation with an ache from a previous condition don’t just assume this will work for you; go to your doctor (as I did) and get it checked out.  I went from my GP to a specialist and was given the green light for any type of exercise, she did say take care while running (and I did).  So please do the right thing and take the time to get checked out before you hit the road.

CONCLUSION

I have definitely caught the running bug, and I will continue to run.  With my current goals I am running to blast fat along with lifting weights and a healthy nutritional program, so for this reason I run short, intense runs and not high mileage, endurance runs.  But once I reach my weight loss goal I really want to do a half marathon (why not a full marathon?) I will if I can fit the training required into my schedule

Well that’s it, watch this space for more tails from running the trenches!

SOME RUNNING STATS (March 13th to Aug 2nd 2010)

• Number of Runs: 59

• Calories Burnt: 27,225

• Miles Ran: 150.89

• Total Run Duration: 30 hours, 16 minutes & 04 seconds

• Furthest Run: 5.43 miles

• Running Shoe: (initially) Nike Pegasus 26+ (Now) Asics Gel 2150 (magic, I love them!)

I thought that I’d try out a pair compression shorts and see if they live up to the hype.  So I got myself a great deal for some white Under Armour at £7.99.

After deciding that they were too kinky to be running around in under 4 inch shorts I opted to wear them under my tracksuit bottoms.

After a warm up power walk I had arrived at my start point, revved and ready to tear up the path to a new PB, I took off running.

Around a sharp corner, through a little alleyway, a little straight, cross the road at the lights… a big decline is coming up so I have a oportunity to use it to my advantage and up my pace.

I tear down the hill, but somethings not right….

What’s that draft at my butt AAAARRRRRRHHHH!!! I scream to a halt just to catch my tracksuit bottoms sliding off my shiny hips on their way down to my knees!

I caught them just in time, gosh I hope no one seen that! I thought to my self.

After fixing myself and tying my tracksuit bottoms a little tighter I set off again.  The thoughts of exposing my rear in public was enough to slow me down and quash any expectations of setting a new PB.

Lesson learned, compression shorts are good, i.e. they hold all your bits in place, but don’t ware them with tracksuit bottoms that are too big for you!

Click to enlarge!

Ok so this may be my claim to fame, but after getting the July edition of Runner’s World (UK edition) at the beginning of June (I don’t know why they do that!) I had to drop them an email praising them for their sound advice as the July edition was a Weight-Loss Special.

I was surprised when my August edition arrived in the post (yeah I know its not even July yet, ask RW why they do that! ) and as I was flipping through the pages I noticed that they had published my email!   I hope they don’t get mad at me for scanning it to show you fine folks

That’s two more pounds shaved off bringing me down to 231lbs, that down is good but the other down is that my family and I are all down with a bug.  My son Daniel had a high temp on Sunday and Monday night followed by a crusty cough, then I got the cough on Monday and I have been popping lemsip max capsules every 4 hrs to get rid of it.  Then last night (Saturday) my wife got a fever of 39c!  We are all still a bit croaky but we are on the mend.

HIGHS

This weeks highs has to be my running; I am busting PBs like nothing else! Back in April my average mile a minute (mi/m) was 12min & 59 seconds and now it’s 12min & 22 seconds; so I have shaved 37 seconds off my average. That is going to keep coming down as my average mi/m per run at the moment is coming in at 11:04 or 11:05.  Another thing I have to mention is my hip, most of you remember the trouble that I am having with my hip and the pain that it has been causing me but I have been pain free for about 2 months now, I believe that the running has caused my bone, joints and cartilage to strengthen an amazing benefit

LOWS

Not much to report here, apart from all of us having a date with a bug that will soon be history!  As for my fat fighting hindrances there have been none this week, I had psyched myself up for this week hoping to smash my way to 230lbs, that wasn’t to be but I got close!

So for next weigh in I am hoping to melt my way down to 228lbs and anything more that that would be a great benefit That initial goal of 220lbs is on the horizon and it’s within my grasp!

I thought that I would take a look back at my fat loss journey so far, the highs and the lows.  Click on the graph image above to enlarge it. Back in January 10th 2008 I weighed in at 302lbs, this isn’t the heaviest I have been, the heaviest weight that I can remember peering back at me on the scales was 322lbs.

Anyway, the journey from January 10th 2007 was sparked by two things; first my doctor telling me that I’d be lucky to see my 40th birthday, and secondly I read that 1 pound of muscle can burn up to 50 calories per day.  With this I got some weights and set my alarm for 4am (and still do!) and hammered away.  I started on some mad pills (come on I was so ignorant at the time!) that promised some super thermal fat loss, but all I got was a faster heart beat, paranoia and the super ability to not need any sleep.  After stopping the pills before my heart exploded I had to come to the realization that there are no short cuts to permanent fat loss, not weight loss but FAT LOSS.

Weight loss is what you’ll get on short cut, fad diets; their weight loss means (for most of the time) muscle loss, body fluid loss, brain cell loss, and maybe a slight loss of fat.

Fat loss is what you’ll get on a progressive nutrition and exercise plan that causes you to have a major lifestyle change (one-day-at-a-time) that will last.

You also need to accept a new paradigm which needs to be done over time and at the pace that you can accept it.

Rapid weight loss is not healthy, an unnatural, unbalanced nutrition, skipping meals, no exercise are the signs of a (temporary results) fad diet.

Ok let’s get back to the graph, so as you can see from January 2007 to April 2009 things were going pretty ok; a few ups and then downs at holidays and a few plateaus.

April 2009 saw my wife, Daniel (son) and I getting ready to move back to the UK. As my son has duel citizenship it was only my wife who needed a visa; the stress begins.

I work hard (extra hard) at keeping my life’s stress levels as low as possible during this fat loss journey because as I have noticed if I am super stressed the scales stop going down, some times go up.

During the lengthy and exhausting process of getting my wife’s visa this was not possible and my stress-o-meter was stuck in the red and as you can see on the graph a fatty hike began.

Not only were we all stressed out about this but we had to move from the house we were in (a job facility) to a hotel.  Yeah I love hotels too but hey having room service on tap is not a good thing when your trying to fat fight.

So slogging through nearly 3 months of visa prep and then the visa was approved and we ventured west to Scotland as my fat ventured north and out of orbit!

So from July to the end of September (2009) I was struggling with my fat melting mission, trying to find a job and juggle life in the process.

After a start stop exercise program and fulfilling my lust of plenty of Scottish menus that I couldn’t find in Indonesia I gave myself a big kick in the pants back into reality and out of the rut that I’d dug for myself.

So from the end of September to Christmas I started on a downward trajectory of lard, it was going slowly but as long as it was going!

Before Christmas I had met up with Alan Strachan from AlanStrachanPersonalTraining.com to look at my nutritional program which I was quite pleased with when he told me that it was really good, then on January 4th 2010 I had my first personal training with Alan, and then Jennifer took me on after that for the next 3 months. During this time I went from 282lbs t0 250lbs, but not only that I received valuable lessons from Jennifer and Alan about working out, which was very different from what I had been doing on my own.

Jennifer also introduced me to my new passion of running and Alan inspired me and I signed up and paid my deposit for a full time personal training diploma with Premier, one of the best in the UK.

I will be off to Premier in August 2010 for almost 3 months to do this diploma.

So now at 243lbs I now feel back on track, with a new level of fitness that before, ok these last 3 weeks have saw me plateau but I am going to keep pushing through and it will come down again.