Fighting Against Lazy: The Final Month

It is scary to think that after 6 months of running, the final month of training has finally arrived. There have been plenty of ups and downs throughout the experiment, but I am optimistic about my chances of completing the Marathon. The past month has been a strenuous month as I’ve been fighting the weather and multiple non-running related injuries. I have been knocked unconscious, missed a few days from work, and been to the doctor about a back issue just in the past two weeks. Now that I am nearly back to 100 percent, I can hit the road as hard as possible for the final month in order to ensure that I have the best chance of finishing. First, here are some details from the previous month.

Back Injury:

After a back injury in college during a basketball game, I began have random flare ups/back spasms.  Usually it only lasted for a few days, but lately it has been getting a bit worse.  The doctor is thinking it is a condition called “Sciatica”. Luckily, it is extremely treatable and I should be back on track in no time.  I am able to run with the pain, as it is exacerbated only when sitting down for extended periods of time.

Head Injury/Concussion

This occured when I least expected it and the details surrounding the incident are a bit fuzzy.  I was watching another stellar episode of Man vs. Wild (while eating grapes and drinking water) when I decided that I had had enough grapes and it was time to put them back in the fridge.  As I opened the fridge and bent down to put them into the bottom crisper box, something unfortunate happened.  A glass vase, weighing roughly seven pounds, fell from the top of the fridge and hit me in the back of the head.  I’m fairly certain I was out cold as I have a bit of time gap and then next thing I remember is being on the kitchen floor.  After about 5 minutes I started to clear the cobwebs and realized that my wife was almost home from work.  Since I figured her opening the door and seeing me lying in the kitchen not moving might be a bit much, I decided to crawl over to the couch.  I sat there and started to piece together the previous events.  After visiting the doctor, I found out it was a minor concussion.

Final Month Goals/Plan:

Over the course of this final month I want to increase my daily mileage and be prepared to run the majority of the Marathon.  I’m not under the delusion that I can run consecutively for 26.2 miles after less than a year of training.  The time limit is six hours and I’d like to finish it in less than five.  The no sugar diet is still going strong and the last weigh in was 214.  Extremely close to my goal of 210 or less by race day.  I should be well on my way to actually getting this crazy plan accomplished.  As long as I continued to check on top of the fridge before opening it for the next four weeks.

Fighting Against Lazy: The New Year

2010 has been fairly smooth thus far.  Completing the no sugar challenge has proven to be difficult, but I’m still going after 3 weeks.  The daily mileage has increased to 5-10 miles per day now.  The best part of the diet has been the consistent weight loss.  When I started the marathon training, I scaled in at a healthy 235, now the most recent weigh in has reflected a trim 215.  With the race day goal of 210 easily within reach, I may try to get between 200 and 210 before March 7th.  One of the more interesting effects of losing weight has been the fact that my wedding ring no longer fits.  I put it on a few days back and it slid immediately off and fell on the ground.  As much as I’m sure my wife would love me losing it, I will have to go “bachelor style” until I can get it refitted.

The lack of sugar has added an interesting aspect to my diet.  Now that I have removed all processed sugar, I have found that regular fruit tastes like Pixie Sticks.  A grape is pretty much a sugar cube and apples taste like hard cotton candy.  It is amazing how much excessive sugar can masked the actual sweet properties of fruit.

My latest enemy in the completion of this goal is the weather.  I’ve now had to run in the rain the last three days in a row.  It is cold and a lot easier to get injured, so I have had to take it slow.  Less than two months now.  I honestly thought I would have quit this trip long before, but now I can actually see the finish line.

Fighting Against Lazy: December

The training is now entering the home stretch and I feel like I’ve got a long way to go. I’ve been extending the runs while fighting the cold weather. The official Race Day is March 7th, 2010 and it is closing in faster than I could have ever anticipated. The last month I have seen small amounts of progress, hampered only by freezing temperatures and even a bit of snow. If I am going to finish this baby, then I’ve got to push the training into full gear starting now. I’ve even made a small bet with the wife in an attempt to boost the motivation. Here are the details.

The Plan:

For the next 10 weeks, I’m pulling out all the stops. Eliminating all unhealthy food and increasing my daily exercise. First off, and the most difficult to achieve, is the removal of sugar from my diet. (With the exception of natural sugar consumed through fruit). After a careful examination of the food pantry, I realized that even the bread we own contains sugar. The Special K breakfast cereal that I recently purchased is also out.

It is quite the revelation when you start to take a look at the insane amounts of processed sugar a person can consume in an entire day.  It makes you realize why obesity is so prevalent in our society.  Even with the daily running my weight has been stuck in the 220-225 range.  My goal is to be rocking below 210 by race day.  The only way this can be obtained is through a dramatic increase in the health factor of my diet.  This is going to be absurdly difficult, but hopefully worth it.

Second, I’m increasing the daily runs from the 3-5 mile range, to the 5-10 mile range. With the exception of long Sunday runs, 3-5 has pretty much been the standard. I had been following a set program, but not getting the results I had been expecting. Since the switch to another program, the improvements have been much better.

Third, the addition of light weights and leg strengthening exercises should help the process. Since September, I’ve been solely dedicated to running, without any extra types of exercise. It is my hope that the added leg and upper body strength will increase both my durability and endurance.  Especially with the longer runs feeling more than twice as taxing on my legs as my lungs.  This will be another difficult aspect as I loathe, I mean loathe lifting weights.  It takes me back to high school, when all the block heads would pick the biggest weights they could find and scream as loud as they could while completing the most intense single rep ever.  This was always followed by high fives, general grunting and congratulations.  I usually just hid in the back and rode the bicycle.  I love sports, but I always found that the best way to get better was to actually play it, instead of working out.  

The Bet:

All of this comes at a cost, thanks to my inability to turn down a bet. While it may seem a bit juvenile for a 25 year old man to gamble on an Xbox 360, I have done so nonetheless. I was confident enough in my determination to wager a full month without playing Madden, Call of Duty, or any other game.

I’m giving myself a 50/50 chance.  It all depends on if a Dr. Pepper ever finds its way within arms reach of me between now and March 7th.

Fighting Against Lazy: Back in the Saddle

Following a few weeks of rest, I’m finally back on the road and continuing the process of preparing for the Napa Valley Marathon in March. I spent the first half of October giving the foot a chance to recover from Plantars Fasciitis, and the second half mustering up the motivation to get started once again. Finally, last Monday I hit the pavement with enough determination to roll out at least 2 miles a day every day this week, except Thursday. That is a far cry from the 6 miles I was running in late early September, but I’m confident I can get back on track sooner than expected.

Week 8, Day 2:

Due to a tragic news story that ran when I was ten years old, I have had an inherent fear of mountain lions that plagues me whenever I run. This fear arises regardless of location, time, or season. The news story occurred in Northern California probably around 1993-94. A woman was running by herself and was attacked by a mountain lion and killed. Her body was found a few days later, half eaten. I’m sure this has happened a few times since then, but for whatever reason this particular one sticks in my head. With daylight savings kicking in and winter’s days getting shorter and shorter, my schedule has me running after the sun has gone down. This may make me run faster.

On my second day back running full time, I had to do one of these dreaded night runs. I know it is absurd to fear a mountain lion when I live about 2 blocks away from the 680 in the middle of the East Bay. But, what if? What if a mountain lion somehow wandered past five major freeways through rush hour traffic, just to turn me into a tasty meal? It is possible, but unlikely. The night jog proved to be uneventful, although mentally terrifying.

Week 8 Summary

I have been incredibly lucky this week. I had been worried that I would have lost all of the progress I had made previously. To my surprise in the final run of the week, I was able to crank out 2 miles without stopping, and then sprint the final quarter mile. This turn of events has nearly put me back on my previous pace. The big test comes this Sunday, when I roll out for a five mile run for the first time since early September. If my foot does not respond negatively the following day, I can officially say that I’m back to 100 percent. Even with the running lay off, I was able to maintain my current weight and once I started running again I shed a few more pounds. When I started this ridiculous plan I clocked in at a hefty 235. Now the scale reads 219.

Booyakasha.

Latest Update: 10/29

First off, I’d like to apologize for the long delay between posts. After finding out that I had Plantars in my foot, I had to take a break from running to allow it to heal. Now I am back on track and running on a daily basis. I’m looking forward to posting up a new entry this weekend after my first full week back in training mode. I’m definitely not back to square one, but it does feel almost like starting over. Even with the set back, however, I’m still on pace to complete my goal of running the Napa Valley Marathon in March.

Thanks for the support,

Tyson Q.