Scaling the Heights of Ecstacy and the Depths of Depravity
Weight. Body fat. Pounds. Kilos. Grams. Ounces. Inches. Lean muscle mass. Running efficiency. Max VO2 ratios... It goes on and on, this tipping of the scales, back and forth, without seeming end as I battle my bulges to squeeze out every second of time in my upcoming marathon.
I NEVER thought I'd be a calorie counter, but here it is again on Monday morning and I can tell you exactly what I am going to be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next five days. If I wasn't so excited, yes, hard to believe but I am actually enjoying depriving myself in a depraved kind of way, because there are no denying the results.
After five years of running, the single greatest strides I have made in improving my speed has clearly come from leaning out. As I hover around 190 pounds I am clearly the fastest I have been in twenty odd years. And my body hasn't felt this good after a hard workout since my twenties. I can't wait until I strip off the next twelve pounds, just to see how my training and fitness levels are effected.
After the Summerfast 10K Race on Saturday, I reeled off 33K, or just over 20 miles on Sunday. I had very little muscle stiffness after the race the day before. Have to love that 10K distance. It took a huge amount of self-discipline on my part to keep my heart rate under 70% all day on Sunday. At 20K I had an overwhelming urge to just take off as fast as I could go. Thank God I was wearing my Pace Group Leader hat. Sunday was another stunningly beautiful Vancouver day, with clear blue skies, a cool breeze off the waters of English Bay and a temperature hovering in the low seventies. Hugh and Luisa and I did a little 9K add on and in the end we did the full 33K, with lots of breaks I might add, in a hair over 3:20.
I am still astonished at the folks who haven't figured out the importance of water and gels. I had three people in my group, out of about twenty, who ran without water bottles. Next Sunday we're cranking it up to 26K and I'm simply not going to run with anyone in my group who doesn't come out properly equipped. It's one thing to make a decision to run a marathon itself without water, there are, after all, water stations. But on a training run where you can go 10K quite easily without water and the temperature is in the seventies? Just leaves you shaking your head...
I NEVER thought I'd be a calorie counter, but here it is again on Monday morning and I can tell you exactly what I am going to be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next five days. If I wasn't so excited, yes, hard to believe but I am actually enjoying depriving myself in a depraved kind of way, because there are no denying the results.
After five years of running, the single greatest strides I have made in improving my speed has clearly come from leaning out. As I hover around 190 pounds I am clearly the fastest I have been in twenty odd years. And my body hasn't felt this good after a hard workout since my twenties. I can't wait until I strip off the next twelve pounds, just to see how my training and fitness levels are effected.
After the Summerfast 10K Race on Saturday, I reeled off 33K, or just over 20 miles on Sunday. I had very little muscle stiffness after the race the day before. Have to love that 10K distance. It took a huge amount of self-discipline on my part to keep my heart rate under 70% all day on Sunday. At 20K I had an overwhelming urge to just take off as fast as I could go. Thank God I was wearing my Pace Group Leader hat. Sunday was another stunningly beautiful Vancouver day, with clear blue skies, a cool breeze off the waters of English Bay and a temperature hovering in the low seventies. Hugh and Luisa and I did a little 9K add on and in the end we did the full 33K, with lots of breaks I might add, in a hair over 3:20.
I am still astonished at the folks who haven't figured out the importance of water and gels. I had three people in my group, out of about twenty, who ran without water bottles. Next Sunday we're cranking it up to 26K and I'm simply not going to run with anyone in my group who doesn't come out properly equipped. It's one thing to make a decision to run a marathon itself without water, there are, after all, water stations. But on a training run where you can go 10K quite easily without water and the temperature is in the seventies? Just leaves you shaking your head...
posted by Vince Hemingson at 12:05 PM
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