Sunday 18 December 2016

Gaining and losing weight

Yet another stale dated post from the past year. It may be time for me to jump start this blog thing again. A 2016 year in review may be in order, since I did not post up for 2016 at all. From March of 2016, here is a few thougths from earlier this year as I was hitting my stride again after recovering from a torn hamstring waterski accident. 


March 2016:

This winter while dealing with my torn/ obliterated/ pulled pork hamstring injury recovery from back in August, I resigned myself to canning the running comeback, and to just let December be what it was meant to be for 2015.

Not being able to exercise at all made me really grumpy. So instead of being grumpy, I started a craft beer collection. The collection started small, but eventually it got to be really, really good. All single bottles from BC craft breweries. I had so many bottles that I was able to make an advent calendar out of it.

My wife reminded me that I actually had two advent calendars: Craft Crossing by Parallel 49 and Central City. Some hits, some misses, and some classics.

Two advent beer calendars.

No running.

No exercise.

Fried food.

Christmas food.

Needless to say, I gained some weight. I ballooned to 200lbs. It was fantastic--I was warm all the time, I slept fairly well, I had plenty of energy and I was not tired. Strava vacation was in full effect.

Then January hit. The News Year's resolution into full swing, I had to get back on the horse and start running again. I was happy to put 2015 behind me. A good year, a big year, but in terms of yogging, hard to come to terms with. Being laid up for an extended period of time sucked, but was also a blessing too. I was able to take a break, let my body heal--not just from the leg injury, but I managed to get a rest from the prolonged training and cummulative fatigue that I had taken for granted. I was used to being tired all the time as a runner. I could eat and burn off all the calories that I ate; laid up, I was no longer burning anything.

The beer was amazing. But like all good things, too much is many times a bad thing. Cold turkey--no beer.

From January 3rd, running again was hard. I was 20lbs over my pre injury weight. I punched up to 200lbs--never before had I hit this weight before.

Burning off the masses of portliness was an effort that did not take that long. Over a few weeks, I dropped down 3 pounds, then 7, 10, 13, and finally 17 pounds. Two months after starting to run again, 17 pounds had melted away. I had lost an entire road bike from my mid section.

I began noticing things about myself as well. It was easy to hit faster paces; my heart rate came down considerably for the same efforts after a few weeks of running the same routes; I did not feel the need to have a brew at the end of a day, on the weekend, or otherwise. In fact, sometimes the beer just did not taste good at all. I was thinner, leaner looking, and often, cold.

I had to layer up in different long sleeves and sweaters just to stay warm in late January and February. And, it is not even cold here in the lower mainland of BC.

Another thing I have noticed is that coming back from and extended break, I have been able to hit faster paces, maintain faster tempos, and handle volume loads like before, as if I was not injured at all. Running now feels great. Hundreds of dollars of PT, chiro, and massage have helped to pay off in getting me back on track.

Which brings me March. Looking ahead, I've committed to the Vancouver Marathon--something that I would not have dreamed of doing at the start of February. The Sun Run is coming up, and that too is on the list.

I was on the fence about completing the First Half Half Marathon on Valentine's day, but I did, and ran a 1:24--one minute off of my PB.

As the year goes on, I am stoked about my renewed health, and the race season ahead.