YESTERDAY’S SUMMARY:
15 miles biking, 55:11 = 16.3 mph
Avg heart rate = 173
I decided to go for a bike ride yesterday afternoon for the first time in a couple months. Summer always spurs me to break out the two-wheeler, as somehow it never seems quite as unbearably hot while biking. There’s always a breeze, even if it’s self-generated.
The fact that I am 5-6 pounds heavier than I was six months ago hit home at Katie’s wedding; when I looked at myself in my dress, I decided that I must be carrying all of those extra pounds around my stomach! I want to lose it, but I’m having trouble lately. Since Christmas, it seems, we have been eating out a lot more, and I have been lazier about exercising.
All fall I was so focused on the marathon that since it’s been over, since mid-January, I’ve felt rather burned out. Running just hasn’t been as interesting to me since the marathon. I certainly don’t regret doing 26.2, but I think that once it was over, and I didn’t have a large goal to look for down the road, I started to feel pretty listless about running.
I started running in December 2001 because I wanted to lose weight, but after I got past the initial “I hate this” feeling (which I’d never managed to get past in my multiple previous attempts to start running) I found that I liked it. Being in a beautiful place like the San Francisco Bay Area certainly helped; everywhere I ran there was something pretty to look at. After six months, I was attached enough to the exercise to keep up with it despite moving to running-unfriendly Houston.
Until recently, it hadn’t been a struggle to get regular exercise. In addition to running, I started biking, swimming, and playing softball. I started playing soccer again for the first time since 8th grade, and I started rock climbing again for the first time since early in my co-op days. I love all my activities, and though it may sound cliche, I think becoming involved in so many athletic pursuits has had an incredibly positive impact on my confidence and self-esteem. But lately, exercise and workouts have started feeling more like a chore.
My only motivation for doing anything athletic in these past few months has been to prevent ballooning. When I first started running, I was something like 195 pounds. I was never obese, but I was definitely overweight. Only now do I realize how much heavier I looked then, and how much heavier and unhealthy I felt. I’m still a bit overweight, though I am a zillions time more fit than I was three years ago; I’m probably more fit than I’ve been in my entire life. But as I get lazy, I’m losing it. The least I’ve weighed in recent memory was 169 for the first couple days after returning from Peru last September. As soon as I stopped, you know, hiking for 8 hours a day, I immediately climbed back to about 172. Marathon training put on a few more pounds of muscle, which I think have since turned to fat, and I now find my pants fitting not quite as loosely as they used to.
So somehow, I’ve got to get my motivation back, and start to like working out again. Unfortunately this will be tough to do, with summer and hot, humid weather upon me, but I’ve got to try.
I think I need a new goal. I’m not interested in doing anything farther than a marathon at this point, so it’s got to be something different. I’m thinking maybe an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5k swim, 25 mile bike, 10K run), since all I’ve ever done are sprint distance races. We shall see.
Cassie says
Hey Sarah- I hear ya. It’s been one month since I last ran or did ANY sort of exercise other than yoga and a few easy swims. I am starting to be able to tell- my marathon training “leaness” is fading fast! Have you thought about doing another marathon? I’d love to do a Tri, but I am such a terrible swimmer!
christina says
dude. it is unseasonably hot and humid up right now and it is KILLING me to running in the morning – even at 6 and 7 am when I do it. I would NEVER run outside in houston. i would die. i don’t know how you do it. Somehow a distance i run easily in 60 degree weather is a freaking marathon in 90 degree weather. stupid weather.
Me says
I’ve thought about doing another marathon, but it is hard for me to think about the training involved when it is so hot outside!! I will probably do another one someday, but I really feel like the half is a more manageable distance for me. I’m planning to at least do the Houston Half in January…
And Christina, I basically don’t run at all in the summer, that’s how I do it!! 🙂 I bike, or swim, or do the elliptical machine indoors, and run when it is a “hot as hell rather than hotter than hell” day.
Jon says
I hear you too! Back to “more water”, “no Mountain Dews” (that’s going to be tough) and “no fast food” at all. Wish me luck.