After my first marathon I was burned out and let down. I had done horrible the last six miles of the race and missed my mark by almost 30 minutes. I came home and stopped running for weeks and when I did pick up running it was for short distances and at a very casual pace just because my soul needed it. The day of my Nashville marathon was the start of the end of my relationship with my boyfriend as well and I spiraled in to an anxiety tornado. I then decided it was time to get on an anti anxiety medication. I started Buspar. I was amazed at how well it worked for me and how full of anxiety I had been even above what I had known. But with the buspar came more lethargy and over all I gained 28 pounds from my lowest weight. In September 2013 I got to 129 pounds and at the middle of last month I hit 157. I have no clothes in my closet anymore that fit me. I am pushing out of my size sixes and I just don't want to move back up.
I started to pray about this all a lot. My feelings about my self esteem and weight and fitness. I am turning 40 at the end of January and would love to treat myself well entering my 4th decade of life. I would like to meet my initial goal of less then 5 hour marathon. I would like to get definition back and get back down in to the 130's. I would like to completely stop smoking for good. During the training for my last marathon I got burned out. I never lost the weight during training. I never gained the momentum. I am praying diligently for the momentum to get going and for me to find passion in myself and my health and my goals again. I am praying that God will use this experience to build me back to a strong energized woman. So please join forces with me and pray and send encouragement and build me up.
Already before this date I started to get prepared. I have gone from 157 to 150 as of October 1st.
Start weight: 150
Measurements:
Breast - 36
Above belly button - 31.5
Belly button - 36
Below belly button - 35.75
Waist - 37.5
Upper thigh - 24
Just reading this one. Marathoning is brutally hard and it's normal to feel down during the training and drained when it ends. It consumes a ton of time and energy, and it is really, really hard to increase your speed and your mileage at the same time. It's easy to dwell on what you aren't accomplishing and to lose sight of what you are--to stress out about your pace and ignore your increased mileage. And it's easy to get hurt. I've hurt myself both times despite adding tons of strength training and stretching in an effort to avoid it. Finally, the last six miles are grueling for everyone. Mine were a huge disappointment in Chicago, and I'm not looking forward to them on the 25th.
ReplyDeleteSo why do it? Well, it's something you shouldn't do too often. I don't plan to run another for a long while after MCM. Running shorter distances allows you to focus on pace rather than distance without the burnout factor, and is probably a better, healthier way to practice running. But the upside is that it provides ample opportunity to try, fail, experiment, try again, succeed, and ultimately, to persevere. It's like life in that way and it helps me feel that whatever else goes wrong, at least I know that more often than not I went out and did something that once seemed impossible. You did too. And you can do it again.
Thank you for such wonderful uplifting comments Michael. I love you.
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