So yeah, um been a while. I cant believe we are almost through February and knocking on the door of March - CRAZY!! I guess a little recap, January 'Biggest Winner' challenge was great for me, not sure how many others got anything out of it, but if they did, awesome! For me I ran the most kms in a month that i have ever ran, i hit the 180km mark - but it def took a toll on my knees, pushing that hard. So after the month was over I took a week off of everything, diet, exercise, and added cigars - under the false thinking that I deserved it, or that I was giving my knees a break. This was a huge mistake.
It always amazes me how stupid I can be, especially when i repeat behaviours that always never work out for me. The impact of taking just a week off has been pretty big. It took me the last two weeks to get back on point in terms of distance and pace per mile. I am happy to say that I am close to what it was before I took my week off, but not quite there yet, hopefully this week.
Also slipping back into familiar bad eating habits added to a bit of a slip into depression for the last couple of weeks, out of it now, but was pretty low a couple of times. I think a lot of that is also due to the time of year, I hate February, Worst fucking month.
I am sure you have heard of February but if you havent, It is in the middle of winter, with no sign of winter ending anytime soon, accented this year by the battering of storms we had, i think 5 over a two week period. Then there is the biggest sham of a 'holiday' going which either can add to additional stress whether you have a significant other or not. So Valentines Day, fuck you!
This is a time of the year that is tough for me as it is also the month my dad passed away. I think about him alot in February, even leading up to the month I cant get out of my head very much. Guilt, anger and sadness can really fuck with your head when you are tying to keep moving forward. Honestly, right or wrong, the one thing that pulls me through is the occasional cigar outside in the 'fresh air' with an accompanying beverage.
But where I was smoking maybe one a week at this time last year, I am up to about 3 or 4 a week. This cannot continue, a, I cant afford it long term, and 2, but also at some point it will become a hinderance to what I am trying to accomplish running wise. Going to try to just have one this week, but they are like Lays, I cant just stop at one haha.
So time for some goal setting for the next month, I am going to ignore that stupid February is still on and pretend we are in March already.
My goal for March will be to get up to half marathon distance by the 31st. I am knocking on the door now, but it will be tough to get to that mark. Looking forward on trying though. I am going to try a mixed approach to running over the next month, and alternate between a five run week and a four run week, to give my legs the chance to recover here and there. Cant afford a knee blowout or another injury.
The other goal for march as is for life, is to try and get my eating on track. February has been a junk food pallooooza. Gotta knock that shit off, but grease and salt and fat are soooo good. If I could somehow remove cheese, bread and chips from my brain or get hypnotized to think of these things on the same level as foods I hate Id probably be 30 pounds lighter.
But I am going to need to figure something out as I dont want to be that fat guy that take a heart attack on the treadmill and gets flung back into the wall and needs 90 people to move them down to the ambulance. Clanging my head off of each metal staircase rail as they trudge me down the stairs. SIGH. Yes my brain functions like an 80s sitcom.
So that about does it for a recap, hope you are still sticking with me even though I am not the most regular blogger. Good luck with your own goals!
Cheers
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan
It always amazes me how stupid I can be, especially when i repeat behaviours that always never work out for me. The impact of taking just a week off has been pretty big. It took me the last two weeks to get back on point in terms of distance and pace per mile. I am happy to say that I am close to what it was before I took my week off, but not quite there yet, hopefully this week.
Also slipping back into familiar bad eating habits added to a bit of a slip into depression for the last couple of weeks, out of it now, but was pretty low a couple of times. I think a lot of that is also due to the time of year, I hate February, Worst fucking month.
I am sure you have heard of February but if you havent, It is in the middle of winter, with no sign of winter ending anytime soon, accented this year by the battering of storms we had, i think 5 over a two week period. Then there is the biggest sham of a 'holiday' going which either can add to additional stress whether you have a significant other or not. So Valentines Day, fuck you!
This is a time of the year that is tough for me as it is also the month my dad passed away. I think about him alot in February, even leading up to the month I cant get out of my head very much. Guilt, anger and sadness can really fuck with your head when you are tying to keep moving forward. Honestly, right or wrong, the one thing that pulls me through is the occasional cigar outside in the 'fresh air' with an accompanying beverage.
But where I was smoking maybe one a week at this time last year, I am up to about 3 or 4 a week. This cannot continue, a, I cant afford it long term, and 2, but also at some point it will become a hinderance to what I am trying to accomplish running wise. Going to try to just have one this week, but they are like Lays, I cant just stop at one haha.
So time for some goal setting for the next month, I am going to ignore that stupid February is still on and pretend we are in March already.
My goal for March will be to get up to half marathon distance by the 31st. I am knocking on the door now, but it will be tough to get to that mark. Looking forward on trying though. I am going to try a mixed approach to running over the next month, and alternate between a five run week and a four run week, to give my legs the chance to recover here and there. Cant afford a knee blowout or another injury.
The other goal for march as is for life, is to try and get my eating on track. February has been a junk food pallooooza. Gotta knock that shit off, but grease and salt and fat are soooo good. If I could somehow remove cheese, bread and chips from my brain or get hypnotized to think of these things on the same level as foods I hate Id probably be 30 pounds lighter.
But I am going to need to figure something out as I dont want to be that fat guy that take a heart attack on the treadmill and gets flung back into the wall and needs 90 people to move them down to the ambulance. Clanging my head off of each metal staircase rail as they trudge me down the stairs. SIGH. Yes my brain functions like an 80s sitcom.
So that about does it for a recap, hope you are still sticking with me even though I am not the most regular blogger. Good luck with your own goals!
Cheers
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan
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