Marching right along 2014

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

The day after my return to the running world I undertook a 27km walk around Sydney Harbour with a workmate. Called "The Seven Bridges Walk" it draws a rough circle around Sydney Harbour and as the name suggests, crosses seven historic and iconic bridges, the Sydney Harbour Bridge being the last of them. This is mostly urban walking, with only a small section through bushland and so not exactly what you might call difficult trekking.

The thing about it was that it left me very sore and tired ... I mean, thirty years ago, Mrs MCLMM and I routinely tramped through icy Tasmanian wilderness carrying heavy packs up and down mountains and frequently covering over 30 kilometres in a day without too much effort. Sigh. That, as I say though, was thirty years ago. Now it seems like a major accomplishment just to walk about the streets for a few hours.

Never mind, despite all that I am back running again, and regardless of the age-related difficulty that seems to present, I am happy to be back. Today's run was again a short one out of respect for my ageing body, but I feel it won't be long before I'm covering a useful distance once more, and have half an eye on the Sydney Half Marathon in May as a useful goal to aim for.

30mins, 4.6km

Track du Jour: My shuffle-play music thing managed to pump out Chris Rea's "The Road To Hell (Part 2)", Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" and AC/DC's "Highway To Hell" all in succession, which all seemed rather confusing if not inappropriate running material, however it was the next track that seemed to settle the argument, albeit in a somewhat bizzare manner. I am certain my running style cannot at any point be considered dance-like, unless it be of the drunken variety. But it seemed to sum up my mood at being back in the running clobber again, so here is David Bowie, I think for the first time as an MLCMM TdJ...

[Antonio247]

As the Spanish proverb says "Los años no pasan en balde", which means years take their toll, that is, that the older you get, the harder everything is. Anyway, little by little you'll get far away, MLCMM. Hope you're feeling better about your work problems.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Thanks Antonio - work is still a hassle, but I'm feeling better about it now that I'm running again, losing a little weight and re-gaining some fitness.

Stretched the run time to 45 minutes today - still painfully slow, but it's fabulous just to be out running again, and I'm feeling a whole lot better for it.

45 minutes, 6.7km

Track du Jour: One to warm the heart... check this one out, boys!

[Antonio247]

Beautiful Andalusian song sung by an Italian but with very good Spanish pronunciation.

I'm glad running is doing you good. Hope work matters get better soon, MLCMM.

Saludos desde Almería

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Hope work matters get better soon, MLCMM.

A good, productive meeting with our lawyer this afternoon certainly boosted my spirits, Antonio. As much as we like to complain about lawyers and their fees, sometimes they can be our only hope... bless 'em!

[Antonio247]

I'm very glad you're feeling better, MLCMM!

Best of luck!

[Sweder]

still painfully slow, but it's fabulous just to be out running again, and I'm feeling a whole lot better for it.

This is really good to hear. I've not yet been drawn back to my running shoes, preferring hour-long walks on the steadily drying downs at day-break. I figure I'll know when it's time. I want that feeling too.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

We're experiencing an Indian summer here - quite warm/hot with exceedingly high humidity. Some days I'm having to run in 30C and 90% humidity which is just savage, and so the runs are necessarily short and slow. But running I am, and that's the main thing.

I'm a-plodding every second day, and doing weight/core training twice a week. I'm also walking a lot, and I've eliminated wheat and alcohol from my diet... yes, you see correctly, dear viewer ... MLCMM is on the wagon.

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OK, now that I've taken a moment to let that sink in, let me tell you the good news. The weight that I accumulated in recent months is melting away at an almost alarming rate, and all my other vital stats (body fat percentage, muscle mass, basal metabolic rate etc.) are all going in the right directions too.

And how do I feel? Well, to be honest, pretty crap actually, although I am really, really pleased that I no longer have a huge flap of flab hanging over my belt. Most of the crapiness I feel is due to the muggy weather and long hours of work, so on balance I am probably travelling pretty well. Well enough to continue in this vein, anyhow. How long I will stay off the booze entirely I'm not sure - probably not very long, if I'm honest, but I will cut down quite dramatically. Instead of one or two alcohol-free days per week, I'll reverse that and only drink one or two days per week. But for the moment, I am dry.

And where is this heading? Again, to be honest with you I am not sure. To be sure my goal is wellness and fitness, but I'm thinking holistically, hence the cross-training, dietary considerations and even the clinical psychologist that I haven't mentioned yet. The latter is nothing to get too concerned about - I've just had one session seeking some brainy-doctor advice on coping with the work situation and sleeping better. So far, so good. The work situation is indeed pretty stressful, and at least one of my colleagues has become seriously and quite probably permanently ill as a result. Our lawyer is lodging the paperwork tomorrow so we will have our day in court (more likely several days). Win or lose however, things will never be the same again, and the damage done is largely irreversible.

Interestingly, my psychologist strongly encouraged my running, saying that exercise (and especially exercising to music) is one of the best ways of eliminating stress hormones. It's hard to be sure of the science behind any of this of course, but I am certain that overall I am better for running regularly again. Far better, I'm sure.

Running is life. Go live it.

20min 3.1km
60min 9.5km
30min 4.8km
30min 4.5km

Track du Jour: From the mighty "Rattle and Hum" tour/album ... if running stills the mind, then this one is spot on. Enjoy.

[Bierzo Baggie]

The psychological benefits of running work for me, probably more than the physical ones. I always feel better and even work better after a run. Glad things are going well MLCM!

[Antonio247]

I'm very glad you're feeling better physically and psychologically. I also feel better after a run.

Best of luck with work as well, MLCMM!

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Thanks guys ... a couple more runs to report, but I'll write it all up in full a little later, as I'm in the middle of an experiment which you might find interesting. It involves subjecting the bod to such horrendous tortures as no booze, no chocolate and no wheat, amongst other things. The weird thing is that I actually feel pretty good. Not so good that I could consider giving up alcohol and chocolate in perpetuity, but ... well, but ... um, more about that soon. But I don't think I'll ever look at a loaf of bread the same way again.

[Antonio247]

Congratulations on your diet and loss of weight, MLCMM. I find it really hard to refrain from some foods while you can eat others. I prefer fasting having only liquid such as fruit juices, herbal tea, vegetable broth and water. I've experienced it several times for a few days only and I've felt fine, lost some kilos and I haven't felt too much hunger. In fact, after two days you don't feel hungry. You eat from your fat reserves. I can understand anorexic people. Actually, as I had to have a colonoscopy last month for a check up,I decided to fast for five days plus one of preparation with only fruit and it was a fantastic experience. I felt well and went for a run nearly every day. I've read it is good for the body so that it gets desintoxicated and the fact that you lose weight, motivates you. Besides, it makes you realise what life can be for people who want to eat and don't have any food to take.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Thanks Antonio. You're right of course - fasting is a great thing to do and it is amazing how hunger is not a problem once you've set your mind to doing a long fast.

Speaking of such matters, the MLCMM bod is in better shape now thanks to a new diet sensation sweeping the MLCMM man cave - the NBNB diet, which is quite simply the No Bread No Booze diet. In two weeks using this seemingly drastic weight-loss craze I shed a touch over 5 kilos (11 pounds) just by eliminating bread, alcohol and avoiding carbs until the evening.

And how do I feel? Well, to be honest, the last three days were pretty awful, as I continued my running throughout and fairly conclusively busted out of all my glycogen stores, i.e. I was running on empty. So last night I had a carb binge and replenished my stores somewhat, and was able to put in another sixty minutes of hard running this afternoon.

Physically, I am back to the weight, body fat and muscle mass percentages I was at for the P2P last November. Something has changed fairly fundamentally however with my phsyiology, and the body is much slower to respond to the training at present. I'm still not capable of the pace or distances I was churning out last year, and I really don't know why. However, I am running consistently and have weight and so on under control again, so from here it can only improve.

As for the bread part of it all, well I really do feel better for not eating wheat at all and have no intention of really taking it up again. It hasn't so much to do with a gluten intolerance or anything, but more to do with keeping my blood sugar levels at an even keel. Although yes the diet (which was effectively low carb/low cal) saw me tired after a week or so, my energy levels did stay at a remarkably even keel throughout the day because the bread and so on that I usually eat wasn't spiking my sugar levels. And with a shift toward more protein to replace the carbs, I really had no problems with hunger, either.

So now I'm slowly increasing my daily carb intake to overcome the tiredness resulting from several days of low carbs, but I will still avoid bread which was always for me the main culprit.

Alcohol is another matter. After two weeks on the wagon, Mrs MLCMM and I celebrated with a nice bottle of red, which we shared with a friend, and weirdly, that was enough for us. So it seems cutting down significantly isn't going to be such an issue. Well, time will tell on that score of course.

So for now, it's slow and steady sailing, all in the right direction and with a stiff breeze of confidence at my back.

A total of five runs since my last post: 3h45m on my feet, 35km covered. Slow, modest but at least I'm out there again!

Track du jour: An old favourite by Chris Rea ... a bloody marvellous running track, especially when training for a marathon (which I'm not, but never mind).

[Bierzo Baggie]

This all sounds very complicated...
Don't eat a lot of bread, like my potatoes though...
Still on course for the Sydney half?

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

This all sounds very complicated...

It isn't! No booze, no bread ... no carb-heavy stuff before mid-afternoon. That will have to change as my run distances increase, but for finding a base level of weight and fitness it's good.

Still on course for the Sydney half?

Hmm, perhaps. I would like to, but don't even yet know if I'll be able to get time off for it (I work most weekends). Another week or so will tell one way or another. I'll be cranky though if I can't at least aim for another marathon later in the year.

More soon.

[Sweder]

I'll be cranky though if I can't at least aim for another marathon later in the year.

Moyleman 2015.
Just sayin' ...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I'll be cranky though if I can't at least aim for another marathon later in the year.

Moyleman 2015.
Just sayin' ...

Speaking of pressure ... how's your own running coming along, Sweder?

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

March has concluded with another handful of runs for a modest, but honest March total of fifteen runs and 106.5 kilometres covered, with the longest run being 16.1km. In all not a bad return to the running fold, and I am once again beginning to feel like a proper runner.

Now to see what April brings.

Track du jour: This popped up on my run today, and put me immediately in mind of our currently much-absent luminary, El Gordo. So this one's for you, EG ... the longest (and my personal favourite) track from Dylan's meisterwerk Blood On the Tracks.