2009 - Autumn

[El Gordo]

I sound like a stuck record, but weight is key.

Sorry Boss, but I disagree.

The key, (for me anyway) is hauling myself off my fat arse and getting out there to run. Miles in your legs/time on your feet, call it what you will.

I believe it is more important to build stamina, train the running muscles in the legs and have the ability to regulate breathing.

Build on that, and surely the weight will come off.

I think we're advocating the same thing, though viewing it from a different standpoint. I find running very hard when I'm at my porkiest. I have to approach weight loss from an eating direction, and once I've lost a few pounds I find it much easier to get out there. Once I do get out there, I still find that I will lose weight only if I am careful about my diet. A classic situation for me is to lose plenty of weight, run 3 times a week with reasonable confidence and feel fittish -- and then to get complacent about diet. So I drink too much beer and eat carelessly, but because I'm exercising, don't put much weight back on. But I just plateau on running and never improve further. This is what has happened leading up to every marathon I've done, and explains why I've never got much better. If (big if) I can maintain my focus on the weight loss while still doing the training, I think I'll get my race times down.

I don't disagree with what you say if that way of looking at things is what works for you. It's just that I don't really have much trouble in getting out the door, and never have. But I don't enjoy it much if I'm not below (say) 215 pounds. Above that (where I still am) it's hard work.

Crikey, that's 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back....