In January last year I decided that enough was enough – I had to turn my life around and get out of the rut I was in at the time. My weight had blown out to a little over 103kg (227lb) – the heaviest I have ever been in my life – and my health was starting to suffer. Simple things were becoming difficult – tying my shoelaces, picking my daughter or son up, or climbing stairs. Where had I gone off the rails? A busy work life where convenience dictated my choice of meal and the availability of too much ‘treat’ food combined with minimal exercise was taking it’s toll. My self control had succumbed to the allure of fried food and sweet treats. I made a life resolution – not a New Year’s resolution – to change things for the better for my health and to be there for my wife and kids as long as destiny dictates, not my poor health. I decided that I needed to take a two pronged approach – a healthy diet and an active lifestyle.
I’ve been a very active person most of my life and enjoy playing sports. Although I suffer with asthma, I’ve played competitive sport for most of my adult life and this hadn’t changed. I’d also had an affair with cycling for a number of years, but this had waned with the purchase of a new house which needed some attention and a young family. I love cycling, but I find that the health benefits require a much longer commitment to achieve results. I needed something that was less time consuming and that I could do on a regular basis around my busy family and work schedules. In my younger years I had been a pretty competitive cross country runner. It’s cheap, generally equipment free, and something that I was happy to commit time towards.
Running was just the ticket!
On the 27th January 2011 I went for my first run – 3.8km (2.36 mi) around my local parklands. I struggled and had to walk a number of times to get through it. I also suffered some bad lower back pain which had a negative impact on my focus. I was committed, though, and wasn’t going to give in too easily. I decided I needed some extra motivation and needed to track my progress somehow. I had not long started out with my first iPhone, a ‘4’, and thought to myself , “There’s got to be an app that can help with this!”. Lo and behold, RunKeeper was the answer to my prayers. The next day I ran the same route and was happy to see that I did a little better. That day I started tracking my runs with RunKeeper.
I also set myself a goal to work towards – Sydney’s iconic City2Surf fun run – a little over 14km (8.7 mi) of challenging running from the heart of Sydney’s CBD to the world famous Bondi Beach. The event is run in August each year and attracts the world’s largest number of participants in any fun run. The toughest part of the run is the 2km climb known endearingly as ‘Heartbreak Hill’. I found that publicising my goal through social media meant that I ‘had’ to stick to it. It seemed a long stretch from where I started, but I completed a couple of other events along the way and continued to see the improvements in pace, distance and weight. I signed up for an elite subscription and was overjoyed with the vast array of meaningful statistics that showed me where I was at with my running. This also gave me further impetus – in addition to my long term goal of the City2Surf I was also setting short term goals to set personal bests on my regular routes – best average pace, longest distance, longest duration, biggest elevation climb, most activities in a week…the goals are endless!
Running was only half of the equation, though. I changed my diet and cut out a number of things – soft drinks, chocolate and lollies, fried food, and mid-week alcohol. I stuck to this religiously for the first 3 months of my new healthy life and increased my intake of water and fruit. I allowed myself a couple of beers on Friday and Saturday nights as a reward for my hard work. After the initial three months my weight had dropped to 95kg (209 lb). I remain true to my new diet but allowed myself to indulge ‘occasionally’ in the unhealthy foods. I still don’t drink soft drinks, but will occasionally have a chocolate or serving of chips.
On the 25th January this year I clocked up my 1000th kilometre, three days before my RunKeeper anniversary. I know others have run further in the same time, but I look back over the past year and am astounded that I’ve managed to achieve what I have. My average monthly pace has come down from 6:22min/km to a best effort in December of 4:44min/km. I am running further and longer and now plan to run in more half marathons and maybe even challenge myself to a full marathon. My weight has now settled around 84 to 85kg, under my original goal weight of 86kg. My asthma seems to have improved with my cardio vascular fitness and the lower back pain. I suffered in the early days of my running has disappeared altogether. I feel healthier and the simple things are simple again.
Twelve months since I made my life resolution and my longer term goals have changed a number of times after successfully reaching the old ones – to complete a half marathon in under two hours, to complete a 10km race in under 50 minutes…I’ve now set it as “Keep fit and healthy” and I’m happy to say I’m achieving it each day.
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