Kazrak's In My Day We Had A Kessel Run Training Journal (Comments Welcome)

Kazrak

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
I'm Kazrak. I'm 47 years old, male, still obese but working on it. I'm currently starting serious training for the Kessel Run/Rival Run Half.

Where I am:
I've run two half marathons (2017 Kessel Run, Light Side Half/Dark Side Half). My half marathon time for those was about 3:13 each time. Those were at heavier weights than I'm at now (BMI over 40).

Many years ago (1998) at the end of what I term the Diet From Hell, I was at my lowest weight since college and did a 10k in just under an hour. So I know my body is capable of faster times.

Right now, I'm down about 50 pounds from my peak weight and about 50 pounds above where I was for my sub-hour 10k. I'm mostly focusing on improving the quality of my food intake while also tracking quantity.

I train with my younger son (14) who's planning on doing the 5k for Star Wars Rival Run weekend. He's never run a race farther than 5k, and did those in 55 minutes or so. We've been coasting all summer for various reasons.

I'm signed up for the Kessel Run for several reasons: we had some extra DVC points to use, the timing worked too perfectly to pass up, and I need incentive to get serious about running again. I've done one 10k and two 5ks since the Dark Side Half last year, with awful times.

So, time to get serious.

The goal:
My goal for the Rival Run Half Marathon is not to have to spend the whole race calculating how far in front of the sweepers I am. The 2017 races were spent thinking, "Okay, I started one corral before the last one, so I've got 5 minutes there, and I've run 6 miles at a 15 minute pace so I've got 6 minutes there, so I'm 11 minutes ahead..."

Stretch goal: get a 10k time low enough that it counts as a useful proof of time. (1:15, as I understand it.)

The plan:
Younger son isn't up for the full-on half-marathon training. That's fine. We'll work together 3 days a week on shorter runs. I'm time-limited here anyway to about half an hour total due to my commute schedule. My goal with him is to get his confidence up to the point where he might consider a 10k down the road.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: training runs with son. Working on both endurance and speed.
Saturday: Longer run for me, mostly working on endurance.

I have 3-4 races planned between now and April:
5k Turkey Trot (on Thanksgiving, I've done this for several years now)
10k New Year's Eve race - flat course, aiming for a good proof of time here. (I can dream.)
5k New Year's Day race - questionable if I'll do this. It's a very hilly course, parking there is awful, and we fly to Orlando the next day. Still deciding if the last day/first day medal is worth it.
Mid-February half marathon - flat bayside course, planning on doing this for the Virtual Half. (In an ideal world, son might try a 10k here.)

The plan started today. Younger son and I started with something fairly basic: how far can he run without needing to stop? Answer: a little over a quarter mile. I don't have times on this because Strava was being difficult, but I'd estimate the pace at about 12 minutes/mile.

So, accountability: my plan is to post here (at minimum) every Saturday, after the longer run. Which means, if it's Sunday and this thread is more than a week old, I'd appreciate a poke.
 
Week 1 update.

Weight: I broke 230 today. This is a big deal, because 230 is the reef that at least 4 previous attempts to lose weight have sunk on. Now I just need to keep going from here.

Walking: I commute by bus most days - a 20-minute walk to the bus, a 20-minute bus ride, and then a 20-minute walk from the bus to my desk. (And then the same thing going home.) I did that three days (goal is four, skipping Wednesday due to transportation issues) due to scheduling issues on Tuesday. I did get a good 30-minute walk in on Tuesday anyway.

Running: This week was spent seeing where we are starting from. Monday's run with son was 'how far can son run without needing to stop'. Answer was about 0.3 miles. (I don't have an exact measurement.) I'd estimate the pace at about 12:00 to 13:00. Wednesday was a few intervals, which went fine, with one 90-second interval at a 10:31 pace. Friday was 'how fast can you run over this distance'. I did about 1/6 of a mile at a 7:23 pace; son didn't go quite as far or as fast.

Saturday's run is solo, and today's served two purposes: assess where I am, and test out my new GPS watch. I've been dissatisfied with the results from phone GPS, so I picked up a Garmin Forerunner 35. I used it on Friday, but this was meant to give me a test of using it over a run long enough that I'd be able to look at it.

The goal was to run at a reasonable pace to a spot that used to have a barrier that closed the road. The road is open now, but there's still a post next to it that I can use. It's positioned so that, after a 5-minute warmup, it's a little over 3/4 mile to get there. Stretch goal was to run back, but I wasn't expecting to hit that.

Results: Garmin worked fine. Track looks a lot smoother and more accurate than the phone did. I need to tweak the display a bit, and look into lap counters.

Run stats were 8:51 for 0.8 miles, average pace 11:01. A bit faster than I expected, to be honest - I was figuring I'd hit the high 11s. It felt good. I walked back from the post, untimed.

Plan for week 2:

Add to either interval count or interval length with son; do intervals on Monday and Friday, and try another 'how far can you go' on Wednesday.

Saturday run should be to the post and back, possibly with a pause to walk. No specific pace in mind.
 
Went for slightly longer intervals with my son today, but also took the opportunity to compare the Garmin with my phone's GPS.

RunDouble on my iPhone recorded the run as 14:07, 1.0 miles, overall pace 14:46.

Garmin Forerunner 35 recorded the run as 14:06, 0.92 miles, overall pace 15:18.

Tempting as it is to say the longer distance/faster pace is the accurate one, I got the Garmin because I didn't trust the phone. I see that I was correct not to.
 
And, today marked the end of an era, to a small extent.

My first pair of running socks got retired.

Some time early last year, before the Dark Side half, I decided I needed some socks just for running. I picked up a pair of Balega Enduro quarter socks at Sports Basement.

It was love at first step. They were exactly what I needed.

Today, I was at Sports Basement again. And I picked up two more pair of Enduro socks, one in black and one in white.

I need to retire the old ones so they don't get confused with the new ones.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with them. I don't want to just throw them out.
 


Week 2:

I forgot how bad the second week is. Even with new socks.

First week is always, "Oh, yay, just starting, this is amazing!"

Second week: "...oh, crud, I need to keep doing this, don't I?"

Son and I did longer intervals Monday and Friday (2min on/2min off). We had been doing 90sec/2min. He was doing fine until about 93 seconds in to the first interval.

We ran for distance on Wednesday. He made it 0.42mi at a 14:37 pace before calling it. So, slower but longer. I'm okay with this.

Saturday was my solo run. I made it to the post slightly faster than last time (10:54), then turned around and headed back. Goal was a 'trailhead' spot that I knew would be just about a mile total - total distance 1.06mi, 11:05 overall pace. Walked back from there, untimed, playing Pokemon Go.

Discoveries this week:

New socks feel amazing. I need to replace them more often.

Last time I did long runs in these shorts, I weighed 50 pounds more. I could shove my water bottle into my pocket knowing it wouldn't bounce around too much. Not so much any more. I need to find a better solution for the water bottle.

Next week is going to be difficult because I'm traveling for work. Monday's normal, Saturday's normal, but Wednesday/Friday I'm in a hotel in Atlanta. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do for running there - I really don't want to skip two runs so soon after I've gotten started. I assume the hotel has a treadmill, but I'm unsure if it's a reasonable workout area or two cardio machines in a stuffy corner of the basement. Running out on the roads might work, but they're talking really warm and humid weather with possible thunderstorms and potentially a visit from Hurricane Florence.
 
Today's discovery: I need to thank my coworker.

He convinced me to switch hotels for the trip. The one we ended up at...is within 200 feet of the end of the Phoenix Trail, a newish rails-to-trails mixed-use trail in Atlanta.

Okay, somebody up there is looking out for me, clearly. Now I just need to make sure I pack my running stuff.
 
Running stuff got packed, everything but my running hat. (It's always something.) So I got extra sweat in my normal hat this morning. Think I'll leave it in the hotel today.

Had a good run out on the Phoenix Trail. It's a bit more than 200 feet from the hotel, mostly because there's fences in the way so you need to go around. But it's a very nice little trail to run on. I was planning to go in half a mile, then turn around; there was an underpass at about 0.55 miles, so I ran to the entrance before returning.

Run stats: 1.13 miles, 12:04 time, 10:40 overall pace. GPS track is a little wiggly to start but smoothed out quickly enough. 10:36.9 pace for the first mile, which is my first sub-11 mile in a long time.
 


I'm Kazrak. I'm 47 years old, male, still obese but working on it. I'm currently starting serious training for the Kessel Run/Rival Run Half.

Where I am:
I've run two half marathons (2017 Kessel Run, Light Side Half/Dark Side Half). My half marathon time for those was about 3:13 each time. Those were at heavier weights than I'm at now (BMI over 40).

Many years ago (1998) at the end of what I term the Diet From Hell, I was at my lowest weight since college and did a 10k in just under an hour. So I know my body is capable of faster times.

Right now, I'm down about 50 pounds from my peak weight and about 50 pounds above where I was for my sub-hour 10k. I'm mostly focusing on improving the quality of my food intake while also tracking quantity.

I train with my younger son (14) who's planning on doing the 5k for Star Wars Rival Run weekend. He's never run a race farther than 5k, and did those in 55 minutes or so. We've been coasting all summer for various reasons.

I'm signed up for the Kessel Run for several reasons: we had some extra DVC points to use, the timing worked too perfectly to pass up, and I need incentive to get serious about running again. I've done one 10k and two 5ks since the Dark Side Half last year, with awful times.

So, time to get serious.

The goal:
My goal for the Rival Run Half Marathon is not to have to spend the whole race calculating how far in front of the sweepers I am. The 2017 races were spent thinking, "Okay, I started one corral before the last one, so I've got 5 minutes there, and I've run 6 miles at a 15 minute pace so I've got 6 minutes there, so I'm 11 minutes ahead..."

Stretch goal: get a 10k time low enough that it counts as a useful proof of time. (1:15, as I understand it.)

The plan:
Younger son isn't up for the full-on half-marathon training. That's fine. We'll work together 3 days a week on shorter runs. I'm time-limited here anyway to about half an hour total due to my commute schedule. My goal with him is to get his confidence up to the point where he might consider a 10k down the road.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: training runs with son. Working on both endurance and speed.
Saturday: Longer run for me, mostly working on endurance.

I have 3-4 races planned between now and April:
5k Turkey Trot (on Thanksgiving, I've done this for several years now)
10k New Year's Eve race - flat course, aiming for a good proof of time here. (I can dream.)
5k New Year's Day race - questionable if I'll do this. It's a very hilly course, parking there is awful, and we fly to Orlando the next day. Still deciding if the last day/first day medal is worth it.
Mid-February half marathon - flat bayside course, planning on doing this for the Virtual Half. (In an ideal world, son might try a 10k here.)

The plan started today. Younger son and I started with something fairly basic: how far can he run without needing to stop? Answer: a little over a quarter mile. I don't have times on this because Strava was being difficult, but I'd estimate the pace at about 12 minutes/mile.

So, accountability: my plan is to post here (at minimum) every Saturday, after the longer run. Which means, if it's Sunday and this thread is more than a week old, I'd appreciate a poke.
Just found this! I'm 47 too, and I also add training with my young teenage son just to get him exercise on top of my own marathon and half marathon training. I lost a bunch of weight a few years ago, but I'm not down to "fighting weight" myself, and always trying to trick myself into being more accountable. However I don't have the guts to start a training journal. I feel like we have a lot in common so I'm excited to follow along!
 
Just found this! I'm 47 too, and I also add training with my young teenage son just to get him exercise on top of my own marathon and half marathon training. I lost a bunch of weight a few years ago, but I'm not down to "fighting weight" myself, and always trying to trick myself into being more accountable. However I don't have the guts to start a training journal. I feel like we have a lot in common so I'm excited to follow along!

That's great!

Are you training for any particular race, or a race to be determined later?

(And, yeah, younger son is running with me mostly so he has some physical activity. He decided he didn't want to sink the time required into swimming, so running is a decent alternative and means his mother won't find something else to do for him to do.)
 
I’m always training for something :) I’m actually running the Philadelphia Rock N Roll half this weekend! Trying to decide whether to sign up for a runDisney race this year after that. I’ve run the Disney World Marathon 4 times.
 
I’m always training for something :) I’m actually running the Philadelphia Rock N Roll half this weekend! Trying to decide whether to sign up for a runDisney race this year after that. I’ve run the Disney World Marathon 4 times.

Oof. Yeah, you're quite a bit further along than I am, then. Good luck with the RnR Half!

Got another good run in on the Phoenix Trail this morning before heading to the airport. Decided to slow down a bit to go for longer distance. Goal was a 12-13 minute pace for a mile and a half. There was a road crossing at 0.78 miles, 12:06 pace to that point - pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Turned around there. At a bit over a mile, I got all those thoughts of "you can just walk back from here, you know..." that I decided to ignore.

Final numbers: 1.54 miles, 12:20 average pace. Average heart rate 162.

Trying to decide if I'm taking tomorrow off or not. I might just so I can catch up on my sleep a bit.
 
Okay, Saturday update.

I didn't mention Monday's run with my son - a very slow interval run for us. He didn't do any running while I was away. (Shocked face - this is mine.)

Wednesday and Friday are above. Good runs in Atlanta. I ate too much, though. Weight was up when I got home.

I woke up early enough this morning to go running, but found that my back hurt a bit. It often does after I travel - combination of plane seats and hotel beds. I tried to get a run going, but by the time I got to the bridge (1/4 mile in) I was done.

Plan for the week: continue the runs with my son MWF. Saturday, push for 'to the post and back', pacing about 12 minutes or so.
 
Saturday update.

I talked to my son about how he'd like to push our runs a bit. He has a specific goal: he wants to do the Star Wars 5k within the 16-minute pace. We decided to add more intervals - ended up with, effectively, C25K week 2. (90s run/2m walk, 6 intervals) Still kind of slow. I'm unsure on pacing - I end up setting the pace, and I'm trying to find the balance between 'run ahead to push him' and 'stay back to not push him too hard'. I'm planning to talk to him this weekend about maybe having him set the pace.

I registered us for 2 races this week. We've done the Turkey Trot 5k at my in-laws' for several years now. The whole family that will be there is now signed up for that - my wife will probably walk a good chunk of it, younger son will see how he's doing on his 16-minute-pace goal, and I'm going to see how I'm doing on my goal of getting ready for a good PoT on New Year's Eve. Daughter will be running it as well - not sure if she has a specific goal. (Older son is at college on the east coast and will be spending Thanksgiving with my sister and her family.)

And, that New Year's Eve race. Wife and son are doing the 5k, daughter and I are doing the 10k. I want a sub-1:15 PoT.

I have not yet signed up for the New Year's Day race. It's tempting, I like the combo medal they do, but we leave for WDW the next day and it's a very hilly course. The 5k isn't that bad - total ascent 165'. The 10k is just not happening (total ascent 658', almost all between miles 2 and 3) and the half marathon is brutal (2075'). Daughter is more seriously considering the 5k, so if she decides to do it, I may go with her.

Monday and Friday younger son and I did intervals, mostly in the 12-13 minute range for running. With the increased interval count we're getting a bit over a mile in all told. Wednesday we pushed for continuous distance - he got basically exactly as far in exactly the same amount of time as two week ago. (0.41 miles at 14:46 pace.)

I talked to my psychiatrist on Wednesday, and my running goals came up. The talk made me decide to go back and find out what my actual PRs are.

I hadn't realized how much better I was doing for the WDW 10k than for the half-marathons a year later. Daughter and I had been coasting after the WDW 10k and my pace for the Light Side 10k a year later was almost 3 minutes slower.

More to the point, I actually had a useful PoT from the WDW 10k - 1:14:27. That was January 2016, when I weighed more than I do now.

So, I now know that this is possible. I've done it before, recently. I just need to make it happen.

My plan for today's long run had been to run to the post and back, a total distance of about 1.6 miles. Instead, I decided to try looping the nearby college. The trailhead spot is where my route connects to the loop, and I knew that from my usual starting point to the trailhead, around the loop, and back was in the general vicinity of 3 miles - I just didn't know exactly what it was. So, this is a bit short for a 5k but decent practice.

I dropped back to a walk from about 0.9 miles to 1, and then from 1.9 to 2. I completed the loop (half a mile from where I started) at 2.3 miles and dropped to a walk there. Total time 29:33, average pace 12:50. I'm very pleased. This gave me a good run, and I now have a better distance estimate for the loop - 1.8 miles for the loop itself, and half a mile in from my usual starting point.

Plan for next week: talk to son about pacing. Do the entire loop and back to start on Saturday. (If feeling good, maybe go along the trail a bit more to get up to a full 5k.)

Current PRs:
5k - 0:33:20 (10:45 pace), Down By The Bay 5k 2015.
10k (historical) - approximately 58:30, Mercury News 10k 1998
10k (modern) - 1:14:27 (12:00 pace), WDW 10k 2016.
Half Marathon - 3:13:54 (14:48 pace), DL Star Wars Light Side Half 2017.
 
Didn't mention earlier, but I tend to be a bit of a gadget freak. (Geek living in Silicon Valley. What are the odds.)

My wife wanted to try out my Garmin today, and decided that she'd like something like that.

So I ordered myself a 235 and will give her my 35.
 
Saturday update:

I mentioned my fall goals on the running thread:
  1. Continue training for Star Wars Half.
  2. Complete the Turkey Trot 5k at a pace under 12 minutes.
  3. Get my weight under 220. (Not quite a running goal, but it'll help.)
  4. Prep for New Year's Eve 10k for Star Wars Half PoT.
  5. Help my son get to a 16 minute pace for Turkey Trot 5k.
  6. Help my wife train toward 16 minute pace for Star Wars 5k.
Son and I did intervals all three times this week, C25K week 2. (90 sec run/2 min walk, x6). I'm trying to let him set the pace, but I suspect it ends up slow enough not to challenge him. The best pace we had this week was Monday, at about 17:00 pace overall and a best interval of about 12:00 pace. I'll talk to him this weekend and see what he wants to do about that. If he's not really interested in doing more, I may try to get some more serious running in on Tuesday and Thursday.

I looped the college today, including a little cut-out that I skipped last time. 2.93 miles, 36:54, average pace 12:36. Average heart rate 160. Did the first mile in 11:59, then dropped to a walk for 0.1 miles before running again. Second mile was in 13:05, then walked for 0.09 miles. Final 0.93 miles in 11:50, 12:43 pace. I'm quite pleased with this.

My wife has apparently decided to get much more serious about this. She went running today as well, and did much better than she thought. She starts Strava as she leaves the house instead of where she starts running, so she's got about an extra quarter-mile of walking on hers, but she did the full loop (3.3 miles) in 55 minutes, a 16:18 pace. Take off a few minutes of walking at the start and...I think she's at her 16 minute pace, to be honest.

I've been thinking about my times a bit this week. I remember being somewhat disappointed with that 1:14:27 in the WDW 10k, because I was comparing it to my sub-hour one twenty years earlier. That sub-hour one came after I was running for 45 minutes or more five days a week, plus doing half an hour on the stairmaster five days a week - on top of being, well, twenty years younger. I think I hadn't realized how much worse the times were for the 2017 races because I just remembered feeling that it wasn't fast enough. My time for the 2017 Light Side 10k - almost exactly a year later - was 18 minutes worse.

My new Garmin should show up today, and my wife is waiting to claim the current one. Her phone does seem to be tracking better, though. Might be that she's going faster, so the jitter is less of a factor; also, she's getting more out in the open, so the GPS is going to get a better signal.

Plan for next week: test out new watch. Try to push son's effort a bit more. Add another cut-out to the Saturday run to get it up to a full 5k.
 
The 235 showed up today. It's a lot bigger than the 35, and I'm pondering the screen. One thing I did like with the 35 was how visible and high-contrast the screen was. The 235 is nowhere near as high-contrast, as it's a color screen. However, it does let me put 4 data panels on the main screen, which is great - I had issues this morning where I wanted both 'current pace' and 'overall average pace' and they're on different screens.

The 35 has been set up for my wife and linked to Strava for her. I need to see if I can find a longer charge cable, the included one is too short to reach her nightstand from the floor.

We'll see how the 235 does on Monday.
 
Son and I did intervals all three times this week, C25K week 2. (90 sec run/2 min walk, x6). I'm trying to let him set the pace, but I suspect it ends up slow enough not to challenge him. The best pace we had this week was Monday, at about 17:00 pace overall and a best interval of about 12:00 pace. I'll talk to him this weekend and see what he wants to do about that. If he's not really interested in doing more, I may try to get some more serious running in on Tuesday and Thursday.
I'm not sure how long your son has been running, but I found that as a beginning runner, I was very concerned about pushing the pace since my commitment began and ended at I want that finishers medal so slow enough to not be swept equaled good enough for me. However, I always made sure to train at the recommended runDisney pace.

My wife has apparently decided to get much more serious about this. She went running today as well, and did much better than she thought. She starts Strava as she leaves the house instead of where she starts running, so she's got about an extra quarter-mile of walking on hers, but she did the full loop (3.3 miles) in 55 minutes, a 16:18 pace. Take off a few minutes of walking at the start and...I think she's at her 16 minute pace, to be honest.
I agree.

I've found that adrenaline and excitement tend to help me run faster on race day than what I've trained at. While I can't be totally sure since all but one of my races took place at Disneyland or Disney World, I found that my training pace left me very little wiggle room for photo stops, but the race itself afforded me plenty of photo ops with minimal warnings about where I was in relation to the balloon ladies. And even then I knew I could maintain pace with the balloon ladies if I needed to.
 
I'm not sure how long your son has been running, but I found that as a beginning runner, I was very concerned about pushing the pace since my commitment began and ended at I want that finishers medal so slow enough to not be swept equaled good enough for me. However, I always made sure to train at the recommended runDisney pace.

We've been running together for about a year, since daughter went off to college and left me without a running partner. I'm not sure if he really wants to. He says he does if I ask, and sometimes he seems to want to, and...sometimes, not so much. (Which, he's 14, so that's not entirely abnormal.) Not really pushing seriously at any point. He's just doing the 5k, so really, pace isn't much of an issue, but he has a goal of hitting that magic 16:00.

I've found that adrenaline and excitement tend to help me run faster on race day than what I've trained at. While I can't be totally sure since all but one of my races took place at Disneyland or Disney World, I found that my training pace left me very little wiggle room for photo stops, but the race itself afforded me plenty of photo ops with minimal warnings about where I was in relation to the balloon ladies. And even then I knew I could maintain pace with the balloon ladies if I needed to.

She's just doing the 5k as well. I'm not, since I'm doing the 10k and half...two days of oh-dark-thirty is bad enough, thanks. But, if they can keep the pace up, that's more time for photos.

But, yes, I've definitely found the same with my runs. There's something different about race day, and not just in Orlando or Anaheim. (Although more so there.) I've never fallen back to the balloon ladies, but I've also never paused for pictures. My hope is that I can pick up enough speed between now and my PoT race in December that I can get some serious photography done in the 10k and then push for speed on the half.

Went for a walk this afternoon to test out the new Garmin - I'm much more impressed with the screen now that I've seen it in daylight. It looked fantastic, crisp and clear and easily readable. (And I hatched a Mr. Mime, completing my Kanto Pokedex. That was the other reason for the walk, to try to hatch some more 7km eggs today so I could get more if I needed them.)
 
Week 6 update:

Son and I skipped Wednesday because I had an 8am dentist appointment. (Heck of a way to start the day.) We talked about pacing and what he wanted, and decided to have me try to set a target pace. This was trickier than I'd expected, but we aimed for a 12:30 running pace, still doing C25K week 2 intervals (90s run/2m walk, x6). It worked really well. We're planning to try the same pace at week 3 (90s run/90s walk/3m run/3m walk, x2).

Wife did another full loop on Tuesday to test out her "new" Garmin. Result was a 15:19 pace over 3.3 miles; she was very pleased. And then she was reminded why she shouldn't push things like running two 5ks in 4 days - her knees started complaining. She took the rest of the week off and is pondering plans to build her knees up more slowly.

I really didn't feel like running this morning. Didn't sleep well last night, and had to start earlier because we're going to the zoo today. But, this is when you decide if you're doing this for real or not. Up and at 'em.

Beautiful running weather this morning - a little chilly when just walking to warm up, almost to the point where you're wondering if you should have dressed more warmly. This means, of course, that as soon as you get going you'll be warm enough but not overheated.

I had decided that I wanted to push beyond 1 mile before dropping back to a walk. As I approached 1 mile, I was coming up behind a man walking two large dogs. I could either choose to find a good spot to pass him now, or drop to a walk and hang back a bit. I kept going, and passed as he stepped aside a bit due to a driveway. Ended up going 1.33 miles before walking; walked 0.1 miles, then ran the rest of the way. Two little detours got me up to 3.1 miles just as I was crossing my starting point. Overall time, 39:33; 12:45 pace - a bit slower than last week, even with less walking. Checking my history, this was about the same speed as my 5k practice run just before the 2017 Dark Side Half.

I'm not sure I trust the heart rate on the new Garmin. Either it reads very low or my other devices read very high - I had a max of 90bpm for the run, while my watch had me at 108 after my shower. Not a critical problem, just something to keep an eye on.

Plan for next week: Intervals with son. Will probably see if I can pick up some pace on the 5k next Saturday. (Tentative goal: 12:30 pace.)
 
Been pondering parallels with the Diet From Hell recently - namely how we had a WDW trip right afterwards, and then a run shortly thereafter.

I figured it'd be good to write up what happened with that, both to remind myself and be a warning for others.

My father died when I was 24 - fatal heart attack at age 55. He was a couple months from retiring, and never got to see his daughter’s wedding or any of his grandchildren.

A year earlier, his next-older brother had died of a heart attack at age 55. Nothing like a pattern to spook you, right? (Never mind that he had four more brothers still alive then, three of whom were older than him.)

Shortly after my 26th birthday, I went in to see the doctor, and told him I wanted to live to see 56. I weighed 260 pounds at the time. (I’m generously 5’8”, so that’s about 100 pounds above where he’d have liked me to be.)

He handed me a single-page leaflet for an exchange-based diet and told me “eat 1000 calories a day, exercise twice a day, and come see me again in a month”.

It took me years to realize he didn’t expect me to actually do it. So I did it. I worked out twice a day, five days a week, in the fitness center at work - half an hour on the treadmill in the morning, half an hour on a stationary bike in the afternoon. I ate 1000 calories a day. (Which I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I don’t think I’ve eaten a rice cake since.) I did take one meal a week as a “cheat”, mostly to keep my sanity.

I came back a month later, twenty pounds lighter. He was shocked, and I was told to keep at it. So I did.

The 30 minutes on the treadmill extended to 45. The 30 minutes on a stationary bike turned into 30 minutes on a stairmaster. I was in the best shape of my life. There were days when the calorie numbers on the treadmill were lower than my daily intake.

Three months or so in, I negotiated with him about raising the calorie limit a bit - I wanted a whole sandwich at lunch, not half. I pushed for 1500, he suggested 1300. (I don’t think I’d really realized I had any ability to say no here, to be honest.) So I went to 1300.

After five months, my weight was in the high 180s. Time to arrange for a soft landing, right? Well...as it turned out, my doctor had even fewer ideas here than he had for weight loss. I hadn’t learned any better eating habits, outside of the regimentation of the diet. Either I was locked in to my exchanges, or I was on a cheat meal - nothing in between.

I have pictures of myself at my lightest, from the WDW trip. I weighed 187.5, still considered overweight but not obese. Given my body structure, I really wouldn’t want to go much lower than this.

I took up running on some trails near work instead of on the treadmill. I saw a 10k sponsored by the local newspaper, and signed up. My wife signed up to walk the 5k - she ended up skipping it due to morning sickness, as she’d just gotten pregnant with our first child. I ran the 10k, having no idea how I’d do. I ran the first 5 miles without stopping except for water, and that was just long enough to get a small drink. I dropped to a walk for a short distance at mile 5, then ran the rest of the way. Final time was 58 minutes and change - I don’t remember the exact time, and haven’t been able to find the results online. (58:47 sounds right, but I'm not certain.) I thought that I should sign up for another race to keep myself running, but I never did.

And then, a bunch of changes hit. We were forced to move, and then we had a child. I changed jobs, to one without an on-site fitness center or access to trails. I stopped running.

I gained all the weight back, and then some. Peak before the current attempt at weight loss was about 280. I got down to 230 or so several times, but never significantly lower.

I didn’t run at all for a decade, although I did a lot of bicycling, including a year of 12-mile-each-way commuting. When I did start running again, I never really got serious about it. Part of the problem was that I was comparing myself to what I’d managed at age 26 after six months of two-a-day workouts. If I couldn’t manage sub-10-minute miles, why bother?

And then an attempt to make something up to my daughter changed everything - but that’s a story for another post.
 

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