[ennay]

After 18 months of injury and regain and injury and regain...I found myself up almost 30 lbs and becoming a "hobby jogger" where before I was an athlete. I was not RACING anymore, I was just "finishing events"

I found myself in the lead up to boston just wanting it to be over so I could focus on weight loss. Which of course is what I said leading up to Monkey....and previous marathon..etc.

But Monday night in Boston after the race I got PISSED. Not that the race had gone badly - GI stuff happens, but that even if it had gone well the best I could expect was still 30 minutes slower than my PR. That I was in BOSTON the fulfillment of a dream and I was in the worst shape I had been in since my baby was born. I hated sitting in the bar with all the lithe and runnerly feeling like a freaking fraud. I was tired of my hamstring ruling. Ennay was pissed.

My personal bootcamp started Wednesday April 21 and concluded yesterday because now school is out for summer and I cant commit this kind of time forever. Nor would this exercise schedule be infinitely sustainable.

Weight 156.2* ---> 143.6 Change 12.6 lbs (including ~ 3 lbs or so of post marathon water retention. Lowest weight since last July

Body Fat% (omron) 29.4%--->25.2% Change 4.2% With water loss and all else, I have maintained muscle mass and lost ~ 8 lbs of fat.

Waist 29.5 ---> 27 2.5 in

Hip 38.75----> 36 2.75 in

These are both equal to my smalles waist and hip measurements ever, but I'm still bigger. Waist and hip are now stabilizing, last week thighs started moving so I wish I had measured them

10K 54:30 52:25 on a harder course with hammy issues, theoretical closer to a 3 minute improvement.


I'm back into the shirts I used to wear at my thinnest (shoulders and boobs prevent me from ever going much smaller) and yesterday I pulled out the largest of the too small jeans I put in storage last fall.

[saef]

Whoa.

You don't talk much about it, but you really, really act on it when you set your mind to it. People like that always impress the heck out of me.

What did your personal boot camp consist of? Did you literally enroll in a bunch of boot camp offerings from trainers & gyms? Or did you work out a routine? And was it based on anything? You say you can't put in the time you were doing. How much time did it take?

This is also reminding me of Eliana's Biggest Loser experiment on another thread. (Can't remember where.) Any tips for someone doing the same? I don't foresee myself trying anything similar, but it's something I'd like to know for future reference.

[ennay]

You can check my running log to see what it ended up being. Realize that I had a base fitness level coming in of 10-12 hours a week of running. So going to 14-18 hours a week of mixed training wasnt a huge leap.

In a lot of ways I am hestitant to talk about it on 3FC because I think the type of workouts I was doing are not for someone to read about and just go "hey I'll do that too" I have years of building a huge fitness base to back it up. KWIM? One of the reason I put it here and not in fitness.

No trainers, just me. #1 Focus on trying to find something/anything that will start to heal this back issue of mine. A couple things seem to be helping and I need to try to carry them forward. #2 focus weight.

Basic plan was scale running back to whatever happened and make it lower priority (ended up being about 45 miles/week on average)
Ended up being:

M-F started every morning with elliptical (ok it isnt really an elliptical, its some kind of cross trainer that is easier on my body than elliptical - sometimes easy, sometimes hard) and weights
M/Th - push muscles
W - Legs
T/F - pulls

2-3 days a week rowing (for my back) - this is a high intensity workout
3 days a week yoga - power yoga - a tough workout

Running 6-7 days a week mostly in the afternoon (easier on my body than a.m. running) with some hills and intervals but less mega miles.

and of course diet. I got back clean and calorie counting, had one week where the diet went a bit south but overall feel I've set up a good basis for going forward.

I cant do 5 days a week of weights now so I will have to go back to supersetting and I will have to run in the morning now so a lot of the Xtraining will be reduced. How much I can maintain will depend a lot on how tolerant the kids remain of gym daycare and how much of it I can afford (with 2 kids it is $5/hour or any part thereof)

[saef]

It does sound like an extremely individualized plan, based on your needs & your body's current state, without any wishful thinking. That would be my takeaway.

Also, someone's signature in the forum has a saying about not exercising but training. I'm not even going to try to paraphrase what the saying is & I may have remembered it incorrectly from twisting it toward my own evolving thinking on this, but I would say that your answer has further helped me define where the line is between exercising and training. It's not just goal or degree of rigor, it's also attitude.

And yeah, I was gonna ask about the food thing, too.

BTW, I liked rowing. I did some when I was exercising at a college gym till last year. (I'm an alumn in a grad program & stayed in the neighborhood after graduation.) The crew team had practice while I was in there on the Precor in the morning. Very helpful to see the trainers correcting form & coaching on intensity. I have to admit to listening in & using the tips myself later. But then I moved & changed to a gym that kept non-student hours. They don't have a rowing machine. The director said they did but it wasn't popular so they replaced it.

[Megan1982]

Ennay, I just wanted to say, you go girl! Way to act on your goals. "I want to be you when I grow up!" JK, sort of, but not really. You're an inspiration. Great job!

[EZMONEY]

Hold up there girl....

an attitude like that will just get'cha....

anywhere you want to go

[JayEll]

ennay, GREAT results!!!!

I guess sometimes it helps to get pissed!

Jay

[ennay]

saef - part of the training takeaway I actually got from that guy who did the 154 mile run. He was talking about his training plan which is actually really loose. He doesnt follow some set plan, he has a priority list of goals for the week and then day to day adjust based on what his body is telling him, all while keeping those goals in mind. Like for March his goal was #1 lose weight (yes a man who runs ultras still has to watch his weight) and #2 endurance. And then in april his goal changed to speed and stamina.

It was kind of a lightbulb moment for me because I think I had been trying to accomplish something without a clear path to get there OR trying to follow a path without determining if it was appropriate. So then it became simple.

#1 Fix the back (to where it isnt my limiter)
#2 weight
#3 consistancy
#4 speed

So right there, within the variables of my body was my mindset. There was a day somewhere in there that I got to the gym and said "HECK NO" and I did very little that day. And there was a day I was suffering from vertigo so I napped. And then one day when my back was really hurting and I focused on what makes it feel better fast (rowing yes, running yes). Keep the goals in mind instead of following some plan that may not be keeping me in mind.

A couple times I pulled out some of my old firm tapes. That was kind of fun. I did step aerobics to youtube videos one night too. Both those were days I wanted to just up the burn (goal #2) while not succumbing to the urge to just run more (#3).

MTA: and heh....on the month I decide to take the focus OFF running I ended up running more miles than any other month this year. Consistency. sheesh.

[bargoo]

Congratulations on taking charge !

[4rabbit]

ennay

[fiberlover]

Great job! Doesn't it feel good to know you can do it?

[kittycat40]

I am reading and learning. Thank you for sharing and a HUGE congrats on all the accomplishments. You Are Awesome