Re-starting from scratch, failing, and re-starting again

Re-starting my fitness
When I was in college, I used running as a way to cross train and keep my weight from getting out of control in the swimming off season. About 2 years ago, in July or August of 2011, I decided to start running again. This time, my goal was to go back to being fit as quickly as possible and with the least time investment. Getting to the gym or to a pool seemed like a tough way to work out, as you have to go somewhere first.  Running can start as soon as you are out the door (not to mention, it costs very little, relative to a gym membership or yoga classes).

Initial training (and failure)

When I started out running I never really went too far. I would go two or three miles and then call it done. I slowly built some mileage and started running 4 and 5 milers, eventually progressing to 6 and finally to 10 and 12 milers after about 6 months of running. Looking back, I think this conservative approach let me build a base without getting hurt.

Finish line, GGTR July 2012

During this time, my weight dropped from 265 to about 250. I ran my first half-marathon, the Coastal Trail Runs Golden Gate Trail Run (http://www.strava.com/activities/13688983), and I did it pretty fast for my first race of this distance and with those hills. My brother flew down from Seattle with his family and we ran this race. He is very fast, and inspired me to run hard that day.

While I was making progress on speed and distance, we undertook two drastic life changes: we moved 40 miles from San Francisco to purchase our first home and we had a second baby. The amount of sleep lost during the time that we had our first baby was pretty drastic. The amount of sleep lost with the second one can only be described as mind-bending. Stack that on top of an extra 2 hours per day of commuting, and it is a pretty toxic recipe. My running got reduced to around 2-4 miles once or twice a week with an occasional longer run. Some months got reduced to zero miles as my wife went back to work (for example, November 2012 had zero miles, October 2012 had 4 x 2 milers). My weight ballooned back to 268 by the holidays, and I wanted to gear up and do something about it.

Crossing the finish line of GG trail run, February 2013

Now, this is a typical story, I know. A beginner is inconsistent and then tries to be more consistent and then does, and grows as a result.  I ran the same trail half marathon February 2013. Granted, it was a warmer day, but it was brutal (http://www.strava.com/activities/40470035). I had just started training again and I had a cold.  Not a good combination, but certainly a wake-up call for me to get myself in gear.

Trying harder for consistency

If you talk to anyone who knows anything about fitness, they will tell you that the number one source of failure is lack of consistency. Starting earlier this year I really started running more. I bought more clothes to run in a new backpack to use for run-based commuting. This led me to doing 2-3 milers nearly every day that I worked. I also tried to make on of the days a longer run, trying for 5-10 miles as much as I could. Along with my brother-in-law, I ran the Inside Trail Racing 10K at China Camp in San Rafael, CA (http://www.strava.com/activities/56282898). While I performed OK, I knew that I wasn't where I needed to be. It hurt pretty bad to finish a race that was essentially half of a half marathon.

I signed up for and ran another half marathon with my brother, this time it was in Seattle. I had not achieved as much training as I had before my first half marathon, and we chose a trail run in Issaquah, WA, the Taylor Mountain trail half marathon. My performance was OK, but I was still under-trained and had not done enough long runs (http://www.strava.com/activities/63658698). There were several reasons why I had additional struggles during this race. First, I was not prepared for the vertical gain in the last few miles. I thought that most of the climbing was at the start and just fell apart when there was so much climbing to do at the end. Second, I was not prepared for the humidity at all and I was barely ready for the heat. The humidity was killer, and the temperatures, usually in the 70s in Seattle, soared into the 90s that day. It started raining in my last half mile or so, and I was happy to feel the rain. Third, the mud was killer. A few runners lost shoes to the mud holes on the course.  While I did not, running in all the mud was tougher than the dry, dusty hard-pan dirt of the Northern California coastal trails.

Not happy to be making so many excuses, I decided to turn that run into the first long training run leading me from being a lousy overweight half marathoner into a leaner, more consistent distance runner. Since this decision at the end of June, I logged 96 miles in July, including some long runs of 14 miles and 15 miles. I have also tried to get out and run 4-5 miles at least 4 times a week and to do a long run at least once a week. Some of these runs have been designated as "quality" sessions, with either tempo or interval work. Some of the runs have been hill work, working on both up and down speed and endurance.

So far, my plan has translated to weight loss down from 265 pounds in mid-June  to 247 pounds, and a decrease in body fat from 22.6% to 18.7%. While I am nowhere close to being where I need to be, the last six weeks feels like it has been a re-boot of my system, pointing me to where I need to keep going. I logged my 4th half marathon race yesterday.  This one was in Brazen Racing Bear Creek Trail race in Briones Park, which is across the street from my house. However, the terrain was almost all terrain that I had not run on, as it started and finished on the far side of the park from where I live (http://www.strava.com/activities/75433012). The heat was pretty strong, and I decided to run this without a hat to let my head vent.  I think this was a mistake. I also took on too much water at the final aid station. I got dizzy and had to sit down for about 5-10 minutes. As the clock was ticking, I thought I might need medical support and DNF the race. I took two Salt-Sticks capsules while I was sitting, and those took effect pretty fast, and my dizziness went away and I was able to finish under my own power in under 3 hours, but a bit slower than my goal.

I am happy to be alive after that effort and messing up my electrolyte balance so much. Every time I go out for a run it is an opportunity to learn: how far I can I go, how hard can I push myself, and and how can I do it in a smart way. I have several more reflections on how to be a novice runner and racer and will share these and in the next few weeks along with training reports as I log more miles.