Wednesday, January 4, 2012

2012....FAT OR FIT?

      Julie has just recently brought to my attention that I am no longer a 56 year old endurance athlete.....as I am now 57......and unfortunately still in the veteran's camp; I guess I need to update my blog page. I have just had a 10 day lay off from running, this was not due to the festive period but due to the calf strain I suffered the other week. I continued with my strength exercises and did a lot of power walking, stretching, RICE therapy etc but NO running. I was just starting to get very irritable......(Sue just said what do you mean 'Starting too'?) and then yesterday I thought 'thats it, I'm off'. And so, sporting my new bright green, ecologically designed, Cascadia trail shoes, I gingerly started up the coastal trail. In the first few minutes I was like a tentatative new born Deer but once I got going the confidence returned and I was off like a mountain lion chasing down its prey! ( Okay possibly a little too much hyperbole but you get the picture). I did about 8 k in an hour and though I felt a bit tired and achey afterwards I had no other problems. Hopefully everythings now alright but we shall see. Sirpa told me that the neurological pathways have their own distinct influences on the body and so listening to how you feel as well as your own attitude towards your injuries can have a positive impact on their recovery.......sounds good to me.
      Its 10 weeks to the 'Way to Cool 50 K' so I should finish my strength building regime in the next two weeks and then its maintenance with full on training and preparation. Sue and I are off to California next week for a holiday but I always train more when I'm away so that should fit in well. Also when I go for a run at 6:30 am in Hermosa beach I'm usually surrounded by half of California doing the same thing; its hilarious and quite brilliant.
       At the opposite end of the spectrum I read today that in the UK  nearly half of all clinically obese people actually believe they have a healthy diet !!!!  I guess thats where the problem starts in the first place in that they don't perceive any negative health issues. Being a bit of a health nut I find it very difficult to understand this way of thinking. I believe that I am not healthy enough and that I should eat better even though I have a very strict regime. My sister has worked for Weight Watchers in Canada for many years and she says that this belief system in overweight people is quite prevalent.... She recently had two extremely obese women (who occupied two chairs each !) calmly tell her, and the group, that they couldn't understand the problem because they didn't eat very much at all and what they did eat was a very healthy. Ann's response was a classic....'Well, whatever you are doing it clearly isn't working is it ?'.
     These women were surrounded by mirrors an all sides and appeared oblivious to the problem. The first step to solving any problem is to firstly admit that you have one.........I could go on and on but I'll leave it there........apart from one final observation...
        I too go to Christmas/New Years parties and see cakes, pastries and wine all the other stuff and its all very tempting but if you have a regime plan, stick to it....its that simple (or if neccessary have one small slice: but thats it). If you have an exercise plan....stick to it . Today is the first day in months that the weather has turned wet, cold and nasty BUT todays plan was for a one and half hour strength routine followed three hours later by a two hour run. Did I feel like doing 100's of squats and pulling a heavy wet sled up a hill...NO, did I feel like running through treacherous, muddy ground with a dodgy calf muscle..... NO.
          I am 57 years old and am not training for the Olympics, so why do it?......For me its self respect and the fact that I 'get off' on my own discipline but it doesn't really matter what it is as long as YOU have enough reasons to make YOU get up off the sofa and do it. I remember a quote from Tony Robbins when talking to an 'overweight' woman. She accepted his advice and decided to make a plan to lose weight and get fit.
       'Right, first I will join a gym and then I'll visit the store to buy some new fitness gear...and then I'll hire a personal trainer for two days a week and then....'
       ' Ma am with the greatest respect, all you need is someone behind you to shout.........'RUN!!''
       Anyway here's wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year. I enclose a picture taken by Sue at a New Years eve party of a Chinese lantern taking off into the Star filled Riviera night........ Close your eyes and make a wish.


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