Sunday, November 22, 2015

Reverse Before & After

In decent shape for a 46 year old
just before the Maui Marathon in September
Hello, my name's Jim ... and I used to be a blogger!  The three of you that still read my blog know it's been a while since my last post.  What have I been up to you ask?  Well, basically I ran a really great half-marathon to wrap up my racing season, went on a wild ride through the baseball Postseason as my Kansas City Royals won the World Championship ... and oh yeah ... um, gained A LOT OF WEIGHT!!!

I basically took the month of October off, partly by design to give my body a break from training, but also because of way too many late night Playoff games.  We're Royals season ticket holders, which gives us access to tickets for every Postseason game.
Definitely going backwards in November
And if you followed their Playoff run, you know there were several nerve-racking nights that kept us up way past our bedtime.  Most of the mornings after, I didn't run, and in fact at really really poorly.  I think I gained about 12-15 pounds during a month.  Like I said ... I ate REALLY poorly.  We're talking donuts & breakfast sandwiches every morning for breakfast.  What can I say ... when I crash, I crash!

Most people post their before and after photos on social media to show off the fruits of their workout labor.  Here is exactly that ... in reverse.  The first picture is me right before running the Maui Marathon in September. (my wife took the pic ... no, I typically don't take shirtless selfies ... but I did take the second one, ha)  The next one is me, about three days ago.   You can't see my face ... but I was laughing as I took it.  A little because I was taking a shirtless selfie of an out-of-shape me in our basement ... but also because, just look at that gut!!!  It's hilarious!!!

What won't be so funny is how much work it will take to get rid of that boiler.  It always amazes me just how fast we lose our physical fitness as we age.  It took me monts of miles and supplemental work to get into the shape in photo 1 ... but only one month of basically doing nothing, and eating like the rest of the world to turn doughy in photo 2.  It's just not fair.

So here we go again ... back to the old grindstone.  I figured posting an embarrassing pic would keep me accountable and focused as I move forward to what I hope will be a PR at Phoenix in late February.  I just have to make sure that I don't take another month off for the holidays ... or there might have to be more reverse before & after shots.
... Be Great  Today!

12 comments:

  1. It's good to take some time off and recharge. You've got a lot of glycogen stored!!

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  2. It really sucks that we can't rest on our laurels just for a little while without the fat man/woman moving in. Just be grateful you're not a middle-aged woman. It's even harder for us to shift the weight once it takes root.

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  3. Good to hear from you Jim. I figured you were taking some downtime. There is no way I could take that much time off (unless it is injury related). I know what happens to me if I were to do that. I'd love to see you document your progress and what steps you take to reachieve your previous fitness level.

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  4. Downtime is good for the body just not always for the waistline! I don't follow baseball but way to go for your Royals!

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  5. aaah, you've discounted me - I still read! good to take time off - after Chicago I kept the strength training up, but shortened my time on the road with my new favorite toy - my eliptigo. are you and Michael planning on coming to NJ in 2016?

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  6. Good to see you on the boards again!!!! I was wondering what you've been up to!!!!!
    Your body needed the break. You had a great year of training and races so don't worry too much. your fitness will come back faster than what you think! Muscle memory is a good thing, even for an "old" man like you!!!
    : )

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  7. My guess is it's not going to be that long before you're back in the kind of shape you want. You've got serious discipline. Obviously it just needed a little vacation, and I think it would have been harder to really savor the Royals' run if you were still trying to fit your regular training load into their post-season schedule.

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  8. OMGosh - you're HUMAN. :) Now get to work.

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  9. I think that month off it totally healthy and probably how you can continue to race so well even though you're ancient. It's not good to stay at racing weight for too long!
    Now, back to work! (I need to get back to work, too.)

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  10. Welcome back! Kind of wondered what had happened but I see you were off living the good life. Taking a break is a good thing, a great thing. Most of us become a little obsessed with running and diet and training, blah, blah, blah, and it's good to hurl ourselves into normal life every so often, to just chill the heck out and eat whatever the heck we want and not worry because life is short and donuts are good and god made it all. Amen.
    P.S. You don't look that out of shape in your recent photo (or maybe I'm just getting old and my eyes are bad??).
    Cheers, happy holidays to you both and good luck with your kick back to the running world.

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  11. Your running in Phoenix?? So am I? I'm also trying to loose 15 lbs before then. I'm only running the half marathon. I figure my next full marathon will be in September in St. George. I thought for 2 seconds about posting a "before" then I laughed and laughed and laughed....because that isn't going to happen. Fact. Good luck!!

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