A Quick Story, and What I’ve Been Reading (Hint: it might be your blog)
Note to Almost Fit readers: This photo is, surprise surprise, ME, from a while back. I rarely post photos of myself, but I think I’m going to try to change that over the coming months to increase my level of accountability. At any rate, this is what I looked like – 4 years ago after having run 13.1 miles 
.
That’s not physically possible for me to do
When my wife and I trained with a group for a 1/2 marathon a few years ago, part of our motivation was to spend time together. That worked sometimes, but the truth be told when we ran together, my wife was always holding her pace back a little, and I was usually pushing harder than was healthy for my body at the time. Essentially I was trying to “catch up” even though my body really wasn’t ready for it.
When we trained, I was put in a slower pace group. When I expressed my wish to catch my wife’s pace group to our coach through extra training, she looked into my eyes, put her hand on my shoulder, and quietly said, “I hate to break this to you, but…you’re not going to. I know you think that if you just work harder you’re going to get there, but the truth is? Not possible.”
I was rather shocked.
I mean, wasn’t she supposed to say, “Great Goal, Big Guy! You can do anything you want to do! Why, you can be President someday if you just put your mind to it! Go Team Go!”
But realistically? She was right. Part of me thinks that given a longer stretch of time and some really consistent training, I could eventually have caught up with her. But one obvious problem with the aspiration was that our event was only 3 months away, and there simply wasn’t time for me to get there in that short of a training window. But beyond that, I had to remember – my wife was literally less than 1/2 my weight, and in good shape. Secondly, for every hard run with my slower pace group, she was logging a hard run with her faster group. In other words, with every day we trained, we each got faster and stronger.
So what was the lesson? The coach was trying to help me to see that overtraining would not help me accomplish my goals, and with such a limited timeframe, my goal was truly unrealistic. If I wanted to complete the task, I was going to have to forget about the competitive aspect of trying to catch up with someone much faster than I, and just focus on where I’m at, and where I’m going.
Lesson learned.
Catching up – on Reading: Part 1
It has been months since I’ve made the time to really catch up on what folks around the Web are writing about, particularly when it comes to health, fitness, and overall well-being.
That ends today.
To all of my fellow writers, bloggers, and scribblers (you know who you are), this is for you. This is part one of a list of my favorite articles over the past couple of months, as well as some blogs that readers of Almost Fit will probably find interesting/inspiring, as I have. Note that most of these are diet and fitness related, but there are some great food blogs in here too – they may require an extra bit of moderation though, so consider yourself warned.
Fit Bottomed Girls: My Own End to Overeating (Well, for the most part)
Mark’s Daily Apple: How to Render Bacon Fat (Plus a Fennel and Dill Omelette Recipe)
Kelly the Kitchen Kop: Ten Tips for Building a Healthy Immune System
Fitness Spotlight (formerly Modern Forager: Are Low Carb Diets Overrated for Health and Longevity? The Kitavan and Okinawa Diets
Wine Guy World: I’m feeling super, man
Andrew is Getting Fit: A few questions answered [or, the secrets of one of the most inspirational fitness bloggers I've ever read]
Get Fit Slowly: Where I’m at
60 in 3: How Far are You Willing to Go?
FertileHealthy: Taking it to the next level
Cranky Fitness: Evil Non-Dairy People
Bohemian Revolution: How to send back food at a restaurant
Go Workout Mom: Beware of Limiting Labels
Gym Junkies: The Quickest Way to Build Muscle and Lose Fat
Gourmeted: As Basic as Choux Pastry, As Classic as Julia Child
Health Bolt: The Keeler Migraine Method Q and A
John is Fit: My Visit to a Sleep Clinic: Overnight Sleep Study
MizFit Online: Spotting 101 and Losing the Guilt
What’s Cooking: Blackberry Flan Ice Cream
Orangette: The whole point [and a recipe for salsa verde for potatoes]
Food Blogga: Healthy Cherry, Banana, and Oatmeal Breakfast Bread
Food Wishes: Dry-Aging Steak at Home – The Final Chapter: I think it worked
That concludes part 1 – I’ll be back in a week with part 2. Again, thanks to everyone who has stuck with Almost Fit through some down time. I think things are finally back in gear.
Thanks for reading.
Related posts:
- A Rough Patch, Old Habits, and Spring is Here
- One Step Forward…
- 44 Ways to Lose Weight Without Dieting in 2009
- 20 hours without food: The intermittent fasting experiment
- 2010: Setting Them Up and Knocking Them Down
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Lovely post, and I think you look lovely and accomplished in the photo.
Thanks for the kind words. As usual, ya inspire me!!!
Looking forward to seeing more from you!
Geesh, ya big sweetie, thanks for including my blog on your list!
I continue to be a faithful subscriber to yours and your tweets crack me up.
Kelly
@Jenn: Hey there Jenn – Thank you as always. You guys are simply amazing, and truly one of the best “positive” resources out there. Keep up the good work.
@John: Hi there John! I was SO glad to see that you’ve stuck with the blog. I know for a while there you were really struggling by your own account, but you’ve pulled through. I’m still catching up on where you are at, but glad to see you are hangin’ in there.
@Kelly: You really have taken your blog to the next level – your persistence and consistent high quality I am sure will pay off. Really, really proud of ya.
Love the pic!
My husband always says that the thinner you are, the faster you can run (distance running). He’s lost some weight this year, in fact he’s at his lowest since leaving the army more than 20 years ago, and his speed has definitely improved. I see it with walking too – I simply can not walk as fast as someone who weighs considerably less than me, even though my legs may be longer.
Thanks for the shout-out. I found some interesting posts in that list!
It’s good to see you back on the blogging scene!
It’s been a while eh!
It’s those little lessons that seem to last the longest with me and I’ve affectionately come to call them “wacks upside the head”. They get and keep my attention long enough for me to correct my course. As always, looking forward to your next post.
@Andrew: Hey there Andrew! Yep, it has. But that is changing, finally. Thanks for dropping by – and the perpetual inspiration
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@Steve: Hi Steve! Love the “wacks upside the head” idea, as that about fits my sense of humor as well. thanks for the positive words, and BTW – I had to save SOME of the good blogs for part 2 of the linkfest
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“…forget about the competitive aspect of trying to catch up with someone much faster than I, and just focus on where I’m at, and where I’m going.” — A very powerful lesson!
Thanks so much for including me in your list; I’m very honored! I’m trying to incorporate healthier recipes on the site of food I love, to keep everything in moderation. I love to eat, but I would love to fit in my jeans, too. Haha.
One of the best things about running is that it can be done either alone, or with a friend/spouse. My wife and I often talk about how she wishes she was a runner, because it would give us something we could do together where there are no distractions. But alas, it just isn’t her thing…