Well, so far this season my running has been a little off. Missed 2 half marathons I was signed up for due to poor training and some pain issues (the NYC half and one down in Rutgers). Sometimes getting old just really sucks. But not for the usual reasons…
When people say getting old sucks, normally they are referring to the physical issues that start cropping up – knees, back, sciatic nerve, etc. Sure, they do typically get worse with age, but for me, I am referring to habits.
Habits are hard enough to break. But when some habits span more than 30 years, they’re damn near impossible to break. In my case I am referring to eating habits 🙂
What I learned about myself over the past 6 or so months is that my own eating habits are my biggest hindrance to proper training and getting in shape. Case in point – I have been with my personal trainer now for 5 months. I definitely feel better and notice some changes – but I am no where NEAR where I should be simply because I either eat poorly or at the wrong times. I should be down around the 180 lb mark by now, but I hover at the 200 lb mark (between 195 and 202).
It’s showing me how important proper diet is. I can tell now how well I will run by what I ate the night before. I suppose knowing is HALF the battle. Now I just need t implement change.
Hence a triathlon.
The other day I was surfing, looking for local 5k’s or 10k’s t run in and happened across a site of a local triathlon club. There’s one coming in August. It’s obviously NOT of the “Iron Man” caliber. It’s for amateurs and beginners. It will be a 1/3 mile swim, 14 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. I can certainly do all 3, but have never attempted to do them all in a row.
It’s something I believe will help me focus on improving my eating habits, knowing I need to actually train for this. I have just about 3 months to get ready… the good part is, this triathlon is right here in town. I know the lake the swim will be held in, I know the route for the biking and also the run trail. SO I can practice locally on the actual course.
So, just in case you want to sign up yourself, here is the website with the info:
http://nytc.org/dbacceptance.cfm?ID=26
I will update on my progress and results…stay tuned.
