The end of 0/24 week

I’ve been running since 2008, and started running longer distances as a way to rebalance my life especially after the death of my mother.  Running kept me neat and trim, until I started to train for a marathon. I slowly slid up the scale because I believed that I could eat whatever I wanted if I was running 8-12 km a day. After a couple of injuries during a marathon training and being forced to take two months off, I kept eating like I was still running and didn’t stop. 

I went from 50kg to 55kg, and then up to 58kg. My times in all distances slowed but I still trained for and ran a marathon and a couple of half marathons at that weight. It had taken me less than a year to slid up to 58kg, and I did nothing. I kept running, albeit slowly and without enthusiasm, and ended up doing one of my worst 10K and 21K races of all time as well as not being able to finish a full marathon distance (I stopped at KM 35). The weight wasn’t the only reason, but I knew it was a big part of it. I looked at my finishing time and knew something had to change. 

I’m a recreational runner, but still someone who wants to improve at her sport in every way she can. Carrying around 8 extra kg wasn’t going to help me improve in my running. So I re-joined the gym, bought a new scale and weighed myself once a week. I ran in the early mornings to beat the heat, and then on weekdays I did HITT workout for 30 minutes.

I thought I’d see this task as a chore, but I found I enjoyed the shake-up of my usual routine. Every time I finished my HIIT workouts, I high-fived myself. Every time I finished a 400-meter sprint faster than the week before, I cheered. 

I also changed the way I ate. I cut back on carbs and alcohol. I hit my weight goal in 3 months.

I wrote this story while eating vegetables for lunch, still carrying 3 extra kg, almost die after my first HITT workout in years. Hoping the story above repeats itself this time around.

#BeatBerlin