i doubt this will find universal acceptance, but when i got back to new zealand i decided i wanted to lose some weight
the largest number i saw on the scales was 107Kg, and that was quite frankly difficult to believe
i really enjoy good food, so there was never any chance i was going to go on a diet
no, it was time to put some miles on the running shoes
i enjoy running – it is a killer when you start back at it after some time away, but it is important to realise that most of this discomfort comes from being overweight
the great thing about running is things start to happen fast
with only a couple of runs a week to get started i am already down to 103Kg and one deeply unpleasant 10KM run around Motutapu Island a couple of weeks ago on a mean course that basically comprised of running up and down one side of a ridge, then saddling the ridge and doing the same thing on the other side of the ridge and my resolution is to start running 6 days a week
i hope that by writing about it here that i will feel obligated to stick with running 6 days a week
my target weight is 88Kg, which is what i weighed at school when i was in better shape
i will expect it will take about 12 months to slowly chip away at the excess
the first target obviously is to get under 100Kg, and it will be interesting to see how tough that is as i step up the number of runs
the weird thing about running is it is actually a lot easier on you to do it more frequently – you can feel yourself move more easily as the weight comes off
when i get under 100Kg i will enter another 10KM run – i have absolutely no interest in marathon running, although i have donw half marathons before and not really found the experience that pleasant
the other thing i notice about running is it automatically changes your appetite – your taste buds seem to be drawn toward more nutritious food and processed foods have less appeal
the other thing i like about running is it is time efficient – you can burn a lot of calories in just one hour of running, whereas something like cycling takes a lot more time
the other great thing about running is you can throw a pair of shoes in your bag, some shorts and t-shirt, and you can keep your running program going even if you are travelling
and as you may have seen from some of my tweets and perhaps even old blog posts, i have made the move from cushioned shoe technology to barefoot shoes and i would never go back to cushioned shoes
is there some serious discomfort to be had in making the transition back to barefoot? oh yes, i can speak from experience that your calves will make you cry the next morning for at least a month, but after that its all positive; its a completely different way of running – very upright, with short steps and a fast cadence
anyway, as summer turns into autumn that is one of my personal projects here; to get back to 88Kg and to keep running 6 days a week once i do. it is quite obvious that inactivity and poor diet are going to be the pandemics of the western world going forward, not ebola or some other dramatic disease that hollywood likes to taunt us with
which reminds me, i need to get some LONDINIUM t-shirts printed up – its a bit daft running the streets and not to be promoting LONDINIUM in some way
reiss.