A Month of Running
I haven’t run regularly in over 10 years. I’ve tried multiple times to get back into it, but it’s always fizzled out.
This time feels different.
When I was in the Army, I loved running. I was in my early 20s and very fit. I'd do my 2.4km (1.5 mile) fitness test in 8 minutes. I could run a 5km in 18 minutes and a 10km in well under 40.
If I had any spare time, I’d go for a run. There were plenty of times I couldn’t sleep, so I’d get up in the early hours and head out. So when I say I loved it, I really mean it.
But about 18 months after leaving the Army, I started working shifts: 4 days on, 4 off, 4 nights, 4 off. All 12-hour shifts (7 to 7). During that time, I got lazy and piled on the weight. I think there was other stuff going on from my time in the Army that I hadn’t really dealt with. Still haven’t, if I’m honest. But that’s a story for another day.
In two years, I ballooned from 85kg (187lbs) to around 133kg (295lbs).
That’s a lot of weight, right? I was massive. Way too big to run.
(For context, I’m 1.88m or 6'2" tall.)
Since then, I’ve dropped some of the weight. Last time I checked, I was around 106kg (233lbs). So I’m at a reasonable weight to try running again. The problem is, I’ve been hovering around this weight for years now, and every attempt to get back into running has followed the same frustrating pattern:
- I go for a short run to ease back in — maybe a couple of kilometres.
- It goes okay, and I keep it up for a couple of weeks.
- I start to feel better, and my monkey brain convinces me I’m super fit again, so I push for a 5km.
- I get injured and end up back at square one.
Trying Something Different
This time, I decided to learn from my past mistakes and force myself to keep the runs short. I started with a 2.5km (1.5 mile) distance. I picked it because it’s the same as the old Army fitness test, so it felt like a good benchmark.
First time out? Just under 18 minutes. Eighteen minutes!
But I stuck with it. Last week, I increased the distance to 3.25km (2 miles). I was nervous about upping the distance since I didn’t want to injure myself again, but I’m glad to say I haven’t.
I’ve now run that 3.25km route three times. My latest time (yesterday) was 19:01. Still not where I want to be, but it's progress, so I'll take it.
My Goals
I’ve deliberately not set lofty goals.
If I can get to the point where I’m running three 5km (3 mile) runs per week in under 30 minutes, I’ll be happy. As a stretch goal, I’d love to occasionally do 10km (6 miles) runs, but that’s further down the road.
I think that level of running, combined with the various walks I take the dogs on (usually around 5km/3 miles), is enough to keep me at least relatively fit.
As for weight: unlike the time I did Fat Boy at 40 (which I failed, by the way), I’m not setting any weight goals. Back then, I’d try hard all week, only to be deflated when the scales didn’t show what I wanted. That’s why I think I failed; I ended up falling off the wagon completely.
This time, I’m just going by how I feel, not what the scales say.
And right now I feel like I’m getting fitter, and I think I’m losing weight too. Someone at work even asked last week if I’d lost weight. That felt good, I have to admit.
Diet is a huge part of weight loss, of course. Mine’s not terrible. I eat crap sometimes (don’t we all), but overall it’s fine. My wife’s vegetarian and does all the cooking at home, so I eat meat maybe once every couple of weeks. Our meals are generally healthy and balanced. It’s evening snacking that gets me. That’s what I’m really trying to get under control.
Final Thoughts
So yeah, I’m a month into this running thing. I’ve got a decent pair of trainers, a new wrist phone (that’s a post for another day too), and I’m feeling genuinely optimistic that this might stick.
The plan is to stay at 3.25km (2 miles) for a few more weeks, then increase it to 4km (2.5 miles). I’ll stick with that for another 3 or 4 weeks, then finally bump it up to 5km (3 miles). Hopefully by then I’ll have dropped enough weight for my knees to handle it a bit better.
I am getting a few minor aches in my knees and Achilles, but they’re low-level (maybe a 1 out of 10 in terms of pain). So I’m just listening to my body and resting when I need to.
Wish me luck! 🏃🏻♂️💨