Full of Crap

Last Updated on Monday, 24 May 2010 06:16 Written by The Virtual Runner Sunday, 23 May 2010 09:46

I didn’t do the marathon.  I know, I know… I put in all that training!

Everything was going well and we flew to Canada as planned.  However, the second or third day there I started sneezing a lot and I thought it was just allergies (my sisters have pets).  Nope.  Full blown cold kicked in and I was seriously congested in the sinuses.  No problem I thought.  It’s “above the neck” so I’ll continue on like normal.

By Saturday I was feeling pretty rough and wasn’t sleeping well.  I was sticking to the plan though and drinking lots of fluids to stay hydrated for the marathon the following day.  I even went to collect my race pack from the race expo on Sat afternoon/evening.

Sunday morning, coughing and exhausted.  I couldn’t do it.  I was too ill and I was scared to put myself through about 5 hours of running whilst being ill.  To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.  My friends jokes of calling me a “real virtual runner” didn’t help much either.

So, that was it.  I was a virtual runner with a bad cold, race number, timing chip and new t-shirt but no completed marathon.  To top it all off I’ve been raising money for charity and I feel as though I’ve let people down.

Put it all together and I’m on a bit of a downer at the moment!

So, what am I doing to sort all of this out and get back on form?  I’m thinking about it and I haven’t decided yet.  I’ll do one of the following:-

1. Register for a new marathon in the autumn and use the time to get in even more training and raise more money for charity (although I’ll feel as though I’m putting things off).
2. Do my own “virtual marathon” by completing 26.2 miles myself and documenting it using my Garmin Forerunner and video.  This means I would need to attempt the distance over the next couple of weeks.  Probably on a Sunday around Reading, Berkshire.  The downside to this is that there is no medal and no finish line.  Will I still feel the same completing it?  Or am I just doing it for the sake of doing it?  A guilt marathon.

I’d be grateful if any of you out there could comment on this post and give me your thoughts and opinions on what you would do in this situation.

As for running, I went and ran for an hour this morning and it was the first time I’ve run in about 2 1/2 weeks.  My hip flexors were a bit sore afterwards but it felt okay.  I’ll probably push the 10k running for the whole week and do a bit most mornings in order to get myself ready to plod around the Bupa 10,000 in London this weekend.  I’ve got my race pack through and it’s a great event to do.  I certainly won’t be getting a PB this year but I’ll still get the medal.  I love the medals!

Once I’ve done the 10k I’ll give you a write up about it and let you know what it was like.  I’m supposed to have a VIP pass to the elite/celeb area before the race so who knows who or what I’ll see!  I’m taking my wife with me because I’m rubbish at spotting anyone famous!

Now, you may or may not be wondering about the title of this blog.  I mean, to say “full of crap” kind of indicates that I’ve lied about something.  But I haven’t.  “Full of crap” relates to the ridiculous amount of food I ate while in Canada.  There is nothing to do where we were.  Fredericton, New Brunswick is a beautiful city in Canada but it’s boring!  So, everything seemed to revolve around food and eating out.  To top it all off, I missed a lot of foods that I used to eat when I lived there so I felt I had to try as much as possible.  Bad idea.

The flight home was a bit uncomfortable and my wife and I thought we may have to book extra seats; one for each butt cheek.

To make myself feel a bit better I went on a (kind of) liquid diet for a couple of days.  Man, it felt nice.  All I ate was cereal for breakfast (I know it’s not a liquid but I need some fibre and stuff.  Most important meal of the day!) soups, yoghurt, smoothies etc.  No more bloated feeling!  All ruined today with a massive feast of delicious burnt bbq meaty goodness.  Damn.

Tomorrow the liquid diet starts again.  It’s a nice cleanse for me and I’ll probably try and do it for the whole week.  At the end of the week I’ll assess how I feel and decide whether to continue.

Yours sincerely,

Fatty Chubberson

Diet is Key

Last Updated on Monday, 16 November 2009 09:00 Written by The Virtual Runner Monday, 16 November 2009 09:00

People often start running because they want to lose weight. Running is a great way to lose weight and I’m proof of the fact that you can lose weight through running without actually trying to lose weight.

At the moment, I’m consious of the fact that I am not following a runners diet.  In fact, I seem to be doing the opposite of everything you need to do to eat properly.  I’m taking in more calories then I’m actually burning… not good!

I know I’ll be okay after the holidays, but that is a long way off.  I think I need to sort myself out now for the few weeks up to xmas and then again after xmas.

That means that I go back to attempting to eat more sensibly.  I don’t necessarily stop eating loads, my thing is that I eat too much crap.  I’ve had a thing for sweets a lot lately and that’ll have to be cut way way down and some alternatives found I think.

I suppose I’m making it sound harder for me then it actually is or will be.  I know I can do it if I just put my mind to it.  It’s mind over lots of matter… no problem!

I wonder if there are many other “larger” runners out there like me?  I mean, a lot of the blogs I read (you can find them under the best running blogs in the menu above) are by runners who are all much fitter than I am.  Many have that runners body… you know the one I mean.

It’s a shame the Fat Runner (see the best running blogs) doesn’t post very much because I actually look forward to reading things that I can relate to.  Although, I don’t consider myself fat.  That’s important to point out because I think that word is quite negative and on top of that, I seriously don’t feel fat.  I feel the best I’ve felt my whole life… I just want to feel even better!

I’m really looking forward to pushing the training after xmas and increasing the mileage a bit at a time.  I’m curious as to how I will function on a long run that lasts more that two hours!  Jeez, can I actually do that?  Hell yeah…