Sunday, January 3, 2010

Six miles in the winter sun with a spare tire

Slipped out after lunch for a quick six miler. The Ravens play at 4PM so it worked out well. Prepared better with my cold gear and made good time (6 x 8:45). The air temp was 24F and the wind gusted above 22 mph. Another very (not brutally) cold run.

There were a few other runners out there taking advantage of the sun but not many. I love the summer but something about the sun slung low above the horizon at mid day and the pale blue of an early winter sky makes it nice to be outside. The cold isn't so bad if you prepare for it properly. It's amazing how much of a sweat you can work up at 24 degrees!

A word about weight...I am 5'9" and when I was in my teens and twenties I was always very thin. My weight ranged between 118lbs and 125lbs. In my thirties it began to creep up into the 130's. In my late thirties I hit the gym and bulked up to around 165lbs (I know this sound high but I was in pretty good shape-I had never been stronger and did not look overweight).

After a few years of marathoning I find my ideal race weight seems to be around 152lbs. Not too big and not too small. I was around 155lbs when I ran San Antonio in November. Unfortunately after being off for most of the last 30 days with holidays and vacation, not running much, and being in the "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry" mode since Thanksgiving I now weigh 163 1/2lbs!! It's not a pretty picture. M and I are buckling down at the grocery and I am forcing myself back into regular roadwork. While this blog is about running and not about weight loss, for me they are closely tied together. I am sure it will come up from time to time.

Anyway, in the interest of full disclosure I wanted to offer up the benchmark and the sad truth that at 42 years old I have to watch what I eat in ways I never had to before and appreciate that my body handles it differently.

More road work if your going for the ice cream...but then what's life without ice cream?



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