As mentioned, previous to the changes I made in October, 2020, my life was by no means sedentary. I was in decent physical shape. I played hockey in the winter and kayaked in the summer. But, I was over a decade removed from being any kind of serious runner.
I was never the fastest kid on the block. In high school, I ran cross country in the fall and longer distances like 1,500 and 3,000 in the spring. I was often the candidate to run the dreaded steeplechase, simply because no one else would do it.
As an adult, I radiated to distances longer than 10km. My favourite was the half marathon and I ran several. On just one occasion, I propelled past the 21.1 kilometre distance and completed a full marathon. That was in 2003 and was the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio. I finished that one in four hours and 12 minutes – not exactly an Olympic qualifying time…
Return To Running
With the loss of around 60 LBS and with all the benefits of the pillars of my lifestyle shift, I started doing something in January that I never thought I’d do again. That, of course, was long distance running.
January was a bit of a disaster with a nagging injury in my lower right leg keeping me from running regularly. But, it was a start. I found that, other than the pain in my leg, I was running like I was a man much younger than my 52 years.
Things amped up in February. I worked through the injury and was able to run more often. This also was the month that I seriously started tracking my running progress.
In that month, I ran a whopping 28.8KM. The distance was accrued over nine runs with the longest measuring 4.4KM. The average distance was 3.2KM.
In March, I nearly doubled the total distance with 52.0KM. The average run stayed relatively the same at 3.7KM but the frequency increased to 14 runs. The maximum distance improved to 5.9KM.
Then came April. It was a breakthrough month with all minor injuries and growing pains resolved. I increased to a total of 97.7KM. I ran the same number of runs as March with 14. However, the average run grew to 7.0KM and the longest was 10.7KM.
What’s not seen in those numbers, especially for April, is the amount of non-running exercise I do. March saw the 10,000 push-up goal achieved, along with my usual daily exercise. In April, I had several lengthy hikes, including two over 20KM each on the constant up and down terrain of the Bruce Trail.
I’ve read enough and experienced enough over the past 35 or so years to know that this monthly mileage doubling is not advised or sustainable. However, I have to believe that the muscle recovery boost from the Wim Hof Method and intermittent fasting will continue to accelerate my success in my return to running.
As it stands, the few runs of over 10KM I completed in April were about the same pace as my actual race times in my final years of running, over a decade ago. And, I am by no means intentionally burning up the roadway.
Where Am I Going With Running?
Ultra long distance athletes have become my new gurus. I would never before have considered completing a self-propelled journey of further than 50KM. Now, 100K runs are certainly on my radar.
I’ve read and heard about the ill effects on the body and mind of pushing the limits of human endurance. Still, ultimately the result for all of us will be the same. Death will come, no matter what you did with your body and mind over this gift of a lifetime. The benefits of pushing the limits far outweigh the dangers.
With all events around the world still on hiatus due to COVID-19, it’ll be a long time before I can test my limits in a sanctioned event. But, is that really what I’m looking for?
Laird Hamilton is truly a virtual mentor of mine. Laird is known as the greatest surfer of all-time. He has this designation despite never competing in a surf competition. Instead, he simply pushed himself to perform great feats on his own.
I will probably never be Laird Hamilton. But, maybe I don’t need a sanctioned event and crowds of people to prove how far I can push this body. As the coming months continue to see advancements in my personal health and fitness, I’ll be looking to eclipse distance marks on my own that I have never approached before. Stay tuned for more…
Optimum Health. Optimum Travel. 