i’ve got to be honest, a lot has happened, and yet not a lot has changed/happened. sad, but true.
one thing that HAS happened recently is that i have taken my latest downtime as a chance to take stock of where things are at, what is working for me (there are a few), what is working against me (there is a lot), and what i want to do about that.
at the time of writing, i am quite surprised to find myself writing on this blog; then again it is where it all started, so maybe i shouldn’t be so surprised. what has led to me to be writing here is a sense of things getting a bit too much. too many blogs, too many pages, too many social media accounts. all the result of being inspired, and following those flashes of inspiration.
multiple online personas, all demanding attention. not sustainable, especially when you have work and life in general to attend to.
now i did give a couple of other platforms a chance for a digital reset and declutter – substack for example – but whether it’s the comfort of the familiar, or because this blog is genuinely a place i can just post, easily and quietly, i landed back here.
current focus
so what is going on for me these days? well, i signed up for a 50km ultra in january next year, for one thing. and that seems to have become my sole point of focus in terms of getting back to running. by which i mean that i have mapped out a plan for the next 38 weeks or so, that will take me from zero running, low fitness levels, and being hugely overweight, to being able to run/walk (or walk) the 50km distance inside of the 12 hour cut-off time.
sound familiar? sure, it was a marathon goal back then, and no fixed timeframe, but what’s a few km more and a few months less?
so i guess that’s it really. it all started again this week, and my intention is to log daily details. just like the good old days!
three day catchup
to summarise the first few days of the plan…
i failed to get outside on thursday, so that was a great start.
friday was better – i headed out for the 15 minute walk that should have happened the day before. at about 5:30am
today? the scheduled 15 minute walk happened at 6am.
diet and hydration
i am actually fairly happy with hydration, overall. it’s a habit that has stuck, mostly,
diet? yeah, about that… if i am brutally honest, it’s shockingly bad at times. but, in fairness to myself, also very good at other times. it’s probably best characterised as reasonably healthy with bursts of self-sabotage. actually, let’s talk about that…
a couple of years ago i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and in the immediate aftermath of that i plunged back into low carb eating. my blood sugar levels were dangerously high, so i ate really well in addition to taking diabetes medication and (for a short time) insulin injections.
previous attempts at low carb eating had proven to be very effective, but somehow not sustainable (mostly due to my sweet tooth and love of pastries, cakes, bread, twinned with my apparent inability to moderate). this time was different – it was a serious medical situation, and my life pretty much depended on doing the right thing (that’s the mindset i had anyway).
i honestly don’t know when things started to slip, but over time i have allowed myself to eat the occasional treat, which stealthily became more than just occasional. i even notice myself saying more and more that i take medicine that allows me to eat this stuff. while that is true to a degree, if i keep overloading my system then my body will react further, and eventually require more medication.
not good, no matter which way you look at it.
this is my line in the sand
i guess that’s the point i have reached; realising that things need to be turned around, and possibly hitting the same kind of low that led to the original “no more mr fat guy” decision in late 2011 / early 2012.
this time i’m starting at (almost) 56. while i know that what worked for the 42 year old version of me might need tweaking to account for the extra 14 years and the diabetes/medication, i do at least have a good idea of what needs to happen.
for example, this blog/journal, and the goal to finish a marathon (or ultra lol).
🤞