Former couch potato here:
I never had an ‘athletic peak’. Spent my youth developing a very enjoyable but largely unhealthy “sex, drugs & rock’n’roll
” lifestyle and focused entirely on enjoying myself. That being said, despite all that I never became a fat guy and was tall and skinny.
When marriage hit – the drugs stopped…. the rock’n’roll stopped and inevitably after a while the sex stopped too. I developed some fine habits of sitting on the sofa doing absolutely nothing and eating pretty crappy food. I put on a few kg’s but still remained within ‘acceptable normal limits’.
When marriage finally cracked the s~~~s and it became time to re-assess life (aged 41) – I made the conscious decision to get fit instead of watching TV. I promised myself I wouldnt watch ANY tv or waste any time on facebook etc etc for at least a year and would use the time to do something constructive with my life.
2nd Oct 2013 weighing 93kg I strapped on a pair of trainers, stepped out the door and ran 2.5km around the block. It took me about 25 minutes and I came back gasping for breath and aching all over. I realised I was in a bad way and needed to put in some work. Knowing my own mind I set some goals and made them public to try and keep me honest:
5km in 30 minutes
10km in 1 hr
Half marathon in 2 hours
Marathon in 4 hours.
I drew up a program of gradual increases in distance and forced myself to run at least 3 times a week. After 6 weeks I went to a local parkrun, busted my ass as hard as I could and came in with the 5km in just under 30 minutes! What was more remarkable was I was beginning to enjoy getting out there and doing something positive.
After 10 weeks I broke the 10km goal by 3 seconds on my first attempt – I was NAILING this running thing! Sure I’d never set any world records – but I was doing ok and this was actually fun! I signed up for a half marathon in March 2014 and stepped up the training. When race day came it was a hot Brisbane day, I foolishly enjoyed sitting around the race precinct in the sun for a few hours before the 5pm start. No doubt I was already a little dehydrated and the exertion proved to be a bit too much. The first half of the race I ran well and confidently but the second half I deteriorated. I stumbled over the line in 2:11 and ended up spending about 4 hours shivering and sweating in equal amounts as my body struggled to come to terms with what I’d made it do. Despite all this I was fired up to do it again and get it right. 6 weeks later I went to Sydney for a cooler morning trace and finished a lot more comfortably in 1:55! I was back kicking goals and now I FELT like a runner.
in 2015 after lots of training with a group of great guys in a squad I signed up with, I toe’d the start line of the Gold Coast Marathon. Just 20 months after I’d first got off that sofa I ran a marathon and finished in 3:57 proud as punch fitter than I’d ever been at the age of 43. (Incidentally the winner of that race, Kenyan Kenneth Mungara with a time of 2:08 was also 43 – pretty much proving that in endurance events age doesnt have to be that much of a barrier!).
In the time since then I’ve run more marathons including Berlin 2015(4:09 with sickness), Gold Coast 2016(3:46), Chicago 2016(3:38), London 2017(3:36) and in a few weeks time I’m running Gold Coast again and hoping to get under 3:30.
There’s no doubt that at age 45 I am fitter and healthier than I have ever been before (and now down to a ideal race weight of 72kg) – I dont know where my athletic peak is. What I do know is I havent found it yet!
Force of Nature 225 2 years, 7 months ago.
