Thanks, Vickie, Anita , Annette , Lora and Rick ..for caring enough to leave comments on my last post. I want you guys to know that I always take to heart , the advice you offer (though it doesn’t always sink in right away,) What you said this time, makes perfect sense. I don’t know why it’s been such a mystery to me. The bottom line is that ……I’ve been over doing it.
I never realized that a few long walks could take so much out of you. But, after checking my calender, it turns out that in the 4 week period between Sept 1st and October 1st, I walked a total of 165 miles, 95 miles of which were LSDs of 15 miles or greater. Throw in 3 weeks of bad breathing, a 2 day prison stay and a solid week of leg cramps, and I guess it’s no surprise that I should be feeling lousy right about now.
I’ve also noticed my body weight’s been all over the place in the last month. My average weight before the marathon was 150lbs. The morning of the marathon I weighed 149 lbs, that evening after the race I weighed a 144lbs. A couple of days after that , I weighed 142 lbs. Today, 3 weeks later , I weighed in at a whopping 153lbs. That’s the heaviest I’ve since last Christmas and it also makes it more difficult for me to breath. I’ve been eating the same amount ( about a million calories a day) , the only difference between now and a month ago, is that I haven’t done any long walks.
Lastly, I tend to forget two important factors: First, I’m 52 years old , not 32, and secondly…. I’m exercising on the equivilant of about 2/3s of one lung. It’s getting harder and harder for me to function at the same level that I did , just 2 months ago.
So again, I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m having such a hard time with racewalking.
OK , with that said, I’m going to follow everyones advice, including my own, and stick to the following rules:
#1. I’m gonna cut back my walking to about 4 miles-4 days a week—as tolerated!
#2. I’m going to limit my racewalking to those days which I’m breathing in the green.
#3. I’m gonna cut back my calories to a half a million per day until I’m breathing well enough to get some long-fat burning walks in.
#4. I’m going to allow myself to revel in the fact, that despite having severe lung disease , I’ve accomplished some pretty amazing feats.
#5. More than likely, I’m going to break rules#1-4 and continue to push myself way too hard because I’m as stubborn as a mule.
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