My doctor's scale said I'm the heaviest I've ever been as of today
Guess I better go get surgically mutilated with a roux en y bypass because that's my only option and I'm not going to be allowed to enjoy anything for the rest of my life because I'm not allowed to have any joy at all in this world anymore
Have the doctors said anything about Wegovy or the other GLP1 agonists? Did you try them and find them ineffective or have a bad reaction, or does your insurance not cover them?
As I understand it, the way that medical weight loss interventions for the purpose of health are supposed to go right now in the US is to start with lifestyle changes and help from a dietician, move to using GLP-1 agonists if/when that doesn’t work, and then only if those things have failed to produce satisfactory results then they move on to surgery. Basically, moving from the least invasive and dangerous to the most invasive and dangerous.
If your doctor is trying to move you to surgery without at least trying the GLP-1 agonists, I would strongly recommend getting a second opinion before getting surgery.
I've never even been offered a consult with a dietician much less any kind of pharmaceutical intervention
There's also no support groups I've found for the horrible anxiety attacks that I get from logging my calories, the closest I found was a class that taught the most basic calorie counting stuff possible with no room for talking about how it affects you emotionally at all so obviously I dropped out of going to that.
Nobody I've spoken to sees the problem as a combination of emotional, physical, and systemic issues and addresses it as such just only trying to treat it with education like reading a book and the labels and taking good notes is the magic bullet and I've only struggled because I'm lazy or stupid or something.
A primary care doctor is only as good as their multidisciplinary network. If you have these ideas and they don't have solutions for them (when we know they exist), then they're not giving you 100%.
Nobody can force you into surgery. If you don't want it, tell them straight out, or that you'd only consent as a last resort.
What was that class you went to? Was it part of the NDPP lifestyle change program? If not, take a look, especially if you're prediabetic, which as of this summer I note you were.
If you are diabetic now, there's little reason to not be on a GLP-1 agonist other than gastrointestinal side effects and insurance, which really shouldn't be a barrier if you are diabetic.
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
I believe it was actually? Though it might have been similar but different
The problem is that it addressed exactly 0 of my emotional issues surrounding my struggle with eating better and caused me to have panic attacks pretty much every night and was teaching me shit I already know anyway like how to read a nutrition label and log calories and fats and stuff and maintain a calorie deficit. it was led by a nurse practitioner in the office of the bariatric surgeon so it felt like they wanted me to fail so I would have to switch to the surgical side.
I believe it was actually? Though it might have been similar but different
The problem is that it addressed exactly 0 of my emotional issues surrounding my struggle with eating better and caused me to have panic attacks pretty much every night and was teaching me shit I already know anyway like how to read a nutrition label and log calories and fats and stuff and maintain a calorie deficit. it was led by a nurse practitioner in the office of the bariatric surgeon so it felt like they wanted me to fail so I would have to switch to the surgical side.
Sounds like you need one-on-one sessions with a therapist or psychologist. Ohio, right? The Ohio Psychological Association has a psychologist finder where you can specify your mental health issue and insurance. Ohio University also offers a Nutrition Treatment Program of 3 one-hour sessions with a senior dietetic student, supervised by a registered dietician. Don't know if you qualify, but that's another option.
Also, make sure the NDPP program is the one you already tried. I harp on it because it's evidence based that participating in this program is reliable for sustained weight loss and improved quality of life. If you did some private program that's separate from this one, they might not be held to the same standards.
This should really be stuff your primary care provider is helping you with, aside from direct in-network referrals. This is the result of me google searching Ohio nutritional psychology. You should be getting better resources from your primary care provider, and if not, there's a process problem with communication or something.
Edit: As for your concerns with the conflict of interest of the nurse practitioner in the bariatric surgery office, there are two types of surgeons: cowboys and cowards. Cowboys look for any reason to do a surgery, and cowards look for any reason not to do a surgery. Cowards are the better surgeons and the longer lasting, because surgeons do take a hit when their procedures go bad. So the NP might be there to give the surgeon an out from having to do surgery, but that's just an assumption.
Paladin on
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
I have a therapist and a psychiatrist but neither of them specialize in eating issues.
I dunno I'm pretty much lost here. It isn't even Thanksgiving yet and I don't know how I'll make it to December without putting on another 15 or 20 pounds.
I just want it to stop but I can't do anything about it. There's no actual help out at least nobody to help me find help. No emotional support. Nothing.
I have a therapist and a psychiatrist but neither of them specialize in eating issues.
I dunno I'm pretty much lost here. It isn't even Thanksgiving yet and I don't know how I'll make it to December without putting on another 15 or 20 pounds.
I just want it to stop but I can't do anything about it. There's no actual help out at least nobody to help me find help. No emotional support. Nothing.
There are psychologists that specialize in eating disorders on the drop down menu of the finder, and the Ohio University thing looks promising if your primary care provider can offer nothing better.
If you have a hunch that you need eating and nutrition focused care, it may be time for your care team to be modified.
Ohio is actually a bit special and stringent regarding nutrition laws - unlike say, California, only registered dieticians are allowed in Ohio to provide nutrition care. This gives Ohioans an edge in getting quality nutrition care, but paradoxically reduces access since you have to see a specialist for it.
Help is out there, but you might have to jump through a few hoops because of your system.
Paladin on
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Went to see UKs strongest woman at the weekend. Was a brilliant event, really entertaining and impressive. Athletes were making some very very heavy weight look casual.
I found the deadlift the most impressive cos its the only one I've done myself (rather than sandbags, logs, yokes etc) and the 220kg axle bar deadlift for max reps in 60 seconds was therefore something I could contextualise more. The winner did 11 reps in 40 seconds (she'd already won by doing 11 so no point doing more) and honestly she could have kept going at the same pace easily. Incredible.
It was an open comp, no weight class. One Athlete is 60kgs and she did 4 reps of 220kg axle bar deadlifts in a minute which honestly must be the most impressive feat of strength ice ever seen in person. Truly astonishing.
Solar on
+3
DaimarA Million Feet Tall of AwesomeRegistered Userregular
Went to see UKs strongest woman at the weekend. Was a brilliant event, really entertaining and impressive. Athletes were making some very very heavy weight look casual.
I found the deadlift the most impressive cos its the only one I've done myself (rather than sandbags, logs, yokes etc) and the 220kg axle bar deadlift for max reps in 60 seconds was therefore something I could contextualise more. The winner did 11 reps in 40 seconds (she'd already won by doing 11 so no point doing more) and honestly she could have kept going at the same pace easily. Incredible.
It was an open comp, no weight class. One Athlete is 60kgs and she did 4 reps of 220kg axle bar deadlifts in a minute which honestly must be the most impressive feat of strength ice ever seen in person. Truly astonishing.
Went to see UKs strongest woman at the weekend. Was a brilliant event, really entertaining and impressive. Athletes were making some very very heavy weight look casual.
I found the deadlift the most impressive cos its the only one I've done myself (rather than sandbags, logs, yokes etc) and the 220kg axle bar deadlift for max reps in 60 seconds was therefore something I could contextualise more. The winner did 11 reps in 40 seconds (she'd already won by doing 11 so no point doing more) and honestly she could have kept going at the same pace easily. Incredible.
It was an open comp, no weight class. One Athlete is 60kgs and she did 4 reps of 220kg axle bar deadlifts in a minute which honestly must be the most impressive feat of strength ice ever seen in person. Truly astonishing.
Was that Chloe Brennan or Rhiannon Lovelace? Either way yeah, they're crazy impressive.
0
DaimarA Million Feet Tall of AwesomeRegistered Userregular
Looks like it was Rhiannon, Chloe zeroed the deadlift.
Went to see UKs strongest woman at the weekend. Was a brilliant event, really entertaining and impressive. Athletes were making some very very heavy weight look casual.
I found the deadlift the most impressive cos its the only one I've done myself (rather than sandbags, logs, yokes etc) and the 220kg axle bar deadlift for max reps in 60 seconds was therefore something I could contextualise more. The winner did 11 reps in 40 seconds (she'd already won by doing 11 so no point doing more) and honestly she could have kept going at the same pace easily. Incredible.
It was an open comp, no weight class. One Athlete is 60kgs and she did 4 reps of 220kg axle bar deadlifts in a minute which honestly must be the most impressive feat of strength ice ever seen in person. Truly astonishing.
Was that Chloe Brennan or Rhiannon Lovelace? Either way yeah, they're crazy impressive.
Rhiannon Lovelace. Incredible athlete tbh, to be moving that weight at the speed she did at her bodyweight was wild
Chloe Brennan is really impressive too though, just for turning up, especially as she's the only one that's clean (I.e she's the only one that competes in tested events)
Solar on
0
DaimarA Million Feet Tall of AwesomeRegistered Userregular
Pro strongmen will point out that there is testing at the big events as well, they won't say that it's not for PEDs, but more for stimulants and the like which could cause a heart attack in the middle of competition. So it is still to protect the athletes, but also protect the sport since it would be terrible if you had a competitor just die in the middle of an event due to drugs.
The JudgeThe Terwilliger CurvesRegistered Userregular
Portland Marathon last Sunday could not have been better weather - the half went about as expected with such a short window from signing up to the actual race, around a 2:04.
Taper is hard, man. I’m so used to going out and running each day as long as my legs feel good and my brain is producing happiness chemicals, whether that be 5k or 20k. This summer, that’s been an average of around 12k a day. I feel antsy when I come back in with a tank 3/4 full. In any case, most of the marathon training plans that I’ve seen seem to indicate that I should be dropping mileage but that it’s OK to keep intensity high, to a point. I’m not following any plan, but I am trying to be mindful of the general principles that the various plans have laid out.
As to the specifics of how the week has gone and is going:
Wednesday: 5.2k at 5:24 per km, 128 bpm
Thursday: 15.3k at 5:18 per km, 132 bpm
Friday: 5.2k at 5:27 per km, 128 bpm
Saturday: 7.2k at 5:03 per km, 138 bpm
Sunday: 10.2k at 4:45 per km, 140 bpm
Monday: 3.2k at 5:20 per km, 124 bpm
Tuesday: 7.6k at 4:46 per km, 143 bpm
A note about Tuesday compared to Sunday: both days had about 85 metres of climbing; but Tuesday packed that climbing into 3/4 of the distance, so I had to work a little harder for the pace.
The plan for the week ahead:
Wednesday: 5k to 7k targeting a heart rate of about 130 bpm, hopefully around 5:20 pace.
Thursday: 8k to 10k targeting a heart rate of about 125 bpm, hopefully under 5:40 pace.
Friday: 3k to 5k targeting a heart rate of about 125 bpm, hopefully under 5:40 pace.
Saturday: full rest.
Sunday: 42.2 km at what I currently hope to be 5:00 to 5:10 pace, averaging around 140 bpm or less. But, we’ll see how I feel on the day, and what my legs give me on the day. My Garmin thinks that I could do it about 3 hours, 11 minutes, and maybe I could if my life depended on it, but I don’t think that I’m willing/able to put myself that deep in the pain cave right now.
I’ll drink about 1/2 litre of Gatorade in the hour before the race start, but I’m going to rely on the water stations once the race starts. I plan to hit every water station after the first - they’re about 4k apart. I’ll take my energy candy (a mix of Clif and Honey Stinger chews) just before the race and at each 5k until 25k.
Honestly, my #1 fear is explosive runners diarrhea. Hopefully if the worst case scenario comes to pass it’ll happen while I’m running past horse pastures or something, and I can dive into the ditch. I suspect that the other runners will understand.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
+4
The JudgeThe Terwilliger CurvesRegistered Userregular
So Chris Sharma is appearing at an event at my climbing gym this Sunday. He's screening a new movie about him and the "there is an opportunity to climb with him."
Too bad it conflicts with my pickup game with Michael Jordan and interferes with my sleep for my hockey game with Gretsky the next day...
Weather here in Nova Scotia continues to be terrible this year: a tropical storm that might develop into a category one hurricane is scheduled to hit the province on Sunday morning. I don’t mind running through torrential rains. But I understand that it would not be safe to hold the event while hurricane force winds are blowing.
Here’s hoping the forecast brightens between now and Sunday. . .
Shadowhope on
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
One of my goals for 2024 is to try trail running. I think it'll be good to change it up and force me not to care about pace and really enjoy the experience.
Just signed up for my first trail race in March and as usual I'm just diving in and doing the Marathon version.
I have backpacked the trail before so I have an idea of the trail at least! It'll be marathon #8, hoping to make my #10 marathon at the end of year an ultra.
OK, I am still in pain a day later, lol holy cow. This is the first time in my life I've had blackened toenails, the chaffing is unholy and worse than any I've ever experienced (body glide just found its way on to my Christmas list), and my legs are pretty sore. But I ran a sub-3:30 marathon! Me, who weighed 320 pounds and got out of breath going up stairs just four years ago!
First of all, Phillippe did end up brushing us. I ran through bands of torrential rain, and winds gusting over 50 kph. My cousin's best friend was running the half marathon, and she attributed her time of just over two hours to the terrible weather. Other runners out there seemed to feel the same, that it was not exactly optimal running weather. The course itself also had a few rough patches - there were about eight total kilometres down one of the train to trail line conversions, and it had massive mud puddles all down the route. The roads were mostly fine, with a few sections having pretty much all the problems you'd expect for rural roads. The actual race was really scenic, and would have been stunning under golden autumn sunlight. Since it was under dark grey storm clouds, I wasn't able to appreciate it as much as I would have liked. But we ran past apple orchards, vineries, wheat and corn fields, sheep pastures, at least one cheeserie, and trees that should have been red and gold this time of year but which are mostly green and brown this year. There were some pretty great views from atop the hills.
Anyhow, as usual, I mostly didn't train per say. I run most days, for as long as my legs feel good and my brain is producing happiness chemicals. Sometimes that's 3k. Sometime that's 20k. I average about 10k to 12k a day. As I've mentioned before in this thread, I did make a point of doing a few longer runs this time around, and I think that those ended up being worth doing. For the rest, I think that my haphazard 10k+ a day average worked out.
In the race itself, there were basically five parts. I know from experience that the effort I put in early on anchors my pace for the rest of the run. If I run 4:30 at the start, I'll slow down to 4:45 to 5:05. If I run 5:00 at the start, I'll slow down to 5:15 to 5:35. So getting a fast start was important. I went out at a pace that was below 4:30 and that ended up being my second best 5k according to my Strava, and I felt good, but I deliberately slowed down at the first major hill at 6k. The second part and the third part were both around 4:45 to 5:00 pace. That second part introduced me to the biggest hill on the course, a long country monster. It's only a meter shorter than the far more famous Heartbreak hill in Boston, but because of the double loop nature of the course I was destined to hit it again.
At the half, my chip time was 1:40:17. The third part started for me just after the half. The leading woman decided to use me as her pacer. We ran together until about the 28k mark, putting in a sub-24 5k after having just run a half marathon, but hitting the hill there I dropped pace and told her to go for it. From 28k to 34k I maintained between 4:50 and 5:15, depending on the hills. It was coming harder, but I was still pretty coherent. And then I hit that big hill again. 5:43 for that kilometer, and a world of pain. I mentioned before that that hill is almost as big as Heartbreak Hill n Boston; the second time you hit it is in about the same spot in the race as Heartbreak Hill. On the second loop, I passed a guy who had had to start walking. Oh, and the wind decided that it was going to blow as hard as it did all day, coming straight at me as I trundled up the hill. The fifth part was the last 7.5 kilometres or so of the race, and I had nothing in the tank. My pace dropped, and I distracted myself from the pain by calculating "if I run this pace for the rest of the race, what will my finish time be?" I survived. I even tried to pick off one last straggler at the end - he was struggling, I passed him, but then behind me he started sprinting and passed me. I tried to start sprinting, and almost caught him. There's video of it - I had never seen video of me running before. Back in high school, I was told that I ran like ether a terrified Clydesdale or a drunken moose, and seeing that video I can see what they mean. But the important thing was it was over.
So, that's over with and done. I can now call myself a marathoner. And I did it in a pretty good time, hitting my goal for the race. It’s also kind of nice that even my “oh god, I’m dying, I don’t know if I can finish” pace was still a sub-4:00 marathon pace - the only kilometre slower than 5:40 was my second time up the killer hill, and that by only three seconds. I'm also 100% sure that I left it all out there on the road. So, I'd like to do more marathons in the future - I'm still hoping to get into the Marathon Pour Tous in Paris next summer - but for now I've achieved my goal. That honestly feels a little weird - this is only the second time I've actually hit my race goal. I think that my next goals are going to be breaking 45 minutes in the 10k and knocking the last few seconds off my half marathon time to get under 1:40. Since my younger brother will probably want to run the big 10k local race in the spring, I think that that's next up for me in terms of races, and the half marathon goal will come from pounding the local trails.
I'm going to go get some more Advil now.
Edit:
Shadowhope on
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
Between then and now, I went on vacation for three weeks. So that's three weeks of basically no home made meals.
Also included in those three weeks, was a week on a cruise in hawaii, with multiple twenty four hour all included restaurants, as well as some really nice restaurants. And then there's also a couple luau's with a whole mess of food.
So when i weighed myself last night, I was surprised to learn that in the last month I'm down 11 pounds.
I suppose it helps that we did a bunch of hiking, and also that hawaii was hot enough I was sweating literally every minute I wasn't in my very air conditioned cabin.
Heading to Detroit tomorrow to run their International Half (it crosses into Canada!) and I was hoping to try for a PR since I been feeling strong lately due to my summer training.
So of course I get sick this week. Nothing horrible but enough to keep me from my usual running. Today I feel okayish and trying to decide if it would be better to get in a run or just really rest up some more.
Of course I know the reasonable answer but it's so hard to tell myself to actually do it.
Athletes from any sport except running: my performance will be better if I take days off? Sounds great!
Runners: what is a “day off?” Is that another term for “easy run?”
This is definitely true for climbers. I've climbed five days in a row today...
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The JudgeThe Terwilliger CurvesRegistered Userregular
The part where I know my brain is screwed just as described are on days where I've already run and I see someone else running while I'm out later and think, "Man, I should totally go for a run."
The part where I know my brain is screwed just as described are on days where I've already run and I see someone else running while I'm out later and think, "Man, I should totally go for a run."
In the late afternoon on Sunday, I went for a painful, shuffling walk down to the grocery store to help keep my legs from stiffening up too much. I saw someone jog by. My first thought was “I should go for a run when I get back home.”
Runners brain is weird.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
I think it's just cardio, cause I'm a cyclist and I have exactly the same thing. Oh an opportunity to squeeze 10 more miles in? Yeah why not?
I'm on vacation for the next month, which means exactly no bike riding, but it does mean seven or eight miles a day walking to and from train stations.
Sometimes I think about people who live in cities and always have access to mass transit...
OK, kind of relevant to this thread? Since my Fitbit died, I’ve been manually tracking my food in an Excel spreadsheet. Whenever I get something new, I add it to a tab where I record the name, quantity of a serving size, calories according to label, and the carbs/fat/protein/fibre of a serving. Then I have a few columns of calculations that do things like tell me the carbs/fat/protein % of each food, and check on whether the caloric total on the label matches the macro totals. That last bit is mostly to warn me if I’ve done something like written a 2 where I should have a 20.
However, I did run across some ice cream that has labels indicating 29 grams of carbs, 9 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, 230 calories per serving. Which is fine, except those macros add up to 201 calories. Even if you assume that those macros are all just shy of being rounded up (29.4, 9.4, 1.4) you’re looking at 208 calories. So I’ve been emailing back and forth with the company to tell them that their label is wrong. They claim:
[They follow] the Analytical method in which Accredited labs are used for calculating nutritional values of Food Products as it is very precise. Moreover, when calculating, rounding rules are also applied when Nutritional Fact Tables are created for Food Products. For this reason the total calorie numbers can sometime be slightly different. Since we are regulated by CFIA we follow their regulations.
And I’m like, you may be following the model, but at some point what was entered in on the label got mixed up. . .
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
Must have done over 100 blocs, did a 7A... and other than that maxed out at like 6A. Font sandbags galore Worked my big project too and made good progress
Sad to go home. Scraped, bitten, exhausted, achey and happy.
Posts
A primary care doctor is only as good as their multidisciplinary network. If you have these ideas and they don't have solutions for them (when we know they exist), then they're not giving you 100%.
Nobody can force you into surgery. If you don't want it, tell them straight out, or that you'd only consent as a last resort.
What was that class you went to? Was it part of the NDPP lifestyle change program? If not, take a look, especially if you're prediabetic, which as of this summer I note you were.
If you are diabetic now, there's little reason to not be on a GLP-1 agonist other than gastrointestinal side effects and insurance, which really shouldn't be a barrier if you are diabetic.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
The problem is that it addressed exactly 0 of my emotional issues surrounding my struggle with eating better and caused me to have panic attacks pretty much every night and was teaching me shit I already know anyway like how to read a nutrition label and log calories and fats and stuff and maintain a calorie deficit. it was led by a nurse practitioner in the office of the bariatric surgeon so it felt like they wanted me to fail so I would have to switch to the surgical side.
Sounds like you need one-on-one sessions with a therapist or psychologist. Ohio, right? The Ohio Psychological Association has a psychologist finder where you can specify your mental health issue and insurance. Ohio University also offers a Nutrition Treatment Program of 3 one-hour sessions with a senior dietetic student, supervised by a registered dietician. Don't know if you qualify, but that's another option.
Also, make sure the NDPP program is the one you already tried. I harp on it because it's evidence based that participating in this program is reliable for sustained weight loss and improved quality of life. If you did some private program that's separate from this one, they might not be held to the same standards.
This should really be stuff your primary care provider is helping you with, aside from direct in-network referrals. This is the result of me google searching Ohio nutritional psychology. You should be getting better resources from your primary care provider, and if not, there's a process problem with communication or something.
Edit: As for your concerns with the conflict of interest of the nurse practitioner in the bariatric surgery office, there are two types of surgeons: cowboys and cowards. Cowboys look for any reason to do a surgery, and cowards look for any reason not to do a surgery. Cowards are the better surgeons and the longer lasting, because surgeons do take a hit when their procedures go bad. So the NP might be there to give the surgeon an out from having to do surgery, but that's just an assumption.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
I dunno I'm pretty much lost here. It isn't even Thanksgiving yet and I don't know how I'll make it to December without putting on another 15 or 20 pounds.
I just want it to stop but I can't do anything about it. There's no actual help out at least nobody to help me find help. No emotional support. Nothing.
There are psychologists that specialize in eating disorders on the drop down menu of the finder, and the Ohio University thing looks promising if your primary care provider can offer nothing better.
If you have a hunch that you need eating and nutrition focused care, it may be time for your care team to be modified.
Ohio is actually a bit special and stringent regarding nutrition laws - unlike say, California, only registered dieticians are allowed in Ohio to provide nutrition care. This gives Ohioans an edge in getting quality nutrition care, but paradoxically reduces access since you have to see a specialist for it.
Help is out there, but you might have to jump through a few hoops because of your system.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
I found the deadlift the most impressive cos its the only one I've done myself (rather than sandbags, logs, yokes etc) and the 220kg axle bar deadlift for max reps in 60 seconds was therefore something I could contextualise more. The winner did 11 reps in 40 seconds (she'd already won by doing 11 so no point doing more) and honestly she could have kept going at the same pace easily. Incredible.
It was an open comp, no weight class. One Athlete is 60kgs and she did 4 reps of 220kg axle bar deadlifts in a minute which honestly must be the most impressive feat of strength ice ever seen in person. Truly astonishing.
Spot yourself in the crowd.
Was that Chloe Brennan or Rhiannon Lovelace? Either way yeah, they're crazy impressive.
https://strongmanarchives.com/viewContest.php?id=1411
Rhiannon Lovelace. Incredible athlete tbh, to be moving that weight at the speed she did at her bodyweight was wild
Chloe Brennan is really impressive too though, just for turning up, especially as she's the only one that's clean (I.e she's the only one that competes in tested events)
How's taper week going?
Yep, coming up on Sunday.
Taper is hard, man. I’m so used to going out and running each day as long as my legs feel good and my brain is producing happiness chemicals, whether that be 5k or 20k. This summer, that’s been an average of around 12k a day. I feel antsy when I come back in with a tank 3/4 full. In any case, most of the marathon training plans that I’ve seen seem to indicate that I should be dropping mileage but that it’s OK to keep intensity high, to a point. I’m not following any plan, but I am trying to be mindful of the general principles that the various plans have laid out.
As to the specifics of how the week has gone and is going:
Wednesday: 5.2k at 5:24 per km, 128 bpm
Thursday: 15.3k at 5:18 per km, 132 bpm
Friday: 5.2k at 5:27 per km, 128 bpm
Saturday: 7.2k at 5:03 per km, 138 bpm
Sunday: 10.2k at 4:45 per km, 140 bpm
Monday: 3.2k at 5:20 per km, 124 bpm
Tuesday: 7.6k at 4:46 per km, 143 bpm
A note about Tuesday compared to Sunday: both days had about 85 metres of climbing; but Tuesday packed that climbing into 3/4 of the distance, so I had to work a little harder for the pace.
The plan for the week ahead:
Wednesday: 5k to 7k targeting a heart rate of about 130 bpm, hopefully around 5:20 pace.
Thursday: 8k to 10k targeting a heart rate of about 125 bpm, hopefully under 5:40 pace.
Friday: 3k to 5k targeting a heart rate of about 125 bpm, hopefully under 5:40 pace.
Saturday: full rest.
Sunday: 42.2 km at what I currently hope to be 5:00 to 5:10 pace, averaging around 140 bpm or less. But, we’ll see how I feel on the day, and what my legs give me on the day. My Garmin thinks that I could do it about 3 hours, 11 minutes, and maybe I could if my life depended on it, but I don’t think that I’m willing/able to put myself that deep in the pain cave right now.
I’ll drink about 1/2 litre of Gatorade in the hour before the race start, but I’m going to rely on the water stations once the race starts. I plan to hit every water station after the first - they’re about 4k apart. I’ll take my energy candy (a mix of Clif and Honey Stinger chews) just before the race and at each 5k until 25k.
Honestly, my #1 fear is explosive runners diarrhea. Hopefully if the worst case scenario comes to pass it’ll happen while I’m running past horse pastures or something, and I can dive into the ditch. I suspect that the other runners will understand.
Too bad it conflicts with my pickup game with Michael Jordan and interferes with my sleep for my hockey game with Gretsky the next day...
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
Here’s hoping the forecast brightens between now and Sunday. . .
Thanks! I gotten a regular lead partner (most of my friends just do top rope) so I been more consistent about it.
I need to just have a day where I take falls though. Im still bad about going for a move unless I'm 100% sure I can make it.
Just signed up for my first trail race in March and as usual I'm just diving in and doing the Marathon version.
I have backpacked the trail before so I have an idea of the trail at least! It'll be marathon #8, hoping to make my #10 marathon at the end of year an ultra.
I am pain.
And I’ll have a longer write-up later.
For now: 1:40:17 at the half (PB), 3:27:59 for the my first proper full.
First of all, Phillippe did end up brushing us. I ran through bands of torrential rain, and winds gusting over 50 kph. My cousin's best friend was running the half marathon, and she attributed her time of just over two hours to the terrible weather. Other runners out there seemed to feel the same, that it was not exactly optimal running weather. The course itself also had a few rough patches - there were about eight total kilometres down one of the train to trail line conversions, and it had massive mud puddles all down the route. The roads were mostly fine, with a few sections having pretty much all the problems you'd expect for rural roads. The actual race was really scenic, and would have been stunning under golden autumn sunlight. Since it was under dark grey storm clouds, I wasn't able to appreciate it as much as I would have liked. But we ran past apple orchards, vineries, wheat and corn fields, sheep pastures, at least one cheeserie, and trees that should have been red and gold this time of year but which are mostly green and brown this year. There were some pretty great views from atop the hills.
The route.
Anyhow, as usual, I mostly didn't train per say. I run most days, for as long as my legs feel good and my brain is producing happiness chemicals. Sometimes that's 3k. Sometime that's 20k. I average about 10k to 12k a day. As I've mentioned before in this thread, I did make a point of doing a few longer runs this time around, and I think that those ended up being worth doing. For the rest, I think that my haphazard 10k+ a day average worked out.
In the race itself, there were basically five parts. I know from experience that the effort I put in early on anchors my pace for the rest of the run. If I run 4:30 at the start, I'll slow down to 4:45 to 5:05. If I run 5:00 at the start, I'll slow down to 5:15 to 5:35. So getting a fast start was important. I went out at a pace that was below 4:30 and that ended up being my second best 5k according to my Strava, and I felt good, but I deliberately slowed down at the first major hill at 6k. The second part and the third part were both around 4:45 to 5:00 pace. That second part introduced me to the biggest hill on the course, a long country monster. It's only a meter shorter than the far more famous Heartbreak hill in Boston, but because of the double loop nature of the course I was destined to hit it again.
At the half, my chip time was 1:40:17. The third part started for me just after the half. The leading woman decided to use me as her pacer. We ran together until about the 28k mark, putting in a sub-24 5k after having just run a half marathon, but hitting the hill there I dropped pace and told her to go for it. From 28k to 34k I maintained between 4:50 and 5:15, depending on the hills. It was coming harder, but I was still pretty coherent. And then I hit that big hill again. 5:43 for that kilometer, and a world of pain. I mentioned before that that hill is almost as big as Heartbreak Hill n Boston; the second time you hit it is in about the same spot in the race as Heartbreak Hill. On the second loop, I passed a guy who had had to start walking. Oh, and the wind decided that it was going to blow as hard as it did all day, coming straight at me as I trundled up the hill. The fifth part was the last 7.5 kilometres or so of the race, and I had nothing in the tank. My pace dropped, and I distracted myself from the pain by calculating "if I run this pace for the rest of the race, what will my finish time be?" I survived. I even tried to pick off one last straggler at the end - he was struggling, I passed him, but then behind me he started sprinting and passed me. I tried to start sprinting, and almost caught him. There's video of it - I had never seen video of me running before. Back in high school, I was told that I ran like ether a terrified Clydesdale or a drunken moose, and seeing that video I can see what they mean. But the important thing was it was over.
The splits, by 5k:
1 - 4:17 / 4:24 / 4:28 / 4:25 / 4:26 (22:00 5k)
2 - 4:31 / 5:00 / 4:52 / 4:50 / 4:47 (24:00 5k)
3 - 4:54 / 4:33 / 4:52 / 5:11 / 4:53 (24:23 5k)
4 - 4:48 / 4:42 / 4:52 / 4:59 / 4:46 (24:07 5k)
5 - 4:43 / 5:01 / 4:46 / 4:47 / 4:38 (23:55 5k) (1:40:17 chip timed half marathon)
6 - 4:33 / 4:36 / 4:55 / 5:12 / 5:01 (24:17 5k)
7 - 4:56 / 5:04 / 4:49 / 5:06 / 5:43 (25:28 5k)
8 - 5:17 / 5:17 / 5:07 / 5:21 / 5:33 (26:35 5k)
9 - 5:29 / 5:33 / 5:19 (27:15 5k pace) (3:27:59 gun time, 3:27:56 chip time)
So, that's over with and done. I can now call myself a marathoner. And I did it in a pretty good time, hitting my goal for the race. It’s also kind of nice that even my “oh god, I’m dying, I don’t know if I can finish” pace was still a sub-4:00 marathon pace - the only kilometre slower than 5:40 was my second time up the killer hill, and that by only three seconds. I'm also 100% sure that I left it all out there on the road. So, I'd like to do more marathons in the future - I'm still hoping to get into the Marathon Pour Tous in Paris next summer - but for now I've achieved my goal. That honestly feels a little weird - this is only the second time I've actually hit my race goal. I think that my next goals are going to be breaking 45 minutes in the 10k and knocking the last few seconds off my half marathon time to get under 1:40. Since my younger brother will probably want to run the big 10k local race in the spring, I think that that's next up for me in terms of races, and the half marathon goal will come from pounding the local trails.
I'm going to go get some more Advil now.
Edit:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyLh6taMv6h/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I meant to post these earlier, they’re relevant to my life right now:
https://youtube.com/shorts/2SNkOrL72Ps?si=K-nyC7j1KXraiMlG
https://youtube.com/shorts/xoWlqkl9B84?si=ZiJUZyAdc6FCjDM8
Between then and now, I went on vacation for three weeks. So that's three weeks of basically no home made meals.
Also included in those three weeks, was a week on a cruise in hawaii, with multiple twenty four hour all included restaurants, as well as some really nice restaurants. And then there's also a couple luau's with a whole mess of food.
So when i weighed myself last night, I was surprised to learn that in the last month I'm down 11 pounds.
I suppose it helps that we did a bunch of hiking, and also that hawaii was hot enough I was sweating literally every minute I wasn't in my very air conditioned cabin.
Heading to Detroit tomorrow to run their International Half (it crosses into Canada!) and I was hoping to try for a PR since I been feeling strong lately due to my summer training.
So of course I get sick this week. Nothing horrible but enough to keep me from my usual running. Today I feel okayish and trying to decide if it would be better to get in a run or just really rest up some more.
Of course I know the reasonable answer but it's so hard to tell myself to actually do it.
Athletes from any sport except running: my performance will be better if I take days off? Sounds great!
Runners: what is a “day off?” Is that another term for “easy run?”
*Proceeds to lead a 5.11
Or seen people bouldering and top roping with casts on.
This is definitely true for climbers. I've climbed five days in a row today...
In the late afternoon on Sunday, I went for a painful, shuffling walk down to the grocery store to help keep my legs from stiffening up too much. I saw someone jog by. My first thought was “I should go for a run when I get back home.”
Runners brain is weird.
How the hell is anyone supposed to do this
I want to cry into a pint or two of pistachio gelato I swear to God it hasn't even been a full week
I'm on vacation for the next month, which means exactly no bike riding, but it does mean seven or eight miles a day walking to and from train stations.
Sometimes I think about people who live in cities and always have access to mass transit...
Is it a quantity or quality change in your diet, or both?
OK, kind of relevant to this thread? Since my Fitbit died, I’ve been manually tracking my food in an Excel spreadsheet. Whenever I get something new, I add it to a tab where I record the name, quantity of a serving size, calories according to label, and the carbs/fat/protein/fibre of a serving. Then I have a few columns of calculations that do things like tell me the carbs/fat/protein % of each food, and check on whether the caloric total on the label matches the macro totals. That last bit is mostly to warn me if I’ve done something like written a 2 where I should have a 20.
However, I did run across some ice cream that has labels indicating 29 grams of carbs, 9 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, 230 calories per serving. Which is fine, except those macros add up to 201 calories. Even if you assume that those macros are all just shy of being rounded up (29.4, 9.4, 1.4) you’re looking at 208 calories. So I’ve been emailing back and forth with the company to tell them that their label is wrong. They claim:
And I’m like, you may be following the model, but at some point what was entered in on the label got mixed up. . .
Must have done over 100 blocs, did a 7A... and other than that maxed out at like 6A. Font sandbags galore
Sad to go home. Scraped, bitten, exhausted, achey and happy.