Endurance Training

I never considered myself an endurance athlete. Or really any kind of athlete. Sure, I did track and field in school, I lifted weights, I went without a car and walked or rode a bike pretty much everywhere until a few years ago. But the bar set by my parents was always so high that I didn't really think of myself as an athlete. Both of my parents are my heroes, and they both run tons of miles. They'd totally run me into the ground. My dad has completed several ultras including the Leadville 100 mile run!

Gradually I started following other folks online like Kent Peterson and Jill Homer, doing fantastic things like the Tour Divide. And the bug bit. It sounded incredible, impossible, but I started following the race. I watched Ride the Divide several times and started dreaming. Could I possibly do something like that? At my age? At my weight? Hard to imagine!

Then on a bright sunny day I took a self-portrait so I'd have a recent picture to include with an article. Wow, I look fat!

At that point I wasn't really exercising and my eating habits needed changing. I'd heard about primal/paleo diets, eating with an eye toward eating the sort of foods we evolved to eat rather than what we started eating after agriculture came about, and thought it made a lot of sense. I talked it over with my wife and she agreed to take the plunge. We eliminated most processed, refined foods, grains and sugar. I read Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint and started looking at other books. And the pounds came off.

Back in May I posted my first 'before/during' picture of the changes, down 27 lbs at that point. I've gone down more since then, having lost 30 lbs now (with some weight gain during the short story workshop).

I'm feeling so much better these days! Running, cycling, all of it seems much more possible now. I went out this morning and ran 3.54 miles. The brakes on my trike are out of commission right now but as soon as I fix those I'm planning to ride much more than I've been riding lately. I figure I have another 10-20 lbs to drop before I get to pretty much an ideal weight and I have a long ways to go yet in building endurance and strength.

For the first time I'm starting to feel like it is possible. I think Kevin J. Anderson has the right idea in combining activity with writing. I don't know that I'll dictate my books, but I certainly want to keep active, keep moving and exploring.