After going to a fascinating lecture by Aseem Malhotra on
Thursday evening – the subject was Sugar, and the role of ‘big-food’ in
ensuring that it remains central to our diets, despite the evidence that it is
at the heart of the obesity epidemic – I caught a cold. It was probably from
eating a tasty M&S buffet on the train on the way home (germs, hands
etc..).
I had a decent run on Friday but that was before the cold
set in. Friday evening I was dosed up and coughing hard. So the
long-weekend of running and hill-walking seemed lost as I snivelled my way
through work on Friday afterrnoon. There were loads of exciting races this weekend, the
3-Forts Marathon, East Grinstead 10, Haywards Heath 10, Burgess Hill 10k. Not being in great shape
I had not entered any of these but at least I hoped to get out into the hills
for some pleasant exercise and support friends who were competing.
Perhaps I’d enter the 10k on the day…
Saturday came, the sun came out and I felt crap. The
realisation that I’d not be doing much running was bad for my morale; in order
to feel that things are moving forward it’s important to have short term goals
as well as long term ones. So I was down and the fridge was prepared for a
bank-holiday weekend; late-season hot-cross buns for breakfast, scones for tea,
potatoes for the roast dinner; all for the kids of course but what would the
harm be if I were to take a few days off-diet? I kept busy on Saturday and
perhaps I munched a few too many carbs (150g I reckon). Reports came in of fun
and success at the first races of the weekend and I felt crapper. Luckily whiskey is zero-carb – I needed it!
Sunday morning, no change. Jane, Cam and I went up the Tank
Tracks on the regular village ran started recently by our friend Mandy. Cam
felt crap as his Asthma was playing up. I felt crap as I had no energy. Jane
was the only one to run up the hill. Bit of a downer for me but at least we got
out for an hour and it was lovely. We had a pleasant walk later on as we went
out to support Marina and Janna in the 3-Forts Marathon (Marina’s 3rd
LCHF marathon in 3 months!). I felt wasted on the hills. And it was here
that the motivation caved. There were pork pies for the kids in the picnic
lunch! And crisps & a beer in the pub later. So easy for me to fall off the
waggon; my weight is fine so what does it matter? Still low on motivation at dinner I
had some potatoes and a scone. At least I can console myself with
the fact that they tasted great. Met up with Marina in the evening; 27
miles of hills and she looked and felt great. I think I have to learn to be a
bit harder. Back on plan tomorrow for sure.
Monday; another glorious day. Still felt crap in the morning
with no voice after losing it somewhere the night before. I couldn’t manage a pull-up. But something was telling me that the cold might be improving already. Lots of
jobs to do around the house as we are having a new conservatory fitted and the
old one needed clearing out. After lunch I started feeling better and on a whim
I tried pull-ups again and managed 3. So I thought perhaps a little run could
be on the cards. Jane’s advice has always been to rest if it’s in your chest
and it was not, it couldn’t do any harm. So, mid-afternoon I blew my nose hard
and got my trainers on.
I wondered if it could have been the carbs in the pastry, beer and roast potatoes the day before. The sudden influx into that almost carb-free zone. But they couldn’t have fuelled the 1200 calories that Strava says I used in that 1 hour burn-up.
Needless to say my motivation is now sky-high again. For the
last few weeks I have been focusing on my knee recovering, but I have actually
been doing some good training. So a good blast was on the cards. And crucially
I think that perhaps when you fall of this waggon it’s not such a mountain to
climb back on. Much like the return to the diet after 1 week off skiing I think
we can switch to and from burning carbs or fat that much more quickly when we
are well adapted to it. Must do some research on this subject.
No comments:
Post a Comment