Ah well, I'm having a coffee break from painting & sculpting so I figured I'd finally jump into this thread.
(very) brief history:
When i was in my early 20's I was going to the gym most weekdays, and weighed around 12.5 stone (175 lbs). At that point in considered myself to be in good shape and looked good. (slim waist, defined abs, broad shoulders/back).
Over the following 10 years or so I basically stopped going to the gym, had to stop work due to my epilepsy (I used to walk several miles per day with my job... and I went from that to sitting on my arse watching daytime TV all day lol). Then I went on new epilepsy medication, one of the side effects of which was weight gain! (so existing weight + no gym + being a couch potato + new weight-gain epilepsy drugs = one fat *******!!)
At my heaviest I'd gone up to around 16 stone (224 lbs) - I had a massive gut, I had ****s... the whole lot. God I hated it lol.
I decided to do something about it and started going to the gym (occasionally) and doing some running. (if you could call it that... I could barely jog 100 yards when I started) - this went up to about 2 miles a day, and I did this up until my wedding a couple of years ago.
I figured seeing that I was now 35ish I'd never get back down to the weight I was at 24 again... so I settled for a target of 13.5 stone (189) - at my wedding day I weighted
under my original weight by a few pounds. I was over the moon!!
The couple of years since I did less and less running as my commission workload had shot through the roof and I refused to take time out of the day to exercise. I'd only do it if I managed to get up at 5am or something...
before the day started. I was running on and off.
More off then on though
My fitness dropped back down to pathetic levels and I couldn't even manage two miles anymore when I tried.
Then something stupid (wonderful?) happened.....
I decided to run a Marathon this year
So that's where I am at the moment. I'm signed up for the Loch Ness Marathon up in Scotland on the 3rd October. Doing it for charity too (seemed daft not to) - 50/50 between The National Society for Epilepsy (I have epilepsy) and The British Heart Foundation (my Dad died of a heart attack just before my wedding a couple of years ago). I've been running between 2 - 4 times a week to try to build up my fitness to 'respectable' levels so I can start my actual 16 week training plan in June.
Last week I did my first ever 5 mile run with
no walking breaks. A record for me. Getting better
Its funny how I've changed, I used to hate running... always have since I was a kid. Only ever did it as a ten minute warm up at the gym. But now? I absolutely LOVE it. So much so that over the weekend me and Jane went to Paris for a delayed anniversary trip, and I took my running gear with me lol. (how could I miss the chance to go for a run through Paris?!)
I'll upload the photos I took once I get them off my phone. (I uploaded them to facebook but I can't figure out how to share the album away from facebook itself)
so um.... yeah, that's my fitness (and lack of) story... sorry for it being so long (god I talk too much lol) - anyway at least I won't have to tell you it again
Darren