Sometimes things are going really well in life, whether its a relationship or a job or training. Maybe its life in general. Then something comes along to crap on the whole parade. Well I talk a lot about Chi Running and my "gorilla feet" and how running has been very, very good to me even I have bad days. Last November I had a nasty ankle "hurt" that was most likely a repetitive use injury. By January I figured that problem out and corrected the issue only to a have scar tissue in my other ankle flare up on all its glory. Its still with me today. It is worst in the mornings. Funny thing is that it never really bothers me during a run. Then recently I began experiencing pain on top of my feet. Stress fracture came to mind. I'm choosing to call it strain tendons. lol
The point is that I can deal with injury. What are the symptoms? What is the cause? Can I correct it through form checks or do I really need to see a quack - I mean doctor??? However there are other situations that are not see easy to deal with in life.
If you are a fan, or "friend", you may have recently seen before & after photos posted online. I realized that over the past three years I "lost" sixty pounds. SIXTY POUNDS!!! Freaking incredible. EFFING AWESOME. That weight loss was the result of running over 2300 miles. One round of P90X. Cutting the bad stuff and adding more of the good stuff. (Wow watermelon is like crack. Give me a knife and spoon and its ON!) Needless to say I have been feeling really good lately. Hard work is paying off and people are recognizing my accomplishments. But there is always someone there to tear you down.
Someone close to me, who is clearly proud of my efforts and is also working hard to "get in shape", showed my before & after photo to coworkers. Many of them were impressed and wanted answers. What did he do? How can I get the same results? The usual stuff. But then some "person" (I won't use the term clown because that would be mean-spirited) employed as a nutritionist says the person in the photo, the "after" is too skinny. He needs to eat more. He needs to be wary of heart damage and potential heart disease. A guy who works hard, avoids excess and tries to eat "natural" is in line of heart damage? WTH?!?!? And someone could tell all this from a picture? I do not know how the conversation went. Maybe some key piece of information was left out to give a false impression of what I am about. The conclusion the person close to reached from the critique of the nutritionist is that I MAY be anorexic. Huh?
Anorexia implies the absence of food. "God knows" I eat. One day recently I inhaled 3500 calories. Two thousand were from fresh fruit. Bulimia is when one pukes after eating. I haven't had a stomach bug in years. I also finally found alcohol related wisdom that Neal Bushoven preached about in Meck years ago. So my mouth is for food-entry only. Then if I eat a lot and exercise a lot what is the issue. If anything I don't eat enough to replace the calories I do burn. But that is a financial issue, not a food issue.
Needless to say this little conversation killed my buzz from Saturday. That morning was the Biggest Loser 5k Challenge. I got to meet Ali Vincent and Bob Harper. Very cool. I got see thousands of people committing to a better, fitter, healthier life. What is better than that? then Sunday was my day for a long run. Eighteen miles were tough. Not unexpected nor struggle-free, but a solid effort. So maybe I was tired. Then "Monsoon Monday" brought the gloom. I was primed for the downer.
So at lunch time today (I'm a real estate professional - lunch time is when I say it is) I put on some shorts and ragged Five Fingers and hit the road. The plan was for seven miles. Recovery pace (whatever that is). From the first step I decided to let my legs and lungs dictate the pace. How fast would my legs turn over? How deeply could I inhale/exhale and control the rhythm of my breath rate? If it all stayed steady I would not worry about overall time or pace. I also wanted to work on pain management. Run swift and strong while not aggravating the mystery foot ailment. I also wanted to run the ill will out of my head. This funk had to go.
The wrap up - 7 miles at 7.13 minutes per mile. Deep steady breath. Solid form. Absolutely no pain in my feet or ankles. And brain fully flushed. Had a fist full of bananas and spinach and a protein bar and half cantaloupe so I'm cool on the re-fuel.
Additional wrap up - I spoke with the "person close to me" and said while I am not mad at her I am most displeased with this nutritionist. If somebody has questions then run with me and eat with me. Then you can judge me. But I rather you run than judge.
One more note - the highlight in the run was some lady in her Cadillac nearly broke her neck turning around to check The UnaRunner out while cruising down the road. Very nice.
OMG! This is Stephan, from Dailymile (http://www.dailymile.com/people/spitois). I know EXACTLY how you feel, because the same thing happened to me a year ago after I had lost 40-50 lbs. I even posted a note just like you did because I was so pissed by people's comments. I'll send you on DM the note I posted in July 2009. While I was becoming fit and athletic, through running, eating well, doing lots of push ups and chin ups, people didn't see the full body transformation. They didn't see that my muscles were stronger and more defined than ever. All they could see was my face, which indeed looked much skinnier. Some thought I was sick, some said I looked too skinny, some called me "bones", "Auschwitz" (sic). That was very hurtful. I was very lucky that I had a few close friends who were themselves very athletic, and could objectively measure the quality of my transformation. If it wasn't for them, I think I would have fallen apart. My ex brother in law made the best comment on my note I think: "It's their way of complimenting you while feeling guilty about their own pitiful physical shape.". So, Unarunner, I saw the before/after photos you are talking about. and you must trust me and trust yourself on that: you DO NOT look anorexic at all. You look very fit and athletic. So, go tell that nutritionist to go xxx himself/herself. Keep up the great work. Many guys would kill to look as fit as you do, that's for sure.
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