Running block

[abejita]

So I started the couch to 5k program a couple of months ago. I went from not being able to run 60 sec to being able to being able to run for 20 something minutes without stopping. It all has gone down hill from there. It seems like I can run less and less now. I'll run for a couple minutes and then stop. I am not getting out of breath and my legs are not getting particularly tired...I just stop. In my head, I can't go anymore. I know it is a mental thing, but I am not sure how to get past it. Having the same issues with cycling. i don't want to get on my bike and ride. When I do, I enjoy it and I am so glad that I went, but I have trouble getting started.

I think that some of this has to do with me gaining weight. I gained 4 lb in the last month and it is really messing with my head. I know that it is not much...but it seems to have unleashed my inner fat girl. Over the past year and a half, I have steadily lost weight. I went from 220 and wearing stretchy 20 pants, to 135 and wearing 4/6s. This is the first weight gain since I started loosing and it is messing with my head a bit. I even suspect that most of it is muscle because my clothes are fitting the same or maybe even a little looser...the fat girl inside is just whispering otherwise. I haven't really changed my eating either and I still track my food intake 95% of the time.

Any suggestions on how to get over this mental block. I took up running to help my cycling and so that I would have something strenuous to do in the winter when I am not cycling so much.

[OakLeaf]

I'm not usually a big advocate of gadgets - I have them all, I adore them, but I don't think they're a necessity for most people most of the time - but I think maybe a calendar and a watch might do you some good.

It doesn't even have to be anything fancy - just a stopwatch with an alarm. You know you can run for a certain period of time, whatever that is right now. So set your alarm and make yourself run until it goes off. If you have to slow down, slow down, but don't just stop until the alarm says you can.

Same with your calendar. Make a date with yourself for your runs. Since you're following a training plan, pick a time for your workouts and plug them all into your calendar. Think how hurt and disappointed you will be if you stand yourself up for your running date! Lay your clothes out ahead of time. When your alarm goes off, get ready and go for your run.

Does that sound like it might help you?


- Oak, struggling with motivation myself right now



PS - congratulations on your weight loss! That's a HUGE amount. Since you don't appear to be gaining fat at all right now, ignore the scale right now and pay closer attention to how your clothes fit. Admire those new muscles in the mirror! I have no doubt they're beautiful and strong. If you need a number periodically to keep yourself on track, measure your waist once a week and remember that there'll be some variation for the state of your digestion.

[jessmarimba]

Hi!

I might be an exception to the rule, but I just thought I'd throw out a bit of my background to see if it helps.

I hate running. However...I guess you could call me a runner. I've done a marathon, a 20-miler, a couple half marathons, and a 176-mile relay. That being said, running (for me) is beyond miserable until I'm far enough into training that a 45-60 minute run feels "easy." I'm pretty sure its mental for me, too, but unfortunately I haven't figured out why either. The only solution I've found is to run with fun people until I feel comfortable at any particular distance. Makes it much harder to not go if you have a running date, and you have some distraction so you don't concentrate on being miserable. Makes the time and the miles just fly by!

And I will promise you, that weight is muscle. I've spent 3 weeks of not exercising due to a recent injury, and I've lost 6 pounds and all muscle definition...with no visual difference otherwise. I've never been in your situation but I'm sure it's a huge mental challenge to see that scale move and not worry...just do your best to listen to what your body is telling you, not your head.

[Crankin]

Aside from the added pounds=muscle, meaning you shouldn't worry, why don't you walk briskly, instead of running for awhile and do nothing more than ride your bike for fun? Like no speed or mileage expectations. So much of this stuff is in our heads. When I start dreading it, it's time to just relax and have fun. You will still be exercising/moving, though. What about trying something different, like yoga?

[abejita]

Thanks everyone!! I think that all of you hit the nail on the head! I do run with an interval time (which is why I know I only run for a couple of minutes) I just downloaded an app that will time my intervals and announce the beginning, middle and end of the interval. It will play over whatever playlist I choose. That way, I can't look at the clock as easily and I will have music to distract me. I also really don't care for running, but I really like the benefits I get and how much it helps my cycling. I do like the idea of making dates and specific times for my runs, I will try that.

I have just started riding with a group of women on monday nights. I've only gone once...last week it rained so we didn't get to go. It is nice because no one is in a hurry, it is a real casual 20 something mile ride around the lake, chatting the whole way. I also may try to find a running group or at least run with my husband (although he gets up awfully early, LOL!)

I love yoga...hot yoga in particular. lately instead of going to the studio where it is 100 degrees, I've just been doing it in my backyard where it is 100 degrees, LOL!

A couple months ago, I had this same type of mental challenge. I was having a really hard time getting past 30 miles or so on my bike. I finally realized that it was because I wasn't eating enough calories in general and carbs in particular. I decided that I wanted to eat more for performance now than weight loss. Mentally, it was really hard to start eating that many calories since I had been eating around 1200 for the past year. Now, I only let myself have no more than a 500 calorie deficit on any given day. Been doing this for about 3 months now and I feel so much better on our long rides. We are doing our first 60 miles this weekend. We've been doing 50 mile weekend rides for the past couple of weeks. Aiming for 100 by the end of august!

Thanks for the pep talk and suggestions! I am going to get my playlist together and start fresh on monday!

[jessmarimba]

One last warning...watch out for anemia. Distance training in particular can prompt this response in some women, and adding the running to your bike schedule can throw your body for a loop trying to keep up.

Caught me off-guard last year when I moved here and added the altitude on top of my marathon training runs, and it took me a couple months to figure out why I felt so sluggish all the time.

[abejita]

Thanks, I will be sure to watch out for that. My dr has been super supportive of my weight loss and cycling/running. She runs marathons herself and has been of a great help. We have been doing a battery of blood tests every six months to make sure I wasn't getting deficient in anything while i was loosing weight.

[KnottedYet]

One last warning...watch out for anemia. Distance training in particular can prompt this response in some women, and adding the running to your bike schedule can throw your body for a loop trying to keep up.

Oh my goodness! I cannot second this enough!

I was training for a half marathon (and not dieting in ANY way) and things were going great. Then suddenly I didn't want to run, I was crying all the time, incredibly tired, cold, and just miserable. I couldn't believe I was so lazy! I stopped training, I was sleeping during my lunch breaks, I'd have to take a nap before I could cook dinner. It was awful.

Finally (after much prompting from everyone around me) I went to the doc. Turned out I was anemic and my Vit D was extraordinarily low.

Within 2 weeks of starting a program of massive iron and vit D intake, I felt like a new woman! Eventually I was able to taper down my iron, but I still have to take huge amounts of Vit D just to be barely above the "deficient" line.

I would never have dreamed I could possibly be anemic. My diet was already chock full of iron.

[zoom-zoom]

Oh my goodness! I cannot second this enough!

I will third it! During training for one of my marathons (2nd, IIRC) I hit a week where suddenly every run was a task. It was almost like bonking. Horrible.

Someone suggested anemia and pointed me to some articles about anemia and distance running (essentially running causes some degree of blood loss in our feet and our intestines--benign, but it takes iron with it). Bingo. I have been anemic off-and-on all my life, even before I started running. The multi-vit. I was on was unisex and low in iron.

I started taking extra iron and cooking EVERYTHING in a cast iron pan and within 3 weeks was starting to come back around. Now I'm better about taking iron, in a women's multivitamin and sometimes an extra iron supplement, too.

[colby]

A couple months ago, I had this same type of mental challenge. I was having a really hard time getting past 30 miles or so on my bike. I finally realized that it was because I wasn't eating enough calories in general and carbs in particular. I decided that I wanted to eat more for performance now than weight loss. Mentally, it was really hard to start eating that many calories since I had been eating around 1200 for the past year. Now, I only let myself have no more than a 500 calorie deficit on any given day. Been doing this for about 3 months now and I feel so much better on our long rides. We are doing our first 60 miles this weekend. We've been doing 50 mile weekend rides for the past couple of weeks. Aiming for 100 by the end of august!

Disclaimer: I don't mean any of this to sound preachy...

Your body will thank you, and as your muscles and metabolism adapt to your new activities, you will go back to/continue losing/maintaining weight/fat.

Your story echoes mine. In 2005, I was over 200 lbs (220?, somewhere around a size 18-20) and lazy. I felt guilty about not being active, but just couldn't find motivation (my husband fell into the same boat, which didn't help). After watching all the women finish the Danskin triathlon, all of different shapes and sizes, I decided there was NO excuse good enough for me to not exercise, to not do what I just watched those women do with sweat and smiles on their faces, and that weekend I ran my first steps (and trust me, it was very few steps). 5 years later, I have accomplished quite a bit, and lost a lot of weight along the way (12 sizes, 75 lbs, whatever, it has become more about how I see myself/look/feel than the numbers).

About a year ago, I stopped losing and was gaining, despite hours of cycling, running, and swimming each week. My mental block came with eating. I could NOT convince myself to eat 2000 calories a day, even if my deficit was 900 calories/day. This year, I had to focus on two things: eating almost all base calories + exercise calories (as long as I exercised more than 30min/day) and not going more than 3 hours without eating at least 200 calories. It has been mentally VERY difficult. I basically had to shift from "don't eat too many calories" to "eat the right amount of calories." It sounds really subtle and silly, but only by not making eating such a negative thing did I take a vested interest in eating the right calories at the right time, my mental reward came from successfully eating the right number of calories (and other things) not by just not eating too many. Since then I have gone back to losing, BUT recently I entered a period of relative inactivity and the fear came right back, so I've been fighting it a bit and trying to stay positive.

It's so hard to describe that feeling that just one bite could start the slippery slope to gaining all 75 lbs back again - like a recovered alcoholic taking their first drink could send them into a drinking binge. It takes a long time for the mental shift to happen and you to not be a fat/unhealthy person in a healthy person's body (a recovering unhealthy person?). Stick with it. Remember, you're doing this for you, not some number on the scale. Don't think about being skinny, think about being healthy (I think you're doing this ). Think about how far you've come - riding 50 miles is really impressive.

Now, back to running - you will probably have to play mental games with yourself. Don't run the same route, run intervals, run a different pace each day, take some walk breaks, at least get the minutes/miles in (depending on your plan) and let your running come back even if you have to walk or walk/run most of it.

And, I look forward to reading your century ride report.

[abejita]

Colby, thanks for sharing your experience with me. That is exactly what I went through a couple months ago when i shifted from eating to loose to eating to perform. I really think that I have the eating part down though. I really am following a lot of the advice in Nancy Clark's endurance athlete books. It is hard some days to eat back the 2000 calories or so on top of my base calories on the days that I ride. But I've been doing good. We have also totally changed our eating habits (hubs also took up cycling and returned to running and lost about 30lb) We eat next to no processed food, I make everything from scratch...all whole organic foods. We feel so much better. I have also found that I do best eating every couple of hours normally. Also, any ride over an hour I bring food and eat a little every 30 min or so. I do best that way.

I really have no interest in being skinny. I want to be strong and lean. I have a bmi of 23 right now...I would like to be about 20, but at this point, I am in no hurry to get there. I do want to eat enough so the my cycling is enjoyable. I am estimating I have another 15 or so lbs to go, but I really don't know because this is the smallest I've ever been in my life.

I am really glad you posted. It is nice to know that I am the only one that has those feelings about food. I was about 120 in college, but I was wearing a larger size than I am now at 139.

[colby]

I am really glad you posted. It is nice to know that I am the only one that has those feelings about food. I was about 120 in college, but I was wearing a larger size than I am now at 139.

Me too. It sounds like you're doing a lot right - good on you.

[Crankin]

There is a real and definite progression when someone goes through the stages of change... what you are describing is totally NORMAL. And yes, it applies to recovering alcoholics, dieters, drug users, exercisers, etc. Anyone making lifestyle or health changes.
"Your head messing with you" is the major reason why people give up when they relapse, which by the way, is part of the cycle of change. It's also the reason why people don't listen to their doctor or comply with medication routines, even though they know there might be life threatening consequences.
You've achieved a great amount already. Be kind to yourself.

[Bike Chick]

I must've quit smoking 5 or 6 times before I finally became a non-smoker. Crankin's right about the progression of a life change. It's a mental thing and whether it's food, alcohol, or cigarettes, it's tough and few people can do it overnight. Hang in there and try not to listen to the negative self-talk. Man, I hate that little person inside my head. You know, the one that tells me it won't hurt to eat those cookies, french fries, or buy a pack of cigarettes when you've gone 3 weeks without one!

abejita, it always helps me to find an event to train for. That alone is motivation to go run when I don't feel like it. I find an event, pay my money, then put the training schedule on the refrigerator and follow it.

Good luck!

[abejita]

Just got back from our 60 mile ride. It was so hot...I was trying not to look at the bank temp on the way home when it was yelling that it was 106, LOL!

Hubs and I are training for the hotter'n hell 100 at the end of august. i also seemed to have gotten roped into to signing up for the Dallas half marathon in November, although I am sure there will be a lot of walking involved.

You ladies are so awesome! Made me feel a world better about everything!