A New Beginning?

It has been a while but I'm back. I'd like to tell you that since my last blog entry I've been eating well, exercising lots and maintaining a high level of health and personal wellbeing. Inevitably I've not been doing any of the above and so I'm back here today in worse shape than when you last heard from me. 

If I had been in denial about weight gain to this point, there can be no hiding place today. This evening I had my first trouser splitting experience for the best part of two years. Now while it is better to find yourself outgrowing a 36" pair rather than a 42" pair as happened in December 2012 shortly before I started writing Year Of The Diet, it is rather disappointing that I'm doing it at all. I had hoped these days were behind me, but in the six months since I finished the Dorney Lake Half Marathon, standards have slipped.

It hasn't been a rapid decline. I've not expanded at the rate of knots and this evening I weigh in less than I did as a 28 year old on my wedding day. But I have crept up above 15st, while my fitness levels have nosedived. I'm less than 4 weeks away from my second half marathon, and on current form Ray Rice has more chance of winning NFL Man of the Year than I have of recording a sub 2hr time. Time isn't everything, but having managed to get round the course in just over 2 hours on one knee back in March, I had hoped to improve. A bit extra lumbar and significantly less training has rather put paid to that.

Physically I'm not at my peak, but the biggest barrier right now is a mental one. My motivation levels simply aren't where they used to be, and despite attempts to get back into the weightloss/exercise groove, I've not been able to make anything stick. A few good days here have been followed by a few bad days there, while my efforts at resurrecting a running career has spluttered in intermittent patches. 

I would be lying if I were to write with any certainty that this blog represents a turning point, but I very much hope that it does. I'm definitely not daft enough to think that I can reverse 6 months of inactivity in a 4 week period, but what I can do is take small measures of control which will help to arrest the decline and put me in a better place to tackle the Royal Parks Half.

Firstly, I've vowed not to have any alcohol until after the race. I decided this at the start of last week and have gone a week without a beer. It doesn't sound much but 5 weeks without booze will provide a useful detox, which will hopefully allow for me to upscale my physical training. Secondly, I'm taking bread of my menu. If this all sounds a bit deja vu it is probably because I've done this before, and it works. Salads for lunches. Cereals for breakfasts. Toast is the devil and sandwiches their evil cousin. A few weeks without won't hurt me, and may go some way to alleviating further trousers embarrassment.

There is a mere 26 days until I'm supposed to run 13.1 miles. Time for me to end a cycle of negativity and prove to myself what can be achieved with a little self belief.