03-06-2024, 05:16 PM
I'll be 42 years old at the end of the month. The way my own body works has changed with time.
The most active period of my life was between 2007 and 2017. Getting into my top condition was a lot of hard work, and once I got there it felt like it was relatively easier to maintain it. While I was never one of those razor thin guys with almost no body fat, there were points where I could (and needed to) eat everything in site. I would keep a box of Cliff Bars in my bedroom because my aching stomach would sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night like a baby! lol. At the same time, during those years, I also put a lot of effort into eating healthier (at least between races and periods of heavy training) in order to maximize my performance.
These days, now several years removed from serious training, time has caught up to me somewhat. That huge appetite you get from hard training never goes away, so its always a struggle to not overeat. Its also finally become a bit harder to shed the pounds (especially around the gut) once an effort to train is made.
That said, I think my biggest problem in recent years is psychological. I was incredibly fit for at least a decade in my 20's and 30's. During that time I felt incredibly driven to run long and hard, and embraced the physical and mental challenge of it all. Since then, I never stopped thinking about running, and imagining that I'd get back to where I was... and yet somehow I struggle to find the long term drive to make it happen.
I've struggled with depression and anxiety for my entire life. Those peak running years, however, were the happiest and most carefree of my life. They always talk about endorphins... but for me it took a lot of running to get to the point where they became transformative. And of course the more fit I became.. the more running it took to feel the same effect.
The most active period of my life was between 2007 and 2017. Getting into my top condition was a lot of hard work, and once I got there it felt like it was relatively easier to maintain it. While I was never one of those razor thin guys with almost no body fat, there were points where I could (and needed to) eat everything in site. I would keep a box of Cliff Bars in my bedroom because my aching stomach would sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night like a baby! lol. At the same time, during those years, I also put a lot of effort into eating healthier (at least between races and periods of heavy training) in order to maximize my performance.
These days, now several years removed from serious training, time has caught up to me somewhat. That huge appetite you get from hard training never goes away, so its always a struggle to not overeat. Its also finally become a bit harder to shed the pounds (especially around the gut) once an effort to train is made.
That said, I think my biggest problem in recent years is psychological. I was incredibly fit for at least a decade in my 20's and 30's. During that time I felt incredibly driven to run long and hard, and embraced the physical and mental challenge of it all. Since then, I never stopped thinking about running, and imagining that I'd get back to where I was... and yet somehow I struggle to find the long term drive to make it happen.
I've struggled with depression and anxiety for my entire life. Those peak running years, however, were the happiest and most carefree of my life. They always talk about endorphins... but for me it took a lot of running to get to the point where they became transformative. And of course the more fit I became.. the more running it took to feel the same effect.