Once A Runner…

Something Just Has to Give

My participation in NaNoWriMo this year is totally in the toilet. I’m not going to complete my NaNovel and I’m not feeling too broken up over it either. Something’s gotta give, and it’s just gonna have to be NaNoWriMo… ‘cuz it ain’t gonna be the training, more rest, and better diet now that I feel I’m settled into that pretty well now.

I made a joke about burning the candle at both ends, trying to maintain the new fitness regimen and diet while simultaneously doing NaNo, but that’s just not realistic for me. The late-night word-count chasing fueled by handfuls of high energy snacks and copious quantities of caffeinated beverages simply won’t work.

I can’t get up every morning at the crack of dawn to walk for half an hour, lift on a regular schedule, or hope to maintain my weight loss progress on the kind of days I normally put in during NaNoWriMo. I have to prioritize regular exercise, good nutrition, and adequate rest — and doing NaNo the way I do NaNo pretty much throws all three of those right out the window.

Instead, I’m trying to decide how I’m going to fit in a few two-a-day workouts starting really soon, within the next week or so. The objective being to move forward more rapidly through the winter months by adding another session a couple afternoons per week when it’s usually a little warmer than it will be at the time when I wake and go out to walk. And, of course, I will be banking on that little bit of extra work to help with a foundation that will let me shift into the Spring more smoothly and, hopefully, running more than walking by then.

So, for now I think I’ll keep up the daily early morning half-hour walks, with a long one on Saturdays and keep my make-up day on Sundays. I’ll stick to the strength training workouts three days a week: normally on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings unless something forces me to adjust. That’s no sweat since that’s my current regimen.

To that mix I’ll be adding some sort of a Walk-Run program, probably only twice a week to start, so Tuesday and Thursday initially. The winter weather in Northeastern Georgia can be brutal (by Southern standards) but the late afternoons can be far more pleasant for running than mornings. (Not always, but on average, yes.)

Then I’ll see where things go from there. Even without the addition of the early, slow running, I could conceivably reach my recommended “healthy” weight of 173 pounds by a week or so prior to my birthday — and then be able to stop calling myself overweight. Building up to and eventually being able to add in some light, easy jogging might help to hasten that day, which I think would be a nice birthday present to myself.