I Need Either A Bigger Engine, Or A Smaller Body.

I Want To Be This.........





But I Feel Like This!



Of all the things I could do to, increase my stamina, race better and run stronger, it is my weight that probably matters the most. I have a cumbersome spare tire and a lot of bouncing flab.....it causes not only fatigue but also chaffing. Since there is no way to buy a bigger engine and searching the internet has not produced an add on human turbo charger, I suppose I will opt for a smaller body.

I have been pretty level as far as weight for the last 4 or 5 years. Only fluctuating 6-8 pounds through winter and summer, but still at least 10 pounds heavier than I should be. I want to lose the extra....what I refere to as my "Wide Load"

In the construction industry we need to obtain a special permit to travel the roads with a wide or oversized load. That is how I feel with my running. Since I can't secure a special permit to allow me a "handicap"(thanks Jeff for putting that word in my head) when running, I must find a way to trim the excess unneeded pounds.

I was down to Florida a couple years ago running without my shirt on and a car full of girls drove by. One had her head out the window and yelled...."euwww, put your shirt on!" They were all laughing.....but I wasn't.

Now, don't get me wrong and don't get A mental picture of a beach ball waddling down the side walk, knocking over innocent pedestrians and blocking traffic. I am not really overweight by todays standards and at work I am actually considered a skinny guy, but for running efficiency I am hurting.

It's funny how relevant things are ....it all depends on what you are comparing to. So, compared to the average fast and efficient runner, I am out of shape and no matter how much hard work I put into my training, I will not reach my maximum potential until I find a way to trim up and shed at least 10 pounds.

I say all this merely minutes after devouring a nice french toast breakfast sprinkled with cinnamon, lathered in butter and saturated in maple syrup (what's wrong with this picture?) Of course I threw it away and ate a peach instead.....YEA......Right!

Now that I have decided to sideline my racing goals and concentrate on my running, I am determined to solve my weight issues......I have all winter to transform into a lean runner that can run shirtless without causing the passerbyers a puke fest.

In my training I feel that if I lose the weight, everything else with automatically fall into place. I know this to be true because I looked back at my history and found that most of my fast PRs were in 2003 (my second year of running) and looking at my success at the time I noticed that I was quite a bit lighter .... about 10 pounds to be exact......Hmmmnnn...that number does sound familiar.



I have been running the roads quite a bit in the last week and I suddenly realized how much harder the surface feels and how the body fatigues much quicker than on trails. I was thinking about ways we could soften up road running when I came across this photo (below).....wow..that would work and it qualifies for the new "green" movement. We could go green ...literally!







Ok, I suppose I have to leave room for my running stats....

10/13/09
Tuesday
I ran 2.5 miles with Mrs. Pathfinder as a warmup and then strolled off for a faster paced workout.

2.5 miles @27:52 (11:08pace)
didn't get splits
4.4 miles @36:01 (8:12 pace)
Splits:
8:14....146-157
8:34....155-159 (hill)
8:32....151-155 (hill)
8:22....153-160
7:55....156-159 (kick@7:11p)
1/2 mile cooldown.

10/14/09
Wednesday

Another run with the Mrs.
2.5 @28:39 (11:27 pace)
1/2 mile cooldown walk.

I was going to bang out a faster run after but something came up and it didn't happen.