Hi Guys! I’ve been lurking for a while and now wish to step forward and say ‘Hello!’
I am a woman, 44 years old, based in SE England and spend much of my time on the road working as Tour Manager for various theatre companies. About eight years ago I realised that my weight had climbed from the 125lbs I’d been for years, up to 150lbs. Not a huge increase but one that I was and still am uncomfortable with. (I’m 5’4).
About the only thing you can do with any regularity when you live out of a suitcase is jog.... so I started jogging. It has been a long old slog progressing from jog/walk to slow plod to ‘oooh, I’m going a little faster today!’ And I’ve had to go back to jog/walking so many times it’s not funny. But, to my own surprise, I kept on keeping on and now FINALLY, I’m really starting to feel like a runner. I’ve done three 5km races in the last three years and this year have signed up for a 10 miler. (Actually, when I signed up I thought it was 10 km.... 
... LOL but hey, who cares, I’ll do it anyway!)
My weight hasn’t changed much at all - I’m now at 143lbs. Body fat is at 32%, and still too high. It’s so hard to eat healthily when you can’t cook for yourself and have only very basic access to cold storage and food preparation. But I do what I can. I look around at my younger colleagues who live on pizza and burgers and feel sorry for them, knowing that they are going to have problems in future if they don’t make an effort now. They look at Me and marvel at the effort I make - not realizing that, in my mind, there isn’t really a choice!
But despite the small weight loss, my shape has changed alot and my fitness, obviously, is much better. I also now relish getting up early and going for a run, especially in a new city when I can seek out the parks and rivers, or go running along the seafront. As the runs get longer in prep for the 10 milers, I’ve actually started getting chafe marks! Hurrah! Now I’m a REAL runner…
This summer I’m really going for it, trying to get my bodyfat down (going to Australia in September and want to be happy wearing skimpy clothing). Scot’s podcasts are great for listening to on the bus. I’ve created a ‘default’ workout for the days I can’t find a gym or the time to go to one, a circuit of pushups, dips, crunches, lunges etc, and also like the idea of the ‘default’ shopping list for when I stand in the supermarket looking at endless rows of microwave dinners.
Apart from MTM, another place I’ve found inspiration is on a podcast from enduranceradio.com. It produces interviews with runners, triathletes, adventure racers etc but not just elite althletes - some of the people he interviews are ordinary people. There are a couple on the site which some of you might want to check out. The one I heard yesterday was a woman who was in her late thirties and who weighed a couple of hundred pounds and who could only run three steps to start with. Then she ran four, then ten and now she does triathlons. Slowly, but she does them! The second interview is a woman who, in her fifties and similarly overweight, started to exercise and who is now contemplating a full Ironman… Who would not be inspired?
http://www.enduranceradio.com
podcasts for April 5th and April 14h
Anyway, that’s enough rambling. I will continue to enjoy your podcast, Scot, and I look forward to meeting all of you nice people online!
Best wishes
Gecko
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