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Mark S.
Mark S. Sendmail

A little about Mark S.

posted over 2 years ago | Report

I started running in graduate school as a non-academic distraction and goal. After my first marathon, I promptly stopped running and slowly gained weight. I’m a consultant, and my job has me traveling a lot. Eating on airplanes and in hotels is generally not conducive to good health, and I got back into running to help offset that.

I tell myself that I try to do a marathon or half marathon every other year, but I actually get lazy and stop running after reaching a goal.

I’m trying to get this more as a very natural part of my life rather than an “I must do this to achieve a goal” part of my life. When I’m training, running is very central to my day, but when not training, it is too easy to just let it slide.

So, with the new year, I’m starting up again. I’ve talked to friends about doing a marathon in Dallas in December, giving me a whole year to get ready. I hope to do a few smaller races along the way. In Houston, if you do not get in shape in the spring, trying to run in the summer is brutal. So, I’m starting at the right time.

I’m not a fast runner. When training for a marathon, I typically shoot at 10 minute miles. For shorter races, I can get down to 8:30 miles. I’m not going to be winning any races, but it does feel good to run.

Selfishly, I thought a little online motivation wouldn’t be a bad thing.

I like to share (and sometimes overshare), so you may have to put up with some ramblings from me as part of the group.

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7 posts

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  • Jordan T.
    Jordan T. Sendmail

    Thanks for sharing and thanks so much for starting this for all of us.

    Let me start out by saying that I hate to exercise. To me exercising is taking away precious time I could be reading...or watching Food Network. It's also uncomfortable and sweaty, and I hate to sweat.

    But I've reached a crossroad in my life. I'm unemployed, living with my parents and am dealing with depression and sleep apnea. When I lost my job, I was at the highest weight I've ever been (technically, I am obese). Moving back with my parents meant a big change in lifestyle. My parents promised me all the support they could give, emotionally and financially, but I had to lose weight. I knew that I had to do something different, so here I am.

    I'm not a runner. I sincerely doubt I will ever be a runner, but I can walk. So walk is what I do. I know myself; I know that I have to wake up before 8 and put on my clothes and get outside, or else I will find excuses to not work out. I'm like the post office; through rain or sleet or snow or shine, I have to get out there and take a walk. Because it does help. Not only have I lost a little weight, I do sleep better and it does help with my depression a bit.

    So I guess my ultimate goal is to no only lose weight, but to also make walking such a part of my routine that it becomes automatic, and not something I have to force myself to do every day.

    posted over 2 years ago | Report

  • User_avatar Deleted User

    I honestly used to dislike running. I started because walking wasn't doing it for me anymore, and I really didn't like being on a machine in a gym.

    I still don't love it, but I like the way I feel afterwards. And I like the fact that I can do stuff like play soccer with my son and not feel winded afterwards.

    Also, in the last few years I've started suffering from severe PMS. While I have other treatments for it, nothing takes the edge of my anxiety and my irriability like a really hard run. So when I have PMS, I try to run at least once a day, sometimes twice.

    I see people with, like, zero body fat out there just sprinting up hills and running forever. That's not going to be me, but I do like that I can do a few miles and not feel like dying afterwards.

    Oh, and I'm almost 40 and probably in the best shape of my life. :) That's also why I do it.

    posted over 2 years ago | Report

  • Mark S.
    Mark S. Sendmail

    Walking burns just about as many calories as running, it just takes a little longer to get there. Moving your body three miles requires a certain amount of calories, no matter if you are running or walking.

    I'm a sleep apnea person too, and it was very bad when I was at my heaviest. It gets better and better as my weight goes down. When I'm exercising regularly, I sleep better, I eat better, get along better with the people in my life, and I just feel better.

    posted over 2 years ago | Report

  • Mark S.
    Mark S. Sendmail

    There are lots and lots of folks who sprint past me like I'm standing still. The mom pushing a stroller with two kids running past me hurts my ego a bit, but then I get over it, and I'm just impressed with her.

    I'm 41, and I'm not in the best shape of my life, but I have a goal this year to get back into running well enough to set some personal best times.

    This is interesting. I've not told that to anyone other than you folks here.

    I have never tried to run fast, and my personal best times are not all that impressive, so this year I'm going to give it a shot.

    My first marathon was in 1992 and I was 24 years old. I'm planning on running that same marathon in December and beating my time.

    posted over 2 years ago | Report

  • Danelle
    Danelle Sendmail

    Ok, a bit about me. I'm a 25 year old Archivist ( Aka: I like me some old papers), with depression, and hypothyroidism. Last year, due to a wonderful combination of those two medical issues, I gained something like 20lbs in under 6 months.

    So, I went to the gym. And then I learned to run without causing my knee to flare up (old Lacrosse injury from high school), and have been running since about September with a break in December while I recovered from gallbladder surgery. During that time, I also picked up belly dance. I haven't lost any weight (hilariously), but I am getting a bit slimmer, so I figure if I can just be toned, I'm ok with the number on the scale.

    I have pretty severe depression at times, so my goals tend to be more along the lines of "See the inside of the gym three times a week and get my butt to dance class."

    posted over 2 years ago | Report

  • User_avatar Deleted User
    in reply to what Danelle said:Ok, a bit about me. I'm a 25 year old Archivist ( Aka: I like me some old papers), with depression, and hypothyroidism. Last year, due to a wonderful combination of those two medical issues, I gained something like 20lbs in under 6 months. ... read more

    What do you do for your knees? I used to have knee problems, too. I've found that stretching really helps. I was going to start a thread on stretching to see if anyone had any good stretches they use for particular injuries/issues.

    I'd also be interested to know if you think the exercise helps your depression at all. I get a huge mood booster from a hard run, but I find that I really need to get my heart rate up there in order to get that benefit. And it's temporary, unfortunately, so if I'm under a lot of stress I need to run every day to keep it together.

    I'm glad you are getting better from your surgery. I have times where work/illness keep me from working out, but I have found that it's easier to get back into shape than I thought it would.

    posted over 2 years ago | Report

  • Danelle
    Danelle Sendmail
    in reply to what said:What do you do for your knees? I used to have knee problems, too. I've found that stretching really helps. I was going to start a thread on stretching to see if anyone had any good stretches they use for particular injuries/issues. I'd also ... read more

    I have been trying Chi Running. I read about it on the internet and figured it couldn't hurt to try, and it does seem to work. It's an emphasis on form first. I don't think I've run quite as well since high school.

    Regarding depression, yes and no. If I am already in a funk, running will do very little (eg. today), but if I do it the consistently, it seems to stave off the worst of the it. It's really just one tool, and is kinda useless without medication, healthy food, and a supportive environment.

    I am, thank you. It's really pretty amazing, since I was in decent shape before, healing has been fairly easy. It was really horribly frustrating to not be able to do whatever I wished.

    posted over 2 years ago | Report

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