Minimal Training
I registered to Around The Bay on January 29th 2023. It’s the oldest road race in the continent and it’s in my hometown. I planned to cut 40lbs since I was pushing 183lbs, run everyday, hit the weights, swim, cycle, eat as clean as possible, continue studying, and keep working hard at work. Only some of those tasks were done. I went on keto and lost 20lbs. I continued going to work, obviously. I studied for school, obviously. I did not run. I make no sense. I did less than 12 runs leading up to the race. I was frightened. I fear DNF (did not finish). It’s forever on those websites. If I die, my failure will live on.
Keto and running
There is no science in this and this is pure anecdotal. I did keto on February and March. I lost weight and pants size. The last week before the race I ate carbs. I’m talking about the bad carbs. I was eating pizza, McDonald’s, Harvey’s, and anything fast food related. The bad stuff that requires popping tums after eating boatloads of it. I felt like crap but I strongly believe that endurance sports require carbs (even if it’s bad) or you’ll have a bad time. I believe you can do keto but your results will not be the best. Carbs are needed. During the race, I did not drink or eat. I literally had two sips of some electrolyte drink. I cramped but my breathing technique removed the pain and it went away quickly. I didn’t feel fatigue but my calves gave out and the pain was horrible. The pain occurred during the last 4km when I attempted to run faster up the hill. A bad move on my part.
I had this horrible calve pain, probably from those devilish hills and me going too hard on them. This happened in the area where the majority of people watch you, close to the finish line. It was the walk of shame for me. I had to walk and run. I felt embarrassed. Although I finished the race, I could have trained more, got a better time, and not have to do the walk of shame. I finished it but I knew I could have done much better.
What next?
I’m still proud that I did this and to be honest, I feel blessed that I can do this with minimal training and get pretty good results. I finished the race in 3 hours and 2 minutes. While I was doing the walk of shame, I realized how I practically did a good time with minimal training. I was able to walk and still do well. I felt like the kid in class who never studied and still got high marks. I’m like that in the fitness category. If I tried, I think I would have done it very quickly. In high school I was asked to join the track team because I placed high in track and field. Obviously I didn’t join the team because I was insecure and being involved with the school was something I was very against. Anime and video games was my true love back in the day, a stigmatized thing for teenagers in my era. I keep looking back at how fast I was and I should really focus on running again since I know I’m very good at it.
I’ve decided to focus on running this year and this might have been the ignition to start it. Marathons and ultra marathons have been on my mind a lot. Maybe I will do one marathon every month. What do you think?