Angie_HFX asked me about how I transitioned to running

After I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes I knew that I had to loose weight. According to my BMI I should have an index <25. Making me well over 100 lbs. overweight. I figure when I started I was 305 – 310 lbs. The choice was die before 60 or clean up my act.

I knew I had to make changes, but the first appointment with the Diabetic support staff was 3 months away. The doctor said buy a monitor and take readings and change the way you eat and exercise. Well easier said then done, this is a common issue with a lot of diabetics, the doctor tells you to change your life and you have no clue how to do that. According to a Nurse who works at the 2 hospitals here in Halifax it’s a 6 month to 1 year weight to get in to the program.

For me I am lucky my partner, Aingeal is a Liberian with a thirst for knowledge and went to the library and picked up just about every book there was on Diabetes and we began reading. Knowing I had to diet I went to the American Diabetes site and picked up there 1600 calorie diet and started eating healthy. Believe me its not easy going from 3000 calories down to 1600 Calories, but I did find once you start to eat properly you do feel full.

But the focus here for Angie is exercise and how I transitioned to running. My first exercise was a recumbent Bike that my partner had. I started sitting down every day about 1 hour after dinner and starting pedaling. It was not easy I started at 10 minutes, slowly working my way up 1 minute at a time to 40 minutes. Basically I got healthy watching 5 seasons of Babylon 5 on DVD.

I know also that 1 – 2 hours after you eat the sugars rise in your blood stream, being glucose intolerant you want to make sure there is a demand for those sugars. So during my breaks instead of eating 2 bagels and my coffee, I went out for a 15 minute walk. I did this Morning, Lunch and afternoon break, when I started it took 15 minutes to do 1km. But after a while it was down to 10 minutes.

This allowed me to do 1K in the morning, 2K at lunch time and another 1K at afternoon break. All the while doing the bike thing, my exercise was at least 1 hour per day. The Canadian Diabetic Association recommends 150 – 180 per week of exercise. As you can see I did much better then that.

Also I never really thought about the weight loss in terms of diet. For me it was only healthy eating and living. I still maintain to this day there is no such thing as diet only healthy eating. But you have to be committed as it does cost more to eat healthy. I read recently that this is a major problem in preventing diabetes is the cost of eating correctly.

Once I started loosing a bit of weight and feeling better, I wanted to jog. Jogging is really running, just maybe a slower pace. The first time out I ran 10 minutes, at that time I was up to 40 minutes on the bike, so I started cutting back the bike and started running. So I might do 10 minutes of jogging and 30 minutes on the bike. I was still doing the walking during my breaks.
I added no more then 10% to my running so it took a long while to build up to that 40 minutes of running a day. My kids teased me that my jogging was so slow they could walk faster then me, but I did not care the fact was that each week I was loosing 1 – 2 lbs. All this took 8 months. It was not an overnight change, it took 8 months to get to a point were I wanted to train for something more.

In that period we had moved to Halifax, and a co-worker mentioned that as part of the Bluenose International Marathon there was a 10K run. Having run 10K in my early twenties I figured I could run 10K. So in February/March 2006 I started training for my first 10K in 25 years. Believe me it was tough, that first time I ran 10K it took 90 minutes.

Then I discovered the Running Room and started training with them on the weekends. And my 90 minute 10K went down into the 70’s. I was hoping to break 70 minutes for the Bluenose. My Chip time was 57:43 seconds. I exceeded my goal by 13 minutes. Got a medal for my efforts and was ecstatic.

Of course being a foolish sole I thought 10K, if I can do that I can run a ½ marathon. So I paid for a clinic at the Running Room, which I recommend to anybody starting out. They have some learn to run clinics that are great to get you started. This program teaches you various aspects of running, as well as getting you out on the road running with John Stanton’s 10 week startup program. This program slowly works you up to 10 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking.

I followed the ½ marathon training program for the time goal of finishing in 2h:30m. It was 18 week programs that lead me up to the PEI International Marathon in which I did the ½ Marathon. My time for the race was 2:06:37 which was a great time and was well below my goal time. This year it’s the step up, the full marathon at the Bluenose. Again I am following John Stanton’s 4:30 program.

Running is 10% sweat and 90% mental, once you decide that you want to run, just go out and run. Fast or slow, as long as you put on the running shoes put one foot in front of the other you are a runner. Buy yourself a good pair of running shoes, don’t skimp, they are expensive expect to pay 150$ but well worth it. Also get some comfortable running clothes, make sure they are stylish too. Because when folks tease you about your pace, you can say “Yes I am slow, But Do I look Good or What”.

The secret of running is not he pace but how good you look at the finish. Start out slowly take your time; build your running up 1 minute at a time. Head over to the nearest Running room buy John’s book, sign up for the clinic and most importantly HAVE FUN.

Harry