Michael & Liz are Bloggable

When I started this vegan diet, one of my main goals was to get faster at running. It only makes sense: 1. you drop weight 2. your legs don't have to carry as much 3. you get faster. The logic is there, but for some reason in my weight loss I haven't necessarily gotten faster, and I've realized why.

So it's been 45 days since I started "eating healthier", and it has been exactly 32 days since I went completely vegan. In those 45 days I have now lost roughly 25 pounds and am feeling more fit and healthier than any time in my life. In fact, I wrote a post a couple summers ago about how I had dropped to my lowest weight since high school. At this point I am now below that point, and I could not be more thrilled about it. I am close to achieving my weight loss goals.

What I have learned though is that running is much more than a formula. There are no shortcuts. Losing weight will not make you faster just like gaining weight will not make you stronger. I absolutely feel lighter on my feet. I can feel the difference between now and what I felt like 2 months ago to run, but I am a long way from where I want to be in achieving my running goals.

Losing the weight was certainly step 1 and I still have about 5 or 6 more pounds to go in this step. Step 2 is to maintain it while I train my butt off trying to get faster. Like I said though, there is no formula. I can lose all the weight I want to, but putting in the miles is the only way to improve. I think training not only trains your legs to get stronger to handle a lot of miles, but more importantly it trains your mind to realize that you are fine, you can keep going, you can go faster.

The other thing that losing weight does not do, is train your heart. Now that I have a Garmin watch, I am able to get real-time updates on my heart rate. What anyone who runs with a heart rate monitor will realize is that as you get in better shape, your heart rate begins to adjust just like your legs do. What I aim for is to never go above 160 beats per minute while running unless I am nearing the finish. Back in early January that meant I couldn't go faster than 9 minutes per mile. As I get faster and stronger, 160 bpm will start to mean I can't run faster than 8:30, then 8, then 7:30, and so on. So your heart needs to be trained just as much as your legs do. Losing weight certainly encourages a lower heart rate, but ultimately it's your training that will make your heart stronger and more durable in distance runs.

To get faster, your legs, heart, and mind all have to get stronger and be in sync. To me, that has little to do with your weight.

Just a quick update about my sports hernia. I decided, ironically the day before I started losing weight, that I would push through this injury without getting surgery. So far that decision has been the best one. I knew that it would eventually heal, but it almost feels like it has disappeared completely. The 2 things I could not do without pain was kick a ball and sprint. Sprinting appears to have been resolved. Last week I ran 8 miles with a friend and I sprinted at the end without an ounce of pain. In fact it wasn't until a few hours after I sprinted that I realized "holy crap, I just sprinted today without any issues!!!" I still have yet to kick a ball but I imagine that pain has at least gone down. I doubt I could do it pain-free though.

I say "almost disappeared", because occasionally I feel achy in the area that was injured, but that's about it. I can't really explain why it has gone away though, maybe it's the weight loss? Recently, within the last week, I have started doing exercises to strengthen my pelvic area, but prior to that I have shied away from inflaming the area.

I am thankful though, because late Fall was a depressing time for me, athletically. I felt helpless and giving up sports was something I was unwilling to do. It's in stark contrast to how I feel now. I am now more hopeful than ever. I am confident that 2012 is going to be one heck of a year for both me, Liz, and our expanding family!!