Time to get Motivated! My First Run in a While, My Goals and my idea for a Steemit Running/Fitness Club.

I think I need a bit of a kick in the pants, I've recently lost about 20 lbs and shared the story here but want to keep it off and get back into better shape and health.

I used to be pretty proud of my physique and used to look like this and take photos like this. (You needed them for your internet dating profile! lol.)

These days even with the 20lb weight loss I'm still looking like this these days.

Still sporting a bit of a dad bod, but at least I don't have a fat face like I used to here.

For years I was much more active and used to be an avid runner, I really enjoyed running and it can really have so many more positive benefits than just physical health. I find it relaxing and very good for my mental health, it's a great chance to just be in my head. My wife used to routinely send me "out for a run" when I was having one of my moments. One of my friends @shellyduncan made a great post about the very feeling here that gave me the idea to share this post and I also noticed that there is an active #running tag with a lot of people sharing their training stories as well.

I have always wanted to run a marathon and it's one of those bucket list things, that I've been putting off. So now it's time to make the commitment and announce to the world that I am going to do it and set a goal of running the in the Sudbury Rocks Marathon next May. That's the only marathon here in town and it's held every year on Mothers Day.

I'm going to start sharing a bit of my training and progress and hope that everyone here can help kick me in the ass and help motivate me. I know everyone is motivated in different way but for me, I have always found it best when I had people expecting me to do something or counting on me. When I had an actual training partner I never missed a gym day or run and always pushed myself the hardest.

(image from https://42krunning.com )

This is where my Running Club or Fitness Club comes in. I know a lot of my friends here are regularly engaged in some sort of workout routine. Some are starting onto some weight loss goals as well. I think it would be great if we could all set goals and help follow each others progress and motivate each other. I'm sure a lot of you have even ran and trained for marathons and have some advice to share. I'm great at pulling up my socks and losing weight for a few months and would be happy to share what has worked for me with everyone else. I don't think we need any sort of official tag, just follow each other and check it and throw some support for there posts.

Anyways I did go out from a run a few days ago after work and I hope to head out tomorrow morning as well. I hate running in the mid day as I have terrible heat intolerance. If I can get up early enough that is my favorite time to go. For years I also ran all winter long, we have a very well maintained park here next to work and most of the shoulders on the road ways are clear enough to run perfectly.

My usual run is about 5-6km and I think my best pace ever was 5:11min/km. I really want to be able to break that 5min/km barrier and has always been one of the goals in my head, but now I'm also putting it out for real.

I was happy with this run from the other day. I was able to finish with a 6min/km pace, and jogged the entire time. It's been about a month since I ran and even then it was only maybe a couple times/month recently. I usually always just run steady state and I know all the buzz recently is about high-intensity intervals, but I'm also doing this for relaxation so I'll likely continue with a mostly steady state approach.

When I started running years ago it was after years of believing I couldn't run and telling myself I just wasn't built for it. I started with running/walking 1-2min intervals, up to running the first 1-2km then intervals and it was within a couple months before I could run an entire 5km. Just wanted to drop this in there to let everyone know that they can do it too if they give it a try.

I hope to see some other running and fitness stories and hopefully we can help to keep each other motivated and achieve our goals. Just another way steemit can make all our lives better.

Banner by @bearone