Starting Running After 16 Years Of Abusing.

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DaydreamJay

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Hi Forum,

My first post here, I don't know any of you but I hope to become aquainted over the next few weeks/months.

My name is Jay - I am from the UK and basically I am taking up running in order to save my life.

From being as young as I can remember I was always physically active, I used to run everywhere as a kid, I used to run to school everyday from being 12 and I used to run a fast mile every lunchtime at school while all the other kids were just hanging out. I also played a lot of badminton, rugby and soccer right up to the age of about 20.

That was when I discovered alcohol and socialising. I am 36 now and for the last 16 years I have abused my body, I drink 120+ units of alcohol per week, eat a high fat diet and also don't exercise. I weigh 17stones (238 pounds,) and at only 6 feet tall that means I am overweight by about 3 stone.

Oh, did I mention that I also smoked for ten years?

So anyway it came to my realisation that I was heading for an early grave if I carried on that way I was doing. In fact it is quite probable that I have already damaged my body quite badly. The good news is I have managed to stop smoking, the bad news is I still drink a lot and eat bad foods.

Two weeks ago I bought a treadmill in an effort to kickstart myself onto a health regime. I hadn't done any exercise of any sort apart from a couple of games of soccer in the last 16 years so getting my training shoes on and getting on the treadmill was a little scary!

I didn't know what to set the treadmill on so I thought I would try running a mile like I used to do all the time when I was a teenager.... well I think I managed to get to about half a mile running at the incredibly slow pace of around 7mph before I felt like I was going to pass out. My heart was leaping out of my chest and I felt like I was about to cough up blood - I had to stop.

I nearly quit right there - almost sending the treadmill back to the store pretending that it was faulty but for once in my life I felt determined to follow this fitness regime through because deep down I thought that if I didn't I might not reach 40.

Over the next few days I managed to actually get to running a full mile - the first time I did it I clocked it at 8:05. I had mixed feelings - firstly I was elated to have run a mile and then I was disappointed because when I was 17 I could run a mile in 5 minutes.

Over the last 10 days I have gone faster and faster and now my mile is 7:16 which I ran today. When I finished I simply collapsed on the bed and all my insides were on fire. After about 5 minutes though I just had this radiant glow through my whole body, something that I had forgotten about and had not had for nearly two decades - that feeling of exhaustion but satisfaction and most of all that feeling of being alive!

I think that running will save my life - for the time being I know I am ok as if I was due a heart attack it would have happened today after my 7:16 mile. I am totally commited now to getting back into shape and saving my life. My target is to be able to run a mile in around 5:30 - I am not sure if I will ever get there but even if I don't I won't die trying :)

Jay
 
Hi, welcome to the forum. 7:16 after 16 years is very good as per the situation you've described. Hope you stay on the right path and have fun.
 
Thats epic man. 120 units a week is heavy to say the least. have you cut down?

Seeing as you have had a realisation and you understand that you need to change, I would suggest cutting out booze and going T-total for at least 2 weeks. The reasons for this are 2fold. Firstly you need to detox and secondly it will test you mentaly you may find that you have an addiction.

You should also get yourself to the Docs for some blood work pronto. You need to know where you stand and findout if there are anyother issuses that need to be delt with, it will also give you a great reffrence point so you can go back in 6months and see how your health has improved.
you shouls ask for cholesterol, testosterone levels (which will greatly increase when you stop drinking) and liver valve function.

Where abouts in the UK are you from? I'm in Kent. If you need any UK specific advice for shops, gyms etc send me a PM.

Good luck man, good to have you with us.
 
Oh, and make sure you get yourself a good pair of running shoes. there are some really good quality lesser known brands about these days for under £40.
If your serious about running you should be changing your shoes at least every 6months.

You may also like to think about a heart rate monitor, Oregon scientific do a great one for under £30
 
Thanks T.Lewis - I totally apprecaite your advice - the trouble is I am finding it hard to quit being an alcholic. I have been to the doc and he has given me some drugs that are supposed to reduce the craving but they don't work.

I have had my treadmill for a few weeks now and from first attempt at the mile I was 8:05 and I was shattered.

I reduced the time to 7:16 and I thought I wouldn't get it lower until I hit a 7:04. That was a week ago. After that I got a 7:07 and I thought that this is my limit. But tonight I grabbed a 6:59 - - I cannot begin to describe how elated I was - well after I finished falling about the house nearly dying.

I have personal problems involving alcohol and also I am very overweight - but I will keep you updated with my progress..... at 17stone I hope to get to 6:30
 
Sounds like your cardio system is running really hard and you need to consider a heart monitor. I mean if you're near collapsing when done that is very dangerous. I've pushed myself to very high limits and all I feel afterwards is just a wobbly feeling like rubber legs and hard breathing. Needless to say, I really doubt the alcohol is helping your blood flow. I know quitting a habit is hard and all, but I am willing to put my entire income that if you quit alcohol you'd see improvements within a week or two at a pretty good level. :) Best of luck and good to see someone doing something about a problem instead of indulging into the problem even more! :)
 
Hi MasterAsylum, my treadmill does have a heart monitor on it. My heart rate is generally around 175 right at the end of my mile run.

Today was a milestone in that I managed to run at the full speed that my treadmill allows (8.8mph) for the full distance of the mile. The resultant time was 6:57 and although I was shattered afterwards I was probably still feeling better than when I ran my first one at 8:05. It is 20 days since I ran the 8:05 so I have shown reasonable improvement over that time I guess.

I am interested in comparing in how good/bad shape my cardio-vascular system is with other people of my age who are overweight, are there any site users on here who are around 37 and weigh 17 stone ( I am six feet tall.) And if so what sort of times are you doing for the mile?

I am a little disheartned now because I cannot run a mile faster than my treadmill will let me so I need to fix on new tagets i.e. how long I can run at the maximum speed for.

As for the alcohol, I am certainly down to less than 80 units a week now, which is still a lot but is a drop of 33% in a few weeks.
 
You could do with another heart rate monitor, so you can wear it when your doing other activities and you can check your resting heart rate. you deffo should get that blood work done.

Have you tryed AA meetings?
 
I'm 5'10", 22 years old, my best time in a mile was 7:05. You're doing well. This also isn't my focus either, I pace a 10 min mile over long periods of time last year when I was running. I stopped measuring my 1 mile sprint pace after I hit like 4-5 miles long distance as I felt everyday running wasn't serving strong enough purpose. I never ran it again really. I'd say you're doing very well and should be proud. I'd consider looking into a new treadmill option with a lil more spead or get on a track and start looking into HIIT. If you wanna decrese your 1 mile run consider distance running(I've heard it will help, never tested myself.) Running 10 miles in like 90 mins feels awesome, screw a 5 min mile as far as I care.
 
I hope you are doing more than a mile at a time, and that you have clearance from you doc to pursue this activity? Congratulations on wanting to get healthier... lets keep you from having a heart attack huh?

Try to jog a bit, I know you used to run a mile at a time and that was fine, but you know now your goals are to lose weight, increase your cardio abilities so that you DON"T feel like you are going to pass out... So do some lower intensity workouts to condition your body, to train for a mile time.. Say do half hour or more at a time, and then in a month, re time your mile.

Good luck!
 
Wow I feel bad

Hey just wanted to drop a line with a bit of encouragement I am 24 years old and cant say I have ever done much drinking or the sort and I am worse of then you apparently I am 6 foot and weigh about 179 lbs and I can run a 1.5 in 13:24 so you are doing better then most
 
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