Lost weekend for me and Lance

I didn't train at all this weekend. Damn! I was planning to do a long run on Saturday and then go cross country skiing on Sunday. Instead I ate a pizza, ice cream (three of them, actually), a big steak with fries and a mountain of chocolate. I tried to convince myself that consuming all this energy would give me a huge boost of energy for my next training session (whenever it will take place!) but I had to admit that in reality, all it gave me was an unwanted addition to my bodyweight. An this happened just days after me and my coach had  been talking about how I need to loose some 25-30 lbs before I run my first full marathon!

The good thing about this weekend is that I managed to postpone that first marathon for a few months. The plan was to run it in May, but I found one that suits me better in October so I'm altering my plans. This gives me some four months more to loose those pounds and get in shape. My goal is to run the marathon in something like 3:40 hours. Currently, though, 5:40 hours is probably closer to reality (well, DNF would be the most likely results if I was running today!), but given that I have done a couple of half marathons in the past in 1:40 to 1:50, plus I have finished Ironman 70.3 distance in 5:45 hours, my coach tells me I should be able to break 3:40 in a full marathon, but sadly this can only happen if I loose weight and train consistently.

Let's not, though, underestimate the importance of resting. You know, during your training sessions, all you do is damage your muscles. When you are resting afterwards, that's when you make the actual progress. That's when the body recovers from those damages and actually adds a little bit extra to be better able to deal with the strain you put on it at your next practice. So, alternating training and resting - plus suitable nutrition - is what gives us better shape and improved results. My problem is that the balance between those three has not been perfect lately. I have emphasised resting and nutrition too much, and paid too little attention to the training part. But that will change. Someday.

Finally: One person who had a lousier weekend than me was a certain Mr. Lance Armstrong.  It looks like he didn't get nearly as many ice creams as me. However, he can take some consolation in the fact that he made an impressive comeback to the Ironman world (or rather Ironman 70.3 world) with a second place finish at Ironman 70.3 Panama (see here).