I am so grateful that campaign season is over, but even more grateful that I have been running. This week I was able to meet with a trainer/nutritionist and was able to hear just what I needed to help start my journey to a healthier me. Ready for this week’s weekly marathon training update?
Campaign Running
My dad has been in the Utah House of Representatives for years. He’s one of those politicians though when the campaign is over he cleans up his signs. Every campaign year we get a little team together and head out to collect as many signs as we can. We drive around all night (if we have to) and start collecting signs. It’s a workout that has become one of my favorite parts of the campaign.
Since gaining weight and not running I was worried that this year was going to take a lot longer. The perk of finishing quickly, you get to go up to the Republican celebration party and it’s always a good time. But the longer you take getting signs, the less of the party you get to attend. This was a pivotal year for my dad and I wanted to be there to support him, but also take down his signs at the same time.
Because I had been running for the past six weeks this was one of the fastest sign collecting nights we’ve ever had. One person drives and the other person watches for signs. The second you see one, BOOM, you jump out of the car and run to clip it down. It’s nice when you have a partner that will grab other signs as you run to a corner to grab a few. You can’t always get that lucky though.
This year my partner was older, but helpful. He knew where the signs were because he was the one that put them all up. He drove around and I would run for signs. It took me back to a time when I worked as a runner for UPS. I was training for a triathlon and would just run along the side of the car as the driver would just throw me the packages to deliver. Our system couldn’t be beat.
Campaign running this year felt like I was getting back to where I once was and I couldn’t be more excited.
Nutrition & Training Tips
That all being said, I was able to meet with a trainer/nutritionist. It was just a short meeting, but she gave me great information. Since the race isn’t for just under a year, there was no point running every single day. This would do more damage to my body and what I need to focus on is losing weight. Running with 258 lbs was going to hurt my body, but if I can lose 50 lbs then would be the time to start running and training.
That means I need to work on getting a cross training program where I will be doing weights and building muscle. Doing this would cause my body to burn more fat as it builds muscle to help me run. This also means that focusing on diet and cutting sugar from my eating habits will be needed. Yes holiday season is just around the corner, but if I don’t start now I never will.
It’s been a great week with campaign running and learning that weight loss needs to be my main focus. Health and nutrition will be my focus now that the campaign has ended and the stress is over.
