ritchie macapinlac.com

Ignore me just trying to get back into shape. Wait, round is a shape right?

Not gonna lie. The last two years has not been good for my body. Let me see if I can quickly catch you up on my non-exercise excuses. I ended 2020 running a marathon and being in (arguably) relatively good shape and hopeful to sign up for a long distance triathlon.

• Work from home really screwed up my workout routine. I used biked to work. There really isn't a need to ride a bike to commute when your office is 'down the stairs and 2nd door to the left'.
• Events don't carry the same level of 'you must train' level of anxiety. Events have been going virtual. I sign up for events to kick my training into gear and I'm not as excited when I can do my half marathon over 4 days of 5km.

So there you have the excuses.

Now rebuilding isn't completely new to me, but rebuilding used to involve taking a few months of break not two years. Generally, the build phase of a rebuild is painful but pretty short. I've been able to get to the point where a 7km session doesn't feel like running with an elephant on your back.

Either the motivation isn't there, my physical capabilities aren't there (I am 40+ years old) or the mental fortitude has withered away.

The reality is that I'm probably just dealing with getting old and dealing with my body's limitations. This process has been slow because I've had to adjust over time.

• My cardio is not there anymore = more intervals and I hate intervals; so I avoid it.
• I started with a 10% weekly increase, but had to trim it down a lot more (2-5%) because – see next bullet point.
• Ankle and foot issues, seem to be getting injured easier than what I remember. Are things going to be this brittle going forward!?

Is this what getting old looks like? Maybe I should join an aquacise class instead of running.