Overdoing It

Hey Mammoths. So some of you were probably wondering where I have been the past week. To be honest it was tough week for the herd leader. One of the things that I have to deal with is that I am a compulsive over eater. Now some of you Mammoths are going, "Whoa! There is no such thing as a compulsive over eater, you choose to eat and that is why you are fat. So stop blaming everyone and get back on the road." I agree with some of this statement. I do choose to eat but the reason behind my compulsive over eating is that I am unhappy with myself, depressed, or most commonly angry. I use food the same way an alcoholic uses booze, to numb myself from what I am feeling. If you don't think food can do this for you think about a Thanksgiving when you ate yourself into a turkey coma. You can eat yourself happy but there are dire consequences.

One of those consequences that I deal with now is that I also over exercise. I over exercise to compensate for my over eating and you can see the cycle now. Last week I over exercised. After WoW BootCamp! I would go to the Omni and put in another 3 or 4 miles before heading into work. Now my body is used to long workout days and when I was at H3 this was not a big deal because I was monitored closely by Jeff, Adam, Amber, and Bob Wright. Here in Athens I do not have that monitoring and so I push, push, and push and finally I broke. Now I am not on the injured reserve list yet, but I am getting close and needed to take a rest day or two. My Mammoths you have to be careful, you have to listen to your body, and you have to rest. I know that it is hard and society says we are such lard butts that we need to be exercising every day for hours at a time but the reality is is that we need to keep everything in perspective. I have to remind myself that I did not get this way overnight and I will not be "cured" overnight. That this is a process and like all processes they take time so I need to be patient with myself.

So what does this have to do with running? Great point and I will answer with two really great points in rebuttal. First, you have to recognize your limits. As much as I like to believe I am a 25 year old UMBC rugby player the truth is I am not and that my body has limitations I need to identify and respect. Second, you need to follow a plan. I have an eating plan and an exercise plan that I follow. Where I got off track last week was that I did not follow my plan, I tried to wing it and winging it never works. Saber Tooth Tigers love Mammoths that wing it and try to do things their own way.

I feel better today and I am glad that I was able to share with you my herdmates what has been going on with me. Thanks for thinking of me and keeping me close in your prayers and thoughts. Hopefully I will see you out on the range, stay close to a watering hole, and as always be careful of what you are grazing on.

PS. There will be a Mammoth Stomp (5K) on February 19th. It is the St. Joes Jog. If you want to run with your boy come on. I will be shooting for PR that day so come on out and join the fun.