You know what happens in your late 30s? You stop doing shit you don’t want to do. Also, you stop giving all the f*cks.
That’s why the half marathon I’m running with Mel on Valentines Day will probably be my last one.
Put on the Righteous Brothers because I’ve lost that long distance lovin’ feelin’.
I don’t feel like running more than about half an hour anymore. I don’t have the drive to make myself run much more than a half an hour.
And, when I do run more (usually more than an hour, though), I feel awful afterward–headache, achy body, and upset that I’m losing a whole day because of a run.
This happened yesterday after a 10-mile run with my friend Mel (Tall Mom on the Run). We had a pretty good run; and great conversation, as always.

I was fine immediately afterward. My son (who had been playing at Mel’s house with her boys–thanks Tall Dad) and me went and got a smoothie and then shopped for a little bit before heading home.
On the drive home, I felt the headache coming. I’ve come to expect it after a long run. And it got worse and worse till about 9 p.m. when I couldn’t tolerate it anymore and caved to the pain (took Ibuprofin). I was asleep by 10:30 on a Saturday night.

Yes, I know there are some factors that could bring on these headaches–such as dehydration–but it doesn’t seem to matter. Fully hydrated or not, I usually start feeling like absolute crap about 2-3 hours after a long run.
Today (Sunday), I still have the headache and my calves are very angry with me.
I need to face it: I don’t enjoy the act of distance running as much as I used to. I loved going after those big goals a few years ago, but as I told Mel, I’ve done everything I needed to do.
The one thing I still enjoy about distance running is the social aspect, which I don’t need running for.
I just like walking more these days. And I love to lift.
When I run long distances, it feels as though my body is being broken down. When I lift, it feels like my body is being built up. Lifting makes me feel powerful inside and out. Distance running makes me feel weak. (Shingles, anyone?)
I still love the 5K distance, and I’m excited about maybe a sprint tri or two this summer. And I’ll never stop wanting to do relays with my friends.
But I think my long distance running days are coming to an end. The only thing that bothers me about that is that Mom vs. Marathon will no longer be relevant. Maybe it just needs a new name…
2 comments
Hey there,
I have been interested in the ME diet for a while and did their metabolic aftershock program last april but continued long cardio sessions and weight training while doing it and not paying much attention to diet so didn’t see much results.
I just read the ME diet book and really want to try it but I am scared of short workouts and over eating, can you offer me any advice on your experience at all?
Thanks,
Kirsten!!
Hi Kristen! You bet! How did you like the Aftershock program? I have not tried that one. I imagine it’s similar to their other methods. I LOVE the ME “diet” book. (I also really like Lose Weight Here–their new one–which I sort of think of as the next step after The Metabolic Effect Diet.) With the program in the ME diet book, I never ever felt like I was “dieting” because the book is simply teaching you how food and exercise works with your specific metabolic makeup. That book changed my life, so I love to talk about it! Before following the ideas in the book, I was ALWAYS scared that if I stopped the long distance cardio sessions, I’d gain back any weight I’d lost. The problem I was having was that my body wasn’t reflecting any changes from all that long cardio. Finally, after reading ME, I gave up long cardio and just followed ME and my body responded. I stayed pretty close to the foods that worked best for me (I’m right on the edge of sugar/mixed burner), and I think that was a big part of it. I ran, but just did sprints for 20 minutes like they suggest and then one longer run on the weekends (no longer than an hour–I almost PR’d in a 5K while not even following any training plan because I’d dropped weight and became stronger). IMO what you eat is HUGE when it comes to fat loss. Lots of veggies and protein, and just the right amount of carbs. (I also cut out dairy because I noticed it was making me bloated and giving me acne, but that was through my own self discovery, not them telling me not to eat dairy or anything.) I love how they teach you to be your own diet detective. You have to really be careful with your diet, though. If you do long cardio, but eat less, your body will be stressed out. I was making that mistake before ME–eating less and working out a lot. My body was basically holding onto the fat so it didn’t starve. Have you read my post about ME from 2014? If not, here you go: http://momvsmarathon.sanitydepartment.com/how-to-get-lean/. Know that if you are doing shorter workouts, you won’t be as hungry. Long cardio makes me feel hangry, but with the shorter workouts, I just have a protein smoothie after and I’m good to go. One more tip: I usually have a BCAA (Branched Chain Amino Acids) drink while I’m working out. BCAAs help curb hunger and give you energy. That way I don’t have to eat right before a workout or during. Here’s a post about Branched Chain Amino Acids from ME: http://www.metaboliceffect.com/science-bcaa-supplements/. Please feel free to email me with any other questions. I love to talk about fat loss and ME because I really believe it is a healthy and balanced way to get lean–not starving yourself or spending hours working out. Ain’t nobody got time for that!