I've had my ups and downs the last few years attempting to find ways to stay healthy and active while working full-time with a one-way commute of about an hour. Last July I started back into the C25K program, then went straight into a C210K program. My longest run was 9.15 miles on 12/30/2024 in 1:56:21, an average pace of 12:43/mile. I think I managed about one week more before the weather took a severe turn, with actual temps hovering between 0 and 10 degrees and winds of 20 mph or more dropping the feels-like temps well below 0. I was NOT prepared for this (somehow I must forget each year about this season called winter), and "a couple of days" to see if the weather would snap back turned into almost 3 months of virtual inactivity.
While life isn't all about being thin, it is maddening that it takes so little to derail progress and so much effort to regain it. Over the weekend I came in at 217.2 pounds when I had been in the neighborhood of 197 by the end of December. If it were just a matter of my clothes not fitting so well, maybe I wouldn't make such a huge deal (although I won't want to spend money on a ton of new clothes), but the lack of energy and the drop in cardiovascular function are two side effects of weight gain that I don't feel inclined to accept.
Thursday and Sunday I popped out for runs using the first week intervals for C25K, I'm considering that a soft-start to starting C25K back up as of today. This morning's outing was reasonable despite the wind, and the extra movement the past few days has definitely been making a difference already. How to incorporate regular strength training is going to take some thought because I definitely need to add that component to my regimen.
Taking things one day at a time and looking for long-term improvement.
