Through my company I have an opportunity to participate in the 2016 Paris Marathon (April) without going through the usual application rigmarole.

Trouble is, i’m really heavy.
Several years ago I went on a health kick and over the course of around 15 months dropped from around 145kg to (i think) 110kg. This started by purchasing an indoor rowing machine (ergo), increasing my cycling mileage, and soon after – venturing out for my first proper jogging sessions. I also took on open water swimming and trained for sprint triathlons. Towards my peak I ran 3 half marathons in close succession, and was leading most bike rides I went on (including being solely on a single speed).
I largely signed up to the iDave eating plan – which seemed to fairly successfully reduce my sugars intake to next to nothing – never really had cravings for carby food as a result either.
In a nutshell, I felt great, and was running/cycling/swimming way further than ever before. Old friends couldn’t believe the change in my appearance.

Fast forward around 3.5 years – Having originally taken a ‘short break’ from training after a niggling hip injury following a slippery off road spill – I then also went through the most stressful period in my life. Among other factors such as a marriage break down and divorce, change of jobs, change of location etc.. I promptly piled on the pounds with comfort eating (carbs).
I lost easy access to my bikes, but within the next few weeks I will have them back in my life and cannot wait to get back out into the hills.

I’m now right back up to near my original max weight, and despite being very fearful of the first few hard months slog back onto/up the fitness ladder, I think i’m mentally nearly there in terms of being ready to commit. I should probably add that I’ve suffered from depression since my marriage broke down and am only now starting to pick myself up. I miss the buzz of a good exercise session and I know it’ll do me nothing but good to get training again.

I respond well to a challenge, so my questions to you..

Do I have enough time to be ready for full marathon?
Is this a flight of fantasy?

Even during my peak I was still very heavy for a ‘runner’, and I found the half marathons very taxing after 9 or 10 miles. It was always my intention to lose a further 10-15kg, but i’m a natural big muscly build with huge legs (ex-front row club rugby) so i’d never ever be a marathon whippet in terms of build.
Part of me knows that April 2016 is just way too soon – but another part of me needs to move on and focus on a real big challenge. Plus, there’s this guy in my team at work that will be entering – and im such a stubborn competitive oaf that I can’t let him have the glory all to himself..

You don’t say how tall you are, but let’s say you need to lose about 30-40kg to have a reasonable chance of completing a marathon without having to walk. You’ve got about 30 weeks to do it. Granted weight loss is easier at the start, but even so…

Why not aim for the Berlin Marathon which is at the end of this month? Perhaps do the Madrid half-marathon in April as an intermediate challenge?

If you don’t have any health issues then what’s the problem?! You’ve plenty of time to train. Get yourself a training plan and have a strategy for overcoming any loss of motivation (a spring marathon means having to do long training runs when the weather is rubbish and the days are short). It’s a brilliant race 🙂

My mental image of ‘slimjim’ has taken a bit of a battering…

I’d go for it – you’ve got time to lose weight and not injure yourself training too hard. It’s a great goal to have 🙂

I’m 6ft 1″

wwaswas – the irony being, when I joined this forum it was meant as an ironic moniker – but suddenly became kind of true..

suddenly became kind of true..

I’m sure it can be again.

Get a decent training program, build up slowly, adjust your diet and go for it – keep us posted on progress too, please.

My mental image of ‘slimjim’ has taken a bit of a battering…

I suppose you’re not 78 either. 😯

I would say you can do it! 7 months is enough time imo provided your targets are realistic. If your happy to finish, not to necessarily beat your colleague depending on his starting point/fitness, with maybe the odd walk towards the end. Then get on a slow and steady program and go for it.
I’m 6’2″ and was probably about a 100kgs when I started a 3 month program from nothing to my first marathon. That marathon was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done but god did it feel good to finish.
It sound like remaining injury free will be your biggest challenge, I would initially concentrate on losing a bit of your weight first keeping runs pretty short so more cycling and swimming first before starting to bring your running mileage up in a few months, and then I’d do a mix of off and on road running, not too much on road.

Good luck! you can definitely do it.

Speed walk it

The important thing is not to get over the finish line it’s to get over the start line and you certainly have time to be ready for that.

Yes, you can do it.
I had several folk of a similar build at the Glenmore 24 hour trail race at the weekend. None died. Most set personal bests, many at distances that would leave you speechless if you saw them in a street setting.
Have faith in yourself and in your body’s ability to remember what it’s supposed to do. You probably know all the practical stuff already, on training and on injury avoidance. Most longer events are all about the mind games and there are no shortcuts to gaining that confidence to go all the way.
I keep hearing good things about Paris. Do it.

I wouldn’t really recommend long-distance road running for someone who is seriously overweight. It’s hard enough on joints for people of more moderate build (I’d guess that most amateur marathon runners suffer from overuse injuries at some point). There are lots of other ways of exercising that won’t put your knees, hips and ankles under such repetitive strain. If you are set on running, would probably be better to do it off-road. And definitely build it up slowly.

If I was starting in your position and determined to do a marathon in april 2016 I would focus first on serious weight loss up to christmas with lots of cycling and only a bit of running, slowly building that up as the weight came down. I would expect to spend a lot of the time pretty hungry.

If you don’t try, you’ll never know.

As above. What’s the worst that can happen ? You have to walk some of it ?

Mental toughness plays a large part in the equation.

thecaptain – wise words, and I am a bloater. However, I do at least come from a position of having experience of losing over 30kg in a short space of time.
Plus, I think my running figures were something like 600 miles in 18mths – and (fortunately) the only associated injury I suffered then was a brief case of achilles tendinitis. So i’d be hopeful for a repeat of good form.
I’d likely not run more than a mile or two until i’ve shifted as much of the spare tyre as possible. Fortunately i’m moving to the South Downs, so ill have loads of off road running available right from the front door. And hills. Eeugh.

Well, thanks to all for your comments and encouragement. I’ve only gone and bloody signed up.
I’ll post a chubby blog with regular updates on progress.

i’m moving to the South Downs

If you’re anywhere near Brighton come along to a BrightonMTB ride one Thursday.

I’ve only gone and bloody signed up.

Yay!

thanks wwaswas – you guys have already been recommended to me – did I spy some of you at BBD a couple weeks ago?

I’d be delighted to join on a Thurs – just need a few weeks under my own steam to find some form.

Good luck! On the plus side, you do already have a bit of a running background, so you aren’t really starting from a full sofa whale. But don’t let that make you set off too full-on.

I’m crap at hills too, but that doesn’t stop them from being fun.

BBD = Brighton Big Dog?

yes, a lot of BrightonMTB riders were there (often riding under other team names). I was on a Puffin in Fat Bike pairs – we got 4th.

Thursday rides are the more socially paced ones so don’t feel you need to be super fit to attend 🙂

Have a look at the FaceBook page for details.

I’d go for it, just don’t think you’ll be challanging Mo Farah or anything. Just take it steady accept you may have to walk run or speed walk latter miles. Build up slowly and focus on losing weight. I’ve run half marathons at 16 stone and you should be able to get to that by time of the marathon.

Try not to do too much running early on as you’ll risk shagging your knees, mix it up with cycling and I always find spinning great for pushing myself.

I was 110kg summer last year and could manage 12 minute miles, I’m hoping to do a sub 45 minute 10k on Sunday and managed 80 miles and 4000m of climbing in a day in the Pyrenees a few weeks ago.

Of course you can do it.
Get the training in and in seven months you won’t have a problem.
Who cares what time it’s done in as long as you start………….and finish.
I’ve done Paris a few times and its fantastic. Not at all like London which now appears to be a Charitable Marketing Exercise (not that there’s anything wrong with that. Collecting so much money is laudable). However Paris is full of actual runners, who are there to actually run a marathon.

I’m a proud mofo – on my half marathons I only had stop stop once in order to stretch off my cramping buttocks.

I’d hate to be forced to walk swathes of a full marathon, but I distinctly remember thinking towards the end of a half ”there is no way I can do another 13 miles”. I’ll swallow my pride should it come to it.

Perfect time for running IMO, I signed up to my first half marathon (Birmingham in october) I’m wishing I’d done a spring one now, I’m wasting too much of the last good riding time running, it’s not on.

People do marathons in all sorts of silly costumes, yours will be getting lighter as you get nearer to the event, get stuck in.

What thecaptain says.

Take it slow and give yourself time to adapt back to running, you have plenty of time to build up to the distance (though you never run 26 in training but 2 -3 20 mile runs). The marathon will hurt in the later stages, they all do, you are on your feet for 3-6 hours (no idea how fast you intend to do it) which is knack.ing if you just stand still
Don’t be afraid of run/walking on the day (5 minutes run/ 1 minute walk sort of thing), it’s a surprising efficient way to cover the ground.
Going out at lunchtime for the first time in about 6 months so I’ll be back tomorrow complaining about my aches 🙂

I distinctly remember thinking towards the end of a half ”there is no way I can do another 13 miles

I’ve done half marathons but never a full. And i know what you mean. However, two anecdotes to combine to make a motivational thought.

1/ When you ran a half, you set out to run a half. If you were doing a full you’d have run easier. And the odd thing about endurance stuff seems to be that you don’t have to be much easier in pace / effort terms for it to become hugely more sustainable. [made up numbers alert] – you probably only need to be maybe 10% slower to be able to do substantially (like double) more distance.

2/ I did a 12hr MTB solo a couple of years back. I got a training plan and started it. 2/3 of the way through my longest rides were about 6 hours and i was having the same ‘I can’t do twice this’ doubts. But the 6 hours became 7, and the 7’s became 8, and on the day with encouragement of clubmates and fellow competitors, after 10 hours i could have done another 5 if i’d had to. (of course that meant the last two laps i could let the lead off a bit so by the end of 12 hours I couldn’t have done a 13th but that’s a different matter)

7 months. 30 weeks. Start off slow, add 1/2 a mile a week to your main run and by Christmas you’ll be running 8-9 miles easily. Then add a mile a week over the next 3 months and you’ll be up to 18-20 as your long run which will be plenty to see you do 26 on the day.

Also – don’t waste time saying you’ll slim down first before running. Start running now (off road is better, less pounding) and get used to it; it’ll help with the weight loss and as long as you aren’t doing silly amounts (which you won’t be) should have no deletrious effects on the joints.

Have you heard of Steve Way?

Fat bloke becomes commonwealth marathon runner

reality bites – just received email confirmation of my place in the marathon.. CRIPES!

Day 1 – Switched to a lunch of edamame beans and biltong. Bread is now a dirty word. My body is a temple.

I’ve calculated that I need to lose 3lb per week, every week, until the event if I am to stand a rough chance of making it around.

Wish me luck.

Good luck. And don;t worry about the weight loss too much, concentrate on getting ‘running fit’ 🙂

I respond well to a challenge

Give up you fat bastard you’ll never do it 😉

(PS you’re a much better runner than me and my 90kg)

I’ll show you!

‘shakes fist’ (in curmudgeonly fashion, not the other one)

My body is a temple.

Like this one?…

Good luck.

Matey is a big unit thick end of 20 stone and not to put too fine a point on it he is plain fat but the docs say he has no underlying medical condition heart rate blood pressure cholesterol etc all OK

He takes part in charity challenges and has completed – as opposed to run – several marathons, mostly through sheer determination.

At the end he slugs a bottle of vino and takes bites out of a block of cheese

And yeah good luck

This may or may not help, but I would have thought that taking weekly photos of yourself from now until the big day will help a lot with the motivation – you will see clear progress in dropping the weight as you get fitter. Then you can make a nice little animation for the world to marvel at with the pictures. Feel free to put them on here to really motivate yourself to keep going!

Good luck with the training and don’t forget to get your rest days in to avoid needless injuries. I’m doing a half marathon next year which I was quite chuffed with but compared to your efforts it now seems a bit meh.

My Body is a temple – made me think of this!

[video]https://youtu.be/7-cF62hven8[/video]

Maybe look to doing something like yoga or pilates to help strengthen core and other muscles? Especially if you’ve been cycling more than running. It helps with posture and can also help to protect you from injury.

Get on youtube and watch the Rocky theme tune montage and then go destroy that marathon. Good Luck. 8)