Discussion: so, whats your take on 'the...

so, whats your take on 'the program' now?

I think it's the right approach for me, basically re-learning how to eat. the focus is on HOW I eat rather than WHAT I eat right now; of course the "what" is important but the how is really more basic. behavioral change is not easy. one guy who really succeeded said it took him about a year and a half to learn how to eat more slowly.

meanwhile, have you heard of Colin McCourt, the UK elite runner who missed the Olympics back in 2008, 2012, PR of 3:37 in the 1500, then descended into a sedentary life of family, day job and pizza. gained 50 lbs in 5 years, now his friends, some still elite runners bet him he couldn't run a sub-16 mile this calendar year, if he loses he has to get all 17 names tatooed on his body in Times Roman font . . . now THAT is motivation!

http://www.athleticsweekly.com/blog/colins-comebac...

Yeah, and they have pizza delivered to his house to tempt him which he throws in the trash. at least he could give it to a food pantry?
if you need that kind of motivation maybe we could work something out - unaided 6:15 mile?

I don't do tatoos! No way I'm getting "Rudy" tatooed on my "Schwarz"! I'll take the 1700 £ though. :)

you think he can do it? after 5 years off, and 50 lbs heavier? he's got the running knowledge though, knows what it takes to be elite, on the biggest stage. I mean, he won a European championship.

and he's got a year? yeah, he'll do it. What was his pr in the 5k?

I'm not so sure, 5 years is a long time, he's losing 6.5 lbs per week which is hardly sustainable, I've reviewed his vlogs and he looks terrible, tired and complaining all the time, think he is headed for injury. but his 5K PR is 14:50 . . . but his recent time is 24:00 in Jan 2016. He needs to drop 8 minutes from 8:xx pace to 5:08! No way. Not in a year.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=...

At 6.5# a week, he'll have lost the 50# in 2 months. That can't be right? Why hurry if you have a year? People react differently to comebacks, some come right back, some never do. The question is, who knows him better, his buddies, or himself? ok, my bet is he does 17.

well, I could always use the publicity:) but if tattoos are out, it would be great to have somebody at races to fetch my water bottle, shoe change, clothes etc. Then I guess I'd just have to find 20 partners to kick in $100 each.

haha, I don't think I can run competitively this year . . . maybe in 2018.

man, he looks terrible on his vlog today, bags under his eyes, sounding tired, but what is remarkable is how he shakes it off mentally, like "not feeling good today but just had to get it done" attitude, probably his years as an elite kicking in, like "you have weeks like this", whereas if I had an entire week feeling terrible, I'd worry something was wrong.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRAYjmuj-Fd/?taken-by=...

ps--I miscalculated his weight loss in the kg to lb conversion. he lost 24 kg in 33 days, which works out to ~10 lb or about 2.3 lb per week, which is actually a little above the 2 lb which is considered sustainable . . . still that is about a 1000 kcal deficit per day which is pretty tough to maintain.

I see in the thread that most people think he can do it. there are some good points to support this: he is still very young, he was a pro runner, and he seems motivated.

I really do not think he can do it. He's running 7:50s now "comfortably". all the way down to 5:08 pace by Dec 31. without injuries? I do not think so. 5 years off from elite running is a massive amount of time. I think you have to look at him like a top level rec runner. breaking 18:00 in a 5K is an accomplishment. sub-16 may be a bridge too far. that said, I'm pretty fascinated to see his progress, especially his weight loss. some notes on his diet from his blogs . . . he actually did a calorie restriction to 1200 kcal for the first two weeks! that is punishment for a 200+ lb man. phew. that is starvation, no wonder he looked terrible. he also cut out all "sugar" and fizzy drinks, which makes sense. Just the rapid 180 reversal in both diet AND exercise in the space of a month is just not sustainable. We will see! Should be interesting.