159 and Not So Fine

Last week I weighed in at 159 lb. I'm a size 10.
I wish I could say I was surprised. I wish there had been shock. But the reality is that I knew 160 lb was looming close, and I knew why. Oof.

How did I get here?
Last May, I was in killer shape. I was 145 lb, with a lot of muscle. I was crushing Orange Theory workouts and running up Mt. Falcon every weekend. On June 4th, I ran the Snowmass Ragnar trail relay, and felt great. And boy howdy, when you feel great running up mountainsides at 11PM and again at 4AM, then you know you're in good shape. I had abs!
But after that race, everything fell apart. First, I developed metatarsalgia in my feet (presumably from wearing stiff trail-running shoes for 2 days straight at Ragnar), which feels like the balls of your feet are painfully bruised. I couldn't run for weeks, and it occasionally flared up for months afterward. There went all that running stamina I'd built.
In August, I fell off West Spanish Peak. That's a story for another day, but the little tumble left me with pain in my right shoulder. It's probably a small rotator cuff injury, but it limits what weightlifting exercises I can do.
Fall brought new business travel, and I found myself bouncing back and forth between 3 time zones. My schedule was a wreck. Nonetheless, I was able to surge back a little bit, and put down some decent 5k and 1-mile times.
But then came December, which brought a sinus infection and a month of upper respiratory crud. Any kind of physical exertion would send me into a coughing fit and my energy tank was totally empty. It took me 6 weeks to kick that mess. Unfortunately, the holidays are the worst possible time to find yourself immobilized, and the damage was done.
And then there was the staph infection debacle on my face. That's yet another story for another day.
Anyway, the end result was: hello, weight gain!

So here I am. Like I've told Will, "I'm fat and slow". We both deserve better.

But there's good news:

1. We have zero setback-inducing commitments in the future. No holidays, no birthdays, no distractions, no reasons to over-indulge.
2. It's ski season. I always lose weight on the slopes. Shredding all day with only a PB&J in your pocket will do that. And I earn that après ski beer!
3. I have wedding to slim down for. September 24th, 2017! If that isn't motivation, then I don't know what is. 

So my first step is to formalize my goals. I'll tackle that in my next post, but the gist is that I'll create some clearly stated weekly goals. 

Of course, the ultimate goal is to stop being fat and slow. Because I want to look and feel good. I want to be in great shape so I can tear up the ski slopes. I want to put down good 5k times. I want to fit in all my clothes. I want to look great at our wedding. 

And there's now nothing standing in my way. Well, except for my love of cookies. Everybody has their weakness.