Post exercise hunger monster, EvoMe

So the past two weeks, I've been doing mainly walking with my dog in the mornings. I have done a little training with T3, but nothing too heavy, even though I have a goal of a PR at the Austin Half Marathon in February. So this morning, I went out for a two hour run (or really a slog- slow jog) in the 35 degree and misting weather. It was actually very pleasant- used the birthday present Fuel Belt for the first time and it worked great. I went up to Mary Moore Searight and had a good time thinking, since I forgot the iPod, some about different hash trails in and around the park, my house, and the surrounding areas.

The only problem with long and strenuous exercise is the resulting hunger monster. I believe there is a physiological as well as a mental/emotional component. I did run for two hours and there are nutrients I need to replace. But there's also the "I worked really hard and deserve a treat." And man, is that treat large, and long lasting! And it is so counter productive! I basically wipe out the calorie deficit from the exercise immediately. With the hour long walks, there's not the same overwhelming need for biscuits, and any cravings are much more easily dismissed. I know what the solution is- eat more during the exercise, and have good healthy food available afterwards (another problem today as I needed to go the grocery store). But man, those Cracker Barrel biscuits were fantastic!

And also while running and thinking, I was kicking around this idea of a triathlon challenge. I have heard of the EvoTri challenge, where they pick a couple of regular people and provide them with expert training and support to see what they can achieve. So in my day dream, I was thinking about what if I got picked, and they helped me train for IMAZ 2010. But of course, they wouldn't, since that's too far away, and I have a good support system with T3, and I have to drop the weight first. But that doesn't mean I couldn't set up the challenge for myself.

So, working out the details helped pass a good part of the two hour run. I would start now, Jan 2009, have checkins every 3 months to evaluate progress. I could call it EvoMe- sort of Evolve Me/Evo Tri combo. I would have two A races- Longhorn Half Iron in Oct 2009 and then IMAZ in Nov 2010. I would spend 2009 working on speed- primarily by dropping the weight, and then 2010 working on endurance (I would also like to do a full marathon sometime before Nov 2010, plus some other B races). I would post my progress on here, plus PRs for races, and other benchmarks. And at the end, I would get a prize of $10,000 to spend on myself (though of course, I will have to save up the $10,000 myself since I don't foresee professional sponsorship any time soon, but I think that's doable!) And that prize money would have to be on fun things for me- a new bike, or a trip, and nothing practical like paying down my mortgage.

I think it's a good idea, and workable, and a way to break down the next two years into manageable chunks where I can see progress. I want to look at the timing of the components for IMAZ and make those intermediate goals, and have other benchmarks like real pushups, etc. I'm going to work out the details in the next couple of days and post them as soon as I get them together.