Everyone’s got reasons for running. All are valid, as long as they’re personal. I mean, for example, if you’re running for someone’s approval or to get someone’s attention, you’re doomed to fail–no doubt about it.

Of all reasons though, I’d say losing weight is probably among the top three reasons. Hell, I know it’s one of my reasons. It’s not one of the top ones, but it’s certainly on my mind. If I said it wasn’t I’d be lying to you because on some level we’re all vain bastards, right? Running allows me to not worry way too much about calorie intake. That’s not to say that I’m pigging out nightly because that would just be stupid. It’s just that doing such an activity allows me to indulge a little bit more than I’d be able to without doing it. I just indulge sensibly. Knowing that you’re doing something in order to become healthy subconsciously triggers something that kind of prevents you from being a total idiot.

This coming from someone who just came back from all-you-can-eat sushi. Oh, but I ran 3K just beforehand. Blah.

So, why am I mentioning this? Well, over the course of my running experience my weight has been declining slowly. Right from the beginning, I refused to give up certain foods altogether and opted for a more balanced approach. Apparently it worked because it helped me shed a small amount of weight.

Earlier this year I went on that trip to Japan where I wandered around the city for hours in humid heat–I’d imagine that’s what it’d be like in the Devil’s armpit. Or jockstrap. Anyway, when I came back I lost a good chunk of weight. I didn’t get too excited though because I knew that once I was back on my regular routine the numbers would even out. I was right–I gained a little bit back but overall I had a net loss. At some point I was even flirting with breaking the psychological barrier of 200. When I was dehydrated I was actually below. That didn’t last long though because really, given a choice I prefer to be hydrated, thanks.

During the half-marathon clinic we were running ridiculously long distances in the hot heat. I was burning 2000+ calories on some runs. Thing is, despite this big energy spending my weight loss plateaued. I was actually increasing a little bit. The gain, I would attribute to actually building muscle mass for running. My quads and hamstrings are already rather large. That being said, they got even meatier. I choose to attribute the weight gain to muscle because even though there was a slight creep upward, I was actually shrinking. For the longest while I was using the 2nd notch on my belt. Soon I started using the third. Now, I’m actually using the fifth hole. So, that’s physical evidence of my body changing. I’m sort of waiting for my 36 pants to start sagging. That would be insane. The plateau though is a sign, in my opinion, that my body is now used to running and that I need to branch out and cross-train if I intend to push the trendline downward again.

Since my race last month, like I mentioned, I’ve been off and taking it easy. You’d think that there’d be little effect, but interestingly enough I’ve noticed that the numbers crept back up. I think I’ve gained 2 or 3 pounds in the past month. Well, obviously, if I’m not burning the calories, I can’t afford to be putting away what I normally do over a week.

So, yeah, I’m glad to be getting back into an active lifestyle. I seriously need to find another activity though for my non-running days. Maybe one day I’ll break that 200 barrier. I know that due ot my large frame I’m always going to be weighty, but I can still do my best to keep myself from getting out of hand.