Is anyone else an endurance athlete? (serious)

Organichu · 07-16-2007, 08:10 PM

I was a fat ass (up to 275 lbs at like 15 y/o)... I utilized drastic dieting to get down to 185 lbs.

Even after bulking to 230 and getting back down to 195 at 14 or 15%, and being in 'decent' shape, I was never, ever in 'good' shape. I've never been really, really athletic.

So I went on an endurance rampage. I tried biking, swimming, and running; I settled on running. Now I'm down to 179, the leanest I've ever been, and I'm running somewhere around 75 miles weekly. Of course, I don't really feel 'big' and psychologically it kind of saps me, as I don't look as good (imo) as I did when I focused more on lifting

I'm probably going to turn it down soon enough and go back to a more weight-centric fitness plan. I'll never fully eliminate cardio from my life, though- I feel better now than I've ever felt, seriously.

tl;dr/Cliffs
-used to be fat.
-dropped 90 lbs with diet and weights (pretty much no cardio).
-decided I wanted to be able to run up stairs without panting, started running.
-feel great.

So who else is into xtreme cardio? I highly recommend it for physical well being and everyday comfort. Plus the long distance training crowd is usually pretty cool since a lot of them are older folk (older than me, at least) and are more mature than the 20 year old BB's I know.

JYC · 07-16-2007, 08:12 PM

I spent last summer bulking with no cardio... bad idea. Now I'm working hard just to get my run times back to where they were before (which were never that great to begin with).

I swim in the morning, and I run in the evening after my weight routine.

Congrats on the change of lifestyle. I love hearing stories like this.

75 miles a week... jeez. Are you planning on running a marathon?

Organichu · 07-16-2007, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JYC

I spent last summer bulking with no cardio... bad idea. Now I'm working hard just to get my run times back to where they were before (which were never that great to begin with).

I swim in the morning, and I run in the evening after my weight routine.

Congrats on the change of lifestyle. I love hearing stories like this.

Thanks a lot, dude.

Good luck with that... I know it sucks to see your bulk sort of turn against you. I was so hyped about gaining 40+ lbs, then realized I felt like complete ass until I got the fat off.

Quote:

75 miles a week... jeez. Are you planning on running a marathon?

Yup. I started this to eventually do a marathon... the marathon I picked was so far away, though, that I trained way, way more than I really needed to in order to complete it.

I pretty much run a marathon or two a week as it is. My real marathon is next month, though. Aiming for around 3:15:00. Once I do it I'll revert back to more weights as I said.

Ace_2007 · 07-16-2007, 08:22 PM

For some reason i think im genetically inclined to be good at endurance sports.

While bulking i didnt use to do any cardio at all and after a good few months i went on a holiday to Australia and managed to run up this 7 mile elevated footpath that lead to a lake.
I was pretty suprised because i thought after not doing cardio for months and months i would callapse quarter of the way through but i guess im just naturally made for endurance.

Running kicks ass.

vanilla sky · 07-16-2007, 08:25 PM

yes, i do lots of endurance exercises.

NYPump · 07-16-2007, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Organichu

Yup. I started this to eventually do a marathon... the marathon I picked was so far away, though, that I trained way, way more than I really needed to in order to complete it.

I pretty much run a marathon or two a week as it is. My real marathon is next month, though. Aiming for around 3:15:00. Once I do it I'll revert back to more weights as I said.

That's pretty awesome, 75 miles a week is alot! My goal is to eventually run a marathon in about 2 years. Right now I'm doing 25 miles a week on average. I'm not sure if I'll ever make it through a marathon though. Right now I'm having some pretty severe pain in my tib/fib's. Hopefully it will go away with some more training.

Funeral Thirst · 07-16-2007, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Organichu

Plus the long distance training crowd is usually pretty cool since a lot of them are older folk (older than me, at least) and are more mature than the 20 year old BB's I know.

Negged.

Organichu · 07-16-2007, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funeral Thirst

Negged.

You're actually my first ever neg on bb.com. Cool.

I'm not sure why there's anything wrong with what I said. It's not discrimination against bodybuilders- it's discrimination against young, in shape people (many of whom are *******s).

I was saying that I find there are more 20 y/o BB's than endurance athletes. It has nothing to do with one activity versus the other.

coke · 07-16-2007, 08:31 PM

I used to run but i couldn't gain any weight or build muscle. Wasn't much running but i was 5'11 and 150lbs. Stopped running, started rippetoe and now i'm 180lbs and a LOT stronger. Work out with more than what my max was then.

Funeral Thirst · 07-16-2007, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Organichu

You're actually my first ever neg on bb.com. Cool.

I'm not sure why there's anything wrong with what I said. It's not discrimination against bodybuilders- it's discrimination against young, in shape people (many of whom are *******s).

I was saying that I find there are more 20 y/o BB's than endurance athletes. It has nothing to do with one activity versus the other.

Repped on recharge. (yes flip-flop'er)

Organichu · 07-16-2007, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coke

I used to run but i couldn't gain any weight or build muscle. Wasn't much running but i was 5'11 and 150lbs. Stopped running, started rippetoe and now i'm 180lbs and a LOT stronger. Work out with more than what my max was then.

Yah, I've lost strength since I've started running. My big 3 is only about 85-90% if what it was when I started running months and months ago. I still do my compound lifts but it's really difficult sometimes to schedule it around runner's fatigue.

I can't wait to pack on some more quality lbs when I turn this down.

NYPump · 07-16-2007, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Organichu

You're actually my first ever neg on bb.com. Cool.

I'm not sure why there's anything wrong with what I said. It's not discrimination against bodybuilders- it's discrimination against young, in shape people (many of whom are *******s).

I was saying that I find there are more 20 y/o BB's than endurance athletes. It has nothing to do with one activity versus the other.

Shake it off....I repped ya.