Running helped Tim go from 20st 6lbs to 13st 8lbs
At school I was pretty active and took part in a lot of sports, but at college I got in to unhealthy eating and drinking habits, which continued after that. It was the usual story: too many takeaways and beers, and too little exercise. Although I gave up alcohol in 2002, the unhealthy eating pretty much continued. Takeaways were always a particular weakness – especially pizza and Indian.
I move around quite a lot with my job and, in 2007, relocated to Nairobi. It was there that I decided that I needed to try and do something about it. At that stage, I weighed over 20 stone. So I started running, changed my diet and generally tried to lead a healthier lifestyle. It was tough. Actually, I wasn’t even sure at the start whether I would be able to run at all because I hadn’t done it for so long.
Initially, I alternated between run/walking on one day, and walking the next. On “running” days, I’d jog for 30 seconds, and walk for two and a half minutes, and do that for half an hour. My main motivation to get fit has been my children (Vaughan, nine, Keenan, six and Tegan, three). I wanted to be able to keep up with them, and also to set a decent example. Recently we watched some old family videos, and they weren’t able to recognise the big guy in them, which was pretty cool!
Racing fit
Since then, I’ve done a couple of 10Ks and now a couple of half-marathons. The last half-marathon in March was quite a step forward for me. Although pretty slow by most standards (2hrs 16mins), I ran the whole way, and actually didn’t find it too tough, or at least wasn’t totally wiped by the end.
I’m planning to run the Loch Ness Marathon in September – flights, hotels and entry are all booked, so I guess there’s no backing out now. I’m quite nervous about it, but a lot of the training that I do now is on pretty boring and repetitive park loops, because that’s all that’s available, and I’m hoping that the switch to a more interesting, scenic course will help. In terms of nutrition, I now try to just eat better generally. I’ve tried various diets, but never stuck to them. Now I just eat plenty of fruit and veg. Ensuring that there’s healthy stuff on hand makes it easier – there’s generally some of my wife’s “three-bean chilli” in our fridge.
I’m now 13.8 stone, but I’d ideally like to drop to under 13. That would certainly make Loch Ness a bit easier!
