ROSS
"Running wasn't even on my radar before I started this, for me it was all about lifting weights. Next thing you know, I've entered myself into a trail race... and another one. I've then done a half marathon now."
"I've probably wiped 10 minutes from my 5km run"
"I've done a half marathon trail race. You don't realise how fit you are until you do these things. I am now at the level of fitness where I can just dive into it and give trail races a bash"
INITIAL FAT LOSS PHASE
Initially when Ross came into the program, he was very keen to drop some bodyfat. He wanted to get leaner as he felt he had plateaud with dropping weight which was his initial goal. We set out a structured 8 week fat loss phase which also accounted for time on holiday.
Ross is very active daily due to his job. He is constantly on the move doing around 12,000-15,000 steps per day but still struggled with dropping bodyfat. We started by creating a simple food diary to see what he was consuming on a daily basis. His nutrition was in a good position already but we just needed to make a couple of tweaks. It's the simple things that people really don't consider which catch us out. So we made small changes and set Ross his daily targets for Protein, Fats and Carbs. He got straight to work on this and managed to drop around a stone in 8 weeks whilst having tasty food and a few beers on the weekends.
The main focus points were just on ensuring he planned ahead. He would usually just wing it each morning when it came to choosing something to take with him to work for lunch so we needed to ensure he was proactive and sorted his breakfast and lunch the night before. He also was very conscious of time and didn't want to be spending all hours training as he values family time outside of his working hours.
We set him out some straight forward training which he could easily stick to which consisted of home workouts and runs. 3 Home workouts per week from his garage and 2 runs per week. A faster run mid week which was shorter in time and then a longer slower run on a weekend (which he could easily fit in as a steady family run/hike outdoors).
RACE 1
Ross now having achieved his initial fat loss goal wanted to move towards performance. We spoke about what he could look at and what his options were. We threw a few ideas around and he decided to lock in on building muscle and improving overall running capability. We switched up his training split and aimed for more hypertrophy based goals as well as building his running. Adding some interval training in and more distance to his weekend long runs.
Each week Ross was nailing his runs and hitting 5k PBs with the additional calories and the additional strength in his legs from his resistance training. After a couple of weeks I received a message from Ross to say he had entered his first ever trail race which was held in the Peak District. An awesome 10km route which some good elevation.
Ross got a real taste for trail running and got in with a local group of trail runners who he now meets up with in the Peak District for runs. I can honestly say that the outdoor community is top tier. It is full of humble and welcoming individuals who just want to get outdoors and share some peaceful suffering with like minded people in the wind and rain. This is what it is all about and it is awesome that Ross has found such a cool local group to run with.
This thrill from Race 1 led Ross to booking his second race which would be a half marathon distance, again in the Peak District.
At this point we are 5-6 weeks passed his fat loss phase and well into his performance and muscle building phase. He was keeping on top of his nutrition and training consistently. Although he was training for races now, his overall training time weekly didn't drastically increase, meaning he could easily manage it in his day to day life.
He was now getting to the point where routine was properly cemented and he wouldn't skip sessions. Training became part of his routine and part of family life too. His little girl now loves joining him for training sessions and like to put exercise routines on the tv to follow. As a parent, we are there to set an example to our children. It is up to us what example we set whether good or bad they will likely follow. This is why is is so important that as parents we take control and show our children that looking after our health is part of life and it is a priority, just like Ross is doing.
THE SECOND RACE
The second race Ross decided to hit a half marathon. During his training we built up his weekend runs to increase overall distance. Again consistently hitting more PBs through training and building a new found love for running.
Prior to the race we spoke about nutrition for fuelling to ensure he turned up to the start line in the best condition possible. Ultimately Ross wasn't really there to race though, he was there to have a flipping awesome day in the Peak District!
What more could you ask for on a Sunday - getting out into the hills, running up and down. It doesn't get much better than that.
So Ross set off with the aim to enjoy the day and give it his all... he came 16th out of over 600 runners! Insanely good result all round.
