I have been a hiker for several years, even at my heaviest, 230lbs. I wouldn’t say distance was ever effortless, but I averaged 8-10 miles in an afternoon.

I hadn’t been out for a hike yet this year, and I finally got out yesterday. Not long after I started, I got the urge to run, even with a full pack, so I just did it. In an 8 mile hike I ran three times, just when the urge struck. It wasn’t for more than a minute or two each time but…hot damn! I shocked myself! Last year, a similar distance took 3 hours. Yesterday, 2.5 hours.

This was after an entire Maine winter of exactly zero activity except occasional shoveling and swearing (and most recently, fervent weeping over the Bruins).

I know some of this was due to my 60lb weight loss but also a ton of it was my diet now supports constant energy rather than cravings, wild swings in energy and mood, and afternoon naps.