It begins!

     I am a heavy set individual.  Officially classified as obese.  I am a 5'8" adult male 34 years of age.  I weighed close (I was too scared to actually weight myself and check) to 270 lbs.  Of this 100 lbs have been put on in the last 14 years.  I am constantly tired and depressed and enjoy food way to much for my own good.

     Here we are (at the time) in early September.  It started as a challange, which I though at first was a joke.  A customer of mine asked me if I wanted to participate in a triathalon!  The event was to be during the first week of October.

   "Are you kidding.... have you seen me at all during the last year and a half since I have known you"?  I said.

    "No I'm not kidding....I need you to do it".  He said he had the application outside in his truck and went out to bring me the application.

    I ended up not signing up.  Telling myself that I couldn't possibly do it, I talked myself out of it before he got back with the paperwork.

    Over the next several weeks leading up to the event he would ask if I had turned in my application yet.  I said no and that I have a knee injury and I can't do the running.   He put me on the spot and asked if I could swim or perhaps do the biking.  I said I wasn't a good swimmer but I could possibly do the biking.  He said great, as he was assembling a team to do a team competition for the same event and he wanted me to sign up for that instead.  I again talked myself out of it before he could go any further.

    I lead him on that I was still considering it and finally, when I was running out of time and excuses, told him that my knee was really bothering me again and I just couldn't commit to training for it.

    He said that was fine and there was a 5k coming up during Thanksgiving. The "Turkey Trot".  I laughed and said "we'll see".

    Boy did he ever get inside my head.  I began thinking to myself.....why can't I do it?  I used to run pretty well (I ran a sub 6 minute mile) in high school.  Then I would tell myself things like: Ah, my knee is really bothering me.  I don't have the energy.  I'm always tired after I get home, how am I going to have the energy to train and run in a 5k?  Thats 3.1 miles after all!  Thats 3.1 more miles than I've run over the last 17 years or so!  I again talked myself out of it.  Or so I thought.

    Now we were fast approaching November and my wife and I had our 11th anniversary to celebrate on the 4th.  We were going to Jacksonville where my wife's parents live and they were going to watch our three beautiful girls for us to go out to dinner.  That's when my truck broke down.  There went our anniversary money.  Again, tiredness and depression set in.  What could I give my wife for our anniversary?  I began to think, what can I give her that would show her how much I appreciate her for next to nothing?  I told myself that I was too tired and depressed to think about it any more.  I sat on the couch, watching YouTube.com for the millionth time when I had a moment of clarity.  I'm tired of always being tired and depressed!  I can do something for my wife.  I can become the healthy life loving husband that she married again!  I can go running.

     I looked at her. "I'm going running".

     She said "don't hurt yourself".

     Then I went for a jog around the block.  I had to stop and walk 4 separate times.  I couldn't even run around the block.  I thought it must have been at least 2 miles or so.  I hopped in my truck and reset the odometer.  1 mile!  I couldn't even jog for 1 mile and here I am self committed to run in a 5k in 3 weeks!  I was bound and determined to push through and do it.  I began alternating running and walking my mile lap around my house.  By the 3rd night I forced myself to make it the whole mile without walking.  It took me 14 minutes to run a mile and another two days to recover from it.  My legs felt good though.  Real good.  I had a warm sensation and found running to be a very good activity to help cope with the daily stresses of life.  I had become "hooked".

          With these humble beginnings my customer's implanted seed about the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot began to grow.  I began training for the next 3 weeks to run a 5k!  Finally making it 3 full miles without stopping...in 55 minutes!  Ugh!  Rough times, but I enjoyed it actually.

    I started talking to my friends and coworkers about my plans to run in the Turkey Trot 5k.  I went online and registered then immediately posted it on Facebook.  I had several other friends comment on it and a couple good friends decided to run in the event with me.

    Going into the event I had only 2 goals.  First, don't stop running.  Second, do it in under 50 minutes.

    I succeeded in not stopping, and I also finished in 42 minutes and 11 seconds!