Every
journey has a first step, mine started in 2006 when my weight ballooned to 240
pounds. I wore size 44 slacks and they getting tight ready to go into 46’s. My
triglycerides were over 400 and my blood pressure was high, I was already on
Lipitor and the doctor was threatening to start me on hyper-tension medicine. I
remember climbing a flight of stairs completely winded me. I finally got sick
and tired of being sick and tired. Below
is a picture of me at close to my peak weight.
I started
walking, watching what I eat, and even hired a personal trainer. My weight loss
was going well and eventually I was able to lose close to 40 pounds. I felt
better. I was capable of walking 4.5 miles in an hour on the treadmill, I was
doing sit ups, push-ups, planks and crunches. No longer did climbing a flight
of stairs wind me, I was down to size 40’s in slacks.
This picture
was taken in late 2006.
In 2007 I
plateaued at 200 pounds and could not break through it. I researched online and
learned one way to break through a plateau was to increase the intensity of my
exercising. I started walking briskly then running short bursts and back to
walking. My girlfriend/cheerleader challenged me to train for the Komen Race
for the Cure 5k in Evansville. I found a
C25k (couch to 5k) plan on the Internet and trained for and successfully
completed my first race. I remember the elation that I felt at being able to
run 3.1 miles without having to stop and walk. Here is a picture of me taken at
the Komen 5k in 2007.
Coming off
the elation I felt at completing my first 5k another friend challenged me to
run a slightly longer distance, the Cincinnati Flying Pig, a full marathon. On
9/16/2007, I had just run the longest distance of my life 3.1 miles and by
5/4/2008, I had to be ready to run 26.2 miles. Eventually I will tell you about
my first 10k, then my first ½ marathon, and finally the full marathon.
