The Beginning

In January last year, a friend at work successfully talked me in to signing up for the St. Louis half marathon. I tried all the excuses I could think of. My body just can't go that distance, I haven't run over 5 miles for 20 years, I don't have time, blah, blah, blah. I signed up anyway and started using Hal Higdon's novice half marathon plan. I didn't do the cross training or the strength training and I ran three times per week instead of four. I slogged through four months of training and successfully completed the race in 2:08:02! That was truly an accomplishment for me.

With all the running, I was able to eat more and still lose some weight. I was down to about 165, not skipping breakfast, not skipping dinner, and feeling pretty good about myself. About a week after I completed the half marathon, I started thinking about what is next. Another half marathon in the fall? A full marathon? A sprint triathlon? Why not, a sprint is pretty short. I already run and bike and a quarter mile swim is only 8 laps in the pool or so. I should be able to do one in the fall. It really can't be that hard. Then I went to the pool......