In the Beginning

In the beginning God created man and runners have an inside joke that on the seventh day God ran an easy 3.

It is phrase found on many a t-shirt, mug, sticker or whatever you'd like if you want to search for at at www.cafepress.com. I didn't really get it until I began training for my first, and most likely only, full marathon in Austin, Tx, next Valentine's Day.

Like any training regime there is a lot more work that goes into the decision and preparation for the actual event than just the training itself. For example, after being diagnosed with a little known condition called Insulin Resistance a year ago next week I had to lose almost 100 pounds to get myself back in the "healthy" and "normal" weight group. I spent the last 11 months working out six days a week for one to one and half hours each day, cutting back my caloric intake and changing what I eat daily.

The result has been good, strike that. The result has been great and led me to seriously consider running a full marathon in May. The thought kept creeping around my head because as I lost the weight, I gained perspective. Instead of looking at challenging and rolling my eyes in the knowledge that I would never achieve them I started saying to myself, "why not?"

"Why not try?" I asked myself 8 weeks ago. I had been running consistently for a number of months, on and off between a case of tendinitis that would flare up from time to time. Why couldn't I at least commit to training for a marathon.

My father is a marathon runner, in fact he's run an ultramarathon, and I've heard his stories and never once did the idea of attempting one appeal to me. As I said though, the "how couldI" became "why not".

I committed to trying and I say it this way because in life there are no guarantees. I have learned in the past year than life is more mental than anything else, as is weight loss, as is training for a 26.2 mile run. I know that if my mind will go there my body will follow, unfortunately, though the mind doesn't have control over injuries or burnout.

Coming to accept that while I can commit to training I cannot guarantee participation or even successful finish. My goal is just that. To finish, whether I run, walk or crawl I want to cross that finish line barring any serious injury.

So, here I go. My first goal may be reached next Saturday as I run in the Race for the Cure Houston 5k. A small goal in terms of a marathon but a gigantic goal for me as last year on the exact same weekend I was only able to walk the race. I had been diagnosed the day before and woke up the morning of the 2008 race with a journey before me. This year, I return running. In the best shape I have been in since I was probably 12 years old.

In life it's always one foot in front of the other. Here's to the first step and next Saturday's easy 3.