Couch2Boston

Yep, 23.0.  I was signed up for the full marathon.  I started the full marathon.  I did not finish.  I may, ok do, have an epically big ego but learned hard that people actually use plans that can take months to prepare for a marathon...but let's back this story up to the real beginning. (Note: This was written in 2021 for posterity, but I've tried to tell the story from a 2012 perspective) 5 months earlier in May 2012 , I prepared for my first 5k since high school cross country many years ago.  After a couple of weeks to recover, I was able to get a running habit going, sort of.  Since my weight was in the 260-270 pound range it didn't seem that I could actually handle pounding the pavement, but I could keep a daily habit working out on an elliptical machine.  I trained on the elliptical machine by HR and time and rarely got outside to run, except for an occasional 5k race.  This seemed to be the balance I needed to improve my fitness and have le...

May 21st, 2012 my wife “innocently” asked me if I wanted to run The Westside YMCA 5k with the boys in a couple of weeks. The boys were aged 10 and 12 at the time and the trash talking started immediately. They were both full of confidence about how badly they were going to beat Dad, and why not? I was ~265 pounds and had easily gained 50 pounds in the previous 15 months. For about 15 years or so I had a habit of following the same cycle: Gain Weight Start Major Home Renovation Lose Weight Finish Major Home Renovation Repeat…but gain more weight next time Just a little side project to keep me out of trouble. 15 months earlier I had finished one of our biggest projects yet. I was also working a gazillion hours at “the day job”. The net result was that I became the lightest I had been in many years. I then “rewarded” myself with lots of sedentary time and junk food. Before I knew it I was easily 15-20 pounds heavier than I had ever been in my life. ...