Day 1

Well. Today is the first day...of the rest of my life.. Wow does that sound cliche'....
But seriously today I started training for the NYC 1/2 Marathon that I'm going to run on April 3rd of next year.
Getting in shape, losing weight... Not so easy when you are 42, have a family, work, etc etc.
Nothing seems to work. So I figured out a I need a goal, something to keep me focused.
Last week I got another PR envelope from World Vision talking about how people run in marathons and half marathons and raise money to help the kids with World Vision. This caught my attention.
You see.. I used to be a runner. It seems like a lifetime ago but at one time I ran road races, rode I don't remember how many century bike rides, and ran Winter and Spring Track. My favourite distance was 5k and had a personal best of 18:05.
Flash forward 25 years and it's a sad picture I paint now.
until today. Today I start a 4 and 1/2 month countdown to I take part in the NYC 1/2 Marathon on April 3rd :) http://www.131marathon.com/13_1_New_York.htm
When I started getting ready today for my first workout I had a nice surprise. Thomas, my 9 year old son, wants to do this with me! I survived the first work out, and don't feel too bad. We'll see how it goes the rest of this week.
Why am I blogging all this, who is going to care? It's precisely to help keep myself focused. You might think I would keep this quiet. I mean, you look at me and you'd laugh if I told you I was going to run in a 1/2 marathon in 4 1/2 months. Heck you'd laugh if I told you I was going to run around the block! Actually that is why I'm telling folks. If I didn't then it would be easy to quit since no one would know. I am telling folks so they can ask me how I'm doing. I'm less likely to quit if people know because I don't want to look like a quiter..
I think I can do this. I have an 8 week plan for getting in to running shape. I'll still be heavy but I'll be losing weight while i do this. The more I run, the more weight I'll lose, the more I can run. After the 8 week plan I have a 12 week plan to get ready for running 13 miles in a race. There is no wiggle room. I have just enough time to do it, rain - snow - sleet, not withstanding.
Keep me in your prayers, and put me on the spot when you see me IRL or online. Ask me how it's going. Tell me not to quit.
Thanks.