Now, nothing. And I can’t seem to psych myself up to get back out there.

Any suggestions? Surely somebody has the magic words to get me to slip on the Brooks again.

Oh and any suggestions to get me to try and shed this extra 20 would be good too.

Thanks.

Needless to say, I was unable to make it the full mile.
But I developed a determination to be able to. I found a running plan on-line that promised to get me up to a 5K in two months time.

I did it and I was hooked. Over the course of the next year I ran over 600 miles and began harboring dreams of running a marathon. I read every book on running I could get my hands on, subscribed to Runners World, bought a heart rate monitor, eschewed cotton clothing and fell in love with Bodyglide.

I never missed a day of running that first year. I was a junkie.

Then, shortly after my one year anniversary, I hit the wall. My first pair of running shoes had been sufficient when I was still ramping up the mileage. My second pair was purchased at a running store in Austin. My third pair, however, were not conducive to someone with extreme overpronation.

Over the course of the past year I have struggled with running. My motivation has been zapped, my dreams of a marathon diminished.
It’s hard to balance running with family and career. My peak running time is 5-6 in the afternoon. Just when my family expects me home.
I’ve missed days. I’ve struggled with pain.
I’ve thought about giving up over and over again.

However, I now feel like I have new life. When I was in Arkansas a month ago, my brother-in-law gave me his copy of Jeff Galloway’s Marathon.
When I had first heard of Galloway’s methods and the use of walk breaks I had dismissed it. It wasn’t really running if you took walking breaks, was it?
However, I was so frustrated that I decided to give it a shot.

And I haven’t felt this good running in over a year.
I ran 5 miles yesterday and I feel great today. I’m starting to think that maybe a marathon is possible after all.
And I’m starting to feel the love of running again.
Today is a good anniversary.

To all my running readers: have any of you used Galloway’s plans? What do you think? Do you use walk breaks at all? Any thoughts on running?
To all my non-running readers: give it a shot. Try the couch-to-5K. It could change your life.

It’s a Christian based non-profit organization where the members share expenses.  It is not insurance.  I’d like some feedback from anybody with any knowledge of the program.

What about other methods of securing inexpensive (or not totally usurious) health insurance?

In that period I took up running. As I worked up to 20-25 miles a week I was able to maintain my weight and eat pretty much whatever I wanted.

However, in December I suffered a running-related injury and went to the side-lines. I have yet to regain either my consistency or will when it comes to pounding the pavement or treadmill.

As a result, I’ve added too much weight back. Close to half of it. It’s time to get serious again.

Tonight, Tracy and I do a mystery shop for an upscale steak-house here in the Waco area.

Then, tomorrow it’s back to phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. For the next two weeks I will be on the strictest part of the diet before moving into the more moderate part for however long it takes.

Two years ago, I lost all the weight without cheating. Once. I was an altar boy. Here’s hoping I can do it again.

Feel free to yell, encourage, question, cuss at me, whatever to keep me on the wagon. I’m hoping this will create in me a desire for regular running again.

Without further ado, I bid a fond farewell to these foods for the foreseeable future:

1. Mazzio’s pizza buffet, and that incredible chocolate-chip pizza
2. Burger King’s Extreme Spicy Tendercrisp Sandwich
3. Mega M&M’s and all forms of chocolate
4. Amy’s Spinach Pizza (for two weeks)
5. Hamburgers
6. French Fries
7. Dairy Queen’s Chocolate X-treme Blizzard
8. Dorito’s Spicier Nacho Chips (with the requisite bean dip)
9. Popeye’s Firecracker Shrimp
10. Bush’s Meal Deal
11. All restaurant mystery shopping

Anyone wanna join us?

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Updated: There is a new blog if you are interested in joining along and blogging your progress. The site is cochealthnuts.wordpress.com

If you want to be added as a contributor and post your progress, email me at sfree96@yahoo.com and I will hook you up.

In May of 2004, I decided it was time for a radical overhaul in my life.

I went on a diet.  At my max, I topped the scales around 250 pounds.

My cholesterol was inching higher and higher.  I was susceptible to high blood pressure and diabetes.

My culinary choices were keeping me from a healthy lifestyle.

I’ve always been overweight.  But, I realized, with two little girls that I owed it to them to do something about it.

I began a rigorous diet and eventually lost in the neighborhood of 70 pounds.

I began to exercise.  I began to run.

As a result, I began to look at life and the beauty of living a whole lot differently.

That was a huge accomplishment for the guy in the past whose idea of a healthy meal were extra onions on a hamburger and whose exercise regimen consisted of running to the refrigerator between commercial breaks. (I had wanted a house where the living room television was viewable from the kitchen. That would have eliminated any rash decisions of choosing what to eat before the game resumes. But, alas,it was not to be.)

I have since leveled off around 200 pounds.  I would like to lose that extra 20 back and am resolving again to eat healthier.

My running suffered a huge blow toward the end of last year.  After topping off at 10 miles, I hit the wall.  But, slowly, I am building myself back to where I was.

The reason this is part of this series is because of the added perspective living the healthy lifestyle has given me.

I began to be concerned about what I ate.  I began to be concerned about how the additives and preservatives in food contribute to the breaking down of the human body.

I began to be interested in organic and whole foods.

I realized that diet and exercise corrected many of my physical problems and that dependence upon pharmaceutical companies was unnecessary.

This new healthy lifestyle was the impetus for my environmental shift.

What’s more I began to ask myself some questions about the rest of my life.  If I could benefit from a physical makeover, what about a spiritual one?

Are there parts of my spiritual diet that need to be questioned?  Are there some long held beliefs that need to be overhauled?

Is Calvinism viable?

What about Democrats? Do they know anything?

I began to open myself to ask questions about every aspect of my belief system.

It seems a tremendous jump from a diet to questioning all of my beliefs.

But what that change of lifestyle did was open me up to the realization that I had been living one of aspect of my life so wrongly.  So maybe I was doing the same in others.

I am 75% of the man I used to be.

Next: The prayer that transformed everything.

• People who don’t run typically don’t understand those who do.
• People make up loads of excuses why they don’t run and 99% of those excuses are weak.
• It does not matter how fast you are or how far you run. What matters is that you start.
• Running is not about speed or distance. It’s about getting up and moving.
• Bodyglide is the greatest invention of all time.
• Cotton is anathema. If it doesn’t wick, make another pick.
• I love seeing other people out on the trails and tracks. Maybe it is the hope of a healthy beginning or the result of life-time commitment to activity. Whatever the reason, it’s good to see people doing something.
• Run, walk, crawl. But do something.
• Foam rollers are a must.
• You will run slower and sweat more on a treadmill than outdoors.
• It’s too hot to run outdoors during a Texas summer.
• Those moments running are the best worship of my week.
• Running is the greatest thing physically I have ever done.
• It doesn’t get easier, I just learn to love it more.
• Streets are horrible for your knees. Get on the trails or tracks.
• Shoes matter.
• Even I can do it.

I ask my running cronies (Jeff, Chris, George) for any insight, advice or pointers you want to share.

My goal marathon is here. What better place than Little Rock for my first attempt?
March 5, 2006. Who is with me?

• Run 10 miles in one outing.
• Run 500 miles in 2005

Today, I ran 10 miles.
And I only had to stop once for a bathroom break.
Sometime in the next few weeks I will crest 500 miles.
Time to contemplate what is next on the agenda.