The Picture That Started It All

I have not always been a runner. I did not run track in high school (though, I wish I did). I ran a little bit when I lived in Vancouver, BC, even going as far as buying a good pair of fitted running shoes. I managed to work my way up to a 7K loop. The running, however, stopped because I didn't care to run in the rain ... and it rains a lot in Vancouver.

After I moved Moscow, ID, I picked up running again. This was primarily in response to workouts related to the P90X regiment that I had started. My feet and legs were taking a beating with Plyo X and I found Kempo X to be less than exhilarating. To supplement these cardio workouts, I started to run again. For about a month, I ran a few days a week, and I even topped out at 5 miles. The running stopped when I moved to Milwaukee in June 2013.

One of my longest runs in Moscow, ID

For the next year, I was pretty sedimentary. I had completed my dissertation, fueled by chai lattes and Mr. Goodbars and was adjusting to the hectic life of being an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee's School of Information Studies. After my first year, my girlfriend and I decided to go to Peru for a much-deserved and needed vacation.

This is the moment where I tell you that I struggled to get around in Peru because I had gained too much weight during the previous year. Nope.

We had a blast in Peru and the only things that limited our activities was the altitude. There was, however, one picture from our trip that caught my attention:

It is hard to tell from the image, but that is Machu Picchu in the background. We are standing at the Sun Gate at 6 AM after doing the four-day hike to the site. The picture does not do the view any justice (below is a better picture).

When I looked at the picture on my computer what I noticed was that round ball protruding above my belt line. This could have been an illusion. My backpack's belt was on pretty tight, but the image bothered me and served as the excuse I needed to be more active.

For my next post I will explain how I went from saying I will never run races to wanting to run a marathon.

Chicago or Bust?

There is something weird about the first post of any blog. A bit of excitement. A bit of trepidation. I really have no idea what to write. But what the heck, I'll give it a go...

I created this blog as a means to share the trials and tribulations of my running experiences. In particular, my experiences as I train for the Chicago Marathon in October.

See, this will be my first ever marathon. I wasn't going to sign up for a marathon this year. My plan was to run a few half marathons, build my confidence up, and then, in 2016 sign up for a full marathon. That was plan until one evening when my girlfriend simply asked me "Why not put your name in the lottery?" To which I replied "...." (a typical response).

Sure enough, the next day, I tossed my name into the hat. A month later, like a kid the night before Christmas, I nervously waited on the day they announced the "winners." Then the message arrived:

I raised my arms in triumph and was filled with joy and excitement ... until the next day when it hit me: I am going to pay to run 26.2 miles. Holy #@$%!

All this is not to say that I am going to do a couch-to-marathon experience. I have been running for about a year. I have run numerous 5K races, a couple 10K races, and in May, I completed my first half. So, I guess, the marathon was just the next logical step in the process.

This blog will hopefully provide me an outlet for the stress and excitement I will inevitably encounter along the way. I'm not going to lie, I'm making this all up as I go and that also goes for the training. At the very least, it should be an interesting journey.