Making a Change, Making it Stick

As a kid growing up my mom and dad carted me from sports practice to sports practice. First it was soccer and baseball as a youngster, then basketball and football were added to the mix. We were always on the move. But when I hit college other than the occasional intramural game or pick up match, there was a dramatic decrease in activity. After a few years, lots of travel and long hours at work bad habits had crept in, my weight crept up.

After about a year of being married I knew I needed to make a change, otherwise my life and happiness would be severely impacted. I started with running. My ultimate goal then was to run a 5k without stopping. I remember seeing people doing 5K charity runs and thinking, wow, they must be in really good shape. So I started there...I set a goal to run a 5K -without stopping - before our first child was born. I figured that would be the end of it. What started as a 5K turned into a 10K and then a buddy of mine called up and said, "Congratulations on finishing the 10K race...you know you are half way to a half marathon." At the time, that sounded like crazy talk. I discounted it immediately, but it planted a seed. After figuring it would be a great goal (see the pattern here) I signed up for the half and completed it. At the finish line, that same friend said, "You know you are half way to the full...thus starting the cycle all over again. In February 2006 I finished my first marathon.

In the meantime, I got into cycling a bit to try to alleviate some of the pounding on my knees...so, of course, I had to try to do a triathlon. Did a short triathlon and, even though I am not a strong swimmer, I have enjoyed the challenge ever since. Now I'm not turning in killer times, but it's always a great challenge and the goal of doing an upcoming race keeps me pushing myself to do better, to eat better, to be better. Despite shedding more than 50 pounds in the last three years, I'm still not a small person... in fact I always love to see the look on others peoples faces when they find out I've done a marathon. It's good for the goal oriented part of my personality and always something to strive for. It's a lot easier to wake up at 5am when you realize you're doing it for more of a reason than just putting in the miles.

That's the down and dirty version.... not much different than 1000's of other stories every day of people making a change. Just a matter of doing it, not getting discouraged (for more than a day or two) and moving forward. Anytime I've hit a roadblock I just always tell myself "Forward Progress." It doesn't happen fast, but there is always a reward. I'm just blessed I was able to make the change, have supportive family and friends and hopefully I'll have a fuller life with my family because of making the change.


Today's Workout stats:
Town Lake/Downtown streets
6 miles
57.30