Spanky's Place :: Fat Man Running

Category Health

Last night we had a parent / coach meeting at my daughter's school, followed by a trip to Gazelle Sports to purchase her new shoes. She is on the Cross Country team, training officially begins the first day of school. Gazelle sports was having an unadvertised 20% off sale for all Cross Country team members (the Cross Country / Track coach for one of the High Schools works there during the summer), so the place was crazy busy. There were runners from all over the area, from grades 7 - 12; along with coaches and parents. It was packed.

And there, amidst a sea of physicially fit kids and adults, stood I. All 20 stone 6 of me. The biggest fellow there (aside from me) had a waist that looked smaller around than my thigh. Nobody judged me, nobody made fun of me or pointed or laughed or anything. My weight was likely something that never even crossed anybody's mind. What cruelty existed was entirely in my own head. Hello, allow me to introduce myself, I'm Mr. Fattyfattyboombalatty.

On the way home I stopped in at JT's Pizza Depot, where I picked up a 14" deluxe (Pepperoni, Ham, Mushrooms, Onions, Green Peppers, Sausage, Black Olives). Once home I proceeded to eat 1/2 of it while sitting in my chair feeling sorry for myself and oh, so incredibly fat. A few hours later I went to bed.

But then something amazing happened......

I woke up this morning at 5:35 am. No alarm or anything, just time to get up. I climbed out of bed, got a drink of water, thew on a pair of shorts and running shoes, grabbed a flashlight, called my dog and put her on a leash.

And then I went for a walk. I walked through our neighborhood about 1/2 a mile up to a nearby park, which has a paved running track along it's wooded edge.

And then I went for a run. I didn't run far, only once around the park. But I didn't stop either. I've heard it is a mile, but I haven't actually verified that. I do know that, unless I screwed up my count, it is 896 left foot falls around the park. It was tiring and I was sweating buckets, but I did it. Gracie (the dog) really seemed to enjoy herself.

And you know what? So did I.

Wowsers! A Tag Cloud!

Comments

1 - Awesome. My kids started soccer a couple weeks ago. The park they practice at has a path around a baseball diamond. I used google maps to measure it out and found it is 1/4 mile, so 4 laps is a mile. I've been a desk jockey for so long the first night I only managed a quarter mile but by night 4 I was up to about 8 tenths of a mile. 16 years ago I could run 2.5 miles and then get on a bike straight away an ride 10 hard miles as fast as I could and considered that adequate. With middle age chipping away at me, like you, I've decided it's time to do something about it and keep at it till I'm able to run 2 miles at a time or die trying. Emoticon

Posted by Jerry Carter At 09:00:40 AM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

2 - Awesome story Dev! I wish I was there to run with you. I ran cross country in high school, did you know? Well, I was more or less chasing around this guy who had a great pair of legs, he turned out to be gay. Give the little girl some love from her Auntie! Emoticon

Posted by Lil' Sis At 09:16:59 AM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

3 - Way to go! Now is a good time to get started with running. As the weather gets cooler it's much more enjoyable.

I've been following the Couch to 5k program for a few weeks and I'm still on Week 1 because I don't want to move on and risk injury until I'm comfortable with this level.

Posted by Garrett Wolthuis At 09:18:44 AM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

4 - Great stuff. Good luck. Get healthy.

Posted by Alan Lepofsky At 09:34:44 AM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

5 - Good for you! Get a program and stay on it. I got into the work gym in Feb and I've lost 20lbs this year. Feels great! Just came back from vacation and I missed 3 weeks in gym. I put on 6lbs during time off. Getting back in swing this week. No need to kill yourself. Just start slow and be consistant. Good Luck!

Posted by Curt Stone At 09:52:34 AM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

6 - That is GREAT Devin! Fantastic, just fantastic. It is an amazing feeling to go from sloth to athlete. I know, I did it. Awesome!

Posted by Kathy Brown At 10:02:23 AM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

7 - Devin:

Just wanted to encourage you to stick with it. It's a very good choice to make healthwise. You might wanna partner up with someone in the beginning to establish a routine and keep you honest Emoticon

I know the buddy system helped me when I started out. Now I feel sick if I don't walk/run every day.

Dan

Posted by Dan Soares At 11:55:20 AM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

8 - Thanks everybody for the kind words of encouragement.

I'm planning on making this an everyday thing -we'll see how it works out.

Posted by Devin Olson At 03:54:11 PM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

9 - Awesome...just awesome! Good luck, Devin. You can totally do it!!!

Posted by Chris Blatnick At 06:00:27 PM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

10 - We can do it together! We've been outta shape for so long (and "round" is no longer acceptable). Someday WE will be able to buy CLOTHES at Gazelle...and not just socks, either!!
-Mrs. Fattyboombalatty

Posted by Mrs. Spanky At 09:50:25 PM On 08/24/2010 | - Website - |

11 - Today I ran a wee bit more than a mile. 1000 left foot falls; probably something like 1 1/8th miles. Woot!

Posted by Devin Olson At 08:15:39 AM On 08/25/2010 | - Website - |

12 - No shame in running, walking, running and walking as you build your endurance. I believe it's what the experts call Interval training. Emoticon

It's suppose to be good for you.

Posted by Curt Stone At 11:43:26 AM On 08/26/2010 | - Website - |

13 - I'll second the interval training. I only get two nights a week to do it. Tuesday I flat out run non stop and Thursday I do something slightly less and then walk it off and once I have my wind back I hit it again as much as I can. I've been able to sort of ratchet up my distance on Tuesdays going from 1/4 to just over half and this week .8 miles. Next week I'm shooting for 1.25 mi. Keep up the good work!!

Posted by Jerry Carter At 11:37:26 AM On 08/27/2010 | - Website - |