It's cold..really cold..at least for a guy who grew up where 70 degree weather was considered cold. It's 37 degrees and slightly windy in the DC suburbs on this December morning. I decide Sunday morning is as good as any to start my quest to be fit. So, i put on 3 layers of clothing and tell my wife I'm going for a walk. She's supportive of my latest attempt to get healthy. She doesn't laugh out loud - but I can sense her mind screaming "here we go again!"
So, I grab a bottle of water and head out of the house. I decide to go back and grab some gloves just in case my hands get cold. In 2 minutes, i'm ready to turn back and head home. My face...especially my nose and neck feel frozen. I keep going only because I didn't want to quit this early on my latest quest for fitness. It usually takes me a week or two before I "get hurt" or "run out of time" to stop my getting fit routine.
I'm a guy in my late 30s with at least 25 extra pounds on my body. People don't call me fat or plump or chunky to my face. I'm sure they don't think of me as fat either..but they certainly don't see me as a fit guy. I'm the kind of guy that nobody thinks of when they think of healthy people or unhealthy people. I'm the guy who doctor's will say - "lose some weight" to if they ever see him. I'm also the guy who in 5 to 10 years will end up with a heart attack and people will say "Never expected that for him". So, I'm out to make a change.
My plan, my latest quest for fitness, is that I will prepare and run a marathon in October 08. The marine Corps marathon. It gives me a goal. I've never been a runner - my only attempt at running was running a half marathon this year in VA beach. That was a struggle. Full marathon is going to be hell. So, I figured I'll start by walking.
My plan is to walk 3-4 times a week for 3-4 miles the next month before I start to run. Based on my extensive research (NOT!), that shouldn't shock my body into another injury.
So, despite the cold and wind. I keep walking. Within the first 5 minutes I realize my foolishness in not wearing a hat that could also cover my ears. After the first 15 minutes I feel my body warming up and not feeling too cold. The overcast cold morning is no longer dull and boring to me as I begin to retreat in my thoughts as I keep walking. My plan was to walk a 4 mile loop with a small pond as the furthest point. I keep checking my watch to see if I'm walking a 15 minute mile every 5 minutes or so. The middle 30 minutes went by very quickly as I retreated into my thoughts and got into a rhythm of walking. I was no longer cold or uncomfortable. I enjoyed the last 15 minutes of my walk as I was day dreaming of being able to keep up my commitment of walking for the next month. Only time will tell if I can pull this off
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