The Daily Blog 2010-05-04

I've got this thing on my mind. It seemed the best thing to do was to express it. And since no one really reads this blog anyway, I'm just gonna use this thing. I am exercising this summer. Actually, there's a diet/exercise thing going on. So, this is me working through that...

First of all, I meant to start this yesterday. That does not surprise me, but it disappoints me. I never was very good at journalizing because I am not a consistent writer. I like to write when I have something to say, but that is not everyday. When I force myself to write, I am more disappointed by the results than I am disappointed by not writing at all. So, there is that. We'll see what happens. This, incidentally, is why I do not pursue any professional writing/career. If someone is going to pay me, sooner or later they are going to start pushing their expectations, and I...just... don't... care... about their expectations. I'll make money some other way and preserve the writing for all things good.

Second, I have been exercising for a while now. In the summer of 2007, I had back surgery for a ruptured disc. For the 10 years prior to that, give or take, I had white-collar jobs. That felt good at the time in the I'm-using-my-expensive-education way. It was horrible for me physically. The food was good, though. I like food. I'm about 6'1" and peaked somewhere around 230lbs. No one ever told me I was overweight. I could see it, though, especially in pictures of myself. In 2004, I started what I thought was the absolute best job I had ever had. It used my education, used what I thought were my strengths, paid what I thought was pretty well, and some other good stuff. Three years later, I needed back surgery. Sad. I have done plenty of physical work in my life. I grew up on a farm and even did some after graduating. I worked in a shipping/receiving position that involved a whole bunch of loading and unloading stuff by hand. But, it was the desk job that did me in. Interesting.

Anyway, after the surgery, the best thing I could do for my back and myself was to walk alot. For weeks after the surgery, I was supposed to avoid sitting altogether. Standing still drove me crazy. Thus, walking... After a while, I started wondering about running. Part of that was the high school reunion. At the same time as that event there was a running event in town (it's an annual thing) and some of us joked about it. Some of my non-classmate friends were also participating in marathon events local to them. So, I started wondering just what I was capable of accomplishing. But, that event came and went. I exercised off and on. Another inspiring event was the end of a Biggest Loser series where the remaining contestants ran a marathon. Keep in mind, even after losing almost 200lbs, these people were still obese. And they all finished. It only took them around 5.5 hours. That really got me thinking.

I'm not going to run a marathon, though. What I am going to do is run a marathon relay with 3 other people from work. The distance is either 5.5, 6.2, or 8.5 miles. I don't know which I have to do yet.

So, this is day two of running 3.105 miles (5k) per day. I have run 6.2 miles at one time twice, now. The plan is to run the 3.105 each day and on Saturday 7+ miles and then maybe have to run as far as 8.5 miles at the 5/22/2010 Fargo marathon.