The Goal

My History: I was an overweight young adult couch potato; a complete and total nerd. I started jogging when I was 29 as part of my attempt to lose weight. It worked. I lost 35 pounds in 18 months, got addicted to running, and finished my first marathon in just under 5 hours at age 31. Within 5 years I was a semi-serious marathon runner, managing a personal best marathon of 3 hours and 12 minutes in 2005, and competing in the Boston and Singapore marathons in 2006. I then became a volunteer track and field coach and started helping others to run, jump, and be healthier. Years passed. As a father of three with a busy day job, I gradually sank back into couch potoatoism again, where I have been since I turned 40. Now, at 42, I want to get back off my butt, and I would love to go back to the Boston Marathon again someday.

Last Friday, I set out to try to run at least 3 miles a day, every day, for 100 straight days to get myself back on the wagon as a serious runner. I directly know (as in not just reading about it) one other person who has done this before, a fellow track and field coach, so it can be done, but he was an animal and actually won marathons (as in first place in the San Francisco marathon at age 36, taking home the big check, etc.). That's not me. I have never taken home any plaques, medals, or cash from running. My best was to crack the top 10 in my age group in a couple of local races. Right now, my short-term goal is to get back to racing a 10k or so in the top quarter or so of recreational runners my age by summer. 100 days is the first step in my comeback...