How That Guy Became This Guy Part 2 (Post 2)

Where were we? Oh yeah! It’s May 2014, I weigh 330 pounds, and I’m going to become a runner! Let me start by saying that I was never “that guy”. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to run. Ever. I played sports growing up, street hockey, football, etc. and I ran when I needed to. But whenever I tried to run as a sport, I was miserable. After 30 seconds, I was huffing and puffing and my heart would pound so hard that it felt like I would just die right there in the street. MISERABLE! What the hell was I thinking? It was very clear to me that I was going to need some help if this was really going to happen, and when I need help, I Google.

Before I took a step, I Googled things like “Just Started Running”, “How to Start Running”, blah, blah, blah. One of the links that popped up was a “Couch to 5K” plan. One click later, I’m reading this plan that starts with things like “Walk for 3 minutes then slowly jog for 30 seconds”, and keep this up for 10 minutes. “Start with 3 or 4 times per week,” I thought to myself, “I can do this!” Suddenly, this didn’t seem so impossible, and then I went for my first “run”.

Now, I’m not going to lie, those first 30 second jogs sucked, bad, but I stuck with it. The 30 second jogs then became 45 second jogs by Week 2. By Week 3, I was jogging for a couple of minutes at a time, and the huffing and puffing started to sound more like breathing. Breathing? That was new. Finally, a couple of minutes of jogging was turning in to 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and then suddenly, about 4 weeks into the “Couch to 5K” plan, I had a breakthrough! During one of my jogs, after about 15 minutes, I still felt good, I felt strong. So, like my man Forrest Gump, I “just kept running”. When I got to 20 minutes, I still felt strong, so… “I kept running”. I jogged, non-stop, for 30 minutes! I couldn’t believe it. There’s this thing called a “runner’s high”. Supposedly, the endorphins that are released during exerscise give you this feeling of euphoria. I’m not sure that I had it that day, but it sure felt like it. Now, I was hooked.

At this point, my wife notices that I am sticking to this crazy thing and asked me what she could do to help. Before I go further, let me comment on the need to be surrounded by people who love and support you, because it makes all of the difference in the world. Currently, I run up to 50 to 60 miles in a week. I run at least 5 days per week. I run when we travel, I run when it rains, I run when it snows — let’s just say I run a lot. A LOT. I also eat 3 bananas everyday and vegetables, fruits, lean meats and fish throughout the week. I went from drinking socially during the week, and heavily on the weekends, to not drinking at all when I am training for a race. The changes that I made have impacted my family, even though I try very hard to minimize that, that is a fact, and I am so grateful that my wife and kids have supported me 100%! But I digress. When my wife offered her help, I basically explained that I needed to have vegetables, fruits, yogurt, etc., all easily accessible in the house. I didn’t ask for her to remove the foods that she and the kids loved, but I knew that I needed better alternatives than junk food out where I could see them. That was that; She made sure it was all good, and I love her for that.

As the days and weeks went by, the weight started to come off. Slowly, at first, and then it just flew off! It was incredible, empowering, fun, scary, and everything in between. Now, you may be wondering why I would use the word “scary”. Well, you are who you are. In order to change, you have to leave behind who you are, and THAT can be scary. I don’t mean that you have to change everything about your personality, but if I wanted to be “Joe the Runner”, I couldn’t be “Joey Bag of Doughnuts” anymore. I couldn’t be the guy who stayed out drinking until 2 AM if I had to get up and get a run in at 5 AM. I would say, “Dessert? Yes please! Do you have fresh fruits instead of cheesecake?”. I think you get the picture. However, once I got to this point where I realized that I was ok with what I was becoming, I felt liberated; I had momentum. Now, what scared me was this little nugget: Can I maintain this? I have momentum, and that is a great thing, but how do I keep it rolling?

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