My stats as I begin week 1:

Weight: 194.6

Waistline 40.5

Blood Pressure 124/66

Resting pulse: 62

I've lost one pound and I'll take it. I've been better about nutrition, but I think I'm probably still eating too much. This week I'd like to see at least two punds come off, maybe even three!

My running, while still pretty pathetic is beginning to increase exponentially. On my first long run yesterday, the distance wasn't all that far but I was able to run most of it as opposed to walking a good deal of the time.

Good Nutrition

Running makes me hungry. This is not a new revelation because every time I decide to start running it pops up. So I have a bit of a dilemma. I'm running for good health, yes, but really to lose weight. And yet I feel hungry all the time, and this can affect my weight loss.

What to do?

Well, there is a happy medium and it is called the healthy meal and the healthy snack.

Healthy meals and snacks are largely vegetarian, low in fat and sugar and high in fiber. Oat meal, whole grain rice, fresh crunchy vegetables. Cheeses can be good too, but they have a lot of fat so I need to watch those.

The real advantage to the "healthy" idea is they fill me up and I don't find myself wanting to keep eating after I've stopped being hungry.

I don't really feel healthy yet, but I think I'm on my way.

I wonder if single malt scotch is considered a sports drink?

Insult and Injury

The first day wasn't so bad. Thirty minutes at a slow pace and I only had to walk a few times. Nonetheless, I need to be careful because my pathetic little body will get broken If I'm not careful, especially at first.

Warming up is deceptively simple. Simple because all I need to do is stretch and walk at a brisk pace for a few minutes before I start running. The deceptive part comes in when you consider you need to walk first, and then stretch.

Then, when done with what I must laughably call my run, it is time for some more walking and stretching.

But there are other things that prevent injury:

Plenty of liquids, good shoes, consistent training (that will be a hard one), proper cross-training on off-days and the worst, for me anyway, is avoiding getting all caught up in my new hobby and pushing too hard.

All-in-all, a pretty good first day!

The First Steps

The regimen I have decided to follow says I need to learn as much as I can about running marathons, buy good shoes, keep records of my progress, learn about (meaning improve) my nutrition and look into other activities to supplement my roadwork.

I've seen my doctor and got his advice.
"You're too fat. Lose weight and get some exercise!"

I have the halfway decent shoes I bought the last time I decided to get into shape.

Now I guess I just need to start running!

My stats as I begin week 1:

Weight: 195.6

Waistline 43.0

Blood Pressure 129/61

Resting pulse: 62

Since the minimum short run in the program I'm following is three miles, the first thing I need to do is build up to that minimum. So tomorrow I will start by running for thirty minutes.

I'll start at a slow pace and try to keep jogging. If I have to, I'll switch to walking three minutes for every two minutes run, but hopefully I can keep up the low pace.

Getting Started

The road to Marathon is going to be a long one, I can tell right now. The biggest danger facing me and people like me is that I tend to be one of those fools who rush in where angels fear to tread!

An example of Bruce-logic is that to run a twenty-six mile race I will need to build up to twenty-six miles every day! Then, so goes the Bruce-Logic, by the time race day arrives a twenty-six mile run is a walk in the park!

The reality of this has its own logic. Building up to twenty-six miles a day and then running it every day will cripple you for life if you are lucky. Assuming I had the stones to do it, the practice would most likely simply kill me.

So I consulted the web and wow, are there a lot of sites on marathon training. After looking at a great many, I selected this one as the training routine I would start with:

http://www.marathontraining.com/index.html

The way I see it, if I decide it isn't appropriate I'll find another. In any case, its a start and the big thing for me, is getting started.

In The Beginning

I've decided I need a goal in order to get myself into shape and stay that way.

One would think that good health and the admiring glances of others would be enough to keep me away from the Cheeto's cheese puffs, but trial and error (a lot of error) has proven this hypothesis to be incorrect, at least where I am concerned.

Since my body tends to lose a lot of weight when I run, it occurs to me that this would be the best way to shed the lard. But I hate to run.

Only that isn't really true. I hate to run in place, or around block on the sidewalk, but running through the countryside is always pleasant.

At least for the first four hundred yards. After that I find that laying on the ground gasping for each throat-burning breath while vultures beginning to make lazy circles over me isn't much fun. So I tend to avoid running.

But now I have a goal! I want to run the marathon from Marathon to Athens in November. This November may be a bit ambitious, but by next November (2010) for sure!

I plan to chronicle this journey here, mostly for myself and any poor souls with nothing better to do than read this.

This is the week I begin.