One of the goals of this blog was to help me verbalize all of the different reasons I would a) run long distances; and b) write about it.
Of all of the less legitimate reasons I have for logging my miles and words, there is one that stands on its own: fitness.
I have been in varying levels of fit throughout my life. As a teenager, I didn't run at all, unless chased. I dabbled with weights like any pimply, gangly teen, but even though I ate like a horse I had a pretty nice figure at roughly 165 lbs in high school. I didn't realize I could see my abs until they were long, long gone.
College was where I first was forced to run. I wish I could go back and appreciate those runs for what they were, but at the time I couldn't appreciate it all. My fellow ROTC cadets and I would run all over Pittsburgh - through downtown, by Three Rivers Stadium, up to University of Pittsburgh, even to the top of Mount Washington. Beautiful runs, although we were running at a pace that kept me wanting to throw up most of the time. Even with that amount of exercise, I found my Freshman 15, and then some.
I remember distinctly in 1995, going through training at Fort Bragg, that I was gaining weight. I thought that was a good thing to be so hungry, but in all honesty when I got back I was just heavier (185 lbs).
Graduate school wasn't a time where I was watching the scale, but at least my metabolism, and a healthy respect for getting into the gym when the lab got to crazy, kept me from getting much fatter. By the time I checked into OBC at Fort Sam Houston in 2001, I was around 190 lbs.
My time in the Army kept me very fit. I was hitting the gym, going to PT, and even doing some extra training for things like EFMB, GAFPB, and Airborne school. Still, I think at this point, I managed to get up to 196 lbs - the first time I ever got taped. Legally overweight.
Transferring to the Navy, in a very physically demanding billet, didn't stop me from gaining more, especially when work got hectic, things were going on at home, and Grace was born. The month after she was born, I clocked in at 210 lbs. At that time, I was grossed out by my weight. I got 20 lbs off right before I went to Iraq in 2009.
Iraq was one of those great places where you had nothing but time to work on your physical fitness. It was also a great place for me to realize that I couldn't just shovel food into my mouth anymore. I got down to 171 lbs that summer.
However, I knew I had a problem when, on the second day I got back home, I looked in the pantry and found an unopened box of Oreo cookies. I managed to demolish that box in ONE DAY. You can guess where my weight went after that. I was still training for a marathon in 2010, which kept some of the weight off.
However, after running the Raleigh marathon, I lost all incentive to run. 2014 seemed so far away, and I was commuting to work and busting my hump doing it. Without workouts to help me control my weight, I busted buttons - getting up to 220 lbs by the winter of 2011.
My best friend Andy's wedding was that summer, and I vowed that I would not look fat in my Dress Blues. So I did my best and was able to lose almost 40 lbs over the course of six months, bringing me back down to around 195. But after the wedding I got off track again.
In November of 2012, I weighed in at 221. Even when TAPED I was having trouble staying within standards. I knew that a deployment was right around the corner, but I was not happy that it was taking a deployment to get me in shape.
But, here I am. As of now, I am back to 180 lbs., and on my way down, a pound at a time. I know I have to make some serious choices when I get back, but working out in preparation for this 40 miler should help. But when I'm done, I know that there will always be a plate of cookies waiting for me.
Of all of the less legitimate reasons I have for logging my miles and words, there is one that stands on its own: fitness.
I have been in varying levels of fit throughout my life. As a teenager, I didn't run at all, unless chased. I dabbled with weights like any pimply, gangly teen, but even though I ate like a horse I had a pretty nice figure at roughly 165 lbs in high school. I didn't realize I could see my abs until they were long, long gone.
College was where I first was forced to run. I wish I could go back and appreciate those runs for what they were, but at the time I couldn't appreciate it all. My fellow ROTC cadets and I would run all over Pittsburgh - through downtown, by Three Rivers Stadium, up to University of Pittsburgh, even to the top of Mount Washington. Beautiful runs, although we were running at a pace that kept me wanting to throw up most of the time. Even with that amount of exercise, I found my Freshman 15, and then some.
I remember distinctly in 1995, going through training at Fort Bragg, that I was gaining weight. I thought that was a good thing to be so hungry, but in all honesty when I got back I was just heavier (185 lbs).
Graduate school wasn't a time where I was watching the scale, but at least my metabolism, and a healthy respect for getting into the gym when the lab got to crazy, kept me from getting much fatter. By the time I checked into OBC at Fort Sam Houston in 2001, I was around 190 lbs.
My time in the Army kept me very fit. I was hitting the gym, going to PT, and even doing some extra training for things like EFMB, GAFPB, and Airborne school. Still, I think at this point, I managed to get up to 196 lbs - the first time I ever got taped. Legally overweight.
Transferring to the Navy, in a very physically demanding billet, didn't stop me from gaining more, especially when work got hectic, things were going on at home, and Grace was born. The month after she was born, I clocked in at 210 lbs. At that time, I was grossed out by my weight. I got 20 lbs off right before I went to Iraq in 2009.
Iraq was one of those great places where you had nothing but time to work on your physical fitness. It was also a great place for me to realize that I couldn't just shovel food into my mouth anymore. I got down to 171 lbs that summer.
However, I knew I had a problem when, on the second day I got back home, I looked in the pantry and found an unopened box of Oreo cookies. I managed to demolish that box in ONE DAY. You can guess where my weight went after that. I was still training for a marathon in 2010, which kept some of the weight off.
However, after running the Raleigh marathon, I lost all incentive to run. 2014 seemed so far away, and I was commuting to work and busting my hump doing it. Without workouts to help me control my weight, I busted buttons - getting up to 220 lbs by the winter of 2011.
My best friend Andy's wedding was that summer, and I vowed that I would not look fat in my Dress Blues. So I did my best and was able to lose almost 40 lbs over the course of six months, bringing me back down to around 195. But after the wedding I got off track again.
In November of 2012, I weighed in at 221. Even when TAPED I was having trouble staying within standards. I knew that a deployment was right around the corner, but I was not happy that it was taking a deployment to get me in shape.
But, here I am. As of now, I am back to 180 lbs., and on my way down, a pound at a time. I know I have to make some serious choices when I get back, but working out in preparation for this 40 miler should help. But when I'm done, I know that there will always be a plate of cookies waiting for me.
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