Not So Fast, Fatty

So a couple of early snags.

First of all, who knew you had to apply for the New York City Marathon? Obviously not me. Apparently they get more than 90,000 applicants and only have about 38,000 people accepted. Luckily its not like applying for a job or college or anything. They don't really evaluate your abilities. They have certain groups of people that automatically qualify (big-time winners, long-time participants, people rejected three years in a row, Lance Armstrong), but for the most part people are selected in a random lottery. That's slightly encouraging I suppose.

And second, lets address the elephant in the room right now. If you've ever met me, you know I'm not in the best shape. So before I do any serious running, I need to drop a few (by few I mean about 50) pounds or so. This may sound hard to believe, but I know how to lose weight. Commitment has always been my issue. Using a plan approved by the trainers at Men's Health, I once managed to lose about 40 pounds. I got really heavy in college, ballooning to nearly 240 pounds. At 5'5ish, that is so unhealthy. I moved to Wyoming for a job, and by the end of my run there I managed to drop to just over 200. When I moved for my next job in Arkansas, I had trouble maintaining the routine. I got down to below 190 at one point, but my chaotic schedule and lack of discipline finally caught up with me. I stopped going to the gym regularly and looked for any excuse to eat out.

When I dropped below the 200lb mark, I told myself I would never go that high again. Yet here I am, just over the 200lb mark today. I need to make this commitment. Even if this whole thing fails and I never run a marathon, I need to make a commitment to myself to live better.