Tuesday... T-Minus 4 days

I joined a gym last night.

They saw me coming! I hope it helps. They seem very friendly and I know a couple of guys who go there and really like it. They're open 24 hours during the week and I'm a big early bird. That gets it done for the day for me and I avoid all (at least most) of the factors about gyms that I try to stay away from. Crowds, the beautiful people, the grunters/yellers and the old folks who do a circuit so fast I feel like I can hear the song "Flight of the Bumblebee" playing in the background.

I go in for a fitness profile Friday morning. It was free with membership or else I wouldn't worry about it. I'm not going to pay for a guy to say "yeah, you're fat, go workout!" I get that for free walking down the street at market days. (ba dum bum!)

Wish me luck! I am going to go in tomorrow morning to use the treadmill since it's friggin' 36 degrees in Chicago right now!

T-Minus 5 days

I start training this coming Saturday. I thought I should not allow Saturday to be my first active day so I'm going to get up earlier (!) than usual this week to start running/walking so:
a. I get in the habit of getting up earlier to make those solo runs
b. like cleaning the house before the maid comes, I don't want to make too poor a showing this Saturday.

I'm an early bird anyway, but if there's one thing harder to do than getting up to go to work on a cold Monday morning (Chicago was 45 this morning) it's getting up to go outside and do anything remotely athletic.

Baby steps. That's going to be my mantra while getting started in this training. As I said before, I don't know how long a half marathon is (I've forgotten already CB! HA!) but I will need to think of training as a little bit, then increase it by a little. I don't want to get intimidated into excuses.

This morning was actually nice. The crisp air woke me up quickly. I live just off the lake so it was easy to get to the path that runs the lake front from WAY down south Chicago where the lakefront nearly turns in to Indiana all the way north to Hollywood Ave. Now I just did a mile down and back and that was it. I don't have all day! But maybe one day I'll find out what it's like to run the whole thing.... BWAH HA HA HA! I actually managed to say that with a straight face!

OK, off to work, energized and awake. Let's see how I am around 10am.

Am I ready?

Since I first moved to Chicago I've seen the AIDS Marathon Training Program posters all over the place, especially on the CTA. I've always entertained the idea, but ME? Run? yeah....

Then I worked directly with AIDS Foundation and thought had that continued that I would do it "next year". Long story short, there was a parting of ways that left a bad taste in my mouth and while I completely support their mission, I wasn't going to do a damn thing to help out AFC. (bad blood runs deep.. burning bridges does NOT help no matter how much a peon you think me to be) But time has passed and time heals old wounds.

So now I can have a program to help me get healthier and help a fantastic cause. I start training with my group on Saturday, May 3 at 7am. I think we only run a mile. I can do that... I think... :)