Please allow me to introduce myself (Read 1106 times)

I'm a man of wealth and taste(sorry i've been on a Stones kick lately). I have no wealth or taste. I came across your forum a few day ago, read many post and decided that these are people I would liketo keep company with. Which brings me to why I'm here. After 7 years (and 40+ pounds) of very , very little exercise I realized how out of shape I had gotten. The funny thing is the extra weight never opened my eyes to my problem. I just bought bigger cloths. Late one night over a few too many drinks I got into a little BS session with a friend of mine about how fast I could run a mile. Now this friend of mine is a work out machine. 5-6 days aweek at the gym, an hour a day on the stairmaster, less than 10% body fat. He had recently ran a 5k in 24 min. I was giving him grief about his time. I told him for a guy his age(27) he could do better than 8 min miles. This is where I insert foot into mouth. I said "hell I could run an 8 min mile right now if I had to". A wager was made and it was on. Thank God that we decided to meet the next day at a local high school track. I thought this would be easy money. Back in the day I ran a 4:25 (1984). The last time I really ran I did 5:15 the first mile of a 5k(2000). I was so oblivious to my fitness level it wasnt even funny. We had agreed on no splits given this agreement gave me 2 to 1 odds. Why would I need splits this is just a little warm up jog or so I thought. I knew I was in trouble after the first quarter, if I had gotten a split at the half I most likely would have stepped off the track right there. It was the longest 7:52 of mylife. My legs were cramping, lungs on fire, technicolor smile. I thought I was going to die right there. As I laid there on the track I promised myself (if I lived) I would back into shape. I lived so here I am. Tommrow I get back on the road to better health. I plan on taking it easy for a while. From what Ive read here it sound like a walk/run program is right up my alley. I look forward to reading everybodys post. I hope I can add something to the group. Thank You For Your Time

Best of luck to you and your efforts. Remember - at our age (I'm in my 40's, too) it's easier to stay in shape than to get back in shape. Be careful, run smart and welcome back to running. RLTW Mike

Very cool story! You obviously were in great shape at one point and will get there again. Just keep in mind that the body at 40+ years old needs a little more TLC than it did when you were "back in the day!" I applaud you for taking this step. There is a guy I work with that is in his late 20's, overweight, sedentary and a smoker. It wasn't till recently that someone else at work told me that this same guy was a 4:10 miler in college. I said NO WAY, but was able to google his times and sure enough his best mile time was a 4:10. So I asked the guy what happened between then and now, and he said that one day he simply decided that he had had enough, and hasn't run a step since. Burned out. I am going to forward your story to him in the hopes that it will jumpstart him back to running. So thank you for your inspiration. Best of luck with your comeback.

There's nothing quite like a good foot-in-mouth story, especially one with a positive outcome. Keep the entertaining posts coming. Welcome, and best of luck to you Mike.

I'm a man of wealth and taste(sorry i've been on a Stones kick lately).

Funny, reading your subject line automatically led me to complete that lyric before I opened your message. Probably because I ran with the Stones the other day. On the iPod, that is. I resumed running a year or so after college, when, in a smokey bar with some friends and booze, a group challenge came up to run a 10 mile race in a few months. Only two of us did it. Then some more years of no running, then a resumption again. Good luck.

Heh, your subject really grabbed my attention (i'm a huge Stones fan as well). I can understand what you are going through. Though I haven't gained any weight really, I did become a smoker and sort of just a non athletic person after I got hurt playing soccer a few years ago. I used to play every sport under the sun, and was in really great shape. Now i've thrown out the smokes, and joined a gym. I run twice a week, and life weights. I do yoga now, and other cardio activities and I am just really looking forward to a road to better health! Your story was really great though, and I am happy you shared it! I wish you the best of luck. Godspeed!

Amazing what pride and alcohol does to us. But it sounds like it was a wake up call to you and an incentive to get back into shape. So welcome to the group, good luck, but be patient with the progress and don't over due it.

Great story. Ditto everyone else on the Stones - I actually opened this up wonder what kind of tool would accidentally use those lyrics ... I should have known it wasn't an accident. One of the top 5 songs ever written, in my humble opinion. Have fun getting back in shape, man. I think you're going to have a blast. I get jealous sometimes watching those who were once fast get back into running. They seem to improve so rapidly once they start running consistently. It looks like fun. And stories like yours are inspiring, too. Sure, you'll be smoking me in the 5-k by next Tuesday. But maybe it's a hint that I could be a lot faster someday, if I really worked at it. I was never a track star, but I could run a sub-6:00 pretty easily back when I was a kid. Maybe that's still there, somewhere. It's going to be fun to watch you.