Happenings

I'm running a marathon on Sunday.

You might be aware of that if you've read this blog at all in the last few weeks. I think I've mentioned it once or twice. It doesn't seem so far-fetched now, that I'm running a marathon. Stupid? Possibly. Crazy? Some would say so, yes. But far-fetched? Not any more.

Although, there was a time when anything more than a few steps for me would have been out of the question. Aside from the fact that it was all but physically impossible for me to do any sort of running, I had zero desire to run. I remember being in Las Vegas the first weekend of December 2005 and some of the streets were blocked off because of a race. Not once did I think "Gee, maybe I should try a race" or anything to that effect.

While it was unfathomable to have running part of my life at one point, now it's unfathomable to not have running as part of my life.

The change in mentality did not happen in one day, one week or even one month. It did not happen because I went running once.

But it happened.

And that's what matters the most. It happened that I got turned on to running, that I found something I was good at (not speed here folks, just finishing runs), that I found something I could be proud of, something that was healthy and fit into my new lifestyle like a glove.

It happened.

I'm a different person now, mostly. I look a whole helluva lot different, that's for certain.

Before big events like Sunday's Surf City Marathon, I like to look back at the changes I've made to give me some confidence. I don't need reminding that I used to be big and that I lost all that weight. That's in the forefront of my mind. But having lost 120 pounds has given me a never-ending well of confidence, and trying to tap into that before a race, particularly a marathon, is not a bad idea.

Also, I hope that by putting it out there, by showing you what I went through and where I'm headed, that maybe the challenges you have in front of you, the ones you might think are impossible, maybe they're not mountains after all. Just have a little faith in yourself, put in some honest effort and you'll get to places you never thought possible.

It happens.