Pickle Hands

Let me do a little background info on my situation. Back in 2004 I was a junior in high school and was approximately 280 lbs. and grossly obese. I decided I wanted to do something radical with my life. My goal was to make it to the Olympics, and the easiest event to compete in looked like the Winter Olympic event of skeleton. 

Suffice to say in 2 months over summer before my senior year I had lost over 90 lbs. I lost another 20 lbs. or so (total weight loss of 110 lbs, bringing my weight to 170) when I joined cross country, indoor, and outdoor track. I went off to college and stayed in shape at the same weight, trying to get in shape for the Olympics.

Then two and a half years ago I found the love of my life, got married, and had a beautiful daughter. When my wife, Dana, got pregnant I put on alot of sympathy weight. Alot. In a little less than a year I had gained most if not all of my weight. My hands are back to being fat little pickles; my wedding ring looks like its cutting the circulation off to my finger. So if your wondering, that's where to blog title originates.

No more Olympics, but I didn't (and don't) care. All I care about is my family. I've tried to get back in shape, but there's so many excuses: not enough time, being exhausted, my knees hurt all the time now, living in a crappy neighborhood... Bottom line is I need to get my shit together. So whilst shopping at midnight on Black Friday last weed I read an article in Runner's World about writing a blog to keep yourself motivated. I'm giving it a go so we'll see how it goes.

So first run:

Ran for about 1-1.25 miles today. Almost saw a carjacking. I'm going to try and keep the same running distance I kept when I first started running, back in the country. Here's my old route.

 

And here's what I'm gonna try tommorow.

Feels good to run again. Crisp air in your lungs makes every breath feel like your breathing for the first time. Hope it lasts.