And so it begins.....

I am a 50 year-old attorney. I am 5'11'' and weigh 216. To save you the trouble of opening a new tab and looking it up, my BMI is 30.1. Anything over 30 is obese. Really? Dang. At my last Dr.'s appointment in November, my BP was 160/101. I don't feel bad, but then again I don't really feel good either. I used to really like playing sports, but the last few years I have mostly been watching. Too many calories, not enough exercise, and here we are.

My doctor says go ahead and work out, but take it easy at first. My problem is that I am a type A person. I am hyper-competitive. I tend to take everything to extremes. Even when I am just sitting around watching TV, I can't watch one channel and I drive my wife crazy channel surfing. But I can do that all day long, thus the problem!

I need to drop at least 45 pounds. I need to get my BP lower than 120/70. And I need to stay interested. My Dr. put me on blood pressure meds and I started running on Monday. But I can't just run. I need a goal to keep me interested. Being the hyper-competitive type, I decided that my goal would be to run the Seattle Rock'n'Roll Marathon on June 27. Insane, I know, but here I go.

I started on the Runners' World beginner's plan on Monday. Ten weeks, starting with run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes, for 30 minutes, every other day. The hardest part was not to run too much or too long, but when I did, I felt slightly nauseous. I couldn't make myself skip Tuesday, so I ran 3 days in a row.

By Wednesday, my feet were killing me and it was really hard to complete the 30 minutes, both for my lungs and for my legs. Take it easy, my Dr. said. Why can't I listen and slow down a little? I read a Runners-World article on feet pain, and found that old shoes were a primary cause (along with over-doing it). My shoes, ASICS Cumulus, were excellent shoes and served me well 6 years ago when I last worked out.

So, I started shoe research to find the best shoe for me. I read web sites, did self tests, and found out that I was a slight over-pronater with a fairly normal stride and gait. I also found that I tend to land just a little flat and then roll in from there, so I needed some stability. I went to Sports Chalet today and purchased a nice new pair of ASICS GT 2130. I ran 3 miles this afternoon, and they were like heaven. A little pricey at $89.00, but heaven for my sore feet and knees.

I didn't run on Thursday or Friday, so today I felt pretty good. I ran 3 miles in about 32 minutes, on a course with two good block-long hills. Not good, but not bad for an old guy just starting, and I feel great. Ten minutes after the ten-minute cool-down, my heart rate was down to 110 and my BP was 121 over 71.

Nine more weeks to go and I start the FIRST Marathon Training Program.... Almost everything I read says run for a year before trying to train for a marathon, but I know myself enough to know that if I take that advice I will not follow through. I keep telling myself that if it is too tough, I could run a half marathon and run a marathon later. We will see.

And so it begins.