When I was in college (circa late ’98, early ’99), I hit 245 lbs.  I was fat, out of shape, and extremely unhealthy.  About that time, my father passed away at the age of 48 from a sudden heart attack.  He was actually in pretty good shape, but was a smoker.  I really feel that his passing was a wake-up call for me, though it took me a while to learn the right way to do things.  I promised myself that I would lose weight and get in shape, and by the summer of 2000 was down to about 200lbs.  I lost weight through dieting and exercise, but looking back I never fully committed to making healthy lifestyle changes.

Over the next 5 years or so, my weight fluctuated back and forth.  I’d get up to 210 or so, and decide it was “time to go on a diet” or “start exercising again.”  I would crash diet, or start working out gangbusters and generally lose some weight, but it was never sustainable.  Back and forth.  It’s weird, but I can still remember the exact point where I told myself I was going to start running again.  It was early 2005, and I was going to get Chipotle for dinner.  The restaurant shared a parking lot with a movie theater, so I had to park “far away” and it was pouring rain.  Of course, I sprinted in to get my food to avoid getting wet.  I made it half way across the parking lot.  Knowing how pathetic that was, I decided to buy a treadmill.  Being cheap, I knew that if I plunked down the $ that I’d at least use it for a little while (never mind that it didn’t really fit in my house). 

I bought a treadmill and started using it.  However, the big difference between “this time” and all the others was that I went online to figure out how to do this “right.”  I found the website coolrunning.com, which, for me, was a godsend.  I learned how to ramp up running the right way, and enjoy it.  I started running more often, and longer.  30min runs turned into 45 on weekends, then an hour.  Finally, one weekend when my ex was traveling, I told myself it would be possible to run for 13.1 miles.  I watched the Matrix, and felt like I was going to die when I was done.  It took me 2.5 hours, and I went to Chipotle to celebrate by accomplishment.  I still remember when my ex called later that evening and I told her I had been running her response was “The whole time?!?”

After that first “half marathon”, I seriously started wondering if I could do a full.  Eventually, I signed up for the 2006 Baltimore Marathon.  I thought I was a little crazy, as did all of my friends and family.  During the training for that race, things in my previous marriage started falling apart, and in the middle of ’06 my ex and I separated.  Training for that marathon was the only thing that kept me together.  I truly believe that if I had not had those training runs to keep my mind focused that I would be in a much worse place right now. 

I finished the marathon in 3:49, beating my goal by over 11 min.  More importantly, I had the most fun I had in a LONG time.  The thrill of the crowd, the cowbells, everything about it I loved.  I was hooked.  Two weeks, my current wife (though only friend at the time) finished the Marine Corps marathon, and seemed to love it as well. 

As we spent more time together, our love or running turned into destination races.  I did 4 marathons in ’07 and 2 halves, followed by 6 marathons in ’08 (and 2 halves).  Sometime early in ’08, I mentioned to my now wife, B, that while running was a lot of fun, I may be interested in something more.  I think her response was “you’re crazy to do an ultra!”  I told her that while I haven’t ruled out the JFK50, I was thinking of doing a tri.  Of course, I didn’t own a bike and couldn’t really swim.  So, I bought a bike, and started cycling with no real urgency.  We joined a health club with a pool a few months later, and decided to give it a “tri.” 

We signed up for Columbia and Eagleman in ’09, not having any idea what a tri was really like.  Honestly, the thought of doing a 1.2 mile swim in the bay / river absolutely terrified me.  But, we were able to train hard, and both finished with great times.  A few months later, we started talking seriously about an Ironman, but I was pretty hesitant.  First, I wasn’t sure if I was ready.  Second, I knew I was going to propose around Christmas, and was worried about fitting everything in.  But, B encouraged me, so we pulled the trigger. 

Since January of this year, we’ve been training as hard as possible.  We have bought a house, sold a house, gotten married, and still finished the IM.  It has truly been an awesome experience, and it’s one that I think I’ll do again.  All of this said, I couldn’t have done most of this without the loving support and encouragement of my wife, and I am eternally grateful to her for showing me what one man can do when given the motivation.  I also owe a thanks to BT itself.  Coolrunning was bought out by the evil active, so I migrated to BT looking for those with similar experiences.  I don’t want to embarrass anyone so I won’t call anyone out, but watching some of the people on this site accomplish the unthinkable is truly inspiring.  I’ve been following several of your IM experiences over the last year of two, and it definitely helped with my motivation.  I’ve also met several of you in person, and those that I’ve met are even nicer in person that online. 

So a big shout-out and thank you to all!