The story so far
The slow kid
Overweight through childhood. At my heaviest, 215 pounds at 5'7". Slowest one on every team, every field. I believed what that felt like: that my genetics were bad and I was built to be heavy. Running wasn't a goal. It wasn't a thought.
60 pounds down, still out of shape
I dropped the weight and got into lifting. I looked like someone in shape. I wasn't. A flight of stairs still had me breathing hard. Lifting fixed how I looked. It didn't touch the engine.
Boston, on TV
I was watching the Boston Marathon and couldn't get past one question: how are these people running that fast, for that long? It wouldn't leave me alone.
0.87 miles
I went out to run a mile. Eleven-minute pace, heart rate pushing 190. I stopped at 0.87. I didn't finish it, and I was hooked. I ran the next day, and the day after that, and I didn't stop.
A first half, then a coach
A first half marathon showed me what structure could do. So I hired a coach, committed to the process, and decided to find out how fast I could actually run a marathon.
3:12, and not done
A 3:12 debut marathon, two years of learning what nobody teaches you (fueling, strength that transfers, reading heart rate, when to cut a workout, how to come back from injury without losing the block), and a new goal: helping people who started where I started get there faster than I did.
