Saturday, August 16, 2014

The Next Challenge



            I became a runner in 2011, ran a race after 6 weeks, ran a marathon a year and a half later.  I got my first book deal in 2012, got in the newspaper, magazines, television, got a 2nd book deal in 2013.  I have wanted and I have gotten.  I have taken on challenges and I have succeeded.  Now as I sit here at the end of the Summer of 2014 I find myself restless, listless and without motivation.  I am in need of some sort of new challenge, a new goal.  I want to get into the best shape of my life by the time my birthday rolls around.  How do I do that?  No miracle pills, just hard work and sacrifice.  That means giving up things I love for the greater good.
Tonight I literally indulged in all of my food and drink vices this afternoon as a sort of last hurrah.  Chinese food, 5-Hour Energy, fried chicken, vodka, yup I had it all and now that’s it.  My goal, my challenge like I said is to give all of these up at least until my birthday November 2nd. 
Out?  Alcohol, caffeine, bad foods, probably other things I’m not thinking of. 
In?  Healthier foods, getting up earlier, hitting the gym 6 days a week.  No, I’m not training for any sort of competition per se, this is more for myself in general, a test of my will power.  I think that 10 weeks of living basically ‘straight edge’ can only be good for me as I approach Age 37.  I am certain that this is not going to be easy.  I love my coffee, my 5-Hour Energy, my stimulant-filled pre-workout drinks, but these have got to go for the time being.  I need to see just how I function without them.  Except for very brief attempts I have lived on high doses of caffeine and stimulants since Age 21.
            I don’t know how far I can go with this.  Although making it public increases my own accountability.  I will do my best to keep people who care posted about how this process goes but it is going to be a lot of careful research about what I can eat that’s good for me, something that I am not an expert on.  Running was the way I initially dropped 40 pounds in 2011-12, my diet did not change in any extreme sort of way.  I am thinking that maybe if I add the diet to my workouts I can get that ‘magazine cover’ body I have been close to at times.
            Tomorrow is Day 1, my birthday on November 2nd would be Day 77.  So let me sleep on it and get started in the morning.