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 2^nd. 

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 2^nd would be Day 77.  So let me sleep on it and get started in the morning.