Monday, April 27, 2009

Quest for the half!

Hello one and all to the 2nd edition of my blog. Only 17 weeks until that glorious 13.1 mile run aka the hottest half-marathon race. For those of you getting this link for the first time please read my first entry - it has a lot of stuff about why I am doing this wonderful race in August in the heat of Dallas. I am going to do 3 days of running this week tonight (Monday), Wednesday and Saturday. I am only doing 2 miles each day and possible 3 on Saturday.

I am still excited for this quest of the half marathon. As I mentioned in the last email, one of the reasons I am doing this blog is to keep myself accountable. So if I don't post something at least once per week ask me how my training is going. Although I am a wellness coach and support and encouraged people for a living, I too need support and encouragement. Who would have thought, the wellness coach needs wellness coaching!

I believe that by telling as many of my friends, family and co-workers as I can about my quest for the half-marathon, the better my chances are of finishing it. Anyway, Melissa just got back from the gym so it is my turn to lace up the shoes and hit the street!

Love all ya'll!

Matt

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Here we go!

Well it's official, I'm either crazy, stupid,dumb or going through my mid-life crisis 15 years early! I'll explain: After thinking about this casually for a couple of years and seriously thinking about it for the last month, I have decided to get back into running. Not just jogging, that would be too simple, I am going to start training for a half-marathon - for those of you that don't abla runners language - that's 13.1 miles. If all goes well with that, and I somehow fall in love with running again, I may even go further and try a full marathon near the end of the year.

So that's that. I created this blog so I will hold myself accountable - so each of you following me let me know what you think or if I haven't posted anything in a while, yell at me.

I thought that it would be a good idea to post the reasons I would take on such a task. There are so many reasons so I will touch on just a few.
  1. I really want to get back into shape. I don't consider myself really "out of shape" but I want to work on improving the way I look and feel.
  2. I want to lose some weight. Right now I weigh 190 lbs and have 19% body fat. My goal is to get to 170 lbs or to 12-15% body fat.
  3. I am a wellness coach by profession and I want to set an example for those I coach. I want to experience the challenges that they go threw when they make lifestyle changes. How can I expect people to make lifestyle changes if I can't do it myself?

My background with running:

I ran track in Jr. High and part of High School. I ran the 400 and 800 meter races. In fact, I believe that my 9th grade 4x800 meter relay team still holds the school record at Sage Valley Jr. High (shout out)!

I have never considered myself a long-distance runner. I was never in cross country because I have asthma and I thought I would die if I did those long runs. Now that my asthma is under control I will find a way to stick out the long runs. The longest that I've ever ran without stopping was during my sophomore year of High School when I ran 10 miles for track practice. I think the day after that, I quit track. Needless to say, I have never been a fan of long-distance running.

The half marathon I am preparing for is in Dallas in August and appropriately called "The Hottest Half". I begin my official training regimen the first full week of May. However, I have started running this week (just 2 miles last night) to get my body ready for this change.

I think that that is enough blogging for now, stay tuned for frequent updates. Your support is appreciated!

-Matt Young