The Fat Runner, The Prequel

Back before I became The Fat Runner, I was just FAT. In the spring of 1997, I weighed 305 lbs. I was a heart attack looking for a place to happen. An EKG was definitely in my future.

For the majority of my life I've been overweight. I was always the fat kid that everybody made fun of in school. I got to be in the school Christmas play every year, not as a elf or talking reindeer, but as Santa. I guess I should be proud of that since I had more speaking lines than anyone else. To this day the sight of that red suit and white beard sends chills up my spine.

Still, I played sports and amazed everyone at my agility and speed. For a big kid I ran faster than many smaller players on the team. I played baseball, football, and put the shot in track. I was fat, but a good athlete. However, I had very little self-esteem and always knew I was the "fat boy" and would probably never be the star athlete, or Prince Charming.

Fast forward to 1997. My wife and I bought bicycles for ourselves and our two young daughters. We sat out on a short ride from our apartment to a park about two miles away. After a mile I could barely pedal. I was so out of breath I thought I was going to croak. It was horrible. It made me so angry that I had let myself get to this point. So, that day began a quest for me to change my lifestyle. My normal day at work consisted of drinking 2-3 42 oz cokes, eating donuts at breakfast, snacking on junk, and eating big, fatty burgers for lunch. Then, I'd go home and drink more pop, eat a big supper, and snack all night. This was a recipe for disaster.

In March '97, I started riding my bike each day, going a little farther every time I rode. I broke three bikes in less than four months from my weight. I decided to invest in a better machine so I went to our local bike shop and bought a Specialized mountain bike for around $200. It was the best thing I've ever purchased. I attached an odometer to keep track of my mileage and off I went.

By late summer that same year, I was riding over 75 miles a week and had lost nearly 45 pounds. That August, I started a new job at my same school and came in for registration. I rode my bike the five miles to my school. When I walked in, no one could believe their eyes. I weighed 250. I was slowly transforming the old me. I made it a point to ride to work as often as I could and by the beginning of 1998 I had lost 100 lbs. My best friend made fun of me, saying all I needed was a number tattooed to my forearm and I'd look like a Holocaust survivor. I had fudged on a lot of my favorite foods and even passed on foods that were good for me in order to lose the weight. I wouldn't advise anyone to try this. I lost of a lot of muscle and had to work hard to reclaim it.

Losing 100 pounds is a quite a feat. It makes you rethink your whole lifestyle and you have to make sacrifices in order to keep the weight off. It also makes you look at yourself in a new way. For example, I know what anorexics go through now, because even after I lost all that weight I still saw myself as fat. I would eat a meal and then feel guilty. I'd run to a scale to see if I gained anything back. After eating I always felt the urge to jump on my bike and ride 10-15 miles to burn off the calories I had just consumed. It's an awful feeling.

What turned me around is running. In 1999, my best friend, a police officer and avid runner, asked me to join him at a local park for a run. At first I was a little reticent to try it, but he insisted and I said yes. I didn't even own a decent pair of running shoes but I figured it was worth a shot. We stretched and got started. Now, I didn't think I would make a full mile without walking some, but as we ran, we talked and that was enough of a distraction I didn't notice the mileage. After several laps around we stopped. My buddy hit his watch and said, "Do you know how far we ran?" Of course, I didn't. We had done 5 miles in under 40 minutes. I could hardly believe it. "Really!" I exclaimed. 5 miles? 5 miles! It was my first run and I was ecstatic.

I went straight to the mall the next day and bought a brand-new pair of Adidas running shoes, with cushioned soles. I met my best friend 5 days a week and we ran anywhere from 3-5 miles at a time. I still rode my bike and got him to join me doing that, but I was hooked on running.

Since then, I've participated in a marathon and completed a 50-mile run/walk for diabetes. I'm not much of a 5k runner nor do I get into all the competitive runs in our area, but I love to run. I weigh 240 and lift weights 3 times a week to keep toned. I've still got a gut. Some guys have a six-pack. I have a keg and don't mind. That's why they invented spandex performance wear to hold all my jiggly in.

If you're reading my blog, my goal is to inspire those who may be thinking of running, or may already be running and don't think you're all that great an athlete. Speaking as a 43-year old husband, father of two, and school teacher, I'm not a phenomenal athlete and won't be setting any land speed records this year, but I'll be out there running and loving it. I'm a fat guy, The Fat Runner. I'm proud of that title. I can outrun my daughters and many of my students.

No, I'm still not the star athlete, but I did get to be Prince Charming. At least that's what my wife says. I'm a fat knight in shining Nike's and I got the girl. So, dreams can come true-with the mantra I developed while trying to shed all that weight. CDHP is the acronym I still live by.

Commitment
Dedication
Hardwork
Perseverance

I would puff that out anytime I felt like quitting. I still do when I get tired and need to go that extra mile.

So, hang in there and realize someone in Texas knows what you're going through. Keep running and ever forward!

That's my confession--what's yours?

God bless you!!!



TFR