We did it!  We raised $250 for the Children’s Miracle Network – could we raise more???

Here’s a very special video for everyone who donated as well as all our friends up north…

http://tinyurl.com/DonahueCMN3 <— to donate

It’s taken me a while to get used to this, but I think I can honestly say this with a straight face and truly mean it: I am a runner! I may not be a LONG DISTANCE runner yet, but I run almost as much as I walk for 2, 3, 4 miles and I have even competed in several 5K events.

I hear you out there: “But John, you’re a….BIG GUY…and you can HONESTLY call yourself a runner? Dude…seriously?”  And to that I say…absolutely!  I am over 300lbs, I’m losing that extra weight, and have run/walked 5 Disney 5Ks and also competed in last year’s Disney’s Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Relay.  So, yeah naysayers…suck on that!

So the REAL point of this little article was to try to encourage all you other BIG GUYS (male and female) to get off your cans and get healthy and become runners too!  Here’s 5 (Not) Easy Steps to go from Fat Guy to Runner!

Step #1 – GET OFF THE COUCH!

I know you have the highest score on RedKillAlienDeathMegaCoolAwesomeShock, but seriously, is THAT what you want on your tomb stone? Do you REALLY need to watch that episode of WHATEVER?  Look, we would all LOVE to just sit on the couch and WISH those extra pounds away, but we live in this little place we like to call REALITY!  The ONLY way those pounds are going to fall off and turn you into a runner is to get you butt off that deadly life-sucking couch and DO SOMETHING!

Step #2 – Put One Foot in Front of the Other

Go for a walk.  You may only be able to get to the mailbox, but start there.  Then go to the end of the street….then go to around the block.  Then go TWICE around the block.  Keep adding more and more laps until you get one mile, then two, then three…  You get the idea.  The only way to start running is to walk.

Step #3 – Eat Less and Drink Water

Look, it isn’t rocket science, if you pound 2 cheeseburgers, a large fry and Coke, no matter how much you work out, you’re not going to drop any weight.  But you don’t have to go cold turkey…start buy just eating 1 burger, a small fry, and forget the Coke.   Then start making better (wiser) substitutions like salads and eventually dropping fried, greasy foods from your life all together.  Carry a gallon jug of water with you everywhere you go and drink LOTS, and LOTS, and LOTS of water.  You’ve probably been living your life dehydrated.  You’ll be AMAZED at how much better you feel when you ditch the coffee and Cokes and chug some good old H2O!

Step #4 – Sign Up for a 5K

Look for a “Fun Run” or a 5K that isn’t to strict on TIME and sign up for it.  You will find an AMAZING amount of motivation when you pay YOUR MONEY to participate in a run.  Put your name, and more importantly, your reputation on the line and sign up for a run.  Better yet, tell your wife, your friends, your co-workers, and your kids that you signed up for a run…there is all the motivation you will need.

Step #5 – Find a Training Plan That Works

Once you get past the walking, eating correctly, and get signed up for that first 5K…you’d better get to training, because if you don’t…your butt will DIE on mile 2 or 3, trust me…I’ve been there.  I use the Jeff Galloway method to train with is basically two 30-minute runs during the week and a longer run on the weekend.  We also try to to do some other type of workout on our “non-run” days.    So Monday-Friday we’re training and Saturday, we’re running for distance.  This also gives us a day off…which is nice.

But Seriously

If you take anything away from this article, please let it be this:  I don’t care if you’re a runner, walker, bicyclist, or swimmer…you must do something to get healthier.  We’ve become a society of fat, lazy people who are leaving a legacy of fat, lazy kids.   I want to have a family one day soon and live a long, long time, but if I don’t get healthy and drop this weight, I’m not going to be here for my wife or (future) kids.  And I want you here with me too.  I chose running, but you may choose something else…whatever it is, I don’t care, but please do something.  If not for your family, do it for yourself!

Goals are very easy to set, but often hard to achieve.  They take work, dedication, and focus to achieve.  And when you are over weight and 40 years old…achieving a goal like a 5K can be downright impossible!  This past Saturday, not only did I have a goal, but I had done the work to achieve it..and do it pretty solidly!

5:00 am on a Saturday morning and it is very hard to get out of bed, especially to run 3.1 miles.  However running around Disney’s Hollywood Studios made it a WEE bit easier.   Sid and I both got up early on THIS Saturday to compete in the Champion’s 5K at Disney’s ESPN the Weekend.  Sarah and I had worked hard for the past 2 weeks to be able to really excel at this race, and we were nervously excited to get to the park, warm up, and get running!

We donned our running apparel, drove over to DHS, and joined a couple thousand other crazed runners to compete for the coveted finisher medal and the bragging rights of finishing a 5K at Disney.

The scene as considerably smaller than the previous week’s “Royal Family 5K,” due to the smaller number of runners.  The Royal Family 5K had SEVERAL thousand runners/walkers/strollers/??? all participating, so the crowd was huge.  In contrast, the Champion’s 5K had under 2,000 people so the pre-race area was much smaller and subdued.

After warming up and watching the opening festivities, it was time to get at it.  Sarah was trying to beat her time from the week before, so she took off, I was just trying to keep up and not get swept.  But I did have a game plan: run 25 seconds, walk 35 seconds, for the entire course.  I got the idea from runDisney‘s Jeff Galloway.  He says it’s how marathoners conquer running for 26 miles, and I thought that it would help me out tremendously!  And it paid off, BIG TIME!

MILE #1

The first mile of this course was along the driveway in to the Studios and the scenery left a LOT to be desired.  Basically we were running down one side of the road, making a U-turn, and running right back.  Passing all the faster runners, it was hard to stay motivated when I realized how far back I truly was…and how slow.  But I kept to plan and ran/walked along.

And then I saw the 1 Mile sign..and it looked really odd.  It said 16:17…knowing that I started about a minute or 2 after the official race clock started (due to the crowd of runners in the chute), that meant that I had completed the first mile in UNDER 15 minutes??!!  Wait, what? I checked my personal timer, and I really WAS keeping up at a 15 minute mile pace.  #Winning!

MILE #2

So, crossing the first mile marker, we were inside the park.  We entered near the Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show and we even got to run across the stage and be on the big screen!  Truly awesome!  And then we were backstage near the Back Lot Tour and got to run around some of the tour.  It would have rocked to run in Catastrophe Canyon, but you can’t always get what you want..right?

Along the way I met Michelle, she was over-weight, like me, and working really hard.  We started to talk and got to know each other, and I decided to walk with her…  It turned out to be a great decision!  We continued through the Streets of America and headed to the front of the park, passing the Tatooine Traders, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, and the Great Movie Ride. And then it was Mile Maker #2!!  My timer said that I was running/walking in the 17 minute per mile range.  I was slowing down.

MILE #3

Disney had Mulch, Seat, and Shears playing some killer music (as always) under the Sorcerer Mickey Hat that was really awesome, and that made the home stretch seem within reach.  I knew I was getting tired and slowing down, but I had not started to panic.  And then I turn up Sunset Blvd. heading towards the Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Roller Coaster, and I almost stopped in my tracks.

The runners were coming at me from behind the coaster and tower…in other words, we had to go outside the park beside the roller coaster, and back in via the Fantasmic! theater…  That’s a LONG way.  But I had to keep moving.  Michelle and I just kept walking and encouraging each other.  I ventured a look back over my shoulders and saw at least 50+ people, so as far as being swept, I knew that could make it.  But those thoughts quickly fled away when I saw the hill behind the Tower…  And I knew that I had to run UP that hill, or I wasn’t going to make it at all.

So I kicked on the afterburners and ran up the biggest hill on the planet.  OK, it’s not really THAT big of a hill, but after 2 miles, a speed bump can kill you!  We continued through the the theater and back out onto Sunset Blvd. and I looked back over my shoulder again, and was terrified.  There were only about 25 of us left.  Somewhere between the tower and the roller coaster, half the pack got lost… or stopped and gave up.  The sweep van was behind me.  I did what any other person would do.  I ran as hard as I could, which I know for MOST people really isn’t all that fast, but hey, I was NOT getting swept again!

And as I turned the corner headed to the very from of the park, I saw the most beautiful sight…all the Cast Members were lined up on the street and clapping and cheering for us…  the slow pokes…  the fat kids….  the losers…the ones never chosen… They were CHEERING for us!  And it rocked!  And at the front was a sign…

MILE #3

I had done it!  The only thing between me and that medal was 1/10 of a mile.  I could do that!  I could even RUN that!  And I did.  I convinced Michelle to run as well…and there was Sarah.  She had somehow gotten BACK onto the course to cheer me on and bring me home!  I loved her more then than I ever had!  She was awesome!

Two more turns and I was home free…  There was Mickey and Minnie…and the finish line!  I crossed it running, high-five’s all around!  I was the 2nd to last guy to cross the finish line that day, but it felt like I had won the whole thing!  I didn’t get swept, run a 15 minute mile, and even helped someone else finish well.  It was a good day!

THE AFTERMATH

A couple hours later the official race times were posted, and I got another shock.  Sarah had finished her race in 36:47!  She had beat her time from last week by a full 4 minutes!  She is amazing!  But my time was 52:47…. The last race I really ran, I came in at 56 minutes.  52:47 is not pace with the race, but it is SO MUCH better than my last run… I had gotten BETTER!!

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

Sarah and I are continuing our training for the next race (next month…a 10K, no less).  And we are looking at running a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles!!!!) in October.  I’m about to start my next major goal…  To complete a 12 week eating/working out/health course to try and drop 40-50 pounds. We’ll see if I achieve that goal as well…

What goals have you set and achieved?

I’d love for you to leave a comment and let me know!

It’s been a LONG time since I did a Sunday Night Decompress…and it’s been a while since I darkened the door of a church.  And since I went to church this morning, I thought I might as well drop a little decompress on you!  Sometimes you don’t have ANYTHING to say, and sometimes you have STUFF to say…today is that day…

So without any further adieu, here goes!

• Have I mentioned lately that it’s FOOTBALL SEASON!!!???  Thank you Lord, and Hockey season is coming!
• I went to New Walk Church today – one of my favorites and several friends have been attending lately.  As always, great music, great speaking, and great to see so many old friends!
• After church Sid and I spent some time at Smokey Bones for lunch.  We had received some gift cards way back when, and finally got around to using them!  I *heart* good BBQ!
• We spent a few hours running SUPER SECRET errands…more on that MUCH later.
• It’s Sunday in Fall, so that means football and ANOTHER day of the Bucs sucking their way through a game…BUT my Dirty Birds (Falcons) pulled an upset in New Orleans! WOW!
• It’s Sunday and that ALSO means taping a nap with my lovely bride in the afternoon…  Ahhhhh life
• After we woke up it was time for our late night run: 3.1 miles at an 18 minute pace – not great, but better than a year ago.  (A year ago, I was a couch potato…so ANYTHING is better than last year, and NEXT year will be better than THIS year!)
• Got home and had a little dinner and Undercover Boss – INSPIRATIONAL!
• Heading to a really much needed sleep!

LOOKING AHEAD

• On Friday Mom and Jim come in for a few weeks in FLA (we’re spending 3 nights at Disney, which is AWESOME!)
• Saturday AM Mom, Sid, and myself will be running/walking in Mickey’s Halloween 5K and then in the late PM, Sid and I will be running in the Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Relay!  Prayers are VERY welcome.
• Sunday night the whole family is attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party in Magic Kingdom – very excited!!
• Sid starts working in Orlando on Wednesday – which will be great and nerve wracking all at once.  She’s commuting and starting a job custom made for her.  It’s truly a blessing.
• I hope to be blogging more…I have some topics to unpack, but it may be uncomfortable for me to write and for you to read.  We shall see…