I have been thinking a lot lately of a point I eluded to in my previous musings. That is taking the cardio out of the isolated gym and to the local high school with my wife early in the morning. I wanted to express my feelings and thoughts about this.

Moving to the track initially I did not have any goal other than getting out of the gym, and to increase time with my wife. However, spending time circling around the track seems to have been the catalyst to creating new goals. One of those goals is to transform myself into a runner.

To be candid, the first obstacle I had to overcome was myself. I hated the “thought” of running. Notice the quotes, the “thought”. I have in the past had several people attempt to write me a running program to get me started. The issue was, I never started them because I told myself I hated running. When I started thinking on this while I was walking laps and climbing the stadiums, I realized it was impossible for me to hate running as I never actually tried, I always talked myself out of it, 1- Horrible lower back; herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, and spinal arthritis. 2- I am FAT. 3- I can’t breathe. 4- Pain. 5- Why run when I can just walk. 6- I am in no hurry.

The list can go on and on. I have a hard time with the back issue, 17 years ago I herniated my L5 and went through a discectomy, the outcome was immediately having an 80 year old back. For years I was told there was nothing I could do about that, my back was bad and would continue to get worse. I have come to hate this advice. Our bodies are amazing and are designed by divine powers or through evolution (depending on your beliefs) and have the ability to repair and heal themselves. I have come to fully believe that. Will my body regrow my disc that has been cut, well my doctors say no and who am I to argue with that, but my body is able to build in compensations and strengths if I feed it right and let it move.

The rest of the list is simply negative self-talk that I am finding through eating better and focusing on my nutrition is simply vanishing. Sure I have weight to lose, but I am losing it. YES I can breathe. Man at my starting weight of 325 lbs I was simply always in pain and had nothing to do with how I was working out. There is nothing wrong with just walking, and I can do it any time. Finally Running did not mean I was in a hurry.

Why am I pondering these things? In the short 3 weeks that I have been doing this I have tripled the distance which I travel in the same amount of time. Does this mean I am now a runner? Of course not, but it does mean I can run, I will run, and I will enjoy every moment while doing so. Sure I still have to Walk/Jog/Run but that is simply because my body is not used to this type of endurance, and it is longing to let me keep going.

What has occurred in the short 3 weeks period? I no longer have the negative hate to run “thought”, I am starting to be more of a morning person, the pain I mentioned has been decreasing, and I am so close to saying goodbye to the 300’s for good. What is my advice to those who have wanted to get started running? It is pretty simple just start, tell your negative self-talk to shut up, your body will be thankful and will shine for you if you do.

My name is Travis and I am fat, I am here to heal myself!