An Incredible 2 Years

Wow, I just realized it has been 2 months since I last blogged. A lot has happened:

- I turned 43
- Christmas, New Years
- 2 races
- VERY COLD Weather

The wind and cold were just brutal for the Just Plain 10K and the Fanny Freezer 5K so my times were a bit off. I'm hoping that as the temperatures warm up, so will my times.

I would love to say that this chart reflects my stock market portfolio the last 3 months of 2007. But unfortunately it reflects my weight gain. The low point of 179.5 was the week before the Chicago Marathon. I'd love to say that Thanksgiving and Christmas are to blame. I'd love to say it is because I reduced my mileage so I'm burning fewer calories. Of course, both of those are true, but the real reason has been that I've had an "I ran a marathon, I deserve a bowl of ice cream" mentality. It's time to get serious again. I'm sure my slower times are in part due to this extra weight.

Training for the Indy Mini has started. Unfortunately the weather (and motivation) have been bad so I've only gotten in one 8-mile long run in the past 4 weeks. I've had to resort to running on a treadmill a lot. Last year, that was fine because I hadn't experienced an entire summer of running in nice weather. Now the treadmill seems so unbearable. This is where I have to dig down deep and suck it up and just do it. At this point last year I was up to 11-mile long runs.

Last night I had the pleasure and incredible honor of speaking at the Fort Wayne Track Club's (http://www.fwtc.org) annual banquet. They asked 3 people to speak: Zach Raber, coach of the Carroll (Fort Wayne) High School boys and girls cross-country teams who had a terrific season, Rebecca Hollenbaugh (http://beccascancer.blogspot.com), a veteran runner who epitomizes strength and courage in the face of incredible adversity, and myself, a beginning runner. I shared the past 2 years of my life emphasizing how sometimes dreams bigger than one can ever imagine can seemingly sneak up on you. It was great to publicly thank my friends that have been such an encouragement. The speech was well received and I was humbled by a standing ovation when I finished.

The fact that the speech came on the week of my 2-year anniversary helps to mark what I believe will be a significant turning point in my life. I have been showered with much praised over the past two years for what I've been able to accomplish. For that praise, I'm very thankful. But, I did not do it alone. Much of the credit goes to my family, friends, medical staff and fellow runners. But, I'm ready to move on from the role of the "once-fat-guy" to the role of the new Dave. I ultimately don't want to be known just for losing weight. I want to turn my newfound zest for life, health and love of running into a life of encouraging others to become the best they can possibly can be. My story is not an end in and of itself, but a springboard to motivate others to succeed. Volunteering to help out with races, helping train obese people to walk the Fort-4-Fitness 4-mile event in September and even encouraging strangers while out on my runs are just some of the ways I plan to make a difference.

One final note before I end. I have been applying for new life insurance and I found out last Friday that I qualified for the best premium rates available. This results in a nearly $60 savings per month for the amount of insurance I've applied for. I started to get teary-eyed when my agent gave me the news. It certainly defines a tangible measure to the success I've had. To go from morbidly obese to top-notch health is something that wasn't even on my radar screen of possibilities when I started 2 year ago.