26.2 Miles. "That's a very long way" I said to myself when my friend told me he was running a marathon. "I get tired driving that far" I said later. I always wanted to run a marathon. It was one of those checklist things I wanted to do but I had pretty much given up. I was 50 pounds overweight and nearly passed out once when I tried to run a couple of miles.

Then one day I got fed up with how I looked and how I felt and decided I was going to do something about it. I hated running but I new it was good exercise. So I convinced myself I would start slowly. No coaches yelling at me. No pressure to keep running. I would walk if I had to. I would stop if I had too. I would just set some goals and work to meet them and I would stick with it.

Running 26 miles was not my immediate goal here. Weight loss was. Keeping with the "no pressure" theme I wasn't going to set such a big goal when I could barely run to the end of the street.
But slowly I began to get results. I ran/walked a mile 4 days a week then then slowly began to increase. As time passed the pounds came off and the miles increases. I was running 3 - 4 miles a run. It was longer than any distance I'd ever run before, even as a high school athlete. And I was doing it 4 days a week. Even getting out of bed to run in cold weather didn't bother me. Suddenly a marathon didn't seem so far fetched.

To make a long story short, I kept running, kept building and finally got the courage to enter that first marathon.

It was an amazing feeling. 5000 people running with me, the streets lined with well-wishers and my wife and family at the finish line. I'd have to say it was one of the greatest feeling I'd ever experienced.

But and even better feeling for me was getting to the starting line. I had done it. I became a runner and a weird thing happened. I actually enjoyed running. I had worked hard kept with it and made it to the starting line. Now I have a lifetime activity and 50 lbs of weight loss that I've kept off for going on 8 years.

For the beginner the key to it all is consistency. The program at the link below will help you gain that consistency and get you to the starting line.
Ask a runner you know and they will say it gets in your blood. At some point you go from having to run to wanting to run. When that happens you'll be a runner for life.

Get Started Running

Now that all that running has helped you get in shape why not keep going and build a set of six pack abs

Exercise Tips

I've also started a blog to help you get started running. Check it out at
http://getstartedrunning.blogspot.com