fit at 40-something

At 8:10 AM on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 I put out my last cigarette. I didn’t realize it for many months, but a prayer that I had made daily for years had been answered. I had quit smoking. Finally.

Now, I’m not naive enough to think this insidious pleasure couldn’t snare me again. On the contrary, people better than me who had quit for decades had once again fallen prey and paid the ultimate price. But, as of today, nearly four and a half years later, I’m a non-smoker.

In addition to smoking, at 6′3″ I weighed 260 pounds, I had high blood pressure, and I led a lifestyle that a slug would kill for. In short, I was a heart attack or stroke waiting to happen. I was even prepared to gain some weight since I had quit smoking. The general consensus is that, all things being equal, one would expect to gain between 7 to 10 pounds after giving up the smokes.

But a funny thing happened.

I started walking.

Walking. It all started slowly. I walked a mile or so every day at a leisurely pace. As the weeks went by, I picked up the pace – just a little. As I adjusted to the pace, I picked up the distance – just a little. I was somewhat puzzled because I wasn’t losing any weight, but I felt better. After about 6 weeks, the weight started coming off and after seeing real results, motivation kicked in. After about 3 months or so, I was walking up to 4 miles a day at a pretty good clip (around a 13:45 pace).

Then a funny thing happened.

I started jogging – just a little.

Let me say this right up front – I despised running. No, I LOATHED running. Even during my time in the military, I can remember making only one run in time – the run to graduate from basic training. The side-stitch, the shin splints, the huffing and puffing. Nope. Not me.

But walking so much (by this time I was walking around 30 miles a week) had prepared my body for running, just a little. From doing some research, I realized that jogging/running in a pair of run-of-the-mill tennis shoes wasn’t going to cut it. In fact, the shoes may have been a major contributing factor to shin splints. So, off I go to be professionally fitted for a pair of quality running shoes. The difference was amazing.

About this same time, I thought it would be a good idea to mix in some traditional weight training. I joined a local gym and settled in to a weekly schedule of weight training on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Running on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Sunday is the Lord’s day.

My running continued to progress. I remember literally screaming out loud when I was finally able to run 1 mile without having to walk. At 45, it was the first time in my life I had been able to do that. Over time, I hit subsequent milestones. Two miles, three miles. I ran my first 5K, the BE&K 5K, in 2005 in a time of 37:41. As time passed, my times and distance continued to improve. I’ve run the Hueytown 5K and 10K races, the Vulcan Run, the Susan G Komen Race For The Cure and most recently, the Mercedes Half Marathon in Birmingham. As of this writing, my PR’s (Personal Record) are:

• 5K – 26:36
• 10K – 54:38
• Half Marathon – 2:06:29

My long term goal is to complete a full marathon before I’m 50 (ok, so that’s not quite so long term). A more immediate goal is to complete a sprint triathlon sometime before this summer is over.

Over the years, I’ve also maintained the strength training. At one time, I had lost about 90 pounds, down to 170. That is much too low for my height and frame – I really looked gaunt. I’m back up to a healthy 194. I went from a 42 inch waist to a 34 and my body fat hovers around 13%. Best of all, I’ve been able to maintain these statistics for several years now.

This new lifestyle, including my diet, is now simply a part of who I am. I very rarely ever miss a workout or run. I’ll even go so far as to rearrange my day to make sure I get my exercise in.

It’s never too late to make improvements in your health.

Find some sort of activity that you might enjoy and get moving!

Even just a little.