And so it begins . . .

I'm not really sure how it happened to be honest. As of last October, I really hated to run.

Just wasn't interested.

And then I saw this guy, doing, well, THAT . . . .


I mean really?!  Was that dude running barefoot? I was a bit stunned to say the least. Turns out he wrote a book.

Christopher McDougal wanted to know why, after spending so much money trying to fix his feet, arches, achilles, and knees, nothing worked. Especially given the fact that the Tarahumara Natives of Mexico have been running with these:



And believe it or not, they're doing it for mile after mile after mile; with no more arch support than their God gave them. Pretty awesome.

It's badass.

So Chris wrote Born to Run.





And I think, perhaps changed my perspective on things permanently and hopefully, for the better.

And so, I bought these:



The trusty Vibram FiveFingers. Just like a bare foot without all the glassy, rocky badness the road has to offer. And then I ran. I'm not sure what got into me really, or what needed to get out, but this running thing sure hit the spot, and I never felt better.

I ran and ran and ran and ran. Going from a modest 15 miles a week to 35 in the span of a month. And then I broke. My foot damn near snapped in two after a 6 mile run in December, at least, it felt like it. I managed to give myself a particularly nasty stress fracture that resulted in a particularly painful healing process that pitted my growing bone calcification against my overworked tendons and nerves. Good times.

And so I sat. I sat and I sat and I sat. I managed to keep my spirits up by hitting the gym during lunch. The rowing machine and I became good friends.

Spring hit and I have been running ever since. Nothing hard. Nothing fancy. Just running. For the absolute hell of it.

And now, I want to turn that hell of it into one big perfect storm of awesome.

I registered to run the Marine Corps Marathon on my birthday. October 31st, 2010. I decided to put my legs to good use and run for the Fisher House, a charity created to provide lodging to the families of wounded warriors during their stay at a military treatment facility.

I'm truly thrilled to have an opportunity to do something for my soul and members of my military family all at the same time.

As for this blog, it'll be a way for everyone to follow my progress, poke fun, laugh at, provide advice and generally whatever. Hopefully by the time October rolls around I'll figure out how to make this blog sit somewhere between semi-professional and not completely ugly.

By Marcus with No comments