The Ups and Downs of a Marathon Wannabe

(By the way, this is Jason writing, Kasee's husband)
About two months into my seven month internship in California something was missing in my life. You see I have always been a pretty active guy and when I sat in a cubicle for 10 hours a day the only exercise I got was reserved for my fingers when I was really into the excel report I was creating. I knew something had to change so I started searching for an active "hobby" to satisfy my need for activity and competition. I new it had to be something that was low in start-up costs and could be done anywhere. I also wanted to be able to compete in some sort of race. This lead me to running.

I decided that a marathon would be the best decision. I was six months away from the Pocatello marathon which is in my home town and actually started by my Dad after he was fed up with not being able to get into marathons that had a drawing.  So I started running... I invested in a solid running shoe and thought I was ready to go. The first time I wore my investment I hurt my foot on mile 3 of 5 and had to walk home. I couldn't run again for a month. Needless to say I returned the shoes and reverted back to my Dad's hand-me-downs that he had already put 800 miles on.

After recovering from my injury I gave another half hearted attempt to get rolling on my marathon training. I soon traded running for watching every single NBA playoff game. Then a phone call came. It was my Dad who knew that I was "training" for a marathon. He asked if I wanted to run in the St. George Marathon if we were drawn. I agreed and decided to leave it the odds to decide for me if I would start training again or give up. A week later a got a return call saying we had been accepted.

I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me but at least I had a goal. At work they were having a weight loss program for all the employees. The other intern, Porntepp, and I decided to give it a try. As we are both very thin we knew we couldn't win but if anything it would encourage us to be healthy. When we moved out to CA I weighed in at 172 pounds. I assumed my weight was around the same number. I stepped on the scale and saw that I weighed 195 lbs and couldn't believe it. I had gained 23 pounds in about 5 months. Not good. This provided more motivation to start training.

Without making this story longer than it already is I am now in the middle of training. I put 28 miles in last week including a 13 mile run last friday. Although I'm still a ways away from the 26.2 miles I need to be at I think I'll make it. Well, as long as no more distractions come my way.