Crazy ideas may get crazier

Lately I've been thinking more about my fitness.  To be completely honest it all began due to one reason - earlier in the season I said to someone that after cycling multiple centuries, if my stomach and love handles were still around, it must mean they will be with me for life so pass the donuts and enjoy.  Now we all know that this is not what I would actually do.  I also know that a sizable portion (pun intended) is my fault.  I have soft spots (more puns) such as M&Ms, chocolate chip cookies, the fact that my bride was fortunate enough to get a faster metabolism, can get a craving for ice cream, enjoy it, and lose about - and I dont want her to be alone... ok and I also love ice cream.  I also like cheese - Midwest boy, can't make no excuses for that.  So in other words, I know that with more diligence not to my diet, but to my snacking I would be doing even better than where I've gotten since the break of the new year.  Nevertheless, I've often gone in spurts of getting into running for cross training and it's great full-body movement, whereas cycling is intense, but unless you are climbing or doing intervals, the focus is more core stability than aerobics at the core.

I was actually running about 4 miles somewhat consistently in the spring, but then stopped because of some knee pain.  After talking about it more with a runner that I sat next to on the bus ride home from the STP, I think I believe him - it's primarily a result of bad technique.  I've typical ran with more of a heal-strike than a midfoot-strike.  Naturally, you should land on the outside, middle portion of your foot, rolling inward to the ball of your foot as you complete the plant.  When you run barefoot (or in toe-shoes or minimalist shoes) this is the natural form.  Running barefoot also helps relay more messages to your body on proper form because you are using the muscles and contours that God provided - not relying on a cushioned shoe (more to come on that in the future).

The other day, I went for a walk with Nikki and just started running.  It felt great.  Other than Nikki slowing down and realizing I couldn't pull a Forest Gump, I had no desire to turn around.  It felt great!  My cycling really took off when I placed a goal in front of me.  So I'm not to the point of committing and signing up yet, but I think I'm going to train for a half-marathon.  13.1 miles can't be all that bad, right?!  131 miles on the bike wasn't all that bad, so 13.1 on my feet shouldn't be horrible either.  Just need to put in the time!  

To make things crazier, I remembered that the Seattle Marathon & Half-Marathon are the weekend after Thanksgiving, so technically I could have enough time to train for that, while still biking enough to tackle the Mt. Baker climb (weather depending) and the Austin Challenge.  Now that is where we get crazier, but if that doesn't happen, I should be able to push myself for next summer - and consequently push off more of my mid-section - making it just that much easier to climb hills!

A couple people even expressed some interest in possibly joining me.  For the first pass I wouldn't be pushing for any time (though it would be stupid not to have some goal), but rather I just want to see if I can do it while pushing the weight off.