The beginnings of this

For the past few months, I've been running. First off, I do not consider myself a runner, but my recent history would beg to differ.

This all started last year. A friend from Birmingham, Ash, told a few of us about his dreams to enter the Men's Health Urban-athalon. This would require a team of us to run 12 miles through Chicago and get by obstacle courses. Always wanting my friends to fulfill their dreams, I agreed to join him on this adventure.

Problem, I'd never run 2 miles, let alone 12. So, in July 2007, Ash, John and I began our training. We started slow. We started by using the Couch to 5K method of training. We soon were at the 5 K distance when Ash suggested running in the Retro 5K in Homewood, Alabama. We competed and performed miserably. That summer we competed 4 times total and then fell off the band wagon.

As this summer approached, Ash was determined not to fail. Again, I volunteered. This time, we ran six 5Ks in 8 weeks. We then set our sights on an 8K, which we accomplished. Then in October 2008, Ash ran a 10K. I competed and completed my first 10K in November 2008.

We now have our sights set on the Mercedes 1/2 Marathon in Birmingham, Alabama. We are also looking forward to the Shamrock 1/2 Marathon in Virginia Beach, Virginia.