Goals

Okay, so I'm probably not the largest marathoner ever. As a matter of fact, I have yet to complete an actual marathon, but it's a goal of mine.

I am a runner though. I could probably be classified as a recreational clydesdale. I've been running since October 2008, which is about six years after I graduated high school, where I was a football player for 4 years among numerous other activities that kept me in pretty good shape. October 2008 is also a mere 10 months after I graduated from Iowa State University, where I had some of the greatest times of my life and met some of the best people in the world, but I also exercised very rarely and my weight ballooned to well over 300 lbs. That's another goal to lose a whole bunch of weight.

So back to October 2008 when I started running. I started because of my uncle Dave Poe, who is a very athletic man. He has run a large number of long distance runs, which includes at least 2 attempts at 100 mile runs. I'll have to do more research on that and inform you later as to the exact history of my uncles running career. But in October 2008, Uncle Dave came to Sioux City, IA for a visit and to run in the Siouxland Marathon/1/2 Marathon. I was recruited to be a motivational pace setter for the last 1.5 miles, which was much to my surprise, having never run more than 1 mile in my entire life before that. Needless to say, I don't often back down when proposed with a challenge like that, so I did it. And when I crossed that finish line with my Uncle, I...was...Hooked!

I decided to start running right there. I wanted to lose weight and run marathons and compete with all the other runners. It's been a little over 3 years now, and I still haven't completed the marathon goal, but I have completed a 1/2 marathon, three 20k's, three 10k's, two 8k's, six 5k's, and one 7 miler known as the Living History Farms Cross Country Race (that was a hell of time). During all of that, I didn't lose much weight, but I have learned a lot about healthy eating, and I think I'm close to pulling it all together and making my lifestyle totally healthy. I've also recently joined KOSAMA, which I love, and I believe will help a great deal with the goal of eventually running a marathon.

Me and some friends after finishing our 20k at Dam to Dam

So, that is a brief history of my quest to becoming fitter and healthier and happier. I plan to continue write about my continued progress toward the marathon goal and other goals and my life in general, so stay tuned, this could get interesting.