Saturday October 17th, 2009 – a day that I never thought would happen. Not that I believed Nostradamus was right and some guy wearing a blue turban would have triggered a nuclear war by then but because it was the day of the Kansas City Marathon – and I was running in it.

While I could write about the marathon itself (especially how up until mile marker 20 I felt great then my legs felt as if they caught fire) the journey to get to the race is more significant.

Throughout my adult life my physical fitness level was the typical seesaw you often hear about. Over a period of nearly 2 decades my weight ranged from a low of 160 to a high of 283. I would develop good habits only to fall off the wagon and become worse off than ever before. When I hit the 283 lb mark and realized I was trending towards 300 pounds I snapped. Then I changed.

A lot of folks in the fitness industry at the time were too busy trying to make themselves rich with complex schemes. For example one well known company created a dietary point system with little to no real meaning that did not teach good habits (if I ate a food with the right fiber to fat ratio I could eat all day and still lose weight – not realistic). What it did do is create a dependency on their reference materials.

Of course several people were following the “all carbs are evil” approach at that time as well. That one did have an appealing aspect to it: everybody loves to be told you can eat all you want and still lose weight. However, as with other diets or pills that seek to eliminate or block one of the basic components of food (protein, carbs, fat) most of the weight loss was actually water.

I love to keep things simple if at all possible. I decided to focus on the fundamental rule of weight loss: calorie intake must be less than calorie expenditure. My diet plan was set and I didn’t even need to use Staples’ “Easy Button”.  To increase my fitness level I put my money where my mouth is (or was) and bought a treadmill. If you are “on the fence” about starting an exercise routine a big purchase like that will get you moving:)

Now that I had my diet plan and exercise equipment it was time to get to work. I monitored my food intake, exercised 30 minutes a day, and….that’s it. No fad diets, magical contraptions, or pills needed. I lost over 90 pounds that year. It was that simple.

Once the weight was off and had stabilized I increased my workout intensity over the last 2 years. My routine included alternating running, cycling, and weightlifting.

For most of this year I pushed myself harder biking than I did running. I typically ran 6-8 miles per outing and biked up to 38 miles per outing. I ran 10 miles once and thought I will never run that far again. Just those extra couple miles made a big difference.

However, in late September Crown Center ran a Facebook contest with the prize being a free entry in the KC Marathon. All you had to do was send a message stating which race (full marathon, half marathon, or 5k) you wanted to run. Remembering my 10 mile run I played it safe and stated I wanted to run the half marathon. Later that day I found out I won an entry and had 15 days to train.

The best way to train for something is to actually do it so I loaded the half marathon course into my GPS and ran it a few times. Other than having to go through some rough neighborhoods in parts it was easier than I thought it would be. I then began thinking about running the full marathon.

Once I found out I could use my prize to enter the full marathon instead I asked my friends and family if I should run the full or half. Either being supportive or seeing if I would actually do it they all encouraged me to go for the full marathon. In the end I chose the full marathon and the rest is history.

A lot of people train specifically for marathons and make them their ultimate fitness goal so once they cross the finish line there is a burst of emotion. My wife read about a lot of runners experiencing a bit of depression after completing a marathon. Those feelings are understandable given the significant work they did to get there and the realization they just accomplished something extraordinary.

Not me though. I looked at it as not the end of the fitness journey I began 3 years ago but instead the elevation of it to a new level. Besides, since the last 6 miles set me way back on time I have plenty of room to improve. I will see everybody at next year’s KC Marathon.