I knew I wanted to get into better shape while I was watching Charlene Schrock, my best friend, compete in her first half marathon. I just didn’t know how I wanted to go about it. I’ve always been a sprinter. A half-marathon? That’s crazy. I could never imagine myself running that far in one shot.

I was sitting at the back table at the Westerton Arms pub in Bridge of Allan, Scotland when I opened my Facebook. The first thing that showed up was a post from Rich Watson, someone I went to church with back when I lived in Funk. He had just completed his first IronMan Triathlon. Knowing Rich’s story, I told myself that I couldn’t make any more excuses for myself. I needed to get in better shape. (If you haven’t read Rich’s story, you need to. It’s remarkable the things he’s accomplished.)

The day I got home from Scotland, John Butler, one of my best friend’s older brothers, finished his first triathlon. That reaffirmed everything. If John and Rich can do it, I sure as well can do it too.

My eyes are on the Ad Astra Sprint Triathlon on September 27. I’ll sign up as soon as I can afford a bike. This specific Sprint Triathlon consists of 500 yards of open water swimming in Clinton Lake, 10 miles of biking around the lake, and a 3 mile run.

My end goal is an IronMan Triathlon. I realize that this will take a long time to get to, but I believe if I set my mind to it, I hopefully will be able to complete one by my 22nd birthday. That’s 70 weeks away.

My first day of training consisted of running for an hour. Like I said before. I’ve always been a sprinter. I don’t do distance. At least, I’ve never done it before. I couldn’t run for the whole time. I’m not in good enough shape to do that. Not yet. I ran for 15 minutes, walked for 15 minutes, ran for 15 minutes, walked for 10 minutes and sprinted for five. By the end of it all, I ran/walked 4.15 miles. That’s the longest I’ve ever gone… ever.

My second day of training was biking for an hour. Since I don’t have a bike, at least not yet, I went to the YMCA and hopped on a stationary bike instead. I managed to bike 13.39 miles in an hour. I can’t remember if I’ve ever biked that far before.

Two days in? So far so good. I know I have a long way to go, but we’ll see what happens throughout the rest of this first week.

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun