No. 55

After my run this morning, I got back to the house and Adam greeted me at the door with one of those kinds of wicked giggles that makes it oh-so clear that he's up to something. He handed me a piece of paper that he'd been holding behind his back.

You might want to sit down for this one ...

Yeah ... so ... it's a good thing that he considers me a "super daddy." Past that, I'm pretty much at a loss for words!

You Ain't Gonna Believe This

It's official. Crystal Joyner, Wendy Hayden and Whitney Levens (who approved the whole thing) have lost their ever-lovin' minds.

Yesterday, I got a message on Facebook from Crystal asking if I could meet with her and Wendy at the Y this morning. They had something important they needed to discuss.

Sure, I replied, no problem. What's up?

Nope. Not until we can meet face to face.

OK. I'll be there.

As I finished up my workout this morning, Crystal and Wendy arrived. We headed into Whitney's office and they shut the door. A class is starting in January at the Y to train for a 10k ... and they wanted to know if I would help out as an instructor.

Come again? An instructor of what? This is a sure sign that the earth is about to spin off its axis.

Believe it or not, they were serious. An hour or so later, I still don't know quite what to think. I feel like Moses at the burning bush, unworthy of what I'm being asked to do. I'm certainly no faster than the vast majority of folks. I don't have the endurance of an elite marathon runner. I'm none of those things.

But what I hope to bring to the table is encouragement. Losing weight and trying to get in shape is not easy, but if I can do it, anybody can. If I can walk, walk/run and then run a 5k, anybody can. If I can go after a 10k, anybody can.

The class starts Tuesday, January 17. Be there. If I can do it, you can, too.

This Time Next Year

In twelve hours or so, I'll be finishing up the Mistletoe 5k in Winston-Salem. It'll be the sixth one I've done, and the second that I've run from start to finish. That's the plan, at least.

So what's next? That's a good question, and it's one that I've been thinking a lot about lately. Now, it's time to put it "out there." Once I do that, I can't take it back and I hope that whoever might be reading this won't let me.

Here's the plan ...

First up in the spring will be a 10k, or 6.4 miles. This week, I did five miles in an hour flat. I won't be setting a time goal the first time out ... I'll just want to make it to the finish line.

And then, a year from tomorrow, I plan to run the Mistletoe half marathon. I don't care how long it takes me and at this point, there might even be a little bit of walking involved. But this time next year and if nothing unforeseen takes place, I'm going to do the Mistletoe half ... all 13.1 miles of it.

I can imagine running 13 miles. If I couldn't, I wouldn't be setting it up for myself as a goal. It just seems like a really, really far-fetched dream. Right now, as I sit here tonight, I could not do it. But I'm going to try as hard as I possibly can to make it happen.

Yeah. I know. Do or do not. There is no try!