Putting One Foot In Front of the Other

As many of you may already know (as if there were many of you to begin with), I recently put a stake in the ground, proclaiming that I have registered for this year's Des Moines Dam-to-Dam 20k road race. When I posted this information on "The Devil's Social Networking Site", there were many that assumed (falsely) that I had been doing some semblance of running for some time. Well, no. I suppose I need to explain my rationale a bit.

I think we all reach a breaking point with ourselves, whether it be from bad habits, how we feel, how we look, something. It varies with everyone. No doubt, there is a certain threshold out there that when we cross it, intuitively our brains say that it's time for action. Granted, that action may last all but a week. But the trigger was pulled. Maybe it just resets that threshold at some higher tolerance level, to be hit somewhere down the line. Sometimes this trigger can be another look in the mirror, or maybe something worse, like an actual episode of bad health, a heart attack, stroke, a diagnosis of depression, etc. Whatever it is, at some point your body and mind cross these thresholds, and inform you that another path needs to be taken for self-betterment.

I suppose I've been at this physical threshold for years now. After gaining my "Freshman 40" in college, I knew that a life of activity had suddenly found a different path, one where I wasn't necessarily required to participate in sports, and stay active. Pizza, beer, and generally fucking off seemed to be a lifestyle much more suitable for me at that time. Problem was, I decided to keep at that lifestyle for a long time.

Succesful outcomes? It's funny, I never thought starting a blog like this would end up inspiring others to give it a shot. It seems like for many of us, all we need is a little push. A common refrain was, "Well, if Dixon can write a blog, I'm guessing I can't be any worse." Bravo, friends. Bravo. A big part of me hopes that in the wake of any personal achievement derived from the act of getting out and moving a little, it may be some small inspiration for others to give it a shot. One buddy of mine already said that I was his catalyst for signing up for the race, too. Again....bravo.

So, here I go. Doing an activity I absolutely do not like. I'm running. Occasionally. Not enough. This week's excuse for not keeping up with the regimen is because of a lingering chest cold. I tend to find reasons to keep from doing what I need to do, particularly when it involves such types of strenuous voluntary movement. But this time it's a little bit of a different feeling. This time, I really do want to get back out there and do it. All it took was one registration. One stake in the ground to tell myself, that it's time to get this done.

I'll be throwing out some updates on how things are going, especially leading up to the actual event in late May. Stay tuned.