Andrew is getting fit

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My name is Andrew and I’m on a journey to get fit. I’m taking it one day at a time as that is what seems to work for me.

A few years ago I got on the scale and found I weighed 139.9 kilograms (308 pounds) which is actually classified as morbidly obese. I couldn’t face the idea of hitting the 140 kg mark so I decided to do something about it.
I started going to the gym and eating healthy. I made reasonably good progress with this but things had stalled somewhat.

Late 2007 one of my friends (who I thought was a fellow couch potato) mentioned in passing that he had been running. To be honest this shocked me somewhat as I had never expected it. After thinking about it for a few weeks I decided that if he could do it then so could I.

I decided to do some research and I came across a lot of references to something called C25K.

C25K, is a fantastic program that’s been designed to get just about anyone from the couch to running 5 kilometres or 30 minutes in just 9 weeks.

The plan tells you exactly how much to run and how much to walk and it gradually builds up the amount of time spent running.

I started the plan in mid January and it was tough doing any running at all in the beginning, but I persevered. I got bronchitis about half way through the program and had to take a week off but I persevered. I finished the program in mid March when I managed to run 5 kilometres non stop. That was quite an accomplishment for me.

I ran my first 5K race at the end of March which was another major accomplishment for me.

I ran my first 10K race in mid July 2008 and my first Half Marathon in November 2008.  I’m now aiming to complete my first marathon in 2009.

I have come to enjoy running and I’m very happy with my weight loss progress. I’ve got a preliminary long term goal of about 85 kgs (187 pounds). I probably haven’t seen that weight in the last 20 or so years. I’m already lighter than I have been in the last 15 years.

So, the purpose of this blog is to share my journey to fitness through running and eating right.