2010

After the 300 lb. thing, I was happy to just leave things the way they were.  That is very unlike me.  I have a tendency to go overboard with things like I have with paintball....and fishing....and guitar.  For whatever reason, even though I continued to lift I never max'ed again.

One day in early '10, the wife and I got out of the car at the gym and she says "You know what I want for my birthday?".  I have to stop here for a minute.  Only men will completely understand what a gift from God that sentence is.  We all wish for crazy things but to be told what our wife/girlfriend really wants for her birthday, we don't dare dream it!  On top of that, it was one of her "divisible by 10" birthdays.  I get goosebumps.

"I want to run a half-marathon."

First off, had I listed 100 guesses I would have been wrong.  Second, if that is what she has decided it was as good as done.  Among her traits that I admire most are her tenacity and focus.  Like I said, if that was what she decided to do then that was that.  We bought a book on running marathons and began following the training plan.  I had suddenly become one of those guys at the gym that doesn't know what they are doing and I was "helping" her.  I immediately noticed the additional pounds I had put on from lifting and over the next several months also discovered they don't come off easy.  The race she had chosen was the White Rock in Dallas in early December near both our birthdays.  I will forever treasure the time we spent training together almost as much as the race itself.

Sometime around September I noticed the lymph node on the right side of my neck was a little swollen and hard.  I also had a sinus infection.  I know how to deal with that: a week of over-the-counter meds and viola!  I was running my daily 7 mile routine and starting to see improvements in my times.  I don't remember how much time passed (2 months?) but for whatever reason I touched my neck and the node had come back.  Actually, it had probably never been gone.

Very shortly after that, I had another head cold which I assumed was the same infection from before and I just hadn't knocked it out.  Called the wife (she's a dental hygienist) and had her bring home some antibiotics.  (I know, I know...).  I also noticed I was starting to drop some weight.  With the pace of our training it certainly made sense and didn't throw up any red flags.

Next thing you know it's December and we are right on track training wise.  Robin and I finished our half marathon (along with Elliott).  I was so proud of her and Elliott. They had both worked so hard for so long and it showed on race day.