My Intro!

Hey everyone!

Hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the unusually warm temperatures over the past couple days (at least, here in the mid-Atlantic region!)

For those of you who don't know me (or barely know me), let me introduce myself...

My name is Rob Wilhelm, and I'm from New Market, Maryland, which is about a 40-minute drive northwest of Washington DC.  With the exception of going to college at Shippensburg (PA) University from 1989 to 1994 (yeah, the 4 1/2 year plan!), I've lived in this area pretty much my whole entire life.

My 2013 Disney Marathon goal - the Goofy Challenge!  I've signed up for this the previous two years only to be de-railed by October injuries.  Hopefully the third time's a charm!

My professional life - I work at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center as a classification specialist.  Very stressful and thankless job.  Been there for almost 16 years.  Jogs serve as great therapy after particularly stressful days!  I've also been coaching high school Cross Country since 2003, and I'll be coaching track this coming spring for the first time since 2004.

My personal life - I've been married to my wonderful wife Heidi since 2000.  We have a soon-to-be 5-year-old son named Harry.  Heidi has decided to join me for Team All Ears 2013 in doing the 5K.  And little Harry has been doing the kids' races since 2009.  2013 will be my third year with TAE.

My running background - I ran track pretty much from age 10 all the way through college.  In high school I was a 400M runner/high jumper/triple jumper.  In college, I did the indoor pentathlon and 55M dash, and outdoors I did the 400M hurdles and decathlon.  After I graduated from college in the winter of '93, I stopped running altogether for a few years because I was pretty burnt out.  Around the mid-1990s, I started jogging sporadically, meaning I would jog for a week or two and stop for several months.

What finally got my butt in gear was when I was in the hospital in March of 2007 when my baby son Harrison was born.  I stepped on a scale and it topped out at 203 pounds.  To put that in perspective, I was 145 pounds when I graduated high school and rail-thin.  To top it off, my cholesterol was way up and my back was consistently killing me.  It was at that moment that I decided to start training for the 2008 Disney Marathon, and I've never looked back!  But more importantly, I wanted to get in better shape for the sake of my son, who I knew I would be chasing around for years to come...

As of this date, I've completed 3 full marathons and about a dozen or so half-marathons and 10-milers.  I try and do about 3 to 5 races per year.  My goals are pretty modest.  I'd eventually like to break the 2:00 barrier for the half, and maybe break the 5:00 for the full.  But what matters the most is that I'm having fun.  The comraderie (sp?) you experience both during training and especially during the races is like no other.  It's one of those things you have to experience first-hand to believe.

My health goals - Again, this is pretty basic.  Lose weight, and try to maintain!  A couple weeks ago when I started my diet and exercise, I was 201 pounds.  I'm now down to 195.  My dieting methods are pretty simple, and a little nuts.  Basically, I eat healthy throughout the work-day.  Lean Cuisine meals or other healthy options, and lots of water.  At home for dinners, I've learned to cut down on my portions and stick to the water.  I was drinking about 3 to 4 glasses of soda daily/nightly.  I've cut this down to about 3 to 4 glasses a WEEK.  Instead of munching on chips, I'll grab a piece of fruit.  Week-ends are a little bit tougher!  I do allow myself one day to "pig out."  Eat what I want.  But at the same time, I still watch my portions.  I view the "pig out" day as a reward for being good all week!  As for my weight, I'd like to get down to 175.  When I get down to 175, I'll re-evaulate myself.  One thing I do know - I do NOT want to be that rail-thin, 145 pound geek I was in high school when my head and feet looked too big for my body!

My training plan - as of now 2 to 3 jogs during the week varying in length from 2 to 4 miles, plus one long week-end run of 6+ miles.  From there, I'll continue to bump it up.

Well, I think I rambled on long enough.  I'll save everything else for future blogs.  But to close, I'd like to give the other "Fartlek" guys a shout-out:

Brad - My fraternity bro from Ship!  You've been my motivation the past 3 years or so.  You are at the level I want to get to eventually as a runner.  And I owe you a big THANKS for introducing me to TAE.

Mush - Always remember meeting you for the first time at the half last month.  You made me feel very welcome and extremely at ease, and you were really easy to talk to.  Thanks for that.

Jamison - I'll never forget the shout-out you gave me at the end of the half.  Awesome seeing a familiar face at the finish line, and I know you must've hung out there for a looooong time.  So thanks for that.

Jorge - I haven't met you yet, but I still think you're an awesome guy.  I like reading your twitter posts - very inspiring.  Hopefully I'll get the chance to meet you in 2013!

Josh - keep up the excellent job with the PT.  Your Facebook posts are truly inspiring, and you have a lot of people rallying behind you, as well as inspiring a bunch more.  Keep it up.

Until next time...  Stay tuned...

Rob