Please Allow Myself to Introduce... Myself!

I forgot to introduce myself!  Here I am getting ready to update my progress and I totally forgot to tell you who I am!  Well here we go…

My name is Jamison and I have a problem.  I talk about running.  A lot.  Too much so.  You know how people who convert to Catholicism will probably talk church more than a “Cradle Catholic” will?  Well that’s me.  I am not a runner by design.  I hated running growing up.  HATED IT.  “Why should I run?  I play baseball” (actual quote from Jamison Reynolds).   I figured as long as I could run fast, 90 feet at a time then I would be ok.  So where and when did my “conversion on the road to Damascus” take place?  Sorry for all the church references by the way, but its Friday during Lent and I am sitting here eating a salad instead of the pork egg foo yong I am actually hungry for.

I have two amazing children.  They are why I run.  My conversion was not a single moment of time… no instant revelation of wisdom, but a series of events that led me here. 

First, Patrick was born in 2005.  You see when my wife was pregnant with Patrick I plumped up a bit.  By a bit I mean by 30 pounds.  I was fat (for me).  I was staring down the barrel of a pant size that started with a 4.  I couldn’t have that so I started lifting weights and dieting.  I added cardio two days a week.  I decided I wanted to run a half marathon to prove I was healthy.  Well I never ran the half marathon due to life getting in the way and honestly… I really didn’t care, as long as my weight stayed below 200.

In 2009 Benjamin was born.  I had stayed under 200 but was more “doughy” than I wanted so I thought I would again… say I was going to run a half marathon.   Then Benjamin got sick.  I don’t want to get into the specifics, but for a moment we thought we may lose him.  The leukemia scare turned into an autoimmune reality and we were in a whole new world.  While in the hospital with him I read about a running team getting formed by one of my favorite Disney fan sites and I joined.  I knew I needed a group to keep me focused.  I also knew that I had to stay healthy.  I needed to be there for my family.  I refused to be a lethargic dad.  I was gonna coach and play soccer (even though I hate the sport),  coach baseball, chase the boys through the house… not yell at them from the couch.  I was going to run a half marathon to prove that I could and to use the half marathon to validate my healthy lifestyle.

Well at mile 8 of the 2010 Walt Disney Half Marathon I realized I was hooked.  I wanted more of this.  I wasn’t done.  That race was not the end of some journey but the beginning of another one.  Since then I have run numerous 5, 8 and 10k’s, a warrior dash, 9 half marathons, 3 full marathons and a Goofy Challenge.  My running team (Team Allears) has close to 100 members, has raised over $140,000 in the fight against cancer and has led to some of my closest friends.  I have an amazing wife who supports my habit and two beautiful, HEALTHY sons.  I have life that I am thankful for every day.

So what am I going to contribute to this blog? 1)I am going to lose weight.  I am currently 198 pounds and plan to get to 180.  I will do so by lifting weights, dieting and running.  I will post my plans and progress here. 2)I am changing the way I run.  I am currently like many of you… I use clunky shoes to run in (currently Nike LunarGlide’s +2).  I am also constantly in pain and injured.  I am going to switch to a minimalist approach and track my progress here.  3)Two of my loves in life are music and craft beer.  You should plan on seeing some entries on those too.  I’ll try to limit my entries on my 3^rd love which is politics… but no promises.

OK, back to your regularly scheduled programs…