How long is 5 kilometers again?

Hi, my name is Mike.  And I love food.

Check that...I love good food.  Food that incorporates words like "alfredo", "decadent chocolate", "Peanut Butter KandyKake"....you get the idea.  I even went as far as to work in a restaurant that serves good food.

But there's a problem with loving good food.  Chances are, good food is not, well, good for ya.  Such a shame.  Life would be so much easier if I could down a cheesesteak and then do 100 knuckle push-ups.

See, when I was younger, I never cared what I ate.  Unfortunately, I also didn't have one of those metabolisms, and I was quite large.  After high school, I did something about it.  I even...ugh...worked out.  So out of character.  However, it worked, and I was about to shed about 70 pounds off of my body.

Yeah, I was impressed too.

The problem with sitting back and looking on a feat like that, though, is that it breeds complacency.  I got back into the old habits.  I discarded weird notions, like "eating in moderation," and "perhaps I shouldn't eat 4 dead desserts in one shift at work."  (Yes, that happened, and I was kind of proud of it at the time too.)  And before I knew it, I was traveling down a path that was all too familiar.  I needed to begin anew, but didn't really know where (or how) to start.

That was when I saw a link to a 5K run on my friend Melissa's Facebook page.  I saw that it was a perfect opportunity for many reasons -

1) It'll give me a reason to get back in shape.  I'll have to walk/job/run every day for this event because, well, I've never finished a mile in my life (well, without stopping or passing out.)

2) It'll give me a reason to keep a blog again.  With this outlet, I'll write about my trials and tribulations during my....um.....training?  Yeah, I guess that's what I can call it.  And I'll be honest too...no sense in saying lies like "wow, I finished 5 kilometers in no time!", when in reality, it's "my god, that was only 500 yards???"

3) It'll give me a reason to support a phenomenal cause.  See, every person in my family that has pass has been due to cancer.  Every funeral I've ever went to has been due to cancer.  In the grand spectrum of life, me getting in shape will be a nice little by-product if I can help raise money for a much worthier cause.

So I signed up.  I got a few other heads that'll be signing up too.  And this is how Run, Fat Boys, Run was formed.  We'll be posting as much as we can, so keep checking in on our progress, and wish us luck!

I sure know that I, for one, will definitely need it.

By the way, 5 kilometers is 3.1 miles.  This is not going to be pretty.