Tomorrow’s the big day.  My original goad was 2 hours.  Then I thought 2:10 might be a little more realistic.  Now I’m shooting for “don’t die.”  Hopefully I’ll see some of you on the course.   If you’re not running there is a big party after the race a Qwest Field.   So long as I’m not dead I’ll be in the beer garden by 9.

I get phone calls and e-mail from time to time asking if running has helped me lose any weight.  Has it ever!  Check out these before and after photos.

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

Here’s a great tool to use while planning your run on the Burke Gilman or Sammamish River Trails.

Want to run for a good cause? The 29th Annual Beat The Bridge is this Sunday. Race ya.

The biggest excuse for not getting any exercise is “I don’t have time.” Truth is, you can run just 3 days a week to get fit. Check out this 3 Day Training Week from runnersworld.com.

Running when you want to is difficult. Running when you don’t want to is nearly impossible. I didn’t want to run today, but I got it done with a little help from Fear Factory. Put this song in your Ipod and throw it on if you ever need a kick in the ass.

When I tell people I’m going to do a half marathon they look at me like I’m nuts. Especially the people who know me. Ryan Castle? The Drunk in Charge? Whiskey for breakfast? 50 cigarettes a day guy?

Well – Sort of.

Look. In no way is this about being a health nut. I have no delusions of becoming any sort of athlete. (For the record it took me 3 tries to even spell athlete correctly) This is about doing good things to counter what would otherwise be considered a completely less-than-wholesome lifestyle. Look at it like a bank. Before I was in health debt. Now I’m breaking even. OK, maybe I’m banking a few bucks.

How did all of this come about? Well, It wasn’t that I felt bad, I just didn’t feel good. So back in October I finally quit smoking and stated to screw around with this running thing. It sucked. I hated it. I couldn’t run half a mile. No BS. Dogs could have been chasing me. A psycho killer could have been chasing me. It could have been a dinosaur with short legs and a bad disposition. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to make it.

After a few miss fires and slow starts it finally started to come together. In March I ran the St. Pat’s Dash which is 3.8 miles in about 36 minutes. Not setting the running world on fire, but also not bad… The running continued and now here my dumb ass is writing to you about a half marathon. Which if you didn’t know is 13.1 miles. To say I’m nervous about it is an understatement. I committed crimes in my youth that gave me less anxiety than this.

Over the next several weeks I’ll keep you posted on my progress (or lack of). If you’re a glutton for abuse I’ll post my training as we go and you can join in the pain.

Thanks to my friends at Subway for helping me along the way.

Short day today. Just 3 miles. If the weather doesn’t suck I might take it outside. Otherwise I’m on the hamster wheel (the treadmill) at home.