Why thank you

My name is Marc Im 27 from south Jersey. Been "getting into shape" for a while now and just got into cycling and running so I decide to sign up for a small triahlon down the shore in August. Im an industrial electrician/instrumentation tech for the national petro pipeline system. Im married had our first child a year ago and have a cool dog, a boxer named shrek, yep loke the movie. Just recently hit my all time hardest goal of seeing anything less than 200 lbs on the scale two years ago I was 260 lbs. Im currently lower than that and for the first time in my life doing it right and having a great time with it.

Hi there!  I'm Bonny,

I'm 44 yo, married, no kids, 2 cats and various other critters in Minneapolis.  I've lost 68#'s, about 10 to go. This is the first attempt at running.  I'm repeating week 4 of the C25K. I really want the 5 minute jog to be a little easier before I move onto week 5.  I'm aiming for a 5K in September.  I've got some good support with friends here but am so glad to join in the community here.  I figure the more, the merrier! 

...And midgies

My name is Matthew and I live just outside Birmingham, AL.  Well, here I am back again as a runner.  I began in running in 2003 because I had gained quite a bit of weight since graduating high school in 2001 (about 65-70 pounds in 2 years). I had taken the stairs at work one day (in a 2 story building) and was out of breath by the time I got to the top of it, so I knew I needed to do something.  I only lacked a few classes at the local community college during my spring 2003 semester, but needed to sign up for some electives in order to stay on my parents' insurance, so I signed up for "Jogging" and "Weight Training."  I started the class being able to run one mile in 16 minutes (I could've walked it faster) and gradually improved from that.  By the end of the semester in May, I had gotten up to being able to run 5 miles in just a little over an hour.  To keep it up, I signed up at the local YMCA to keep active during the summer.  A friend talked me into doing a step aerobics class, so I did.  My teacher saw me running on a treadmill before class and asked if I participated in local races and didn't have a clue what she was talking about, so she filled me in.  From the end of June through October, I ran in 1 3-mile race, 1 5-mile race, 1 10 race, and 5 or 6 5k races.  However, in October, I developed a problem with ingrown hair which caused me to have to have surgery....5 times.  I was recently cleared by a doctor to start running again, so I started back on Memorial Day.  I remained pretty active at work, so I knew when I started back it wouldn't be too difficult.  I started back being able to run 1 mile in 11 minutes and have gradually improved to yesterday doing 4 miles in just under 45 minutes.  I'm ready to start back with 5k's, unfortunately, there's not another one locally until July 19th. 

Hey Magic Kimdom, do you plan on running any races in North or Central Alabama?

Hello My name is Amy- im 19 years old- very new to running marathons or running in general.. I made the decision today to sign up for a half marathon (Fox Cities to be exact) at the end of Sept. .. I used to run hurdles in high school and was very much a sprinter- but after recently reading Anne Audains book Ive decided to try to get into marathon running.  My exercise since high school has been minimal - only walks with my dogs- and Ive been a smoker :(... so now I am ready to flip my life around and quit smoking and start training to get my health back.

I would love any advice from anyone- considering this is a very big goal...

But otherwise about me- I am a JR in college- pre vet- and hoping to get into Vet School in 2 years!

Ciao!

-Amy

Hey Valerie,  I'm glad to see that you are Ok after the tomato problem.  I  got off track from my running from Feb to May and am just now getting back into it.  BTW, my hubbie and I are going to take  classes in Aug to get certified in scuba.  We are going to Hawaii in Dec and decided it would be really great to be able to scuba.  I am hoping that it works out, because it would be nice to have an activity that we can do together.  He has bad knees and can't run anymore.  Also, I think this post is a great idea.  I have been smiling the whole time while reading people's posts.  I wanted to respond to everyone, but I think they would all get tired of me pretty quickly.     I will post my intro next.

Rae

Hi there!  My name is Aimee, I'm a 34 year old small business owner and mom of two boys ages 6 and 2.  I'm on week 2 and loving it!  I used to run before kids but hadn't done it in almost 7 years.  I was feeling really tired and just generally unfit, so I decided it was time to do something about it - and here I am!  I've set a pretty hefty goal for myself, to run a half marathon in November!