I do not recall being too concerned about my physical condition when I was young. Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that I do not recall very much at all from when I was young. Anyway, I had asthma, and I never really had the opportunity to play any sports. I did finally get to play baseball one year when I was fifteen. You cannot imagine the sheer terror of seeing a fly ball for the first time at Babe Ruth tryouts at that age. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure I was the only one there with that issue. Ah, I digress. I do remember one time I was hanging out with my group of friends at the time. It was after dark and we were returning from wherever we had gone for whatever reason we had gone there. I decided I was going to go ahead of the rest of them and try to scare them so I ran as fast as I could down the gravel road to get away from them. I do not recall whether or not I succeeded in scaring them or not. What I do recall was one of them remarking that I was fast and that I should run cross-country. I didn’t know what to think because the thought had never crossed my mind. I barely knew what cross-country was. I did not pursue cross-country, nor did I pursue anything else that involved much physical activity. I did try a few times over my young adult years to start running but my lungs and my legs always got in the way and it never lasted for long. Stitch cramps and shin splints are not conducive to starting a running hobby for any reason. Several years later(about six years ago I believe), I started going to the gym that was in the same plaza as my place of work. I had no desire to start running. I assumed that the meniscectomy that I underwent several years earlier disqualified me from any future running. Not wanting to be an old man, trying to undo years of lack of maintenance and poor decision in regards to my physical health, I wanted to do what I could to stay healthy despite not being able to run. This usually meant using the arch trainer or any elliptical. That was my basic routine through the following spring. The same thing over and over again for the most part. Jason Kerner, the manager of the gym started trying to convince me to try a Warrior Dash the following year. I felt very strongly that I was not in shape to be able to do such a thing but he persisted in trying to get me to sign up regardless. After much persistent encouragement, I gave in and decided to give it a try. In large part, that decision would change how I felt about physical fitness in ways I could not have predicted. To be continued……