I am committing myself . . . to a 10-mile race!

I have decided to run in the Austin 10-mile race with a couple of friends in April. It's been a long time since I've committed myself to any form of organized running event. For one, there's this work/kids thing, making it hard to find time to train. Second, I probably have one of the weakest immune systems on this earth. Ever since I've had kids (i.e. germ-spreading rug rats), I've fallen sick at least once every six weeks. This means that just as I start making progress with my training, I have to stop to recuperate from my ailment of the month.

But I am determined to make it work this time around, and just spent a few hours arming myself with the tools I need to train for this race.

1. Proper footwear

I've been wearing this worn-out pair of New Balance shoes for quite some time now, so I decided it was time to invest in a new pair. I walked into the New Balance store, where I was greeted by a very knowledgeable sales guy. I quickly spotted a pair that I liked, and as I was being fitted, the sales guy casually asked how long I had been using my current pair. That was when I realized that I had no idea how long I have been wearing these shoes. Has it been four years? Five? Surely there's no way I would've let more than five years slip by without investing in a new pair of running shoes. I told him that I couldn't remember, to which he commented: "Well, it must be older than two years, because we don't make this model anymore."

After I got home, I searched through my photo files to see if I can find old pictures of me wearing this outdated model. And then I came across this picture, labeled "2006 Little Rock Marathon Relay."

 Here I am in the picture, covered in finish-line foil. I would not have been able to tell what footwear I was donning, if it were not for the little bit of gray peeping out from under the foil. I zoomed in on it, and here it is, to my shock and dismay. I was wearing this exact pair.

And that's when I realized that I had bought this pair when I was rafting in Maine, back in the fall of 2004. This pair of sneakers is over 8 years old!!

No wonder my back and ankles hurt like hell after my runs.



2. Immune booster
I know a ton of folks who do not like to take medication. Me, I'm the complete opposite. Got a headache? Take ibuprofen. Got allergies? Take Claritin. Can't sleep? Take Ambien.

So naturally, I figured there would be immune boosting supplements that I can take to ward off the germs. I marched into Whole Foods and after comparing and contrasting six different types of herbal remedy, settled upon this one:

I had thought about buying an herbal formula composed of 200 mcg of "whole Reishi mushroom powder," but something about taking pure mushroom extract didn't settle well with me - Would I get sick? Would I get high? Would I get healthy but grow a third eye? (Ed. note: This sounds like a Dr. Seuss rhyme). This Wellness Formula, however, has a combination of vitamins, minerals and herbal powders; kind of like East-meets-West thing -- best of both worlds.

I am now properly armed and ready to go. Let the training begin!