Hello world.

This post is effectively word diarrhea. It’s an attempt to give a brief description of what got to me to where I am now. You don’t have to read it unless you are curious how I got into running and to see if there’s any overlap with your own experiences. The goal of this site is to share what I’ve learned and hopefully inspire people like you to get into running. I have no running products to sell and no endorsements. If I can inspire one person to get out there and experience the world through running I can consider this site to be a success.

- JW

Early in life I realized I have an addictive personality type.

This realization came early enough for me to not become a chain-smoking junkie (let’s hope that never happens) but not before I got addicted to snacking and eating like a complete asshat (there will be swearing here) to the point where it made me fat and wildly unhealthy.  The vicious cycle of feeling bad about being overweight and then eating crap because it made me feel good in the moment was a compulsion that took considerable time, effort, and focus to kick. I will likely write about it at some point.

After reversing course by losing over 70lbs and feeling better about my situation, I looked for a way to redirect my addictive personality towards something less destructive; perhaps even healthy.

I started with biking and for about a month I cycled around San Francisco. It was enjoyable. I got into running because I wanted to do something on my off days.

Years prior to my fresh attempt I tried the Couch to 5k (C25K) training program. I gave up before I completed it and used the winter weather in Boston as an excuse to stop.

This time around, I decided to simply go down to Ocean Beach and run along the shoreline where the sand was damp and compacted. I started slow, but over the course of a few weeks managed to get up to 2 miles alternating between running and walking.

After building up endurance on the beach, I moved off the sand and onto the sidewalk and running paths. I found that the transition to a more solid running surface made running a bit farther much easier. I booted up the C25K program and skipped a much later week in the program than I had ever reached years ago.

I blasted through 1.5 weeks of the program’s content without any rest days (not advisable — you could hurt yourself) and then on March 15th (exactly a month after I began putzing around) I just said, “to hell with it, I’m just going to keeping running until I hit 5K.”

And I did. It wasn’t glamorous. I actually exceeded 5k (ended up doing 3.99 miles) and had the wholly uninspiring 10:16 min / mile average.

But I felt like I was king of the world.

And then I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

I signed up for the Oakland Running Festival 5k [strava] occurring just 5 days after I ran my first 5k. I got my pace to 9:08 min / mile average because of how invigorating it was to be running surrounded by others with spectators cheering us onward.

I ended up doing two 5k races in two weeks. I went to the Dolphin South End Runner’s Easter Roller Coaster 5k [strava] and experienced running a hilly course for the first time. I joined the club and felt like I had stumbled upon one of San Francisco’s hidden gems.

A week after my second-ever 5k, I ran my first-ever 10k (DSE’s Golden Gate Park race [strava]) and realized I truly had the running bug.

Since then I’ve run one other race (Ring Around the Neck 5 miler in Marblehead [strava]) and am preparing for Bay to Breakers. Further off in the distance is the SF Half Marathon (!!).

See you out there.