Putting myself on the line

It is said that one pound of fat contains an extra mile of blood vessels. That means that your body had to create this blood supply to support all those Twinkies and Cheetos and milkshakes that were not really part of a healthy diet, but tasted good at the time.

After reading a recent column of mine concerning my daughter’s interest in where drinks come from, Barry Butler, sent me a video called “Donuts Don’t Grow on Trees.” It is very straight-forward as you can imagine from the title. The point is we need to eat better. All of us.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not the most health-conscious person, mostly because I hate my kitchen and I feel pressed for time on the days I work. We usually have apples, grapes, and bananas sitting around for consumption, but my son is the only one who eats the apples and he eats them all in a matter of days. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, he is onto something because he rarely goes except for vaccinations.

Every now and then, I get on a kick to get “healthy.” I declare, “This week is yogurt week!” I buy 10 cartons of yogurt and eat 3 then wait a week before I start skeptically checking the dates on the sides. I then question why I bought so many because who can eat that much yogurt? I like yogurt, but come on!

The next week I will buy 8 salad ingredients and have one incredible salad and waste a ton of vegetables that I never take the time to mix again.

This is my food cycle. The rest is filled with meats, potatoes, and various starches; thus the fat and miles of extra circulation. My heart is probably not my best friend right now.

After having moped around sufficiently about my impending age which I can do nothing to postpone, I’ve decided it is time to act, so I’m coming out in a big way.

My coworker, Reese, was on the hospital’s website when she forcibly pulled me aside and said, “Look! You need to sign up for this with me! There are others doing it too.”

It was a 10K/5K run (walk optional) that will be happening in November.

I had lots of questions like, “How long is a 5K? Is this a loop around the hospital or on a designated map? Will we encounter bears?”

A 5K is 3.1 miles. Reese is doing the 10K. That’s fine with me because I’m not shooting for the moon; I just want my feet to touch the pavement.

What’s funny is that I had a pedometer at work during the busy season last year and I walked about 5 miles during one shift. I don’t know why I’m being such a baby about the 10K. It isn’t like I have to give medications every 15 feet.

Now that I’m committing to this goal, I’ve decided to up the ante and go on another trip to Jacksonville on a scavenger hunt marathon in October with my sisters-in-law. I must be crazy.

The thing is, if I tell people I’m going to be there, I have to show up or pay someone to hit me in the shins with a baseball bat before the events and that doesn’t sound fun at all, so I guess I will go.

Now that this is out there for the world to see, does anyone have size 11 women’s running shoes I could borrow?