It’s amazing how something so well tuned can get so un-wound in a short time. Okay, maybe ’so well tuned’ is over shooting it a bit, but it was only a little over a year ago that I was running six miles a day easily. Now I’m lucky to finish a couple miles a week.

Last summer, I got this watch that tracks workouts, splits and time/dates. Confession time: My last run was on September 27th. The records on my watch confirmed it …not good. On a positive note, it motivated me to get back out there. This week I logged around 7 or 8 miles. Not exactly bragging rights, but not bad for my first week back.

I’m also setting a new running/health goal for myself. I complain to my wife every once in a while about not liking the way I look, but I do it to myself. I like to eat good food — pizza, ribs, burgers, pasta… So switching my diet to what amounts to tofu-and-lettuce has been a tough concept for me to wrap my head around. In light of that, I’ve decided that the only real solution for me is to become an extremely focused runner, the type that goes out running obsessively every day and needs to consume at least 5,000+ calories just to replenish himself.

It’s not likely, but that’s my twisted way of rationalizing a poor diet.

So, back to my goal: I’m training to run a a half-marathon this Spring (13.1 mi). Then, I’m hoping to run a full marathon next fall (26.2 mi). I was almost there once. I think I can get there again.