The beginning

I woke up at 5 a.m. eager to get going. I walked-ran for 35 minutes -- including 20 minutes of running in two, 10-minute stretches. I want to do this right, and that means I need to go slow and steady at first. I will try to increase my time running by about 10% each week. I only know one way to do this -- and the first step is to slowly build my base. I do have a bit of tenderness in my left Achilles tendon, but I am icing it frequently.

The other part of this first phase is to moderate my diet and be sensible. I weigh 193 pounds, and I realistically probably need to lose 30. But I think that will come with regular running (and biking or walking on days I don't run), plus eating sensibly.

I am psyched. I am trying to follow the model that Dr. George Sheehan, my running hero, set. He was a strong high school-college runner, then had 20-some years of inactivity and overwork and stress. He realized that running was always with him, and at age 45, as he said, he stepped off the train and started to run. He started with about a mile very slowly. I am not too far away from that story, although I have done some running through the years. About 12 years ago, I ran a 3:30 marathon and did some pretty good 5Ks (19-minute range).

My other motivation is that I want to coach high school runners. I recently changed careers from newspaperman to teacher, and I love working with kids. I think I have some wisdom to impart to them as a cross country/track coach -- that would complete my career change. But I do need to show I can still run.