Living in the Limelight

They say everyone has their fifteen minutes of fame. This may be mine. I think I mentioned being selected as a Finalist in the Weight Watchers Inspiring Stories of the Year contest last year. I wasn't a Grand Prize winner, so no trip to New York. But some fame has come my way nonetheless. In an effort to drum up first of the year business Weight Watcher's PR firm sends out briefings to media outlets regarding local people who have had success. As a finalist in their contest my story was pushed towards the Colorado media. I have had requests for a newspaper interview, 2 radio interviews, and 3 TV interviews in the past couple of weeks. I was caught a little off-guard by this, and am not a limelight kind of guy, but did agree to do all but one of the radio interviews. I've now done all but one of the TV interviews, and they haven't been as bad as I thought they would -- meaning I wasn't uncomfortable doing them, which I thought I would be. I suppose the interviewers are good at helping you not feel that way. I especially enjoyed doing the newspaper interview. It was a very relaxed conversation at a coffee shop one evening. The longer duration of this interview helped me realize all that has gone into this over the past almost four years now.

My spring and summer racing plans are starting to shape up. I've decided on the Colorado Marathon on 3 May, which runs down a beautiful course in the Poudre Canyon and ends in downtown Fort Collins. I've also decided to do a triathlon, aiming for the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon on 20 June. It's an olympic distance tri, 1.5K swim, 30 M bike, and 10K run. I've got to learn how to swim that far -- it will be the hardest part. If I can get out of the lake I'm home free. I'll pick up some shorter races along the way, the Horsetooth Half Marathon in April for sure, the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day, and probably at least one 5K around Saint Patrick's Day. I'm probably nuts, but know I will enjoy every bit of it, the races and the training.

My weight has crept up a bit, but is still low enough that Weight Watchers meetings are still free. I've weighed in under my Lifetime weight for 9 straight months now. It seems almost silly that I once was more worried about maintaining my loss than losing in the first place. It's all in the mindset, I think. If you think you can go back to eating like you used to, you'll start weighing like you used to. In other words, nothing changes - there is no finish line. And I'm OK with that.

Lastly, a good quote I came across late last year:

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. -- Benjamin Franklin

----------------
Now playing: Rush - Limelight
via FoxyTunes