Square One

Well, after 7 months, countless doctor visits, hundreds of dollars in co-pays, 12 extra pounds and 8 weeks in 1 giant boot, the doctor has cleared me to start training again.

I have to admit that when the good doctor told me I was not to do any weight bearing exercise of any kind, I thought it was the best news I'd heard in my entire adult life. I had permission to be the lazy, out of shape person I always knew I was.

I had the best of both worlds...I could legitimately say I was injured while I was training for a marathon (no one had to know I was only up to 3 miles). I became a fake athlete and talked more about running and sports injuries than I ever thought possible. Other runners treated me like one of their own. And I never had to run. It was brilliant.

All that being said, with Paris approaching I've started to feel sad about not being part of this experience the way that I thought I could have been. There's little reward in being the first one "booted" off the island.

After meeting with the team and listening to their stories of struggling to get to distances I can still only imagine, I've become inspired. You all have come so far and accomplished so much already. I now wish I knew the feeling of completing a "long run" or a race (or even 3 miles at this point). You should all be VERY proud.

So by the time the team is headed to Paris, I will be up to one slow mile on the treadmill (according to my new training schedule). It may sound crazy but I am determined to start running again. I think I'll start with a 5k though. Let's face it, 26miles is just f-ing nuts Tom.