My journey to improved fitness and healthy living started almost two years ago; several things occurred in my life that pushed me in that direction.

I am in the Air Force Reserve, and participating in the Reserves requires several commitments, one of which is physical fitness. We are required to be fit as we may be deployed at short notice anywhere in the world to support National Security objectives (lately the Reserves have been tasked with more responsibilities as the Active Duty has had manning cuts). For years our annual fitness test has not been that strenuous, until the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) decided to use the same fitness standard as our Active Duty counterparts. This led a high number of failures on our annual fitness test. Our superiors implemented programs to “encourage” us to meet the new requirements. I won’t go into the nitty-gritty details unless you care to know, especially now that I think the new program isn’t really that challenging anymore.

Anyway, back to the story. One of the things we did after our miserable failure as a group was to perform Physical Training (PT) every Saturday morning during our Unit Training Activity (UTA). One of my younger troops showed up for PT in his Vibram Five Fingers (VFFs). Given the fact that he had scored 100% on his last fitness test, he was appointed our Physical Training Leader (PTL). Even though he received several derogatory comments about his footwear, he proceeded to explain the benefits of running with VFFs. This includes learning to run without heel-striking, thus lessening the impact on your joints.

This information piqued my curiosity to say the least. I proceeded to purchase a pair of VFFs and started wearing them more and more every day, until I was wearing them at work. For several months I walked and started hiking with my VFFs. It was about this time that my wife had to go to the hospital. While there I noticed so many unhealthy (imagine that), overweight people. I read somewhere that only 97% of people in hospitals are there due to poor lifestyle choices. It was then that I also joined the first Biggest Loser contest, and weighed in at 216 pounds.

In order to lose weight I started learning about eating healthier, and exercising. I learned about a book titled “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougal. After I started reading that, I decided to start running. Over the years I have attempted to run, but always had problems with my knees and shin splints. What I learned in the book about heel striking reinforced what my young Airman told me. My first run was only ½ mile, and I thought I was going to die. The next day I went ahead and ran ¾ mile, and repeated that several times. Eventually I was running 1-1 ½ miles every other day. When I finally made it to two miles, I was elated. Most of these runs were barefoot.

On January 1st, 2012, I stopped smoking because it was interfering with my running. My longest run to date has been over 13 miles on the trail at Camp Croft State Park, SC. I also ran 10 miles barefoot on the beach. My first race was the Santa Run in downtown Greenville last December, barefoot, five miles. My second race was a strenuous 12k trail race at Paris Mountain State Park.

I went from almost 280 total cholesterol points (good and bad) down to 180 without medication, and from 216 pounds this time last year to 186 pounds this week. My resting heart rate has dropped from around 70-80 BPM to less than 50BPM, and my blood pressure from around 130/80 to 110/60. This journey started at the ripe old age of 46. I plan on running my first marathon in the near future.
I have significantly reduced meat in my diet, eating significantly more whole foods to include lots of veggies and less dairy. I’m even toying with the idea of going vegan.

I never was a runner, even though I tried several times over the last three decades. It was always shin splints, knee problems, or some other malady. So I finally figured out this nonsense due to a subordinate in the US Air Force telling me about this weird running thing.

A year after my first run:

- I ran ten times as many miles twelve months after I started running (from 1/2 mile to 5 miles)
- in my last two weeks of the initial twelve month embarkation of my journey, I ran 57 miles on MOUNTAIN TRAILS (not some sidewalk)
- heart rate and blood pressure dropped significantly without meds (resting heart rate 49 BPM)