To be honest...

 I'm not even sure what qualifies me to write a running blog. To be honest, with as many exercise blogs that are out there, and as many fitness experts and personal trainers that exist on the internet, my childhood dream of becoming internet fit and famous was over before it started. I'm not in the best shape of my life. I used to be, but not now. But thats the story of everyone. Everyone has or will have their teenage metabolism almost kick in reverse at some point. It's easier to find excuses to not put that foot out the door, to not take the first steps, to not head to the gym, and to snuggle just another hour.

    I have my vices. I'm a stress eater. I like my drink. I love churros. Easily put, I enjoy life! I was working out every day. I did have a personal trainer at the gym. I was on my way to that six pack and starting my modeling/acting career again. At some point I got complacent. I got comfortable. I got lazy. The more pounds I added, the more my attitude changed. A whole bunch of could of, would of, should of's. Cue the depression. I had thought it was gone, but I realize I've been living with it for the past few years. It's somehow crawled its way back into my life one pound at a time.

   This is hard to admit this, all of it. If you know me you know that I'm always happy. I'm great at facading, putting on a fake face and pretending it doesn't bother me. That its no big deal that my clothes don't fit, or that I run a little slower than I used to, or that my legs hurt after just doing the Cha Cha Slide one time. I mean seriously! OK and while I'm putting it out there, the Adventurers Outpost family just ran the Avengers race 10k and half marathon. Well, for the first time in a long time I hurt after running. I don't know how much I really hurt physically and how much I hurt mentally. It was exhausting. For the week after the race I was asking myself do I stop running? Am I kidding myself, do I just give in? I had to think long and hard about it and had to do it on my own. 

    My answer....NO! I'm not ready to give up. After all that. After writing some of this down and reading and re-reading it over I've come to a conclusion. I AM qualified to write this. I'm not perfect and will stumble...probably quite a bit, but I'm determined. I want to be there for my wife and son, to be a great example. I want to be there for anyone who is like me. Who has someone with whom they want to be a better person for, whether it's a loved one or themselves. Hopefully through me and my fellow adventurers we can inspire, we can lead, we can give just that one reason to make a difference. Let's all cross our fingers and get ready to jump, and if you need a hand to hold let us know. And yes, this is another Adventure.

-Mark