OT- Boasting just a bit about getting the act together

This isn't going to rival Steve's fine report but I needed to boast a
wee bit to somebody and ROFF it is.

Beginning in 1992 when I started traveling as a consultant I began
chain smoking and eating like someone escaping a famine and entering a
McDonalds for the first time. At the same time I quit even the basic
activities I was doing like playing softball and taking long strolls/
hikes. By the time I turned 50 in 2008 I was over the 320 lb mark and
last year when I fished with Mr. Fortenberry in Michigan I was
carrying around 338 lbs. Even with a couple of hospital admissions for
a misfiring heart and the onset of Diabetes I would often jest my last
words were going to be "one more donut/cigarette isn't going to kill
me"

The last few years I had been mostly confined to roadside fishing.
Last May I couldn't make one of the easier hikes a mile or so in to a
brookie stream in the Smokys without stopping to catch my breath every
100 yards or so. In June, while fishing with Mr. Fortenberry on the
Jordan River, I proceeded to do Mr. Reid proud in quicksand laced
waters with a depth of 2'. On the way home from my cut short trip to
Michigan, I knew something had to change.

Last July 7th I consulted a physician, dietician, and trainer and
started a slow process to fitness. This morning I weighed in at 230
lbs and ran (slowly jogged is more like it) the Indianapolis Half
Marathon. I didn't set any records and won't be invited to Boston
Marathon anytime soon but I finished the darn thing. While I can't
confess to being smoke free, a pack now lasts me weeks and not hours.
In the morning I am heading out for Fontana Lake and catching the
ferry to the Hazel Creek trail for a three day backpacking excursion
to its headwaters. Provided I don't become bear poop, I will post some
kind of a report when I return next weekend. Nothing as nice as
Steve's but a report that won't involve much roadside fishing except
for a planned head hunting trip for bigger browns in the Little River
on the way home from NC.

Thanks for reading