This is my first ever blog entry, making it a very exciting time for me. I am composing a message that could be seen by at least, oh, 7 or 8 people worldwide! As I nervously stroke the keys, I'm reminded of an episode of "Pigs in Space" from the Muppet Show. Mainly because the mirror still isn't particularly kind, and I could really go for some bacon right about now.

For those of you who don't know the story of "The Fat Guy Goes To Rome", here's a brief synopsis . . .

April 10: Lab work done at local hospital
April 20 (10:30 AM): Doctor appointment - lab results show that I am actually dead, I just don't know it. Fasting blood sugar is 16, blood pressure, cholesterol and trigliceride counts are high enough to make a pharmaceutical executive finally put that down payment on a beach house in Maui.
April 20 (11:00AM): Decide to save my life insurance company several hundred thousand dollars by getting healthy.
April 20 (Noon): First of many, many tasteless and unappealing meals.
April 24: Voluntary weigh-in at hospital - 265lbs. I know I've already lost the 5 lbs of water that comes first, so let's just say the starting point was around the 270 mark.

Sometime after this my friend Terry invites me on a little run. I inform him that I only run when being chased by large carnivores, but he is rather persistent. He says it's a marathon. I laugh. He doesn't. He's serious. Long story short, it's a marathon in Rome (Italy? Yes. Really? Yes) with Team Diabetes Canada. Simply raise $6100 to fund research, and they'll fly you to Rome, put you up for a few nights and let you beat the crap out of your body for fun. Naturally I agree.

May 20ish (I can't remember the exact date - brain obviously starved of oxygen) Go for first run. Can stride effortlessly from one streetlight to another. Then walk home. Must be the shoes. Feet hurt. Nipples chafed.

May 29: First consultation with dietician. She says I can eat grass and cardboard only - or so it seems. But the scale says 249lbs, so confidence is high. My diet is on track.

Cut to TODAY, June 25th. Race day is March 18 2007, and I am getting the notion that I may actually be ready by then. This morning, for the second consecutive time, I ran continuously for 7 kilometers! It took me around 52 minutes and I didn't cough up a lung. I'm even starting to understand the ridiculous notion of the "runner's high" which I always thought had something to do with the old left-handed lettuce.

Tomorrow I go back to the hospital for lab work again, see the dietician and weigh in. I'm in the midst of fasting for the blood sugar test. I'm actually glad - cardboard gives me heartburn.