Back to the Gym says the Fattie

I'm sitting here listening to what ultimately is my Favorite Iron Maiden album mostly by virtue of nostalgia as it was the first I ever owned and the one I listed to the most, No Prayer for the Dying.

I just got back from my first trip to the gym this year which will be the first of many.  I'm still not close to the 300 plus pound buffoon that I was a couple of years ago but I am also not close to where I was when I got married less than 2 years ago.  

So, it is once again time to buckle down and work towards being where I want to be.

For the most part, like previously, I'm just going to be doing cardio - 99% on the elliptical.  I don't want to be slim and muscular, I just want to lose weight and keep it off.   I want to be healthier for my family so that I can enjoy watching my kids grow old.  I mean, shit, I'm going to be close to retirement by the time my boy graduates high school for crying out loud.


With that in mind I want to be able to get myself to the point where I can do half a marathon on the elliptical before the year is over with the ultimate goal being the ability to do a marathon on the elliptical in the distant future.   DISTANT, as in I'm not even quantifying how far away it is under current circumstances.
I'm going to use the first couple of weeks to ease myself back into it and as such today I decided that I was only going to go for 30 minutes and I did 2.5 miles give or take.  I'm going to work myself back up to doing 45 minutes to an hour consistently.

From there I'll work on getting my lungs better so that I can endure a couple of longer workouts from time to time.

Since a 5k is just a little over 3 miles I know that I'll be able to easily do this before February is over.

My major goal for Feb is to be able to do a full hour without killing myself.
After that I'll figure out how to work towards doing 10k (or 6.2 miles).


What is everyone else doing this year to get into shape or stay in shape?