FROM A MAY 31ST, 2007 WEBLOG POST

Here's the short story. I'll turn 50 in about 3 months. I've neglected my health for nearly a decade and it shows, in more ways than I can probably even enumerate.

Two things have happened recently that motivate me to change my habits.

• My blood-pressure has gotten high enough that it caused a T.I.A. last Autumn. For a very frightening half-hour or so, I was unable to recognize faces -- including my own face staring blankly back at me from the bathroom mirror. There seems to be no permanent damage as a result, but my blood-pressure (though improved) has remained unacceptably high despite the maximum daily dosage of a very good medication.

• I had learned to manage periodic lower back problems over the course of a couple decades, to the point where the more debilitating episodes happened less frequently and were less severe. Over the past month, I've had three killer back attacks which brought me intense, constant pain and interfered seriously with daily activities and special plans. I simply can't live with this kind of misery every couple of weeks.

So, today (so far) I've eaten sensibly, and I just got back from a short walk (about 3/4ths of a mile in a pleasant afternoon drizzle).

I'll use this Weblog to document my personal fitness journey, my habits, my progress, my frustrations and victories - minor or major. I'm keeping this mostly for my own benefit and convenience, but I'm also intrigued by the idea of putting it all out there in public view. Perhaps this will be an additional source of motivation and support.

THE PODCAST

From time-to-time, I plan to Podcast about this experience. At least initially, I intend to keep it pretty raw, with no fancy "imaging" or extensive editing. I'll just grab my trusty old iRiver, turn it on, and load up the file when I'm done.

ROUGH, RUGGED AND REAL

###