What was I thinking?

OK. This is a disturbing way to celebrate a birthday.

I woke up about 6 a.m. and ran about as hard as I could for about five minutes (that would be about 8 mph on the treadmill). I chose today as my first day of training for my first 5K since high school.

Celebrating my recent weight loss and longtime promise to my cross country-running daughter for a father-daughter 5K, today is my start to make good on that promise. Ashley has graciously picked the venue -- the D.C. 5K Turkey Trot, just outside of our nation's Capitol on Thanksgiving. I even hired a Purdue student personal trainer (a former soccer player turned marathon runner) to work with me once a week. Yeah, it's that serious.

Yes, I know this is a terrible idea (and this morning felt like just that) but here I am. So it's Turkey Trot or Bust (which one remains in serious doubt about now) but there's no turning back. So maybe a down payment on an AFLAC insurance policy may be a good present.

Thank you all for the kind birthday wishes. Prayers would be nice about now, too.