There's probably three or four times in the past twenty-plus years I've been in good shape. I remember when we were building our house, my wife and I worked several hours every day but Sunday. We ate fast food almost every night and worked our butts off. I even got my cholesterol checked during that year and they said whatever I was doing, I should keep doing it because my levels were great. I never told them what I was eating because they always say never to eat that food.
A few years later I did a show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The chirographer worked us nearly to death. During the two-month rehearsal period I lost twenty pounds. It's no wonder--we were doing a continual cardio session for several hours each night. I've done several shows since then and never had results like that.
The most recent time I was in pretty good shape was when I participated in my first and only Ragnar race. My friend asked me if I wanted to join their team about two or three weeks before the race. I ended up running about twenty or thirty miles to prepare.
But after that, I stopped running.
There's always a goal to return, to put on my running shoes and just go for it, but then I get home after a ten-hour shift and I'm just tired. I know it's not a good excuse, but it is an excuse. This past week I've returned to running, not a lot, but some. I ran my first mile and then stopped. And I've run several miles since. So far, so good. I wonder if I'll look back on this time as one of the times I actually got into shape, or if I'll say that this was the end of me not being in shape. Time will tell.
