This week’s Take It and Run Thursday theme over at Runners' Lounge is “Look Back, Look Ahead.” With this theme in mind, I figured now would be a good time to recap the first part of 2008, and look ahead to what’s to come.

For those of you that don’t know, I started running in September of last year, when my wife and I started the Couch-to-5K running program. At the end of that program, I raced my first 5K, the Arthritis Foundation's Jingle Bell Run. My time was 31:15. It was hard, but I had a lot of fun and couldn't wait to do another race.

My second race came in February of this year--the Cowtown 5K, that is run as part of the Cowtown Marathon. The night before the expo, we went to see Spirit of the Marathon. If it wasn't already obvious that I had caught the running bug, it became crystal clear that night.

Since finishing up my original training program, I've continued with one program or another pretty much non-stop. I've used a few Hal Higdon programs, and I've used the Smart Coach running program generator from Runner's World. I've learned that while I generally prefer the structure of being on a running program, every once in a while, a week or two of unstructured running feels great!

Since the Cowtown 5K, I've raced in 5 more 5Ks, and brought my PR down to 25:12 in my most recent race, the Run For Dad 5K. Along the way, I also received my first age group award, placing 2nd in the 35-39 age group at the Bunny Boogie 5K, and setting what was at that time a new PR of 27:45 (one month after setting a PR of 28:45 at the Cowtown 5K).

I've had my first 30 mile week, as well as my first 100 mile month. I've also had to deal with my first real running injury, which made me realize just how important running has become to me. I also signed up for my first half marathon—The Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Half Marathon on November 16th.

I am now 4 days into the first week of my half marathon training, and that will be the focus for most of the rest of the year. The plan is to do the half, and then hopefully register for my 2nd half (any suggestions), and start looking for a marathon in 2009.

Oh, and I can’t forget that with the help of running I lost 50 lbs. between mid-November 2007, and the end of April 2008. I now weigh what I did when I graduated from high school some 18 years ago, and am in the best shape of my life.

Best of all, it seems that my wife, Julie, has also caught the running bug!