Making Weight

Most mornings I start my day by stepping on the bathroom scale, most mornings there is no great surprise but this morning, this morning I saw the dial stop short of mark that I've not seen in over thirty years, one hundred forty nine pounds.

The last time I can remember being this weight I was living in Walkersville Md, in a farmhouse with my good friend Jim Draper and his newly wedded wife. I had come back to Maryland to attend grad school at Mount Saint Mary's, the plan being to rent this farmhouse, a bachelor pad, with Jim and my other close friend Mike McGinley. Just prior to coming back to Maryland I received a call from Mike,

“Hey O, you still coming to Maryland? I've been transferred to Florida”. That put a small kink in the works but plans were set, Jim and I would be sharing the farmhouse.

One week before heading to Maryland the phone rings, it's Jim, “Hey O, you still coming to Maryland?. I'm getting married”. With those last three words the vision of a wild, party burdened farmhouse vaporized into thin air. “Yea Jim, I'm still coming”

My imagined “Wild Life” in the bachelor pad changed into a more civilized routine part of which was running the back roads of Walkersville. I found I really enjoyed my runs and as I got into it more miles were added and I slowly got lighter and lighter.

Getting dressed one morning I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and didn't like what I saw, I was skinny! A quick run to the bathroom scale quickly confirmed what I saw, I was now one hundred and forty five pounds, way to light for a guy playing Rugby.

I resolved that I would gain back at least ten pounds quickly and set forth by adding copious amounts of beer and ice cream to my existing diet. It worked and within six weeks I was back to a comfortable one hundred fifty five pounds.

How ironic that I had planned on getting down to one hundred and fifty pounds to run this years JFK Fifty Mile Ultra. I've made weight, but certainly not in the fashion I would ever had expected.

Later....... Mike