Hello All

[Maestro]

Hey all, this is Chris (Maestro) in Chicago...

 

I found this site through a roundabout way.  I made a decision this spring to start running, and had been building up the miles pretty quickly as the weather (finally) warmed up in this city.  Unfortunately that resulted in an IT band injury, which forced me to really search for ways to make myself a healthier runner and in looking for resources, a running website I have found very helpful (strengthrunning.com) linked to the fitness  guide on nerdfitness. Since then reading the forums and Steve's blog has been immensely helpful, so it was time to join up for good.  

 

Some background.  I'm a medical resident, and throughout college and med school, I went from being a pretty decent athlete for a skinny kid, to really out of shape by the time I graduated.  For reasons even I'm not sure about, when I moved to Chicago two years ago I started running, something I never enjoyed much, but hadn't been really serious about it.  Still, over time I found that the more I made the effort to get out and do it, the better I felt (physically and otherwise). This never-ending winter was torture because I'm a poor cold-weather runner, and being unable to just go out and do a few miles during march and April made me really appreciate how much better I feel when I'm actually able to exercise like I want.  I decided to get serious, and made the commitment to run the Detroit Marathon in October.  Still, as stated above, the IT band injury was probably a blessing in disguise.  It allowed me to focus on my entire level of fitness, rather than just the endurance. I said above, I've always been a skinny individual, but I'd developed a gut on top of that during the 8 years of books and ass kissing that goes with being in medicine. Just the past couple months, though I've seen good results and I'm easily in the best shape I've been in since high school.  I've lost some fat around the belly, and really built up my arms and shoulders (I've been working the core a lot, but the results aren't as obvious to see on the surface).  

 

...so yeah, I figured I'd jump in. 

 

 

- Chris (indie music snob and passionate follower of Major League Soccer)