Run the Chargers 5K with Bolts From The Blue

By now, a fair amount of you readers have met me in person. Whether it be at a Chargers game, at a bar to watch a Chargers game, at a Padres game, whatever. If anyone asked you to describe what I look like afterwards, it was probably something like "Short and chubby with hipster glasses and a goatee" and that would be quite accurate....although I also have a sterling smile and a wonderful personality, but that's besides the point.

The point is that I'm trying to change the "chubby" part of that description, and maybe one day the goatee will go with it. On my birthday, which was now more than a month ago, I gave up smoking (and have been mostly successful!) and started running through Balboa Park several times a week.

When creanium informed me that my running had inspired him to start training (again) to run the Carlsbad 5k (again), I thought that was the perfect goal to have and signed up myself. I now have a little less than 7 weeks to get my body (and lungs) into good enough shape to run that thing without dying. This was about when I decided it might be a good idea to cut out unhealthy food (I might literally murder somebody for a cheeseburger right now) and alcohol (sober since Sunday!).

Right around the time we signed up for this, the Chargers and Kaiser Permanente teamed up with Marcus McNeill's Mack's Miracles charity and decided to put on a 5k of their own. It's happening on Saturday, July 23rd at 7:30am (ugh). Besides the fact that it'll be a great motivator to get/stay in shape if you need that type of thing (I do), the race goes from Chargers Park and ends on the field at Qualcomm Stadium. How cool is that?

creanium and I are planning on registering and running in this 5k as well, and I encourage you to do the same. I'll be posting on the BFTB Twitter account where we are pre-race and post-race, if you'd like to meet up and run with us. If you would like to be a part of the event and donate to charity without running (for whatever reason), feel free to walk your way through 3.1 miles and end up at an on-field gathering afterward.

Registration for the Chargers 5k is not yet open. However, you can get information about the race and get e-mailed when registration opens by visiting the website. I'm sure much of the same information will eventually be coming out through the official Chargers 5k twitter as well.