Welcome!

So, I am taking the recommendation of @Tridiesel to start a blog.  First off let me apologize for two things. 1) I suck at writing and most of these may be boring or not very "bloggish"  2) I'm not an English major, so expect grammar mistakes.  Lol.  Ok.  I was thinking of a good topic for my first blog and came up with the idea of basically just introducing myself.  I'm the one they call Beal.  The main contributing factor to who I am today is a result of one day, August 5th 2007.  I was a baseball pitcher all my life and was fortunate to have an opportunity to play in college.  I suffered a career ending shoulder injury at the end of my junior year and spent the next few years feeling the effects both mentally and physically.  Graduating college and being in business led to a change in lifestyle, transforming from a college athlete to a spending everyday sitting at a desk.  As the years went by, my weight continued to balloon.  I never was really happy with myself and dealt with it by continuing to eat more and more.  I found comfort in avoiding mirrors, pictures, and a social life.  In letting myself go, my weight ballooned to 330.  That brings us to 8/5/2007.  August 5th just happens to be my birthday and that year I was attending my now brother in laws bachelor party.  We were celebrating on a large lake and had access to jet skis.  I had never been on a jet ski before and was excited to give it a try.  The adrenaline rush was intoxicating as we raced around the lake.  It started with jumping small waves then bigger ones.  Then without warning I flipped mine.  I wasn't injured so I started to swim after the jet ski, which had stalled.  As I swam and swam, the waves continued to push the jet ski further and further away.  Within minutes I tired myself out and began to drown.  By the grace of God, I was pulled out of the water just as I was going under for good.  I will never forget that moment.  Being so out of shape that I couldn't even save myself was the wake up call that I needed.
     Shortly after that day.  I joined a Biggest Loser Contest at work.  I still remember my first trip to the gym.  5 minutes on the stairclimber.  Over the next 4 months I lost a total of 55 pounds and finished 2nd in the contest.  I realized that an active and healthy lifestyle is what I wanted, not comfort gained from pizza and beer.  I've continued to evolve over the past 3 years losing a total of 130 pounds and coming within 10 pounds of my college weight.  Durning my journey I have become addicted to cycling and most recently infatuated with long distance running.  In 2009, which was my first year of cycling.  I road a total of 4,883 miles and completed my first century ride.  This year I competed in my first duathlon, road 150 miles in one day, and completed my first half marathon.  I had so much for I did another one 4 weeks later PR'ing my time by 14 minutes to break the 2 hour barrier at 1:55.
     There is a lot more to this story that what is written here, but I have to save something to write about in the future...right?  Thank you for reading and come back.  I have big plans for the future including my first triathlon and full marathon in 2011.  So, subscribe to my blog, follow @Beal88, and become a member of the TEAM BEAL nation of fans.  Thanks again for reading and have a great day.

BEAL