“Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes,” Thoreau famously said in his book "Walden." Now, I didn’t want to become a Transcendentalist, I was just looking for motivation in my quest to become a runner.

I also wanted to be true to my own inner geek. As a former band nerd (I was a Drum Major!) and lapsed comic book geek, I knew what it was like to have an all-consuming niche that opened the doors to a community of passionate and like-minded folks.

This time, though, I wanted a hobby that would help me lose some weight in the process. If running fit the bill it would be a win-win, right? FULL POST