Several weeks ago, I decided I would run Norman's Brookhaven 5K event on Sept. 1, which also happens to be opening weekend for the 2007 Oklahoma Sooners football team.

Where to start. I mean, I'm basically a couch potato pig, really more of a computer potato pig. However, as a teenager and a young man, I was actually surprisingly athletic.

Not talented. I mean "athletic," meaning I could, say, play full-court basketball for like three hours straight without too much of a collapse.

Not that anybody would want me on their team, but alas.

So, according to some preliminary research, it seems a good, no, make that a great pair of shoes was where an aspiring runner should start.

Find out what style of runner you are. Learn a little bit about your feet.

With the help of a running-store directory, I located a specialty store here in Norman. It's called OK Runner, and it turns out they sponsor the Brookhaven Run.

Gus Thompson, who I think is the owner of this li'l store, watched me walk and noted quickly that I was an over-pronator It essentially means that I have flat feet but that, when I walk or run, there is a certain beating I give them that causes conventional running shoes to do more harm than good.

In the past, I told him, I would start a running program and quit because of pain. Could be the shoes, he said.

I noted my loyalty to New Balance, and he found me a pair that fit perfectly. Now, I did try on another brand, but I'm here to tell you that NB and my feet were made for each other.

One of the things that has encouraged me so far in this process, which has only gone on for a month now, mind you, is that -- Gus told me -- starting in late May to train for a Sept. 1 5K, when one is a couch potato, is plenty of time. In fact, he said that I would be surprised.

I would beat some people in the Brookhaven event.

The thrill of the competition, even at an amateur level, would get me hooked on the sport.

Well, I know I need to lose about 40 pounds, so anything that makes this process fun is cool with me. Besides, I'm 36, and really I'd like something that keeps me on top of my game both physically and mentally, and I think people who don't run don't understand just how mentally pleasing the sport is.

Like I'm a pro.

Nope, I'm just a tubby beginner. But there I was with my New Balance shoes, ready to hit Norman's roads, or at least my treadmill should it be raining. My thought was that if I could be running 3 miles by the first of August, man, I'd have a whole month to prepare for the Brookhaven event.

My goal is to be able to run the entire race without stopping once to catch my breath or to rest. My goal is to not embarrass myself.

So, I had heard about this program from CoolRunning.com, this couch-to-5K program that takes fatsoes like me and turns them into runners in X number of weeks.

I followed their program religiously for about three weeks, but I started to realize by listening to my body that I could actually do a bit more than this program. One of the things I am trying to become good at is listening to my body. I don't want to do too much, but I want to challenge myself.

It's a balance.

Where I'm super lucky is that I live about 1.25 miles from the University of Oklahoma campus, which means I have a beautiful landscape to run through. Not exactly a trail, but it's an area of Norman that's as beautiful as any part of any place you could imagine.

Long story short, I worked my way up to this 2-mile route from my house to Dale Hall and back. Got to where I could do this with ease six days a week with only one or two stops, and those were basically to cross the street properly, without getting myself killed.

Given that we've had 17 days straight of rain here in central Oklahoma and given that it wasn't raining this morning, I decided to try out this 3-mile route I had mapped out. Actually, it's a 3.2-mile route, and for the purpose of training for this 5K, it's basically how long my run on Sept. 1 will be.

It takes me from my house to campus through fraternity and sorority row and all the way back up to Chautauqua to the homestead.

I nailed it and only managed three or four "walk breaks," again, primarily to dodge traffic. So, suffice to say, that as of June 30, I'm feeling great about my progress toward Sept. 1.

My plan is to spend weekday mornings trying to get better at the 2-mile run and weekend days nailing the 3-mile run, which I'll do again tomorrow barring a monsoon.

It's a process that even in its early stages is as satisfying mentally as it is physically, and even if I'm not 170 pounds yet, which I won't be for a long while, I know at least that I'm enjoying the journey as much as I think I will the result.