In late 2008, David Marethouse of Marethouse Fitness issued a call for applications for the Marethouse Fitness Challenge. The premise of the challenge is to completely change deserving members’ of the Brazos Valley lives during a twelve-week challenge. To aid the participants David and his team of trainers provide exercise instruction and nutritional support. Certain factors, such as body composition and blood pressure, were entered into a “health algorithm” and used to determine the winner of the challenge being the contenstant with the most significant health improvement. I applied in 2009 but was rejected.

He issued the same call in late 2009 and I again entered. The competition improved this year in terms of the organization and requirements. Unfortunately I was not selected this year either but I did get called in for a personal interview.

So I am left on my own to challenge myself. On February 1, 2010 the Jeff Carouth Fitness Challenge begins.

I plan on posting a “report” for each week of workouts. I realize that this will be tedious on a blog, but I think it will be essential for me to track how my perceived effort changes over time and also to help me protect myself from over training.

I’ll also post nutrition information. I do not plan to give a breakdown of absolutely everything I eat — after all, I keep all of this information in my dailyburn.com nutrition log. I will post healthy recipes I enjoy, tips or tricks I swipe from others, books, etc., and links to any helpful content I can find.

For workouts I will be following the New Rules of Lifting program for absolute lazy bastards — the author refers to people like me as beginners, I prefer to more direct language. I am also training for a half marathon in October with my sister. She will be a great motivator in this challenge. And of course I will jump on my bike and ride, ride, ride.

Historical records will be kept in the form of weekly weigh-in, measurements, and blood pressure. Since my family has a history of hypertension I am planning to purchase an in-home blood pressure monitor, but I will not have it until after I consult with my new physician on February 11.

Thus begins the challenge.