Intro

First off, this is my 1st time writing a blog so I am going to try to introduce myself.

My name is Terry Sentinella.  I was born in Anchorage Alaska a few months after the big earthquake maybe that explains why I have an aversion to and not afraid of trying stuff that most people consider dangerous, in fact I seek the hardest toughest races to tackle.  I am the youngest of 4 boys one of which is my fraternal twin.  I was the smallest and weakest of all four, so as you guessed it I was picked on the most.  I lived in Valdez Alaska from 6th grade through 11th grade.

Growing up in Alaska was a blast there was always an adventure to be had right outside of my home.  The summers were long and always adventuresome.  As a teenager I often took my fathers 44 mag (just in case a spooked a bear) and climbed one of the mountains behind our home, hiked up mineral creek, of floated down the Robe River in search of some new adventure.  There was never a shortage of places to explore in Valdez.  In the winter cross country skiing, snow mobileing, sledding, hookie bobbing behind the school bus were always fun options for excitement.  With the later we had to be careful not to get caught or we would be suspended from school.  The old crotchedety bus drivers were never pleased by this activity.

I got married to my wonderful wife Delores Feyerabend when we were 22, gulp, 25 years ago.  We proceeded to have 3 children, 2 boys and a girl.  While they were young I spent all my efforts to assure they had everything like most young parents.  Somewhere in my mid 30′s I started to morf from this your skinny fit guy to a chubby old man, how and why does this happen?  When I turned 35 I had a life altering doctors appointment.  The Doc told me my cholesterol was over 400 my triglycerides were high, I was fat, and I was out of shape.  This seemed to happen overnight.  So as a lot of people do I started to run to combat all of these issues.  Starting running was the hardest thing I have ever done (harder than Badwater).  The side aches, knee pains, muscle pains, back pains, the list go on and on.  I didn’t care I was on a mission to regain my youth.  While running I thought a lot about my father who died when I was 27 of Pancreatic Cancer, how he loved to run, but could never get past a 10 mile run because of his flat feet and gout.  When I was in my teens I remember my dad telling me his dream was to run the New York City Marathon.  Well he never got the chance to fulfill that dream.  If I kept on the same path I too would never be able to fulfill any of my dreams.  So 12/1/1999 I made a goal to get into shape, lose weight, and quit the 1 1/2 pack a day cigarette habit I had (12/28/1999 I quit smoking).  Although this goal was tough it was the start of a new life for me.   Keeping my father’s dreams constantly on my mind allowed me to push through all the pain I was in running so I could fulfill my own, make sense??

So for all you naysayers that think I am any different than you, think twice.  I was once in your shoes, I was fighting the battle of the bulge, I was fighting a cigarette habit, I too had health problems.  You will never accomplish anything if you don’t try.  The 1st step is always the hardest, the subsequent steps will probably be painful as well, but with perseverance you can do anything.  You have to be the one that makes the change no one else will do it for you.