Tom's Over 40 Under 16 minute 5K

I am a elementary school physical education teacher. I focus my energy on teaching kids to enjoying being active though lifetime activities. I am father of two boys, William (8) and Curran (5), and husband of over 10 years to my wife Susanna. 

My goal is to run a sub 16:00 5k. This goal is important because I want to prove to myself that I can still do it at age 40. This goal is also important to me because I have run into some health issues over the past several months. Unfortunately, I don’t have any answers as to what is wrong with me, even though this illness has hospitalized me twice in the past 6 months.  I think my goal is attainable, but I also think it’s going to be very challenging. I feel confident that I can run fast enough to accomplish the desired time, but I’m not sure that I can get in the proper training to run fast enough. I can’t physically train the way I need to unless I figure out what is wrong with me first.  The toughest part about committing to this goal is figuring out what illness or illnesses that I have, and then correcting it.  At this point, I don’t have any answers and I don’t know how long it will be until I get some concrete answers. I will not be able to train for a 5k until I get healthy.  Once healthy, I will need to learn how to train hard enough while balancing work, family, coaching, friends and remember how to keep it fun!!!