Sometime between Jan. 2 and today, I lost it. For the last seven months of 2010, I was a jogger-runner. It started on Memorial Day, when I hit the road with the Couch to 5K app.

After finishing the program in July, I gradually drifted from my three-times-a-week discipline. Without that little voice on the app saying “walk” or “run” or “one minute left,” my routine – if it could be called that – slowed to a jog here, a jog there.

In search of more structure, I moved up to the Couch to 10K. It worked.

I started running regularly again and even finished my first organized 5K in less than 30 minutes.

But the C-2-10K ended, and I floundered through December. I made a few 3-mile runs and got in my 20 visits to the Wellness Center – but generally, the emphasis was on the couch, not the 5K or 10K.

It was around then that Nathan Hall, the Tupelo High coach and one of the leaders of the Tupleo Marathon Makeover, invited me to join. Last year, online editor Todd Vinyard carried the Journal mantle and now the program needed a replacement.

It didn’t take much for me to agree. I wanted to keep running, because my earlier efforts had paid off in pounds, inches and attitude.

But I also had learned that I work best with outside motivation, even if it’s only the woman on the iPhone app.

That became even more obvious Jan. 2.

I had resolved to start running regularly in 2011, and to enter the Marathon Makeover in running shape. So on New Year’s morning, I knocked out three miles and felt confident that I’d be up to five miles in no time.

Wrong. With the lousy weather, the birth of our first grandchild, January football and busy days at the office, I quickly became a former runner, or at least a dormant one.

Now, halfway through the month, the clothes tug, the energy droops and the carbs stay where they don’t belong.

All of which is why I look forward to my second New Year’s Day of 2011 – Saturday, and the first meeting for the Marathon Makeover.

It starts at 10 a.m. at the West Main Church of Christ in Tupelo and is open to the public. This one is informational only – no running required, or even allowed.

After that, it’s 40 weeks of training for either a full marathon or half of one.

I have no illusions that I’m going to make 26 miles or become a regular marathoner afterward, but since it’s another New Year’s Day, it’s an opportunity for another resolution.

See you at the finish line.

Mike Tonos is managing editor for The Daily Journal. He can be reached at 678-1605 or at mike.tonos@journalinc.com.

What is Marathon Makeover?

- Marathon Makeover is a 40-week wellness program designed to turn couch potatoes into marathoners. Week 1 starts with a one-mile walk, leading to a full marathon at the end of Week 40.

The plans for the 2011 session will be outlined in a free informational meeting Saturday at 10 a.m. at the West Main Church of Christ in Tupelo. You also can go to www.marathonmakeover.com for more information or call (888) 647-8278, ext 807.