Lovely wife

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I’m philosophical about running today

I run because I want to run, not because anyone is making me or because it gives me a great “high”.  I run because my family needs me to live longer than a few more years.  I run because it makes me feel better about myself.  I run because it gets me away for a few minutes with few distractions beyond the neighborhood kids playing football in the yard or the cars that move over to give me room.

I choose to run.

A few days ago I learned that a colleague I had met with several times in another state passed away.  He was much younger than me and probably much smarter than me.  It was a shock, even though I didn’t know him well.  That has made me a bit more philosophical lately.  He was young and very successful in his line of work.  He had a wife.  He was a nice guy, at least from my interactions with him.  What does this have to do with running?

No one knows what will happen tomorrow, today or even in the next minute.  Life is what I make it by the grace and provision of God.

I don’t want to die saying I had no goals.  I don’t want to leave this world at 278 lbs and having a heart attack because I couldn’t spare the time to work out.  A lot of people plan on working out, running, walking or just getting into shape.  I planned on it every day as I approached the 300 lbs mark.  I never knew my grandfather because he died, overweight and in his 50’s.  I don’t want to be that person.  So I run.

Maybe I am a bit introspective today.  I thank God everyday that I get to live and make the choice to stay home, love my lovely wife and be with my kids.  I thank God that I am a 100 lbs lighter today than I was 18 months ago.  I thank God that I can get out each day and run 5-10 miles.  I really don’t enjoy the run, but that isn’t the reason I love running.

I love running because I can run. I have the freedom to run.  I have the health to run.  I can have the freedom and heath to believe that I can qualify for the Boston Marathon next year.

Who knows their future.  I don’t.  I don’t know if I will even be able to write this blog tomorrow.  I THANK GOD that I am able to write this and didn’t pass away this past week.  My colleague probably would have appreciated the same opportunities.  He didn’t get them.

I run for Him.  Good or bad, I am going to make the most of every opportunity.

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“From 278 lbs to the Boston Marathon, one man’s journey”

I wrote yesterday about my running goals.  The main goal I have is to run Boston.  I am making this the purpose of my run each day.  This is a journey for me and not a destination.  After Boston, there will be something else.  Probably the Marine Corps Marathon.  This was the marathon my dad ran in for many years before he passed away.

Anyway, I was considering all this as I ran yesterday.  I really do love running.  I love the fact that an obese middle aged man who tried to run a mile and had to stop at a quarter mile, could, in two years, weigh 100 lbs less and run a half marathon.  Even outside of the weight loss, running is amazing.  I constantly hear of people who one day decide to run a marathon, get off the couch and a year or two later, run a marathon.  I was told that exact story yesterday by a sales rep about his wife and her friends.  She is still running marathons today.

I am not an athlete.  The only sport I ever participated in as a kid was sailboat racing.  That took a very logical mind, but no athletic skill.  In school, as a kid, we would have a physical fitness part of gym each year and we were made to run 600m.  I always came in last.  I hated it.

I’ve said this before, but running is an activity that levels the playing field.  There aren’t many sports that one can participate in and in a year have gone from nothing to winning 5ks.

So why not shoot for the best.  To qualify for Boston I have to run an 8:00 average pace in a qualifying marathon.  I ran my first half marathon in a 7:57 pace.  I really believe I can do this.  I can’t imagine even having that thought a year ago.  To run my first marathon 18 months after I started running and also qualify for Boston?  I am amazed at this sport.

Sorry for going on and on about me, but I guess that is what this blog is about.  One day, after Boston, maybe I’ll write a book about my experience.  I’ll title it, “From 278 lbs to Boston, one man’s journey”.

The cool thing about running is that anyone can do this.  I guess that is the point I am trying to get across.  I have NO athletic ability.  I’m just an IT geek.  But what I do have is a supportive Lovely Wife and two sons who run and help me keep on the path.  Also I have lots of other bloggers writing about their experiences and learn from their ups and downs.  I love my family, I love this community,  I love running!

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It was the best of runs, it was the best of runs

Guess what?   Yesterday was the best run I have ever had.   I ran 4 miles at a 7:54 pace and 3 of those miles averaged 7:48.  I wasn’t tired.  I wasn’t pushing it.  It was just great.

Now to my question.  Why was yesterday so easy when Monday was one of the worst days I’ve had running in a long time?  I don’t know.  I was using the same shoes.  It was a similar day, other than no rain.  The only thing I did do differently was eat a piece of plain bread right before I left (something I remember my dad doing before his runs).  Surely a few carbs couldn’t have made that much of a difference.

Well I guess I won’t question it.  It was supposed to be an easy run for 4 miles since we are tapering for the big day.  It was so easy I thought my phone might be wrong.  I know some days are better than others and TJ said he has had similar days, but this was about a minute faster than my normal pace about a month ago.

On to training for Sunday.  TJ said today I should run a minute at half marathon pace and a minute jog and alternate back and forth.  That is what he is going to do.  It sounds good and I can make my phone tell me when to switch so that won’t be too hard.

3 more days to the half marathon.  I was talking with a sales rep the other day who has run this race for 4 years now and he said it is very well done.  Being my first I didn’t know what to expect.  He said they have pacers who will run the half marathon (and the whole) at different paces so, for example,  if you want to finish in an hour and 30 minutes, someone is setting that pace. Or if you want to finish in 2 hours, someone is setting that pace, and so on.  I guess I’ll start in the two hour group and then try to pull ahead in the last few miles.  He also said there is lots of food, beer (9:00 in the morning?) and massages given to runners.  I am hoping my lovely wife comes to cheer us on, but I understand it might be a bit difficult for her to sit for 3 hours with a bad back.  I’ll understand if she doesn’t go, but it would really be special if she did.

That is it for now.  This is so exciting, it is like Christmas is 3 days away and I’m an 8 year old kid.

I love running.

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Running and marriage

Yesterday I got home late…  Well, later than usual.  I left for work at 5:00 and got home at 5:00.  It was a long day.

I didn’t want to run.

I don’t talk much about my lovely wife on this blog.  She probably wouldn’t want me to and it is about running after all.  She doesn’t run.  Well, she can’t run as she has two ruptured disks in her back.  She finds it hard to walk without pain, let alone run.  Let me say this in regard to her – she is an amazing woman.

We have been married for over 25 years.  We’ve had our ups and downs.  We’ve lived through new life and through the death of a sibling and parent.  But through everything she has always supported my decisions.  What does this have to do with running you ask?

Everything.

My running takes a lot of time.  I guess if I could get faster, it would help, but then I would probably just run further.  Anyway, as I mentioned in the beginning of this post, yesterday was a long day.  I got home and dutifully put on my running clothes and shoes and said goodbye as I headed out the door.  I was so focused on getting my run in before it got too late, I didn’t say much to my lovely wife.  I didn’t kiss her hello.  I came in, got changed and left for an hour run.  However as I left, as she always does, she said, “Have a good run.  Run fast”.

I started running last March and my runs took about 24 minutes a day.  Now they take between 1 – 2 hours.  She could rightfully be upset that it is taking too much time.  She could be upset that I don’t say much between coming home and leaving for my run.  She doesn’t.  She just supports me and makes sure I don’t feel badly for taking the time to run.  She knows it is important to me physically and because of my late father.

I really can’t say more.

I love my wife.