So, I wrote this in my sparkpeople blog - thought I'd share it with you guys:
A gozillian years ago (well, more like 25), I was a runner. I ran on the cross country team and winter track team in high school. My best 5K was 16:27 my senior year. I wasn't awesome, but I wasn't slow either. I ran a little after high school while in college, but never competitively again and not to the extent I ran during the sports seasons. Years later, when I would meet with friends who knew me from high school and I was asked if I still ran, I stole a line from "Real Genius" and replied "Only when chased". Having played softball for years, I would also sometimes say, "Only 60 feet at a time".
Fast forward to this week. Something has come over me. I have a desire to run. I've been working on my fitness level for 6 full months. I've lost 78 pounds and am as fit as I've been for quite some time. I'm not sure why I want to run. Perhaps I'm being chased - chased by my young, more fit self - chased by my fatter self from 6 months ago - or chased by a "mid life crisis". Either way, I'm running again.
It started with my mentioning to my wife that I'd like to start training for a 5K in the fall. It didn't matter to me what 5K, just that I wanted to do one. Then when we were away with my daughter for freshman orientation, I went down to the fitness center in the hotel to walk/jog on the treadmill. As I started, I noted that the treadmill seemed to know what my heart rate was, even though I wasn't holding the sensor grips. After a few minutes, I realized that the heart rate monitor I wear to exercise is the same brand as the treadmill (Polar) and they synced up. So it became a game. The treadmill would adjust to get my heart rate in the "right zone", I'd speed up/slow down as appropriate and watch the tenths of miles click off. As I approached one mile, I started setting my goals. First is was a 2nd mile. As I approached the 2 mile mark, I said, "5K is 3.1 miles. I'll do that". I completed a 5K on the treadmill in perhaps my slowest time ever (just over 43 minutes), but I completed it and that made my happy.
The next day when we got home, I said, "Well, I'll run around town now." When I got about 6 blocks away, I started resetting my goals - get to the next block - get to "the square" - now get home. I completed the run - just over 2.3 miles according to the "map your route" feature here at Sparkpeople.com - in 23:35.
A day after that, I ran a mile on the track. 8:08. This morning, I popped out of bed and did the run around town route again and completed it in just over 23 minutes.
And so it begins and it turns out that instead of being chased, I am the one doing the chasing. I am chasing new goals and new levels of fitness. I am chasing a life where I don't need blood pressure or cholesterol medication. Above all, I'm chasing a healthy lifestyle that will enable me to live a long life and enjoy it with my family.
So, bring on the chase. I'm ready for it.