I think over the last seven months I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned that I might have become something that I would have never thought possible. I think I have become a runner…
I think that if I give you some background information that might help. Seven months ago I pretty much hated running. I hated to think about running. I have always come from the school of thought that I would rather do any kind of sport than to run. I have played tennis, golf, basketball, volleyball, baseball, and snowboarding. I hated running drills for tennis and basketball. I would have never thought of trying to ever run because I wanted to run. Are you kidding me? The funny part to me is that all my life people have said that I am built like a runner. Being 6’3″ and weighing about 165 my whole adult life would pretty much paint me as tall and skinny. My argument was always that I didn’t care if I was built like a Kenyan…I would still not want to run.
If this is starting to sound like you then I can tell you that there is hope. I don’t really know how to explain how it happened, but I am confident that if I can become a runner that anybody can. I have had help. My wife is the one that got me started. We started off run/walking about 30 minutes back in the first of May ’09. I would agree that it is easier if you have someone to train with and help to keep you going. I would run for about five minutes and walk for five minutes. I look back on that now and I hope that I never get to that point again. EVER. I am pretty sure that at that point I would say that I was about in the worst physical shape in my life. No I was not overweight, but physically I was off the chart as far as being fit goes. It was always funny how people would ask me why I was running because I was already skinny. It is sad that our society associates any kind of exercise with weight loss. But I think this is usually why people start doing things like this for the majority of the time.
Most half marathons are on Saturdays, so getting to run in these is going to be tough with my wedding schedule. I don’t think I am planning on running a mini-marathon in the morning and then going to shoot a wedding that afternoon. In fact I am planning on probably scheduling a massage for either Sunday or Monday, so if you have any recommendations for that I am all ears. I figure I better be prepared. So ice, ibuprofen, ambulance, band-aids, lots of Naked Juice, bananas, and anything else that might come in handy in bouncing back will come in handy. (Yes I am being a wimp, but until I know what I am getting myself into I have no clue what to expect)
So now here I am with the hopes of running the Indy Mini-Marathon. I am looking for a transfer. I did not make the cut when they sold out. So if you are signed up and have changed your mind just let me know. I am also looking at the following races as well.
- Chicago Half Marathon
- Purdue Half Marathon
- South Bend Hall of Fame to Notre Dame Half Marathon
- (I already have weddings on these dates, but in case anybody else was interested.)
- Geist Half Marathon
- Fort Wayne Half Marathon
- Indianapolis Half Marathon
The last thing I want to share with you is the RunKeeper App for the iPhone. This is awesome. I can keep track of my runs through my iPhone and it directly uploads them all to the site as well. The GPS tracking also Google maps your runs as well as manual entry for treadmill runs. So if you get this and want to join my Street Team just click the following link! Join My Street Team
