Running is life

Running is the best therapy a person can want. A dose of medicine for what ails you. Over the last six plus years I have experienced the full range of F you's that life can throw at a person. From my wife passing away and leaving me a solo parent of a year old baby to my mom's painful and terminal battle with cancer last year, I have been through the emotional ringer. You learn some serious life lessons through those kinds of ordeals. It challenges you in ways you are unfamiliar with. As life is want to do, there have been some high points. I have traveled and seen many wonderful places and met many wonderful new people. I have watched my son grow up in front of my eyes into a wonderful kid. The light of my life as it turns out. No matter what good or bad things may have been thrust in my path, one constant has been running. It helps center me and give me hope that its going to be just fine. Keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other.

Running has given me something over these last six plus years that I haven't found anywhere else. A happy place. It took me a while to figure that out. I started out as a mile guy. One mile for 10 minutes. Sometimes longer than that. The distance and time didn't matter though. I was out there. In the rain, the snow, the cold, the heat - I did not care. I wasn't even really sure why I started to run initially. It eventually became about being a better father through improved health and fitness. But at first I think it was just to release some of the pent up anger and sadness I had in me. Running was the only thing that seemed to work. It made me feel good for 10-12 minutes. It was all I had. But the one thing I didn't count on was the self- confidence. It made me feel good about myself again.

Flash forward to today. I run five days a week. I generally run anywhere from 4 to 10 miles. I work on pace and hill repeats and breathing. I own multiple pairs of running shoes. I have a wall devoted to running bibs and medals. However, the joy of running is still about the time spent pounding pavement or navigating trails. My happy place. The one part of my day where I feel in control and alive. It doesn't even have to be a good run. Some of them aren't. It is never about the result. It's the act. The joy of one foot in front of the other. The simplest of things. The motion of living. Always moving forward and never looking back. There is something good about the simplicity of it. Mind resolute, sweat pouring, wind at my back or in my face - I run to be alive.

It has occurred to me that the very nature of running is the perfect metaphor for life. The very act of taking that next step is the struggle we all experience every day. Sometimes those steps come easy and free. We want to take those steps. They are joy. Other times it takes everything you have in you to take that next step. Its painful and agonizing. No matter how it feels though, you do it and when you do there is a sense of accomplishment. A sense that you broke through a barrier. You can do anything. There is no other feeling like it.

I ran a marathon in October of 2014. It was my first and to date my only marathon. I picked it as a goal in March of 2014 based on my desire to do something outrageous and running 26.2 miles fit the bill. I don't know if I truly believed I could do it. At that time I hadn't even run my original running goal of 10 miles. I had no idea how to even train for something like a marathon. All I knew was that I had a girlfriend who loved running and was training for it with me, so at least I wasn't doing it alone. The training went really well early on. I crushed my first 10 mile race, then a half-marathon, then another half-marathon. I got faster and faster and my confidence level spiked. I felt great. After my second half marathon, roughly a month before the marathon, I started to feel my IT band complaining about the mileage. Being a rookie at this, I ignored it. I was one month away from my goal. Just push through I told myself. The IT band issue got worse. No surprise right? I had to start my taper two weeks out, just hoping it would heal enough for the race. It didn't. So I ran the race of my life at less than 100%. 26.2 miles of pain every time my foot hit the pavement. I could look at this as just a painful experience - however, that race taught me as much about myself as anything else I have ever done. I summoned the strength and willpower from somewhere deep inside me to put one foot in front of other and just GO! I experienced the full gamut of emotions while running. It took everything. Crossing that finish line was one of the defining moments of my life. I felt alive. Through the pain and the sweat and the tears I accomplished something I would never have dreamed of before I began this journey. The hugs of congratulations and love that waited for me beyond the runners pen vindicated all of the hard work and hours of  training spent preparing for this moment. Isn't that what life is about? You set goals, you work towards those goals, you have people who support you and love through all of the good and bad, and when you are finished you feel a sense of accomplishment.

I plan to continue running. I don't know if I ever will stop. Running is just part of my life. It weaves its way through my days and no matter what else is going on in my life is there for me when I need it. I always look forward to the next adventure on my feet. I encourage anyone who has not considered running as a means by which to better yourself to do so. Just set aside some time, lace up some athletic shoes, and go out and put one foot in front of the other. I bet you will return with something valuable.