In the long run

I run. I don’t really like treadmills, stationary bikes don't get me anywhere, Stairmasters hurts my knees and elliptical equipment doesn’t really do it for me (seem to be spinning my wheels).

Why do I run? Interesting question and I was pondering it yesterday while I was out running during lunch. I have been running off & on since college (long time ago). Wasn’t really much of an athlete in high school. Played football my freshman & sophomore years but I did not really stick with it. Was a pudgy kid during my high school years and tended to stay in the background for most activities. When I went off to college, I joined the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M and really found my calling. Being a ROTC/military based program, there was lots of running/push ups/calisthenics and I feel that really made a difference in my life and gave me the "kick in the pants" I needed to become a better person. We did lots of running in the corps but I really did not pick up the habit until I went joined the Army and went off to my officer’s course. Was stationed in Fort Knox for 6 months and bunked with a fellow Aggie who was a bit on the heavy side (per Army standards). We started working out together during the winter to get in shape and drop pounds. His favorite exercise was doing jump rope. He would jump rope for almost an hour straight as a means of getting his weight down. I was never that coordinated to do jump rope, but I could run. So every day he would head off to the post gym, crank up the sauna to max temp and start jumping rope. I would run over from our apartment (3-4 miles) and would meet up with him and we would then sit in the sauna for 30-45 minutes. Doing that pattern, I dropped about 15 pounds from the exercise & sweating it out. Of course, we would then hit the o-club and try to gain some of that back. Ever since then, I have been an amateur runner. When stationed in Germany, I would run the trails around our post. When we came back stateside in the 80’s I would try to keep up with running in the evenings. Eventually, life started getting in the way (work, school, family) and it was to find the time to run. When I got a job in south Texas in a pacemaker company, I picked up the pattern of running during lunch. We had a great cafeteria and an even better work out facility with showers and, instead of eating during lunch, I would try to go running on the local roads/trails around the facility. Nothing serious, but I would try to get in a run of 3-4 miles every other day as my schedule allowed. When the company got bought up in 1990 and closed down the plant, I drifted to another local company but it did not have any work out facility, so I stopped running for a while. In 2001, I joined my current company and they have a work out room with a locker room/showers and I got back into the groove. Been running 2-3 times a week ever since then.

But why run? I really prefer the solitude of running to clear my head. Aside of the aerobic benefits, it gives me the opportunity to unload any pent up stress & frustration that I may have from the daily problems at the office. Figured it was better than drinking during the day and sure is less drastic than going postal on someone. I have been trying to build up my distance and stamina to do the Houston half Marathon (13 miles) in January. I have always wanted to do a marathon and my brush with prostate cancer earlier this year was a sort of wake up call for me. Figured life wasn’t getting any easier and if I was ever going to do it, now’s the time. I will be doing the race to donate money for cancer research, but I am really doing it for me. I figure this is some sort of spiritual/emotional accomplishment that I have set for myself. Running is something you have to do on your own. It ain’t a team sport (ok, maybe a relay race is) and no one can really do it for you. I tend to compete against myself to improve my time and distance, but I am really happy just to make it to the finish line. There are many people out there who have their reasons for running (Terri, Saroy) and I salute their efforts to get out and hit the trail.

Happy Trails, Ya’ll!