1. I wanted to use it to keep me motivated in my own training.
2. I'm learning how to run with my puppy, and I wanted to document what I'm figuring out and what I'm struggling with.
3. I enjoy running which my pup, Bosco, and thought it'd be fun to write about our running/jogging journey together.
A verbose bit about me:
I'm 43, almost 44, and I've recently dropped 80 pounds just from eating better and less. I'd tried to be a runner 15-20 years ago when I was fat as a way to not be fat, and it was brutally unpleasant and ineffective. I come from a family of runners: both parents and my older brother did the marathon thing quite aggressively. My brother even did ultrarunning. Hardcore and happy runners they be. Not me, at least not back then.
My zenith and nadir occurred simultaneously: I ran the January '97 San Diego Marathon in Carlsbad. It was my longest run ever, and I was joining a small group of people who could say they completed a marathon, and yet I was disappointed in my results and honestly hated the entire experience.
I had bronchitis the month before, couldn't get a few of my final long runs in, and hit the wall at 17+ miles so hard that I metaphorically broke my nose. I did the first 17-18 miles in about three hours and the final 8-9 in two hours. Final time was 5:06. I'd hoped for a 4:30 or less. The picture of me crossing the finish line is weak: I'm walking, just out of gas and pissed. My parents ran it with me, and it got to the point where I was just angry and in pain, and my dad kept trying to urge me to run to the next parking sign or whatever. What a drag.
After, I could barely walk for a week. Stairs were excruciating, sending jolts of pain through my thighs, and my Achilles' tendons felt like accordions. So I was done. No more running for me.
I quite exercising, got even fatter, and then moved to other physical pursuits. I earned a first degree black belt in Kung Fu San Soo by 2003, took up swimming through 2008, and tried biking the hills or Yorba Linda in 2011-12. None of these things helped me lose weight. So in January 2012, I stopped eating like a ravenous monkey and went from 250 (at 5'10") to 170 by March 2013. It was hard to maintain the 170 (and people at work sincerely thought I had cancer), so I agreed to let myself fluctuate between 175 and 185, hitting the higher number during the fall birthday/holidays season of lousy nutrition, followed by some weight loss in January. As a plan, it has worked overall.
So where'd running come in? My kids, especially my older daughter, who's almost fourteen. About a year or,so ago, we started doing runs on the horse trails and bike paths all over Yorba Linda. We kept them 2-3 miles, and it was easy enough running for both of us to chat and workout and have some quality one in one time. All was good.
But something else along the way happened. I started to enjoy running in and of itself. Remember, I was a fat runner before, which just compounds injuries, recovery time, and effort. I liked being fitter at 42 than I was at 22. As an introvert, I liked zoning out to music. The immediacy of leaving the house and exercising (rather than going to a gym) was appealing. And it's efficient in terms of time exerted relative to calories burned.
So last month I made a decision to start training seriously. Not just the short runs on occasion with my oldest would do. I was going to run a half marathon--not ready to do unkindness to my knees by going full marathon on them. I looked around a found a few actual races that kind of fit my schedule, but the appeal wasn't there (more on that in another post). So I'm running my own. I'll use my iPhone and MapMyRun to track it. It will occur when I'm ready for it--December most likely.
About my dog:
His name is Bosco, named after Mr. T's character from The A-Team. (I'm a loyal child of the '80's.) He's a flashy brindle AKC Boxer from Boxers of Palo Mesa up in Nipomo, California. Born on St. Patrick's Day this year, he joined our family in late May, and once he was cleared to run by our vet and up to date with his parvovirus and rabies shots, he became my training partner in late July. He's a very well behaved pup, thanks to diligent training and just good genes (Lina at BoPM has a great breeding program with lovely sires and dams producing wonderful family dogs). He is very energetic and so far has kept up well with me on my long runs (this morning's was 6.35 miles in just under an hour). He's strong and long legged, and all lungs and muscles and floppy jowls. More on him to come, of course.
So follow along if you wish. I don't know how often I'll post or on what exactly, or even if anybody will read these besides me. But that's not the point.
