[caption id="attachment_media-477" align="alignnone" width="1880"] Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com[/caption] We joke at work a lot about how much you get injured working out to be in better shape. Somehow I managed to herniate myself, so I am off my training schedule for the mini-marathon. I was hanging on to my schedule by the skin of my teeth as it was, running about a week behind, with hopes of catching up. But I am giving up on making it to the mini in October. There is another close by in the Spring. So, if I can manage to keep running through the Winter months I will try that one. The sucky part, other than the surgery, is that I was starting to enjoy running again. I haven't really enjoyed it for many years, but I was finally getting into running form again after 6 months of effort. Getting old is not for wimps. Hey, more time for writing, right? I hope you are having a wonderful day just the same.

[caption id="attachment_media-498" align="alignright" width="364"] Photo by kinkate on Pexels.com[/caption] I've been running since March. I started with very short distances. Maybe two miles on a good day. I was trying to prepare myself for a Mini-Marathon in October and figured I would have time to train my body for the longer distance without too much trouble. The last time I did this was nine years ago and I went from not being able to run a half mile to running 8 miles in only a month. I used to run cross-country when I was in High School and then for fun in college, not competitively except for intramurals. I thought for sure I would be able to get up to distance fairly quickly. Well, being almost 55 now it was a lot different. I began officially training for the mini-marathon in mid-July, and have been almost making the distances. I am about a week behind schedule, but today I was supposed to run 5 miles for the first time yesterday. I went for it. When I started I did not feel great. Last weekend I ran four and felt strong. The good news is I felt okay at the four mile point and was able to keep going, unsure if I was going to make it. I did it! I have to repeat it this week. We'll see how that goes. I'm not sure I am going to be able to run 13.1 when the time comes, but the training continues. It is keeping me motivated. There is a mini in May if I don't make this one, but running in the winter here is not awesome. Setting goals and accomplishing them is very satisfying. Do you have anything you are working toward?

Short answer is no. I’m planning to do something I have never done before. I set my sights on a mini-marathon in the fall. I ran ten miles once. More than 35 years ago. My feet really hurt afterwards and I vowed I would never run that far again. At the time, I was running cross country and regularly running 6 or more miles almost daily. I haven’t really been much of a runner for several years. Back in 2010 I started running regularly and worked my way up to 8 miles. I maintained that fitness level for about a year and since then I have gained almost 40 lbs. I have managed to lose 15 of that recently, but being almost 10 years older has really made a difference. I have been trying to run 3 days a week for the last six weeks or so, but my distance hasn’t improved all that much. I have two more weeks before I start the training plan in earnest. (more…)

Chuck Wendig posted yesterday about his effort to start running, and it got me thinking about my own love/hate relationship with running. When I was a young man I loved to run and had speed, but I suffered from the same ailment as Chuck, Osgood Schlatter's disease.  I had to quit playing soccer and football, which was a real bummer for me, as my life was centered on sports back then. My focus switched to academics, and it proved to be auspicious. If that hadn't happened I likely wouldn't have gone to the Air Force Academy or became a pilot. Sports wouldn't have done that for me. (more…)