I am not new to writing. I am not new to running either. However, this blog is the first time I am combining these two passions. Well, at least publicly. (I journaled during a marathon training season once.) For my first post on this new blog, I thought I would share briefly about each of these passions.
I have loved writing for as long as I can remember. I have ranged from short stories to poetry to song lyrics to articles to blogging. And I love blogging. My last two blogs were polar opposites of each other. "such is life" was packed full of random musings. "in His strength. for His glory" was serious Bible studying. Each lacked good balance for me. This blog is a bit of a hybrid of the two. This blog will offer me a good forum to write about random things with a sometimes serious twist.
I fell in love with running my junior year of high school (spring of 2000). I joined the track team because a few of my friends were doing it. During tryouts I couldn't finish one lap around the track. My coach saw potential though so I made the team. I was turned into a distance runner. During my final 1600 (mile) of that season, I ran a 5:17 mile, which is still my fastest mile ever. I was the recipient of that season's Coach's Award. Unfortunately, however, I never did the work to get better. I ran all three seasons the following year. I graduated at 160 lbs (25 lbs more than my fastest mile running weight). By my sophomore year of college, my running days seemed over. Laziness took over. I went seven years before I would look to run seriously again.
In the Spring of 2009, I had finally had enough. I was 215 lbs of pure junk food eating couch potato. I decided to get back into shape. The only thing I knew I was capable of was running. So I did what most people would do...I signed up for a marathon that fall. I was down to about 175 lbs by the marathon, but I had undertrained (which may be an understatement) and had a tough time on the hilly course. My final time was just under 5:30 hours, which was disappointing, but better than not running. More than that though, I was hooked. I had fallen back in love with running. I ran another marathon in 2010 with much more consistent training leading into it. I wanted to finish between 4:00-4:20 but ended up a little under 4:30. I had still shaved over an hour off my previous pr. I also ran my first 5k since high school with a time just over 22 minutes.
With Genevieve coming in January of this year, I opted to take the year off. I took way too long to get back into the swing of running so it was the right choice. I ran the same 5k as last year with a time of nearly 3 minutes slower, but considering how out of shape I was, I can't complain. I am running a 10k with Genevieve in the jogger this Fall. The truth is, however, that I'm having marathon withdrawals. I've already decided to run the Vermont City Marathon next Memorial Day Weekend.
I've had my ups and downs in running and writing alike. But the fact remains that deep down I love them both and they have both taught me so much. With this blog, I'm hoping these two passions combined can help teach you all something too.
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