From 0 to 26.2 in 4 years

Introduction:

I started this blog a few weeks ago with a recap of my recent experience running the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC this past October.  As I stated in that post, now I am going back to write some posts about how I got into running a few years ago. You can go back and read the MCM post by clicking on the lower left of this page.

I hadn’t really considered writing about my running until now but here’s my theory; I am curious how many others feel this way. I (and many other runners) do a lot of running alone. Some of this is due to scheduling, some is due to preference. Although we spend so much time “alone” with this hobby of ours, I think we enjoy a great feeling of camaraderie with other runners. I find that the running community works this way; just join any race/event from local fund-raising 5K’s to marathons and ultras. In my experience, I find the most inviting, open, engaging, clever and funny people out there.

So I write this blog for other runners who share my experience with this hobby, but also for those of you who may not be into running but who may be curious about it. Or you may be curious about the experiences of those of us who do run – perhaps a personal friend or family member. Some of you may have other “hobbies” that serve a similar purpose for you.  I enjoy reading other runners’ stories in this way and hopefully I can provide another voice for others to enjoy too.

The Back Story:

I was always very athletic yet I disliked endurance-type exercise.  I grew up in a world that always included a ball of some sort and lots of hand-eye coordination was an asset. I was a bit smaller than average and always seemed to be among the smallest/shortest/lightest in all of the traditional organized sports that I played; football, and baseball mostly. After school years and varsity team sports I picked up the common 20-something activities like tennis, golf, softball and flag-football leagues, and that late 1970’s craze -- racquetball (I blame Flash!!). Everyone is invincible at those ages and conditioning was never an issue.  Then from ages 30 through early 50’s came the inevitable reduction in “discretionary” time while parenting and raising our family. Fortunately my wife and I kept a health club membership alive through those years and on a very varying schedule, there were trips to the weight room and basketball courts and stationary bike (for me) and the dance fitness classes and elliptical machines (for her). Some activity is better than none. To think that the criteria we required when we joined our health club was on-site childcare and racquetball courts … that goes back quite a few years!

From participant to fan...

My wife and I each enjoy following the activities and accomplishments of people that we know. We are especially fans of do-er's. We each participated in a lot of organized activities in our youth -- sports for me and performing arts for her.  Maybe for that reason or maybe for some other reason, we just enjoy taking an interest in the things that people are passionate about, and we know how much it means to them. Certainly we watched our own kids' events from dancing to singing to piano to guitar to drawing to painting to football to baseball to roller hockey and wrestling... oh my!

and don't forget rugby (Jim, TCNJ Lions 2008-9)

But we've been known to drive 50 or 60 miles to watch a nephew or a niece or a friend's event. People doing things, people taking action and being active.  We support that any day of the week. However, aside from a high school track meet to watch our son throwing the javelin, I had never been to nor participated in any kind of a track or running event. That was about to change.

From Here to Eternity or, that’s a long flight!

I’ve always done a lot of traveling for business and I’ve always packed some gym clothes so I could get some exercise in the hotel facilities. In late 2008 through 2009 I was developing a close friendship with a colleague who was well along with running and he was on a marathon training program.  We were working on a project that required us to travel to Hawaii 3 times within a 6-9 month span – a terrible assignment indeed! Given the schedule of our daily client meetings and thanks to the time-zone/body clock differential between the US east coast and Honolulu, Bob would get his training runs done early in the morning.   I distinctly remember the numerous conversations we would have about routes where he could run, distances to cover to satisfy his training plan, etc. 

Waikiki was a tough assignment

At around that time, I had begun to do a little running on the treadmill myself. Dawn on Waikiki is very beautiful and one morning I took to the road. It was balmy and warm, I was not in running shape and I could barely complete a mile or two along Kalakaua Ave. Our hotel, the Marriott Waikiki, was at the south end of the strip with quick access to the state park recreation area where many local early riser residents would go to practice their tai chi and other exercises. It was a great way to start the day before we would don our business attire and leave the beautiful beach area to head over to downtown Honolulu for our meetings.

I can still remember taking a drive around Diamond Head one day to scope out the road because Bob was planning to use that route for a 5-mile training run.  He was especially interested to see the elevation of the route in order to get some hill training into his regimen.  For me, at that time, a 5-mile run seemed very daunting but I was intrigued with the idea about how running could be a great way to experience different locations.  This would become a recurring theme for me. To think that in a few short years, I would eclipse that 5-mile distance by 5 times to run my first full marathon in 2014.

Bob's 5-mile route around Diamond Head

I continued to do a bit of treadmill running at the gym and out on the roads when I traveled for business.  Never too serious and no specific plan in mind – just a way to stay active.   I continued to follow my friend Bob’s running as he was well into a rigorous training program to run a marathon in his home city of Ottawa and numerous of the New York Roadrunners events in order to qualify for the New York Marathon.  I still thought it to be quite crazy and I hardly ever imagined doing those things myself.

And back to participant again. A small contribution to a huge cause!

In early spring of 2010, another business colleague that Bob and I worked with lost his mom to cancer. Shortly after, Ryan circulated an email to invite friends to contribute to a fund-raiser. It was a 5K race held at nearby Rutgers University and like most of these events; the online fund-raising invitation included the request to contribute and/or to join in the run. So on a whim, I joined Ryan's team and thought I was biting off a whole lot more than I could ever chew. You mean, run for 3.1 miles?  In a row? That’s likely to take over a half hour! At that point I didn't have a master plan or a vision to run a marathon or anything else like that.  I just liked the idea of supporting Ryan's cause and the opportunity to become a participant again.

T-shirt from my first 5k

That was spring of 2010. Fast forward to October 26, 2014 and along with completing countless other fund-raising 5Ks and 10Ks and 15Ks plus 4 Half Marathons, I have also completed my first Full Marathon, the New Jersey Marathon in Long Branch, NJ and my second full marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC. I still blame/credit my close friend Bob who established my baseline appreciation for the work ethic necessary to enjoy this crazy sport and the blame/credit is compounded upon my colleague Ryan for dropping that invitation into my email box and how gracious and inviting he and his family were to have me join their group to honor his mom’s memory.

In later posts I will write more about my own training regimen and how Ryan’s commitment to his mom’s cause paid dividends in my relationship with my mom in the years to come.

For that 5K at Rutgers, let's just say that I finished, I was exhausted and I was somewhat certain that I wouldn't be doing another one of those anytime soon. However, I did get to experience my first dose of that great camaraderie among runners and, my wife and my younger daughter Jaclyn were great sports to come out to cheer me on at the finish. In a small way, I took the first step "back to participant" that day.