Running

With my wife and sister-in-law completing the SF Half Marathon (2nd half) last week, I thought I'd write a bit about running. Congrats to my sister-in-law from running through injury, and finishing the SF Half, and thus completing the California Series (3 Half Marathons in a year!). My wife also deserves kudos for pacing her sister and helping her through it.

There's nothing more humbling and exhilarating as running. It's painful and joyous all at the same time, and nothing feels better than completing a goal, crossing the finish line, and knowing that you've finished a race, a long training run, or just a fun run. And I saw humbling because people that you think have no business passing you up ... pass you up. At the CIM (California International Marathon) last year, I ran my 2nd marathon ever. I trained for 1 year for it, and in retrospect, that was probably too much training. Anyway, at mile 20, I hit the wall like everyone does. I was great up until then, but those last 6 miles of the marathon, as any marathoner will tell you, separates runners from joggers...and I'm a jogger. :) There were little kids, elderly men and women, overweight men and women, people pushing their kids in jogger strollers ... just flying by me at the end. Talk about humbling. At the very end, I somehow garnered some energy to run in the last 400 yards, and I was about to pass an 80-year old woman, who was just struggling (like me) to finish. But, I tucked in behind her, slowed down, and finished just after her. It felt amazing to finish, to complete a year's worth of training, and to say that I've finished a marathon. Only 0.1% of the human race has finished a marathon, so I felt very special at that moment. But, at the same time, knowing the many people that blew by me at the end, I felt very humbled also.

That's the greatest thing about running. It has something for everyone. Competition for those who want to compete, goals for those who just want to finish, and fun for those who just want to participate. And of course, a wonderful opportunity to move and exercise with lots of people, not to mention the many people cheering you on as you go through the course.

If you've never ran in a 5k, 10k, half, or full-marathon ... give it a try! You don't have to "run" per se. Most people dont "run," they "jog". And a lot of people walk. It's all good. Make a goal to do a race, train for it, and then run/jog/walk it. And enjoy the benefits, as well as the accomplishment. Go to "www.active.com" and find a race near you. Give yourself enough time to train, and then find a simple training program (look up "5k training schedule" for example) and go for it. Find a buddy to train with, someone at your level of fitness, it'll help a lot.

I'm training for another half marathon in October, and it starts next week, although I've been tinkering for the last couple of months now. I'll detail my training plan, results, and issues on the blog. Stay tuned for it...