Month: October 2022

I don’t know Don, but he belongs to a group in the LoseIt community. He doesn’t have the “friend” option enabled, so I couldn’t request his permission to post this. Nonetheless, it was so well stated I wanted to keep it here as a reminder as to why I and others run. I hope you enjoy Don’s thoughts as I do.

This is why I run…
Saturday morning. I have a meeting at 7am.
Still, I’ve been watching the forecast, thinking about, and anticipating a nice morning run.
I’m ready. The coffee maker is set up; just have to push the button. Wore my running shorts to bed, two shirts are set out; as well as my hat, shoes and socks. My Garmin and clip-on lights are charged.
It’s 4:25am and here in Ohio, 36 degrees. The night is clear, with an almost full moon looking down on me. As I head out and down my street, I think to myself that I should quit my job and just do this…
I planned an easy ten miles and keep telling myself to go slow. No oxygen debt. Marathon pace. Marathon pace. (Like I’ll ever run a marathon again!)
At about three miles, I’m settled into a steady pace.
Getting close to the river, a sizable doe trots across the street about 20 yards in front of me. She stops and watches me for a bit. I wish her a good morning before she bounds off into the trees.
In another mile, I’m crossing the river and then running beside it. Another mile and it’s back over the river on the lighted footbridge.
On the way home now, and the endorphins are fully kicking in. Two miles to go and resisting the urge to pick up the pace is futile.
On my street, I slow to a resting pace; stop my Garmin at 10.35, and walk for another quarter mile or so to my door.
Some fresh juice, a hot shower and I’m out the door.
I started running long ago to lose weight. Now, it’s impossible to imagine running not being a part of life.
My wife asks me, “Did you run today? How was it?”
Yes, I did run; and it was magic.

Don in the Running Club group on LoseIT

It’s been a while…

Personal challenges, society, health, economics, family, work, focusing on other things, etc. Yeah, whatever, that’s life, right?

I think about writing quite a bit, then never seem to find the energy or time as excuses can be easily made.

So here we are in October 2022. What’s going on? My visit with illness hit in late December 2021. While I was only out for a few days, the lingering effects remained for 6+ months. Most notable was oxygen absorption. I will estimate that 7-8 months were affected by difficulty with deep breathing, even when every other system appeared fully functional. When you like to run, breathing is kind of a thing.

On top of that little breathing thing, I was nursing my knees from previous incidents, only to trip on a raised sidewalk one morning in August, thus extending the knee issues.

Ok then, enough with the whiney backstory!

It’s early October, the mornings are getting cooler, and deciding what layers to wear on a ride or run is getting more time-consuming. There is no ice on the ground, but the wind speed in these temps is very noticeable. I am still running in the 5-7 mile range versus the 8-9 I was running before 2020. The lungs and knees are feeling better, and with the potential of slippery weather, the bike rides may reduce, so running becomes the daily routine.

I am grateful for what I can do!

The shorter winter days also bring back the stars to my morning routine. The sky is amazing, and seeing the sun break the horizon daily reminds me how blessed I am.