Today's blog post is directly aimed at my friend Chris Russell. He's an
amazing writer and podcaster about all things running. I've been listening to
him for years and highly recommend that you check out his work at: http://runrunlive.com.
It's really great stuff that's funny, entertaining and informative. Recently
he's put out a request for some good blog posts that he can read on his
show. So, here goes. Here's my contribution...
Why I run? That's a question that I get asked quite often from people who
meet me for the first time. My family and longtime friends have given up asking
me this particular question. They're either satisfied with the goofy answers
that I've given them over the years or they've written me off as totally crazy.
I've been logging miles out there on the roads, trails and treadmills
for over 12 years now. And I think that the answer to the "Why I run?"
question has been many different things to me over that time frame.
Growing up I wasn't the healthiest kid in the neighborhood. I didn't play
sports very well, I ate too much bad food and topped the scales at 220 lbs.
with a size 42" waist. From about four years old until I was 16 years old I
was obese. Then, one summer after some serious life changes I lost 60 lbs. It
was such a dramatic change that people who didn't see me on a regular basis
didn't even recognize me once they did. I got a huge boost to my self esteem.
The funny looks, the sometimes sadistic childhood teasing and cruel laughing disappeared.
But even to this day, even after all of my running accomplishments, deep down
inside when I look at the mirror I still see the little fat kid. I run to make
sure that the little fat kid hidden in this runner's body never comes back
out.
One of thelife changes that happened that summer was the passing of
my father from lung cancer. My father wasn't overweight. But, he didn't take
care of himself like he should've either. He worked a high stress job of a
police officer and combated that with smoking, drinking too much and socially burning
the candle at both ends. At the time when he passed I'd just begun to really
connect with him as a father and as an individual. But, at 45 years old my father
disappeared from my life forever. It was an extremely difficult time and
changed the course of my life. I luckily managed to survive the long period of depression. I now find myself also in the field of law
enforcement. But, I don't indulge in the same self destructive habits that he once did. I do burn the candle at both ends when it comes to my training. But,
nobody's perfect. I run because I want to see my family grow old. I want to see
my son become the amazing man that I know he'll be someday.
When you wear a badge, carry a gun and deal with dangerous people for a
living your perspective on life changes. It's not you're typical nine to five desk job. During the police
academy instructors drill into you to be suspicious of everyone and everything.
Physical fitness is hammered into you as a necessity. Those are good skills to
learn and they can keep you alive in the worst of situations. But, after those
first few exciting years the excitement and enthusiasm of the job can quickly fade
away. So can some of your safety skills and attention to your fitness. One of
the cooler things about being a distance runner is that you can cheat in many
other areas of your life and still maintain the appearance of fitness. You can eat
and drink whatever you pretty much want. You can skip strength training and
stretching. It's a simple matter of calories in are less than calories out
thanks to all the miles that you log. You can effectively look fit but be totally
unhealthy. I was at that point in my life seven years ago. I was an unhealthy
runner, my safety skills were stale and I'd grown used to telling bad guys what
to do and having them do it without question. Even when your safety skills are
good and you've to prepared for all the possible worst case scenarios, things never happen
when you expect them to. On an idle night a tiny, nobody bad guy who didn't
like being told what to do decided that was the night he was going to kill me.
I don't remember the whole incident. Only bits and flashes. I do remember the first
punch. I do remember how quickly he got me into a decent choke hold. I do remember
thinking how the hell was this happening so quick and why was I feeling so
tired so fast. I was a distance runner for Christ's sake! I shouldn't feel this
bad. Thankfully, while on the verge of blacking out a lot of things went right and I survived the attack. I vividly remember changing my son's diaper
the next morning on his changing table. I remember him reaching up to touch my face
with this quizzical look on his face. I realized that he had a difficult time
recognizing me because of all the swelling and bruising. I looked like I went a
round with Rocky. Since then I've rededicated myself to keeping my safety
skills sharper and having a more encompassing level of fitness. I joined our
SWAT team. I became a physical fitness instructor at the police academy. I run
because law enforcement professionals are the best example of a paid athlete if
there ever was one.
In the hustle and bustle of modern life we as a society are told who to
be, where to go what to do on a daily basis. When you stop and think about how
much of your life is dictated by outside influences in the "Land of the
Free" you quickly realize that there's few things we have real control
over. So many different things are out of our hands. Running for me is my way
to exert a small amount of control over my life. I go when I typically want to. I
go where I want to. I go for as long as my body will let me. It's my own time
to think about what I want to think about doing something that I want to do. Through
the years and miles I've soothed frayed nerves, had the best ideas, gotten better perspectives on
problems, calmed angry tempers, marveled at the humor in my life, said good bye
to lost loved ones, triumphed at overcoming obstacles, been disappointed at
failures and discovered the value in pushing myself to the edge of breaking and
being rewarded with what lays on the path less traveled. I run to find myself.
Why I run is like asking why someone likes the color blue? There's no
right or wrong answer and the possibilities are endless. Running is one of those
things that will be what you need it to be. It could get rid of your obesity.
It could enable you to maximize the time you get to spend with the people that
you love the most. It could save your life when shit happens. It
could help you discover what truly lies inside of you and what you're capable
of. All that you need to do is take the first step.
I hope that you and Chris enjoyed the post! I could go on forever here.
I hope that whatever you're striving for becomes a reality. If there's anything
I can do to help, let me know! Ride that lightning my friends and have a great
rest of the week...
No comments:
Post a Comment