How I became a reluctant runner

First a little about me...I don't have the typical runner physical shape, tall, lean, long legs.  In fact I'm pretty much the total opposite.  Not to mention I'm a ex smoker with messed up knees from years of skiing and military training.  Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I hate running.  So needless to say running didn't really hold a lot of interest for me.  Anyway about 3 years ago my work organized a 5K race to support wounded vets from Iraq and Afghanistan, which having been in the military and having friends who have done multiple deployments, is a cause that was close to my heart.  Not to mention that I had recently quit smoking and was looking to get in better shape, so I decided to go for it, I didn't care how long it took me to complete it or how far I could run without walking for a bit, I just wanted to finish.  So after a little bit of training, and I do mean a little bit, I ran it with another co-worker who also was just starting to run.  I don't think I slept a single wink the night before, I was so nervous and I don't even know why.  So I ran for about a mile and half, sucking wind the entire time, then we walked for a bit, ran some more, walked a bit, ran some more.  When I crossed the finish line with a horrible time of something like 38 minutes it was such a rush.  I had a sense of accomplishment that I had not felt in a very long time.  I remember thinking "holy shit, I did it."  Now this is where I think I got hooked.  That runner's high that I got was like a drug, not to mention that I've always liked to do something that no one expects I would do. Next thing you know I'd signed up for 3 more 5K's the rest of the season.  My third race ever I finally ran the 3.1 miles nonstop, no walking and again I got this unbelievable sense of accomplishment.  I think it also felt so amazing to finish a race because I still hated to run.  My wife at the time would ask me if I hated running so much, why the hell would I do this.  The short answer was because I did hate running.  Let's get real, it's only 3.1 miles, to an actual runner this is a warm up, but to me it was an accomplishment and forcing myself to run when all my brain and body just wanted me to do is quit, was such an incredible feeling that I couldn't step away from.  So I continued to run and that year I ran in four 5K's, each race my time would get better and I would get that high.  So then my wife passed away from breast cancer and one of the races that I had done the year before was to support breast cancer, so I set my sights on that race in May as my first race of 2012.  Now for me signing up for a race was motivation to actually train.  It was easy to blow off going for a run when you didn't have a race scheduled.  So as I started training I found that me going out and running helped me deal with my grief and anxiety.  Pretty soon I was running almost daily and it was this amazing way to make me feel better when things got overwhelming for me. Running became my therapy.  At the same time I started running with a friend and co-worker who at this point we were at about the same ability level.  Not only did that push my competitive button, but she also wanted to sign up for a bunch of races, and of course at this point I had no willpower and would pretty much agree to anything, so between May 2012 and January 2013 I've run sixteen 5k's and I'm currently planning a half marathon.

I've noticed that after 16 races in just under eight months, the runner high isn't as high anymore.  Don't get me wrong I still get a sense of accomplishment and I love the atmosphere and energy at some of these bigger races I've been in, I just don't have this huge sense of accomplishment anymore.  Now I always said I wouldn't run a marathon or even a half, but last October I ran in a 5K that had a 10K and a half marathon running as well and I saw those people finishing their half marathon and I began to think "I wonder how great that must feel to finish." That got my tiny brain thinking and I realized, just like a drug addict, I was chasing that high that I once had, now I just need a larger dose.  I still say that I won't run a full marathon, because training for that is like a full time job, not to mention it is hell physically on your body.  But then again I said that about a half marathon as well.  So anyway, that is the story of how I became a runner, which I only started to recently accept that term, even though my friends have called me a runner for quite some time now, I've always denied that I was a runner. I will keep this blog posted as I train for this half marathon in the fall and I'm sure run a crap load of 5K's and maybe some 10K's between now and then.