The decision to run

     What makes people want to run?  I don't claim to know why people choose to take up running as a hobby, escape or lifestyle.  All that I can offer you is what went through my head before, during and after my decision.

     I've always walked a lot as a result of not having a car as a kid and living in a small town.  While walking one day (when I was about 15), I passed this big apartment building with a very large, wrapping porch.  This older couple was sitting there and the next thing I knew, I was talking to this guy named Jim.  Come to find out, Jim had been a runner and road biker in his younger years.  After talking to Jim, it made a lot of sense to run.  Just because it made sense, doesn't mean that I had a good enough reason to run.  I still felt like people might see me and that it was hard and that I wouldn't be very good at it.  Many people I knew were runners.  Among them were Steve Baker (my math teacher back in Camden), Julie Sanborn and Steve Prusak.  If I misspelled Steve's last name, I am deeply sorry!  He is the runner than sticks in my mind more than anybody.  He would run any day of the year.  It didn't matter if it was cold or rainy or snowy or a holiday even....he was a runner.  He even ran home from work several miles away on occasion.          

     Fast forward to my 32nd birthday.  My lovely wife, Honor, had started going to the gym and had lost some weight and changed some eating habits.  This is also about the time that she decided to start running.  Seeing her make this decision to become a more healthy individual, combined with the fact that I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes led me to believe that something needed to change.  A friend of Honor's, Amanda Benoit, loaned her a book.  The book was none other than "The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer".  In this book, they talk about what to do if you can't run three miles.  The basic plan was to run for a spell, then walk, then run, then walk.  The goal was the increase the distance you were running each time until you were able to run the full three miles.  This, combined with the fact that I simply needed more exercise, made complete sense!  By this point in my life, I cared a lot less about what other people thought for two reasons: 1) They weren't even attempting anything this challenging and 2) If they were, they started somewhere too and they would certainly respect my decision!  So, I strapped on my shoes and before I knew it, I could run three whole miles!!!!