About a hundred years ago (more like 17) I started running and cycling. It was a transitional time in my life. I was seeking change in more than one way. Just less than a year before that I met the back of a cop car and a jail cell, two people you don’t want to meet. They were both assholes. (Btw, I got a DUI during the summer of 2002. The best worst thing that has ever happened to me.) On top of that, I lost a girlfriend to one of my best friends (Totally my fault. Sorry Lisa.) I lost a job (It was a real shitty job). And, I was going broke (never had much money anyway).
So, it was time to turn over a new leaf, so to speak. I did what any 23-year-old would do when he hits a figurative wall; I moved home. Yes, I moved back in with my parents and reassessed my life. First thing first, I needed to get my fat ass in shape so I could make the ex-girl jealous (a total dead-end move).
Let me provide a little history. Let’s take it back several years. I grew up a pretty big kid. I mean, I was chubby. I was, what some parents like to call their fat kids, “husky”. In high school, after reaching my maximum height of 5’8”, I started to grow in width. By the end of my junior year I reach 260 lbs. of pure sexy. Damn, I was hot.
It was somewhere around that time that I asked cheerleader to go out with me. And, of course, she said yes! She had really big pretty eyes. We went out once and “sat” in my truck a couple of times after school. A couple weeks later, she started dating a football player. I was heartbroken. I liked her and I wanted her to me my girlfriend. I mean, I thought we were good together. Stuff like that didn’t bother me much (I am lying.) But, I decided I was going to change my image a little. Maybe I would lose a few pounds and get in shape like the football player that snagged my lady friend.
I told my mom that I wanted to lose some weight and I needed her help. My mom has a long history of working in fitness clubs, dance studios, and gyms so I knew she would be glad to help. And, she was really excited. I think she knew that I needed to do something so that I wouldn’t experience any major problems later in life.
It was the Summer of 1996 when I started dieting. That summer I lost 40 lbs. By the end of my senior year, I had lost 85 lbs. And, yes, it was all because of a girl with big pretty eyes. (Thanks Courtney.) And, of course, I never asked her out again. I had a new, pretty girlfriend that would have never considered going out with me a year prior even though she told me she thought I was cute when I was fat. (Thanks Charity.)
Five years later I had gained most of the weight back. Working in restaurants will do that to you. I was at 230 lbs. I knew how to lose the weight because I had done it before. But, I wanted to do it differently. I didn’t want to diet. I wanted to simply be healthy. And, I had the best driving force I needed to motivate me, anger.
Between the DUI, losing a job, losing my girlfriend, and losing a best friend for taking my girlfriend, I had all the motivation I needed to start running. (Couldn’t have done it without you Steve.) Why did I run? Because, it hurt. It made me hurt in places that I had never hurt before. My legs, shoulders, nipples, gonads, feet, ankles, you name it; it hurt. But, I kept doing it. I would go out in the middle of the night because I couldn’t sleep thinking about my friend and ex doing stuff together. I would run until I couldn’t run anymore (which wasn’t that far). Then, I would start again. That physical pain took my mind from my emotional pain. Then the craziest thing happened; I started to like it. And, I started to run farther and faster.
To supplement the running, I acquired an old mountain bike. Actually, my mom purchased it for me from my brother-in-law for 50 bucks. (Thanks Mom and Tim.) It was way too big for me but I made it work. I rode the hell out it, took it apart and reassembled it, and treated it like it was a worth a fortune. To me, it was. It was the beginning of a new relationship. I’ll save that story for later.
Toward the end of the 2002, I was much healthier than I was at the beginning of the year. I had lost about 40 lbs. and the more I ran, the faster it came off. Pain was still motivation but, the mirror was supplementing the drive as well.
On Christmas Eve, 2002 I officially became a runner. I personally declared myself a runner and here’s why. It was 11:00 PM. It was about 25 degrees outside and I headed to the local park to hit the pain cave for about an hour. (Pain cave is metaphor for a hard run or workout in general.) By this time, I had worked up to three miles without stopping to walk. The park had a half-mile track that twisted through a nice wooded area. I bundled up and started running the loop. About three laps in, it started to snow. As I took in the feeling of nature, I forgot about the pain. It was exhilarating. I couldn’t think about the ex-girlfriend or the pain. All I could think about was how incredible it was to be running in the snow on Christmas Eve. It was certainly a gift from God. But, the craziest thing happened on that night. I ran five miles…nonstop. It was like climbing over an obstacle that I couldn’t do previously. It was a milestone. Yes, I had become a runner.
Note: The truth is, I had become a runner months before that night because of the dedication I had invested in it. It doesn’t take a person running five miles to become a runner. But, it was the personal affirmation I needed to give myself that title.
I continued to hit my five-mile mark consistently for a couple of months. It didn’t matter if I was on the road, treadmill, trail, or track. I was nailing it and I was getting faster. One day, while at the gym, this guy approached me to compliment my running. He, too, was a runner. He told me that he and some friends were going to run the Nashville half-marathon in April (two months away) and he invited me to join them. I think my response was, “Hell yeah! What is a half-marathon?” He explained to me that it was a 13.1 mile run and it was like a “party through the streets in downtown Nashville.” I just went ahead and committed. I didn’t think about it. I went home that night and registered. (Thanks Nolan.)
They say that you don’t have to run a whole 13 miles to train for a half-marathon. If you can run ten or so, you’re good. Well, I didn’t know that so I worked up to a 13 miler in that two months. Maybe I didn’t have to work up to that. But, that half-marathon was a breeze. And, it was more fun than I have ever had at a community event. That race helped me find myself, my people, and the path I had been looking for. I caught the bug.
That year, in addition to the half-marathon, I participated in a 10-mile run, a 10k run, a 5k run, an off-road adventure race, and two sprint-distance triathlons. Yes, I had caught the bug and when the winter of 2003 rolled around, all I could think about was what I was going to do in 2004 and how I was going to get better at this new thing.
It’s been 16 years since all of that happened. I have participated in countless endurance events of many sorts. There is a story to tell of when I started racing mountain bikes in 2006 but I will save that for later, too. But, since it all started, there have been very few weeks that I didn’t run, ride, or workout. I honestly think there has been three full weeks in 16 years that I didn’t do anything. One was due to strep throat the other two were cases of flu. I have taken breaks from participating in events over the years because I needed to be reminded that it’s not about competition against me or anyone else. It’s about living, loving, and learning. Living a healthy lifestyle, loving yourself and what God has given you, and learning that you can do anything you put your mind to. And it’s about appreciating people and experiences along the way. The people we encounter affect us. How they affect us is not completely up to them; it’s up to you. What to do with a person’s influence is up to you. You can allow it to affect you negatively and screw up your attitude. Or, you can make the best of it and make it a tool to create a better you.
I just want to add, about a year after I became a runner, I made peace with my friend and ex-girlfriend. We all put the past behind us and it was a good feeling to move on. They are now married with two beautiful little girls.
