Take advantage of the moment
As I said in my inaugural post, running is my passion. The feeling that I get from running is hard to describe. Part of it is a sense of accomplishment, part is the alone time I get to think through my daily stresses, and part is a chemical process in the body that releases endorphins. From what I understand releasing endorphins is the body's way of dealing with the work it is doing and to distract the mind from the pain a hard workout brings. I could be wrong on this but I do get a "natural high" from running. It makes my mind alert and gives me a much more positive attitude for the rest of the day and allows me to sleep better.
As I age, everything that I have read says that I should not run every single day as it takes at least 48 hours for the body to repair itself from the damage running causes. Giving the body a chance to heal also is supposed to make you stronger and more efficient for your next run if you follow the experts' advice on how to train as well as rest and recover properly. I have been following that advice lately and I seem to improve quicker. What the off day also does is create more enjoyment for the days that I do run. I look forward to every run more than ever before. It doesn't feel like a chore, but rather a gift given to me to take and enjoy.
That brings me to my point. I am now in at least my 4th comeback running competitively. I ran very well in high school as a long distance runner, and planned to run in college. I walked on, my freshman year, to the track team at Rochester Institute of Technology, and the coach gave me a one mile time trial. Not having trained very well before that, I still managed to impress him enough for him to look at me after the trial and say "let me show you where your locker is". I never made it very much longer there as I became extremely homesick and could not stand being away from home any more. I transfered to the University of Pittsburgh, and didn't think very much of myself that I could run with their team. As I look back I think I would have made their team as well but my lack of confidence and shyness didn't allow me to make that step.
I went almost 13 years from the day I transferred to Pitt until the next time I ever ran again. I went to watch the Pittsburgh Marathon to see a friend run. That day made me realize that I had wasted my gift to run and needed to get my body in shape. I went out the next day and tried to run. I could not make 1 mile. I eventually got back on track and completed the Pittsburgh Marathon in 1988. I had trained to run close to a 3 hour marathon and I was in the top 100 at the halfway mark (1hr 25 min or so) out of 3,000 runners. Unfortunately, one of my legs cramped up so bad at mile 19 that I had to walk for a few miles. I finished under 3:50, far from my goal, but finished nonetheless, exactly a year from the day I could not even run 1 mile.
I ran regularly until a year or so later I was diagnosed with a tumor on my spinal cord. I had been running a 10 mile race in Kittanning, PA and I felt a pain in my side the entire race and after. I had been golfing the week before in cold weather and just figured I strained a muscle swinging a club. Five months and three doctors later I got the bad news. Three days later I was being operated on. The doctor told me I had a chance that I would be paralyzed. I came through that surgery and had a very rough recovery, but it did put me back in decent shape. I got back to running but I was heavier now and having had my son born, didn't have the desire or time to train. I eventually stopped altogether, and coached youth baseball and basketball for many years.
My third comeback was 8 years ago. I decided to try again, and ran a few shorter races, 5K and 10K mainly. I kept pulling muscles in my right calf and hamstring and my training got derailed. I kept trying to get back and one obstacle after another kept getting in my way. Finally I decided to join a men's basketball league where my son had played AAU ball. I wanted to show him how to play hard. My wife urged me to get a stress test to make sure I wouldn't have a heart attack playing ball. That means I must have looked pretty out of shape to her. I did the test one day got passed with flying colors and played my first game that night. Just after halftime, I already had a "double/double" (more than 10 points and more than 10 rebounds) with the game very close. We were up by a few points when I came down with a rebound and a 300 pound guy landed on my left foot while his weight knocked me over. My foot stayed lodged under his foot but my body was on its way down to the floor. I suffered my first ever broken bone in my life.
It took me at least 2 years to walk normal again and by then I was so overweight I couldn't even think of running. Through encouragement from my wife and stepson, who were both trying to diet, I decided to make an effort to lose weight. I did but gained it back. Then last December I was at a Pittsburgh Steelers game with one of my brothers who I had not seen since summer. He looked so healthy and he said he lost a ton of weight and was running. That was the day I decided I was not playing games any more. I was on Zocor for high cholesterol and it made my calves cramp up so I took a huge risk and decided to stop my medicine and get into shape so that my cholesterol would naturally go down. My doctor reluctantly agreed to let me try for 6 months.
I worked hard for a couple of months and I lost 45 pounds. My cholesterol is now low enough that I don't have to take the medicine. I also found out recently that I have high arches and so I changed shoes and got orthotics. Most likely that was the cause of my consistent muscle pulls in the past. I am running much more efficiently and pain free (knock on wood). I know that another twist could be thrown my way at any time, so my outlook is now to take advantage of every day that I can to enjoy my running. I will take a few days off here and there when obligations make it impossible to run, but I won't let that stop me from picking up where I leave off. I also will be training the correct way, even though that will be very hard to resist doing that extra day or have a run faster than I should workout.
Whether running is your passion or something else, take advantage of the moment and do it. Enjoy whatever gift you were given and don't take it for granted. I hope I don't ever have to write about a 5th comeback. See you soon.
Glenn
As I age, everything that I have read says that I should not run every single day as it takes at least 48 hours for the body to repair itself from the damage running causes. Giving the body a chance to heal also is supposed to make you stronger and more efficient for your next run if you follow the experts' advice on how to train as well as rest and recover properly. I have been following that advice lately and I seem to improve quicker. What the off day also does is create more enjoyment for the days that I do run. I look forward to every run more than ever before. It doesn't feel like a chore, but rather a gift given to me to take and enjoy.
That brings me to my point. I am now in at least my 4th comeback running competitively. I ran very well in high school as a long distance runner, and planned to run in college. I walked on, my freshman year, to the track team at Rochester Institute of Technology, and the coach gave me a one mile time trial. Not having trained very well before that, I still managed to impress him enough for him to look at me after the trial and say "let me show you where your locker is". I never made it very much longer there as I became extremely homesick and could not stand being away from home any more. I transfered to the University of Pittsburgh, and didn't think very much of myself that I could run with their team. As I look back I think I would have made their team as well but my lack of confidence and shyness didn't allow me to make that step.
I went almost 13 years from the day I transferred to Pitt until the next time I ever ran again. I went to watch the Pittsburgh Marathon to see a friend run. That day made me realize that I had wasted my gift to run and needed to get my body in shape. I went out the next day and tried to run. I could not make 1 mile. I eventually got back on track and completed the Pittsburgh Marathon in 1988. I had trained to run close to a 3 hour marathon and I was in the top 100 at the halfway mark (1hr 25 min or so) out of 3,000 runners. Unfortunately, one of my legs cramped up so bad at mile 19 that I had to walk for a few miles. I finished under 3:50, far from my goal, but finished nonetheless, exactly a year from the day I could not even run 1 mile.
I ran regularly until a year or so later I was diagnosed with a tumor on my spinal cord. I had been running a 10 mile race in Kittanning, PA and I felt a pain in my side the entire race and after. I had been golfing the week before in cold weather and just figured I strained a muscle swinging a club. Five months and three doctors later I got the bad news. Three days later I was being operated on. The doctor told me I had a chance that I would be paralyzed. I came through that surgery and had a very rough recovery, but it did put me back in decent shape. I got back to running but I was heavier now and having had my son born, didn't have the desire or time to train. I eventually stopped altogether, and coached youth baseball and basketball for many years.
My third comeback was 8 years ago. I decided to try again, and ran a few shorter races, 5K and 10K mainly. I kept pulling muscles in my right calf and hamstring and my training got derailed. I kept trying to get back and one obstacle after another kept getting in my way. Finally I decided to join a men's basketball league where my son had played AAU ball. I wanted to show him how to play hard. My wife urged me to get a stress test to make sure I wouldn't have a heart attack playing ball. That means I must have looked pretty out of shape to her. I did the test one day got passed with flying colors and played my first game that night. Just after halftime, I already had a "double/double" (more than 10 points and more than 10 rebounds) with the game very close. We were up by a few points when I came down with a rebound and a 300 pound guy landed on my left foot while his weight knocked me over. My foot stayed lodged under his foot but my body was on its way down to the floor. I suffered my first ever broken bone in my life.
It took me at least 2 years to walk normal again and by then I was so overweight I couldn't even think of running. Through encouragement from my wife and stepson, who were both trying to diet, I decided to make an effort to lose weight. I did but gained it back. Then last December I was at a Pittsburgh Steelers game with one of my brothers who I had not seen since summer. He looked so healthy and he said he lost a ton of weight and was running. That was the day I decided I was not playing games any more. I was on Zocor for high cholesterol and it made my calves cramp up so I took a huge risk and decided to stop my medicine and get into shape so that my cholesterol would naturally go down. My doctor reluctantly agreed to let me try for 6 months.
I worked hard for a couple of months and I lost 45 pounds. My cholesterol is now low enough that I don't have to take the medicine. I also found out recently that I have high arches and so I changed shoes and got orthotics. Most likely that was the cause of my consistent muscle pulls in the past. I am running much more efficiently and pain free (knock on wood). I know that another twist could be thrown my way at any time, so my outlook is now to take advantage of every day that I can to enjoy my running. I will take a few days off here and there when obligations make it impossible to run, but I won't let that stop me from picking up where I leave off. I also will be training the correct way, even though that will be very hard to resist doing that extra day or have a run faster than I should workout.
Whether running is your passion or something else, take advantage of the moment and do it. Enjoy whatever gift you were given and don't take it for granted. I hope I don't ever have to write about a 5th comeback. See you soon.
Glenn
Tremendous story of perseverance through some tough times. You definitely have the never give up attitude! That is a very rare quality quality in this day of instant gratification. You work hard and the rewards are definitely sweeter! :)
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned changing your shoes. Isn't it amazing how in tune with your body you get as you get older.
Please keep going and keep posting. This will be an inspiration!