Never Give Up! 8-4-2014
Over the course
of the past year, I have been doing my best to get healthy, exercise more, make
healthy food choices when eating and hopefully lose weight in the process. Fortunately the hard work and discipline in these
key areas has been paying off and I have lost some weight. Part of my overall goal to lose enough
weight, is to enjoy jogging more, which was a part of my life in my younger
years. However, my knees are not what
they used to be, I still carry too much weight, and I am much slower than when
I was younger, so it is a bit of a challenge at 52.
Therefore as I
have lost some weight, I have been able to enjoy a bit of jogging at a very
slow pace. At the beginning of the
summer I was able to slowly jog the Sunburst 5K and greatly enjoyed the
event. Following that race, I decided
to jog during the summer and slowly increase my distance. My goal was to run the 10K at the Logan run
on Notre Dame Campus at the beginning of August. I began to prepare myself for that longer
race by increasing my jogging distances during the summer.
This past
Saturday I felt I was ready and showed up at the Logan run event early to pick
up my shirt, race number and information bag.
My race number was only # 6, which was very low, considering there were
probably close to a thousand participants.
I thought there is no way I was going come into 6th place,
but perhaps that is how fast / slow I would run. (6 MPH)
The 10K runners all gathered around the large balloon archway, which was
the beginning of the race waiting for the begin running call. The 10K runners took off and I was about in
the middle of the pack of probably 200 runners. I had only three goals for the race that
day. First to complete the full
10k’s. Secondly, not to walk and always
jog and thirdly to do my best to stay under an average of 12 minute miles in my
slow jogging pace. (Fortunately, I was
able to accomplish all three of my goals, but it was no easy task!!!)
After about one
mile into the race, my right ham string began to feel pain and cramp up. This has never happened to me and I thought
to myself, I want to definitely finish this race, so I will slow down a bit and
see if it goes away. Stopping was not an option considering how much I wanted
to finish this race. Fortunately, after about another quarter mile the pain
went away and I kept on jogging.
Although I thought I was doing pretty well, I was quickly put in my
place as person after person began to pass by me early in the race. First it
was the ten year old little boy who seemed to sprint by me. Then a very young girl also passed by. Then a gentlemen about 20 years older than
my 52 year old body slowly but surely passed by. I tried to pick up the pace, but reminded
myself to just stick to my comfortable pace and finish the long race.
I stayed positive
and just kept my three goals in mind.
Finish, don’t stop and stay under 12 minute miles. At the first water station I was handed a
cup full of gator aid. I have never
drank that during a race, but I did my best to choke down a couple of gulps
while I was running and continue down the path. About half way through the race the runner
traffic had thinned out, yet a father pushing a child in a running cart whizzed
by me and a couple of ladies did so as well.
I continued to stress to myself, don’t worry who is passing you, just
meet your three goals and Never Give UP!!!
Next came the
second watering area. As I jogged by the
table and multiple holding out cups for me to grab, I was handed another glass
of gator aid and slowed down enough to try to drink the full glass if
possible. I felt as much as I was
sweating, I needed the replenishing qualities of the gator aid in my body. I think I need to practice jogging and
drinking at the same time, because the two don’t occur naturally. I think I choked & spit up more gator aid
than I swallowed. Now I was on the back
stretch of the run with only two miles left.
(Yeah God!!!) I could tell my
pace was slowing down and I was laboring in my breathing and wheezing. By this time the sun was up and it was
getting hotter with high humidity for the day.
The beauty of jogging around the two lakes was very nice. Not that I was feeling bad enough, about a
mile left in the race, a first aid lady rode up to me on her bike and asked me
if I was going to be alright because I looked rather peeked. Which was a kind and polite way of saying, “I
think you’re going to drop dead at any moment, can I help you.” I thanked her and said, “I am fine, I just
look ugly and painful when I run.”
(Which I do.)
I continued to
slowly jog and kept my thumbs up, thanking the many volunteers who cheered me
on as I meandered through the course.
Finally I could see the finish line with the welcoming archway of pretty
balloons in the distance. I picked up my
pace a bit to finish strong over the finish line. About fifty yards from the finish line there
were some good friends and my wife cheering me on while ringing a cowbell. I crossed the finish and met all three
goals. I finished, I never stopped
jogging, and I was actually under an 11 minute mile average. Wow, that’s pretty cool, I actually did it.
I was so very
tired and my legs were shaking when I crossed the finish line. However, when I began to walk a few steps
past the finish line, I could tell my stomach was saying to get rid of all that
gator aid that I drank at the last two stops. Things were physically in motion
and there was no stopping what was going to happen next! (Where were the first aid folks now?) Without hesitation, I walked over to the tall
weeds on the side of the road and quickly got rid of all that gator aid. I’m
sure I was a site for sore eyes. I felt
a bit better, but was still very much drained.
A cold water & banana later helped me to feel better.
This 10k race was by far
the most difficult run I have ever undertaken, yet I would do it again in a
heartbeat. I met a goals, which was
difficult, but very fulfilling. I trained
for nearly two months getting ready to meet that goal. As I crossed the finish line, I was handed a
small medal with a colorful ribbon, which will go on my desk with pride. A small reminder of hard work and
determination.
Through it all, I
have quickly determined that the shorter 5k run is my race rather than the 10k
run at this point in my life. I look
forward to my next 5K run, hopefully soon as I continue to train, eat healthy
and lose more weight. Many thanks to
the Healthy Me folks for their continued encouragement and guidance through
this process to become a healthier me.
I would also like thank Colleen Hahn, the encouraging and hard-working
program coordinator, Jonell, my determined physical trainer, Dr. Troyer, who gives me
medical guidance and Erin, the dietitian, who teaches me about making healthy
food choices.
