A Pat on the Back

I reached a couple milestones yesterday. I ran my first 20 mile week with four 5 mile runs and have accumulated over 250 miles this year running. Although I have been watching the miles pile up since January, hitting a nice round number like that is always going to make you stop and think about the time and effort that has gone into it. In addition to the 254.3 miles, I have spent 46 hours, 38 minutes and 29 seconds running. That doesn’t sound nearly as impressive as the miles. What’s really still kind of amazing to me is that I’m still doing it. Six and a half months of pretty consistent exercise. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the most active I have been since high school. I never would have thought that the one activity that I would maintain would be running. I always figured that the only way that I would ever maintain some healthy activity was if it was something ‘fun’ that would keep my interest going.

And I suppose that in a way, running is fun. I certainly like the solitude and the time to think. I like the way I feel psychologically afterward and I definitely like updating my running log and seeing the numbers keep going up. I like the challenge of trying to go a little further and a maintain my pace over a longer distance. And I like that I’m doing something that is good for me and will help to keep me living longer for my family. I really like that I have maintained the discipline for this long and that I miss it if I don’t do it for a couple days. Its become a part of my life now and though I still fear I will stop, I worry about it less and less. I more worry about getting hurt, either while running or walking across the yard and that this will set me back or even lead to quitting. But I have a hard time now imagining not getting regular exercise of some kind. I’m disappointed that it hasn’t lead more easily to some weight loss, but I stated early on that wouldn’t be a primary goal and that general fitness would be my focus. I believe that I’m more fit, but clearly I would like to look it a bit more. It also has got to be easier on my body to run the longer distances if I’m not carrying around the big tire around my middle.

I guess what I’m more disappointed in is that I haven’t chosen to eat better along with exercising regularly. I did start last Monday to track my calories again and to try and stay under the 1800/day mark, and did well through Thursday, but then Friday we went out for dinner, Saturday out for lunch and today it was golfing with a couple drinks, a couple hot dogs and then cookies after dinner. I did manage to not eat as many cookies as I usually would, but still several too many for a reasonable desert. So, tomorrow, it’s back to tracking calories and staying around the 1800/day mark and I think I’m ready now to maintain a more healthy eating lifestyle too. It’s just time. I’m also looking forward to the next 250 miles and hope I can accomplish them well before the end of the year. With any luck, I could even accomplish them before the half marathon I’m still hoping to run the middle of October. In fact, there is a pretty decent chance that I could reach the 500th mile DURING the race. Wouldn’t that be fun?

But this post isn’t about what I am not doing or what I should do or will do. This post is to take a moment and celebrate what I have done. I’ve run 82 times in the last six and one half months for a total of over 46 hours and 250 miles. That is a pretty cool accomplishment as far as I’m concerned and I’m proud to have done it. So, Good Job; You deserve a pat on the back.