I recently posted on my Facebook page, Russell’s Stories, about the Rock & Roll Half-Marathon I ran with my sister, and it received so much attention that I decided to expand on how I stumbled into my ‘running life.’
The Running Life: Out of Shape
When I was 49, I weighed above 210 pounds. “My perfect weight,” I kept telling my wife. Somehow, I deluded myself into actually believing that nonsense.
But secretly, I knew I was out of shape. I couldn’t run the length of one house lot. I rationalized my poor performance by blaming it on age. I lamented that my days of running, climbing, and having an active life were over.
The Running Life: Challenged
When I turned 50, all that changed: my wife announced that she intended to run a half-marathon, and that I had to train with her. I told her to stop being so awful to her husband.
At the same time, my youngest son was graduating from High School and planned to move out on his own, leaving my wife and me as empty-nesters. He said (in reference to the book I had been repeatedly beginning for years), “All your kids are gone now. You’d better get moving because you’re running out of time.” As I thought about it, I decided that it applied to more than my book: it applied to all the other parts of my life.
But that wasn’t quite enough to get me moving. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. I required still more force to overcome my inertia.
It occurred right after after a formal at my son’s high school, St. Thomas’ Episcopal. I posed for a picture with him, both of us dressed in tuxedos. When I saw the picture, I saw the truth: “I’m fat.”
“I tried to tell you,” my wife said, happy that I had admitted that she was right.
The Running Life: In Training
So, I decided to train with her. We joined Houston Fit, a club in Houston especially designed to help people change their lives, and their lifestyles, by training for the Houston Half- and Full- Marathons.
Houston Fit begins training for the January marathon in July. At the first meeting in Memorial Park, we ran one mile. I doubted I could do it, and was shocked when we completed it. “That’s the first time I’ve ever run one mile,” I said.
The next week we ran two, and I said the same thing about two miles. Over the course of that season and the next, (we failed to complete the training the first year and tried again the next), I said the same thing when we finished 3 miles, then 4 miles, then 5 miles — and on and on.
The Running Life: Changed
I lost 50 pounds, and after the second training season, Melinda and I completed our first half-marathons. Running represented a new beginning for us. Our evolution of change turned to food and then the rest of our lives. It encouraged us to re-evaluate every part of our ‘comfortable’ lives.
I’ve completed several half-marathons since then, and one full marathon. I still run and intend to continue. The actual act of running has never been that enjoyable to me, but the response of my body after I complete the run is what I’m after. I describe it as changing my chemical make-up.
Running means more to me than that, though. When I run I’m saying “I’m not through. I’m not done. I still have a life to live and dreams to fulfill.”
India
We’re leaving for India soon, and I expect my blogs to change for a time. They’ll be about our trip and our philosophy about traveling. My wife, who writes great stories about our trips, has agreed to guest blog.
She’s going on this trip for me. India was never on her list, but it is at the top of mine. India has always been a dream to me. I’m heavily involved in the Indian and Pakistani communities in Houston, and I have many friends who have spent hours telling me stories about the great subcontinent and answering my questions.
If you have any questions about our trip, please post them on my Facebook page Russell’s Stories and I’ll respond promptly.
