The Middle of The Beginning ...

10 March 2013 ... I decided to start this blog today because this evening was the first time I ran outdoors in 98 days ... ever since I suffered an Achilles injury during the Las Vegas Half Marathon back on 2 December 2012.  My return to outdoor running kindled the fire for me to begin this blog, and the fact that my best friend in life ... my awesome partner in life, Lynn ... was there, fuelled my passion to site down in front of the computer and begin typing.

Passion ... that is the core theme of this blog ... passion for running.  I never knew I had it ... that is, until Lynn helped me find it.  Like a simple (yet critical) catalyst in a mind blowing chemical reaction, Lynn transformed me into this crazy "can't get enough of it" running maniac.

So Lynn ... I dedicate this blog to you.  You have shown me that anyone can do anything in life - with enough drive, determination and dedication - but mainly PASSION.  You are overflowing with passion for running - and I have only you to thank for transferring a spark of that passion to me - a spark that grew into a blazing fire - one that I cannot - nor do not want to - ever put out.

That was the Beginning of the Beginning ...

The Beginning of the Beginning ...

I had always been an active person - playing sports growing up and general fitness through 20 years in the military.  However, only on a couple of occasions had I ever felt the passion that I feel now for running.  An injury to my left knee in 2002 left me unable to continue dabbling in the wide variety of activities I loved to try - cycling became my one and only means of cardio-related exercise.

Shortly after we moved to Ottawa in 2007, one day while browsing the sports section in Chapters book store, Lynn picked up a book on running and said, "I might give running a try."  I need to be open and honest here - I really did not think that Lynn would follow through with this statement.  Well ... I couldn't have been more wrong.  Little did I know, Lynn was experiencing the very early beginnings of a PASSION - the passion of running.  She set her mind on a goal, focused her efforts and began running.  It wasn't long before the first 30 seconds of running turned into a running clinic, which turned into a 5 KM race event, then a 10 KM race event and eventually two half marathon races in 2012!!  Was I EVER wrong. 

It was half way through that 4+ year time span of Lynn's running when a small spark of passion leaped from Lynn to me.  Lynn invited me to "buddy night" at one of her clinics.  I was sceptical at first - over the years I had become an individualist as far as physical activity goes.  I had always loved team sports, but I let my injury rule over me and I turned to low-intensity individual sports (mainly trail riding).  So ... when Lynn asked me to attend "buddy night" at her running clinic, I said, "I'll give it a try but I don't think I will like this whole 'running in a group' thing."  Once again - WRONG!!!

It wasn't that first night when the passion struck me - it was few weeks later when I realised that running with others has several benefits - that was when the passion kindled itself.  Just a small glowing ember at first - which slowly grew and spread - and within a few months I definitely could feel the passion.  As was the case with Lynn, a 10 KM clinic led to a few 5 KM and 10 KM racing events, then a half marathon clinic followed by three half marathon events in 2012, during the third of which I suffered an injury which took me out of running for 98 days - where this story began.

But let's back up a bit - to tell a little more of the beginning before this blog enters the stage of regular updates on a daily/weekly basis (depending on how I feel and what has bee happening).

The First Full Year

I don't remember too many details of the 2011 running year.  It was my "forming" year.  I spent much of the year learning many things about running I never knew existed.  I had always thought that running was such a natural human thing to do that it should come naturally to everyone.  Well ... that is true for most of us during the very early stages in life - but several things in our daily lives inhibit natural running as we get older.  So there WAS much I had to learn about running.  In addition, I had torn the PCL in my left knee during s sporting even in 2002 - it was sever enough that significant damage was done to the joint over the subsequent two to three years, that I now must wear an off-loading brace on my left leg whenever I do any kind of load bearing or impact activity - so I needed to learn how to run with my brace - lots of experimenting with different paces, gates and positioning of the brace for maximum comfort and endurance.

I do remember meeting the key people during that year that have become a big part of my running life - the successes I have achieved would have been much more challenging without my running friends - my support network!  THANK YOU (you know who you are).

I didn't track my running very closely that year - I let the clinics evolve as they were planned and simply ran whenever life would allow.  I registered for a few events and had fun completing them.  It was as 2011 was coming to a close that a few of us decided it was time to make the jump to the half marathon distance - that was our goal for 2012 - complete the 21.1 KM distance.  That was really when I became much more focused on my running, and began to track my achievements much moe closely.

The Passion of Running inside me had transitioned to a new level ... however, I had not forgotten from where that passion came - I was still fueled (stronger than ever) by the successes being achieved by Lynn - but even more by the look of happiness and general healthiness on her smiling face every day ...

Year Two - Passion VS Obsession

(... taking a short break ... more to follow ...)