Most of you who know me are aware that I have started jogging. For me jogging and running are about the same speed so I use the words interchangeably. This form of exercise started for me in September 2009. The local YMCA started an outdoor running club that would train 3 days a week as a group and the other days we are to train alone or rest. The First night of the group we did 3 half mile repeats. That basically meant that we ran half a mile and then walked about a tenth of a mile then rested. All 3 stages of the repeat should have been of equal length. I thought I would die after the first 1/2 mile. I did jog the whole way for that 1/2 mile. But the other 2 half miles were a mixture of running and walking. In other words I was out of shape and had no clue how to make myself keep going in this world of running. As I drove home that night disappointed in my performance I started thinking of ways to overcome this difficulty I was having with running. The biggest obstacle I have overcome in this life was not being able to walk and talk after my illness in 2002. How did I overcome that? Why did I overcome that? Who helped me along the way? these are all questions that I asked myself when considering how I could use the experience of therapy and translating it to the experience of training.
The year after my ruptured colon and subsequent inability to walk and talk were the toughest year of my life. I could not articulate myself the way that I wanted nor could I even move the way that I wanted. I was 30 years old and had to use a walker and then a cane to walk, my speech was generally not understandable at most times, my breathing was forced and unnatural. I was a mess. However, I always felt the need to get better, to try my hardest to get back to being a productive husband for Mary, father for the girls, son, friend and neighbor. I could do it.
Daily rehabilitation sessions at the hospital were my job back then. So, with the help of Mary and the therapists, doctors and nurses, who all have a special place in my heart, I was able to go into therapy with a POSITIVE attitude everyday. I'll never forget the day they let me try to walk without assistance in the therapy department. One of my prior therapists was there to drop off some paperwork and when she saw me walking on my own she began to cry. I was so proud of myself that I thought I could run at that time. Those tears were an inspiration to me. Still are today.
Anyway, as I was disappointed in myself as I drove home after that first night of running club I remembered all of this and put in my mind that I COULD and WILL accomplish this goal. The Ultimate goal of the club, at least in the short term is to run in a half marathon in December 2009. That's next month, actually like 2 weeks away. I am proud to say that I have jogged a distance of 7 miles at a time so far, and am scheduled to do a 10 mile run on Saturday morning. I have been told by several runners that doing the 3.1 after doing 10 is "easy".
I will post whether I survive the 10 miles on Saturday and then my triumph on the half marathon.
(the above pictures of me are in the hospital in 2002 on Elani's 1st birthday and the 2nd is from October 2009 when I ran the Oktoberfest 3 mile race in Baton Rouge)
