Why I Run.

The very beginning of October of 2007 I had just gotten back from Paraguay and my company (I'm Army) took a PT test.  I did fairly well, scoring in the 270 range (out of a possible 300).  After every PT test, as those of you in the Army know, there is a height and weight test.  I had never passed my weight, always being a bit over the maximum and for those like me there is a "tape test".  Your leaders pull out a tape measure and measure your chest and belly and then plug the numbers into a chart that magically determines your body fat percentage which is based off the BMI standards.  As long as you are under the prescribed body fat limits, you pass, which I always did, and this time was no exception.  However, after the tape test my 1st Sergeant pulled me aside and said "Engel, I know you are a bit older than most of soldiers in this company, and so the Army allows you a little more body fat than the younger kids.  But you barely slid under the line on this test.  You need to lose some weight."

As I walked out of his office and I was processing the conversation I realized that he had just called me fat.  My immediate reaction was, "yeah but I scored a 270+ on my PT test, that puts me in the top 10% of the company, easily, maybe even the top 5%."  However, that lame justification didn't ease the embarrassment I was still feeling.  My 1st Sergeant called me fat!

I was 5'10" and weighed 203 that day.  Not the heaviest I've ever been but close.  I went home and talked to my wife, Heather about what had happened.  I did some internet research and found that swimming and running were two of the exercises that burned the most calories.  I had run cross country a little in high school.  I had run for about a year before joining the Army and so, based on my experience and interest, I settled on running.  

Oh man! Running everyday really sucked...a lot.  I was persistent though, at least for the first three weeks.  At the end of three weeks I was still feeling sore and achy and so I missed a day or two here and there using my aching legs as an excuse.  It was at this point I realized that things were only going to go downhill from there as I had gone through this particular routine several times before. I'm sure many of you can relate.  You get excited, start a new diet or exercise routine and soon afterwards the reality sets in, life sets in, your body is angry about messing with the status quo and whammy.... new routine dies an inglorious death.  This time I was three weeks in and it was already going downhill. In order to keep it up, I knew I needed more motivation than the fact that my boss at work thought I was a lard butt.

While I was contemplating what I could do to change the course of events I was experiencing I somehow got the crazy notion in my head that I could run a marathon. I thought that since I had a hard time running 3 miles it would take forever to run a marathon and so training for such a long race would keep me engaged for a while, thus keep me on a path of weight loss and fitness.  So, I started researching for a marathon about a year out and found the Marine Corps Marathon: the People's Marathon.  It was set for the end of October of 2008, and it is held in Washington D.C., one of my favorite cities to visit.  With one year to train, I thought that was plenty of time...right??   To keep the motivation at maximum I decided to run one road race each month in preparation.  First I would run 5ks in Jan, Feb and Mar.  Then I would go for 10ks in Apr, May, and June,  1/2 Marathon in July, Aug and Sept and then the big one in Oct.  I thought my plan looked pretty dang good on paper. But all sorts of absolute insanity looks good on paper.  I mean on paper Wiley E. Coyote could strap an Acme rocket to his back and snag him a little road runner snack. And we all know how that always ended up!  

I trained diligently and ran my first ever road race on 1 Jan 2008.  A 5k up in Raleigh.  What kind of looney bird got up a 6am on New Year's Day to run 5k in the freezing (literally) cold?  It was a great race.  Each month I saw improvement in my times.  Each day I decided I didn't want to run I realized I had already registered for a race that was just a couple of weeks out and I needed to train for it. This was a level of brilliance that I hadn't anticipated but was a happy result of forward planning and registering for all those races in advance while I was still super motivated.  I mean, missing one day of training could be justified as a 'Recovery Day'.  But miss two days and then I started stressing about whether or not I would be ready for the next race right around the corner.  It really didn't allow for much down time, which in my case was good. I needed the discipline and motivating force to keep me on target.  Success comes from consistency.  Even a consistent weak effort will produce results.  

In the course of all that training I also learned a lot about running.  Some distances and races I started out too fast and was burnt by the end while other races I started too slow and missed my target time.  By the time I was about 7 or 8 months into training I was starting to learn how to manage my speed throughout the race. I had also built up enough endurance that I could push harder and recover while still holding a strong pace.  In June of 2008 I finally found a pace that I could stick to the whole way through a race, just in time for the Army 10 miler on Fort Bragg. This was a great race and a real gut check. I was fighting the longest race I had ever run and I did it in the heat and humidity of Fort Bragg in June. It was a personal best at that pace, I hit my target time, and put everything I had learned together so that I could actually race like a road racer! I was well on my way to October's marathon but still had a long way to go to complete 26.2.  

October did finally roll around and I did complete the Marine Corps Marathon.  I finished all 26.2 miles.  I never walked, except for the water stations to get water and food, but that was part of the plan and it worked out.  4 hours and 29 minutes of pure running.  I finished it though.  There was a time in my life I thought that running a marathon was impossible. I taught myself that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to and worked for.  I was 20 lbs lighter, weighing in at 183 the morning of the marathon. my cardiovascular health was phenomenal. I felt invincible after that race.  I felt like I could do anything I set my sights on, it just required a goal, a plan to accomplish that goal and the determination to stick to the plan. My times on my 2 mile run portion of the Army PT test were also much faster, though I still struggled to max out the running portion of the test, to many people's surprise.  I could easily max push-ups and sit-ups but at best could score a 90 to 95 on the running portion.  I could run long, just not fast.  

I learned in that year of training that running is my self esteem booster.  It allows me to feel good about myself, it takes out a bit of the guilt out of eating an entire large pepperoni pizza.  It helps me to enjoy the outdoors, the quiet, and helps me to clear my head and put things into perspective.  I've had some great ideas while running.  I've burned off steam, frustration, and irritation while running.  Running makes me nicer.  It has also become a metaphor for life.  Any problem in life can be compared to running in some way, shape or form.  Running is motivating.  I love to read stories from people whose lives have been changed, improved or pulled out of the muck by running.  I love to read the stories of people who overcome seeming insurmountable obstacles and used running to do it.  If a blind guy can run a marathon then why can't I?   If a guy with no legs can run a marathon then why can't I?  If a 65 year old heart attack victim can qualify for Boston than why can't I.  If a guy that never ran a day in his life picks up running at 55 and becomes a Master's running champion then why can't I?   Hearing those stories strips away my excuses and then I can think back to the day when I crossed the finish line right by the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington D.C.  And I know that there is nothing I cannot accomplish if I just start plodding along, one step at a time, until I get there. In the long run you an accomplish anything with consistency and a determined effort.