Day Two, 363 To Go

January 2, 2013

Two days down!  I am on my way!  WHOOOHOOOO!

Ok, that is a bit too much excitement for a total of 30 minutes of running, I know.  But, I'm trying to motivate myself.  I know it is only day two, but my streak was already in jeopardy!  Actually, Honey's streak (Honey is my wife, in case you didn't read my opening blog) was in jeopardy.  She was not feeling well due to complications from carrying triplets for 36 weeks.  Yeah, you try that and see if you come out unscathed.  But, she pushed through the pain and we got through the whole 15 minutes.

I guess a little history is in order.  I have actually been running and doing triathlons for about 12 years now.  I started running because I had asthma brought on by smoking cigarettes.  I woke up one night struggling to breathe and I thought I was going to die!  So, I decided to quit smoking (took a little while) and to start running.  I started by running a mile three times a week.  It was agony.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I did it for six straight months.  I didn't miss a run.

I signed up a for a local race, a four mile Valentine's day race call the YMCA Sweetheart Run in Stratford, CT.  It was in 2002.  The line from my race was:
Bib     Name                       City                       Age    Time     Pace
187    Steven Charles          Somers  NY          29      44:22   11:06/M
Not exactly horrible, especially considering it is a very hilly course.  The thing that pissed me off was on the last hill...heartbreak hill they called it...I was struggling to climb the hill...snot was dripping from my nose (hey, its cold in CT in February), my breaths were short and ragged...and an old man, perhaps about 75, passed me like I was standing still!  What!  I am THAT slow!  Of course, I pressed on after him, but to no avail.  He left me in his geriatric dust.

A lifelong hobby was born.  At the very least, I thought, I can't let a man who probably uses a walker in the supermarket beat me again (Yeah, it has happened again...grrrr!).

So, I kept on running, and in my next race in May, I had a much better result.  This was a 5k:

Equity Office 5K Corporate Run
Bib     Name                       City                       Age    Time     Pace
???    Steven Charles          Somers  NY          29      25:59   8:21/M

Much better!  After that, I did a bunch more road races until I finally moved to Hawaii in 2004.  That is a story for another day...

About today's run.  It was slow and steady (Honey is new to running, so we have to take it easy).  This is actually a good thing because it will prevent me from going out and running too hard and breaking down faster.  This is our line for the day:

Time: 15:00
Distance: 1.2 miles
Pace: 12:34/m
Max Pace: 9:56/m
Calories: 133
Avg HR: 100
Max HR: 115

As you can see, it was slow and easy.  Just like I planned.  Stay tuned, because those numbers will improve.  I'll make a runner out of Honey, just you watch.  Just don't tell her I said so.

Run for life...