GJ Day 6: Running

 It's funny to be writing about a love of running today, as today, running did not love me back.

I'm injured - this morning, while on my run, I pulled a calf muscle.  Normally I would just walk home, but this one was deep and big (which means painful).  I actually had to call my wife and have her come pick me up 2 1/2 miles away from our house, 'cause I didn't want to damage myself more hobbling the way I was.  As I write this about 12 hours later, it still hurts, But the feeling I had as soon as it happened was not really one of pain, but one of loss.  I knew that this was going to sideline me for a week or two, and coming back to running would be hard.  

I've been a runner for a bit over 21 years now, having run my first race in 1999 when my wife was pregnant with our son.  Back then, I really didn't think that I would come to identify myself as a runner and an athlete - I thought that first 5K was going to be a 'one and done' situation.  But I got the bug, and with a motivational employee, I started running longer and longer, topping out at 50K ultramarathons and half-Ironman triathlons.  

Like all loves, there was a time when the flame burned bright, when running was almost all I would talk about.  I would listen to podcasts, read magazines, join in interview shows and follow the sport, as well as doing actual running and racing, eventually putting on my own race because no one else had one where I lived.  But also like all loves, passion fades and is replaced by a comfortable, nurturing relationship, a dependence on the other (an imperfect metaphor, as running doesn't really need me....)

And that's where I am now.  I look back and I am grateful for what running has brought into my life.  I'm grateful to Dan, who got me to run my first half marathon and marathon.  I'm thankful to Steve, Kevin, Chris, Nigel, Angie and Trevor, and a host of other runners who host podcasts and build communities around our sport.  I'm grateful for the day that my wife was late for a bus, and had to run home during a walk, deciding that this 'running thing' I do was pretty cool.   It has changed my life for the better, and given me more than I could have expected.