Many years ago, I started walking to lose some weight. Then the walk turned into a jog, and the jog into a slow run. Within four months, I had lost about 60 pounds and I was regularly running local — but very non-competitive on my part! — 10K races.
The good news is, I eventually lost almost 90 pounds and felt better than ever before. I even managed to keep most of that weight off for five or six years. The bad news is, I did too much running too soon in the weight loss cycle and messed up my ankles and knees pretty badly and now suffer ongoing bouts with arthritis in all of the above. (I would be more likely these days to walk briskly into one of those walk in tubs than to run a 10K or marathon!)
I still have a love for watching distance races, particularly marathons, and especially the New York City Marathon. Our local TV folks don’t broadcast it, but I’m hoping to find some of it available via cable or dish. I’ve only been to NYC twice and that was long ago, but I LOVE to watch the runners make their way through all five boroughs of the city as they do the marathon.
Anyone reading this set to run in this year’s NYC marathon on Sunday? I saw some news coverage on the Internet and the TV about some of the runners who are doing the race to raise money and/or awareness for worthy causes. I hope they all succeed — and if you’re out there running it, I hope YOU succeed, too!