Saturday, April 5, 2008

IT DOESN'T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ALONE

I ran 5.2 miles today through the Yorktown Battlefields. I ran around a 9:00 pace and stopped nearly every mile. It was a great run!

Not because of my performance, the pace was slow and I felt really strong. I didn’t need the walk breaks my heart rate never got going really. What made this run special was that I ran with one of my good friends that’s just getting back into running. My buddy used to be a College XC runner so he knows what to do, it’s just been a matter of doing it. Two kids and a lot of years latter and he’s just getting started again.

Running is definitely an individual sport, but I really love an easy recovery run with a good friend, or even a newly made friend that I know nothing about. I have meet people in a parking lot at 6:00am and by 8:30 and 17 miles later I end up knowing stuff about these people that their close friends never had the time to ask.

I ran all summer with a group of guys from my neighborhood. By fall these guys were close friends. We all decided to travel one weekend and run the Kiawah Island Marathon in Charleston, South Carolina. Due to too much racing last fall, (3 marathons in one month and Kiawah a month later) I had to DNF at the half marathon point. I waited for two of my friends to finish and it was very emotional. One guy was trying to break 3:40 and he was so close. I was screaming at him during the finish you would have thought that I had a thousand on him to win the Kentucky Derby it was great. My other friend had always grown up in his big brother’s shadow. His brother had run a 4:00 marathon and that was his time to beat. After several attempts and at the age of 50, he beat his brother that day with a 3:50. For the last ¼ mile I kept screaming you’re gonna beat NED! It was very emotional and a great feeling.

Sometimes it’s not about the performance but about the experience. Running for me isn’t a sport but a lifestyle. And I really enjoy sharing that lifestyle with new and old friends.

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