Coming full circle

My running life really has come full circle in so many ways.

2005 is a year that I will never forget. Not only was it the year when my marriage ended but it was also the year that I discovered what my passion truly was. At the time of my separation, I was knee deep in a job which was physically and emotionally draining. That made sense because my marriage mirrored that too.

Once I had made the decision to separate, the weight seemed to be lifted from my shoulders along with the stress that came along with being in an unhappy relationship. I also made the decision to leave my job as a drug and alcohol counsellor. It was really an easy decision because it was a job which wasn’t very uplifting and I realized that I needed to be in an environment which was more positive than negative.

All of this happened within a span of a few months but the single most important thing that happened that year came in May. I met Angie Hawley at my gym and I later found out that she was an Ultra Trail Runner. At that point I had no idea why people ran, let alone ran long distances. I was working out regularly at the gym but running never even crossed into my consciousness. I still remember the first time I even ran on the treadmill beside her as I wanted to get to know her. I kept hitting the emergency stop button as I was running because it was all so foreign to me. It really was a funny sight and it’s a wonder that I managed to get up the nerve to actually ask her out.

Well, I did ask her out and got her number and when we started talking that’s when I really got a sense of her passion for running. She asked me if I would like to go for a run with her one day. Because I wanted to impress her I said sure, let’s go. I’ll never forget that first run we did together. I didn’t even have proper shoes on but I managed to run 10K with her.

After surviving that, she asked me a few weeks later if I wanted to run in the trails with her, again I said sure. That feeling I had as I ran in the trails is something that I will also remember forever. I felt so alive that day and I remember the steam coming off my body after the run.

Fast forward to July 2009 and I am running the same routes that I started running in 2005. It hit me the other day how ironic that is to be running in the exact same area that started it all for me. It also made me think about what would have happened had I not met Angie in 2005? Who knows where my life would have turned. I cannot say with any confidence that I would have discovered my passion for running because she was the person who introduced me to it.

I have met some incredible people and have accomplished some amazing people because of that decision to ask Angie out on that day in May so I will forever be thankful to her for giving me that gift. Now I am able to pass along my passion to others in much the same way that she did for me. I take that responsibility very seriously because I know how much running has helped me and I know that others feel the same way.

TRAINING UPDATE


Yesterday I ran ½ marathon through the streets of Ajax and it was a nice easy run. I have to remember to not push the speed on these runs too much but that is becoming more difficult as my conditioning increases. I also have noticed that my weight is finally starting to come down under the 160 mark and with 2 months until the race I want to see if I can hit the 150-155 pound mark before the race. I have decided to put my weight training on hold in order to try and get to that weight by race day.

I have had to juggle some of my runs this week so today I will be doing a race pace run of 6-7 miles and then a recovery run tomorrow.