Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday. In some ways, it might be my favorite holiday. It’s a reminder, of course, to be thankful for things in life…but…I’m pretty good about doing that anyway. For me, it’s a reminder of the day, in 1999, when I decided, “I need to get in better shape or I’m going to die!”

Thanksgiving, 1999

I don’t know if I was at my heaviest that year, but I was not in good shape. Somewhere in the after-dinner walk, my heart took off racing. I was out of breath with not much distance into the walk, and I felt terrible. I was thirty years old and, at least for a moment, thought, “Great, I’m gonna die about a quarter mile into a trail with a belly full of food!”

I’ll never forget the look on my wife’s face. How could I do that to her?

I made the decision on that walk to take health more seriously.

I Am Not a Runner

I’ve never been one to run. I’ll run while playing tennis or other sports, but running and me…we are not friends.

About four years ago (around Thanksgiving, no less), after playing tennis for a couple hours, the friend I was with said, “How ’bout we go for a run?” I told him I didn’t run, and he reminded my I’d just been running for hours. He told me about how, in the Army, it was his job to train the people who failed their Physical Training test. He told me he could get me running.

He was right. Running several times a week became a thing in my life. I ran a 5K, never slowing to a walk once — even at a water station. Running became a thing I did. And then, somewhere along the way, I stopped. I still walked, and still occasionally played tennis, but as I bounced around between several jobs after a layoff a handful of years ago, I wasn’t as active.

Weight creeped back up. Not to any dangerous level like when I was thirty, but still…

I Am Still Not a Runner (But I’m Getting There Again)

Recently, my wife told me about a virtual 5K. (The LOTR Villains Virtual Challenge.)

“What’s that — the virtual part?”

“You sign up online and you can organize people in your area, or…you can just do it by yourself. It has to be done by November 30. The money benefits RESULTS, and we don’t even have to run it — we can walk. It seems like a cool thing.”

So we signed up for the 5K as a symbolic kickoff to getting back into better shape. Since it’s kind of fantasy related, we decided to hit some trails and hike. We did the 5K about a week and a half ago; we even ended up running a fair bit
. (A few photos from the day.) We had so much fun, when my wife said, “They also have a 10K,” I said, “I’m in!”

Thanksgiving, 2013

This morning we got up while it was still dark and went to the trail where, 14 years ago, I thought I was going to die. (A few photos, taken along the way.) It was in the upper 20s, with no wind — perfect weather for me (and unseasonably cool for Texas). There was no running like there was with the 5K, but we kicked off Thanksgiving this year by walking a 10K (and then some). It was perfect, a reminder that even though I’m not running regularly, it hasn’t totally slipped away.

We have our minds set on running a couple 5Ks in 2014, and I’m thankful that I’ll be ready for them. And who knows…maybe next Thanksgiving we’ll do the challenge again and actually run the 10K!

So…Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the states! And for those who follow the stuff I do online, there’s this: