I started running while in college. I was encouraged by my friend Al, who as a ROTC student was required to do these "PT" test deals. So every once in a while he would say, "We gotta go run, PT next week!" and we would go. Starting at the Freddy dorm on the SMS campus, we would make a 3 mile loop around Phelps Grove Park, and would come to a wheezing finish. I waited for Al to do other physical things, like push ups and hand over hand ladder deal. None of which I could or wanted to do.
I am not an athlete. In high school I was the asthmatic student basketball manager who washed and carried uniforms and kept stats. I didn't particularly like athletes, but I did like watching cheerleaders...but I digress.
Later as an adult I discovered that if I paced myself and used an inhaler (I know steroid enhancement) I could walk and then run. I started running the 1 mile to work. In my small hometown, I was viewed as "weird". The only sports our school had were basketball, baseball and volleyball. To each of which running was punishment, not training. Finally the school added track and cross country, but by now I was a full grown man, running around and biking, that was just not right (this is the 1970s').
One year at the local fall festival, the cross country coach put on a 5k. I think there were 15 people. I finished 3 or 4th, I think, second adult behind the coach and way ahead of all the old athletes who thought it was a stupid thing anyway. So there athletes! Ha!
Then I started running to relieve stress, 5 miles 1 or 2 times a week. This helped me keep my mind clear.
Then I changed jobs and moved my family to a strange place (Kansas) met another guy who ran to relieve stress and have been being weird ever since (1987).
When people find out that I run, many are in awe (well, maybe astonishment) that I am an athlete. I remind them I am not an athlete, I'm just a guy who runs, not a lot, not fast, and for sure not smart.
But they insist that compared to the average person, I am an athlete. So, okay, whatever you want to call me.
My view of an athlete is someone who follows a plan to get better. Me, not so much.
I just run. I follow my own path. I don't stretch. I don't eat right. I don't go to races to win. I don't run everyday. Heck, sometimes I don't run in a week. I buy cheap shoes. But that's okay for me, 'cause I'm not an athlete, my paycheck doesn't depend on my performance, only my mental state.
So if you see me at a race,I don't really want to share what my expected finish time is, finishing on my feet in an upright position is satisfactory.
And for the record, I really don't have a desire to run 'til I puke, ever.
And don't forget that running is more that racing, and competing. Running is what "idiots" do for fun. If it ain't fun....you must be an athlete.
Peace, my friends!
