I was never a big fan of running. I had no quarrel with people who enjoyed it, but when it comes to exercise, I’ve always liked there to be some sort of fun involved. With the exception of running when there’s a game or sport involved, most running seems to involve unpleasant things, like running in an airport to avoid missing a flight, or trying to flee hungry lions. (I’ve never had the misfortune to be chased by hungry lions, but I’m sure it’s unpleasant.) Without a fun or otherwise compelling reason to run, it always struck me as a boring way to get tired, and all you got out of it at the end was that tired feeling. Whee.

About a year and a half ago, I began to run for the first time in my life, for a couple of reasons. First, I really needed some exercise - any exercise - because I could no longer sustain the illusion that I was just between hockey seasons. It was great that I used to play recreational hockey and had a lot of fun getting exercise that way, but it had been several years since I had played, and I still hadn’t taken up any regular exercise to replace it. By sheer luck, I wasn’t facing any weight problems or immediate health concerns, but I could definitely use the exercise to improve my overall well-being. Second, I was able to ease into it by tagging along with my wife, Kat, so I had “quality time with the wife” as a handy reason to go jogging. (Running with Kat: good. Running from lions: bad.)

Kat is relatively new to running, too, but it’s thanks to her that I even got started. She has never once coerced or shamed me into running or otherwise exercising, but she has inspired me with her own commitment to exercise. For as long as I’ve known her, she has exercised every day, and I know she’s been regular about it going back even longer. It’s not always the same routine or the same amount of time, but whether she feels like it or not, she’ll do a DVD workout, do time on the treadmill, go for long walks or runs outside, or even use exercise-oriented video games. (Yes, there are such things.) I admired her for a long time from the relaxed comfort of the couch, and often still do, but walking seemed easy enough, so I started occasionally joining her on her long walks (2-3mi.) around the neighborhood.

Going on walks with Kat wasn’t strenuous, and it was nice to have some conversation time without the usual distractions of TV or computers competing for our attention. When she first told me that she had started mixing in some jogging with her walking, I thought that was nifty, but I wasn’t yet interested in doing more than walking. When I was considering joining her for an outing, I’d ask what her plan was and skip it if there’d be running. Kat never pressured me at all, but even if it wasn’t her intention to be a role model to me, she was. Running for running’s sake still didn’t sound fun, but running with Kat was worth trying. I did not go running every time she did, and at first, I’d only go if there’d be no more than about a mile spent running, but sure enough, I gained more stamina over the months to the point that our “long” runs of just over three miles were very do-able. Tiring, but do-able.

It so happens that there’s a pretty common race event for “just over three miles”, better known as a 5K. That’s 5 kilometers, or 3.1 miles. I have to credit Kat again for having the idea of looking to see if there were any 5K races coming up in our area so we could take our newfound running fitness and put it to use in an organized event. (Even though they’re called “races”, our goal was strictly participation and completion, not competition.) She found an annual event in our area that was coming up at the time, so in October 2005, we ran our first 5K together. (Team Monkey vs. Team Goldie - an epic 5K). The next weekend, we ran in another local 5K event.

With those first 5Ks under my belt, I felt like a “runner” for the first time, albeit very much a beginner. I continued to run semi-regularly with Kat, and by last summer, felt committed enough to it to justify buying a better pair of running shoes and a fancy running watch that I’d wanted for a while. Running with Kat brought noticeable improvements to my stamina over time, but I reached a point where I seemed to level off. I credit Kat with working harder and probably being more fit than I am, but my height and strength advantage (which believe me, ain’t much) is enough that if we’re running the same distance at the same pace, she’s working a lot harder than I am. I started wanting to push myself a little more, but that meant running on my own, and the only way I could motivate myself to do that was to set a distinct goal and train for it. I decided I would run again in the same October event that had been our first 5K the year before, but this time I would enter the 10K (6.2 miles). I had about two months to train, so I found an 8-wk. training schedule at runningplanet.com that looked within my abilities and stuck to it. Some online buddies helped keep me honest by exchanging updates with them about our respective training progress (toward different goals). On Oct. 22, I ran that 10K in a breathtaking time of 58:16. (The first-place finisher crossed the line in 33:46.) It wasn’t breathtaking by any competitive standards, but considering I wasn’t sure if 60:00 was within my reach, it was breathtaking to me both literally and figuratively.

That 10K experience was satisfying in a lot of different ways, not least of which was the training aspect. That’s not to say training was fun. I’ve read about “runner’s high”, but I’ve never experienced it. Running still sucks. However, for me to go out and run 6.2 miles in under an hour, I couldn’t just show up and do it - the training mattered. I’m not exactly the most structured person in the world, so sticking to that structure, even though it only lasted 8 weeks, was a big deal to me. A funny thing happened when I got to the end of that training program and finished the event: my running dropped way off in the ensuing weeks. I didn’t want to just throw away all that progress I’d made, but without a new goal or training plan, it was just too easy to say, “Nah, I’ll run tomorrow.” I didn’t stop running altogether, but my weekly mileage dropped in half or more, and I was mostly only running with Kat when I ran. That was great for sharing that time with her again, but it wasn’t sufficient to maintain or increase the level of fitness I had gotten to. I had to decide whether to just keep running with Kat when I felt in the mood, or pick a new goal to run for. My new goal arrived in the mail, in the form of a brochure about something called “Team in Training”.

Team in Training is a fundraising program run by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Team in Training participants sign up to train for and participate in endurance events like marathons, triathlons, and “century” bike rides (100 mi.). The organization provides coaching and support to the participants, and the participants raise funds that that go toward research, education, and patient services for patients with leukemia or other blood cancers. Since TnT’s inception in 1988, over 270,000 participants have raised over $600 million. I’m sure I’ll be writing a lot more about TnT, but when I saw those highlights in the mail, it was enough to get me to go to a meeting for more information, and to make a long story a little less long…I’m now training for the New Jersey Marathon to be run on April 29, 2007.

This training only officially kicked off two days ago, and I’m still getting oriented to the procedures for taking donations and such, so I’m not ready to pass the hat. However, I intend to use my blog as an open training log, so anyone who’s interested can follow my training progress, whether they’re sponsoring the effort or not. Details about my fundraising goal and how you can help me meet it will follow. In the meantime, here’s your first training update, completely free of charge:

Dec. 2 - 4 EZ The schedule called for 4 “easy” miles. I’ve been feeling like my right knee may not be quite right, so I drove to a nearby high school track where the surface would be soft and level, instead of the hard concrete and asphalt of our neighborhood. I completed the distance in 47:51, still feeling fresh.

Dec. 3 - R/XT “R/XT” means rest or cross-train. I opted for rest.

Dec. 4 - 3 EZ I still didn’t want to run on hard surfaces, so I tried a spot I’ve never run before, which Google Earth helped me pick. I realized that just beyond the hedge-line behind our condo building, there’s a really big grassy area that looked like it could make for about a .25-mile loop. I had to circle around to get to it because fences and thorns prevent direct access, but it worked out well and turned out to be about a .3-mile loop the way I ran it. Temp was about 38˚F. Sounds cold, but in a couple months, I bet I’ll be wishing it was that warm. I cut the run short because I felt my right knee twinge and I don’t want to risk making it worse. It felt fine once I stopped but I’m being conservative with it because there’s a lot of training ahead. I ended up doing 2.67 mi. in 37:40, which included some walking after the twinge.