How did I start running? What is my running experience? What kind of training do I do?

I am 54 years old, a good 30 pounds overweight. But I wasn’t always this way. I started out as most young men do by lifting weights. Cardio was not a concern. That started to change after 9/11. Tales from the aircraft, and the twin towers put my confidence in my ability to survive in question. Could I quickly get out of my seat on an airplane and disarm a terrorist? Was I flexible and quick enough? Did I have the endurance to climb down a building for two hours? Bear crawl 200 feet then down 70 floors of stairs? These questions would continue to trouble me well after the attack. In 2005 or maybe 2006 I had a flyer put on my windshield while I was at the store. Now open Redding Tao Kwon Do, Korean trained Master Kim. Chuck Norris, is that you? I was in and I loved it. Since then I have dabbled in some other arts. Krav Maga and kick boxing but neither captured my spirit like TKD. Master Kim was an Olympic athlete. He signed everyone up for large Olympic style full contact tournaments. My first time in the tournament, I got killed. I needed more speed and stamina. Specifically more leg speed and leg stamina.

My first advice was I needed to run more. More? I don’t run any! That was the start, a one mile loop around a duck pond by my house. Easily took me over six months to get to the point I was running the mile without stopping. I found out that Sugar Ray Leonard was a marathon runner. Fast limitless footwork was his trademark. He was my inspiration. I know what you are saying. He is a boxer. True but his smooth weight transfer and quick hand feet movements translate into other systems. After a few years of running with the purpose of better competing in my annual trip to the UC open Tae Kwon Do championships at UC Berkeley I hit the zone. A magical place of meditation and self awareness. About two miles in or so. I relaxed and started working on running faster. I changed to the Sacramento River trail. A 5.8 mile loop across two iconic bridges around the river. It has scenic views, turns, hills, wildlife, restrooms and water. As time would go on I would race the John Frank memorial ten mile race twice and the annual Turkey Trot 10k there, it was my home track.

Then the marathons start? Not yet.. I had a couple of serious injuries. I broke my neck and later hurt my hand severely. The hand was very depressing I found. I did eventually earn my black belt but my competition days were done. I never did fully return to the level of conditioning I was at. Fast forward a few more years I miss the meditation, oh and the conditioning. The older one gets the harder it is to stay in good shape. So I signed up for a few half marathons. Did okay, a couple of Spartan races. The Spartan races I didn’t enjoy in the least but the running was good. Now a marathon, literally two half marathons run back to back. My first time was seven hours seven minutes. Under trained, my next was ten minutes slower. I needed to replace my shoes prior and my training was poor. Now my third marathon is my triumphant return to the San Diego rock and roll marathon in June. My new training plan is to run with purpose. Emphasis on running faster not just surviving. Training starts February 18th. Now recovering from a month long illness I’m training to be ready to start training in about six weeks. This consists of building up to 15 miles a week at a 12 minute mile pace. I will run three days a week and cross train for two days. I will be more specific with my next post. New cars are still boring, fix something old. And run a little.