I wrote the first words in this blog the 31st of October of 2009; Halloween Eve. The first thing that I spoke about was the running that I had started in July of that year. I spoke of my plans to run the Resolution Run on December 31st, 2009, I spoke of the little chest pain that I incurred while running on the 21st of October and I spoke of the doctor’s appointment the following day that was either there by fluke (if you believe in that sort of thing) or by Divine Providence (if you believe in that sort of thing). The blog, for those friends that have muddled through it, know about the journey that reached the apex in the quintuple bypass and the wonderful and blessed journey that I was privileged to be able to trudge.
So what about the running? Well my intent now is to run six times a week and try and do a minimum of 6 kilometers per run. I have a good record of actually doing that. Up until a week or so ago, I was running outside, but with the lows hitting below minus 25 with highs below minus 15 , and wind and ice, I have joined the local gym and trying to do 6 to 7 K on the treadmill. The timer on the machine starts as soon as you start, so the warmup time sort of counts against my total time, but I am finding that it takes me close to an hour (well 57 minutes) to do 7 K on the machine. That is hardly anything to write to Running Magazine about and it seems to me that my treadmill time is slower than the outside time but I am happy that I am able to do this. I did three formal 5K runs this year, the Diefenbooker in Carp, the Army Run in Ottawa, and the Unity Run in Arnprior. In fact I was an instructor in the Unity Run. My goal, which I will state publicly here and now is to run 10K in the 2012 Diefenbooker. My PAC (Physical Activity Coordinator ) at my clinic has challenged me to run with her 6K in January, 7K in February , 8K in March – well you get the idea.
But I have enough friends that talk of One Day at a Time, so I will heed their advice. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve and I have double booked to do two resolution runs of 5K – One in Ottawa and one in Arnprior. The weather is sort of erratic this weekend so I will likely stick to the Arnprior Run but I will report back on that.
As I type these words I have no idea if anyone reads them, save for my wife. The words are out there and the reason I do this is to put time in the freezer so to speak, and then have the ability to take it out, look at it, and then put it back in the deep freeze. One day I will be gone and one day the words will be gone but that concerns me not in the least. I am thankful to the entire earth and heavenly cosmos that creates a power greater than me that I can lean on and receive sustenance from, for as long as I need it, whenever I need it. That way, no matter how far back in the pack I am, or how alone I am on the treadmill in the gym, I never run alone. Another great present this sixth formal Day of Christmas.