On the Run

I know, it's been a while, like over four years. Sorry. Since I seemed to be doing a lot of running, I thought I would document some of my running thoughts. Hopefully this isn't too boring. So, back in the day, we only ran if we HAD to-- at Hyde Jr. High we had to do the 6 Minute Run for the Presidential Fitness Program, or the dreaded mile run, with Coach Chuck Heinrich yelling out your time as you completed the 4th lap around the track. We even did the "Cross Country" every now and again which included running around the baseball fields. Then at Cupertino High School PE classes had you run a lap or two for warm up, and occassionally we would have to run a mile for time, too. During wrestling practice we'd run, and to make weight I would put on my wetsuit and take off running for however long it took to drop a pound or two. But these were forced runs, running because I had to, not by choice. And now I run because I WANT to. What is wrong with me?! It's funny how fat I got during the 2 year EMBA program at the BYU. I was the bishop, too, and I worked at Gary Price's, where we always seemed to be eating. I had purchased a bike and was thinking that biking would get me fit. Well, getting hit by a car while biking isn't the best way to get in shape! (You can read about that in a previous post from 2008). My brother, Carl, had taken up running and invited me to run the Orem Summeriest 5K in 2006 in the which I found that I couldn't run at his pace... it was way too slow. (He wasn't very happy that my first 5K destroyed his best time). However, I continued to bike until the accident, then Jayton Wakefield talked me into running with him. And that's really where I started to enjoy running. I also dropped over 20 pounds once I started running consistently. There's really nothing like running up the Provo trail on a summer morning. It smells great, there's other folks out running and walking, and the scenery is awesome. It's great to only have to wear a shirt, shorts and shoes as opposed to running in the freezing months from November to April where, like this morning, I'm wearing base layers, jackets, gloves, hats, then getting back and standing in a hot shower hoping to get the feeling back in my extremities! And during these ugly months, I am on the treadmill every morning. Up until Netflix, I was renting movies or watching the same ones over and over to keep my sanity as I run in the garage! I can quote A Knight's Tale word for word. I even watched Rudolph last year! The humanity! My daughter had talked so much about Psych I decided to rent the seasons from the Orem Library. Yeah, ever used DVDs from the library? Scratches, skips, freezes... ugh. I readily admit I am not a patient man and that about sent me over the edge. So Netflix was a blessed relief! Every runner has their favorite shoes. Mine are Pearl Izumi, though over the past 7 years they have made yearly changes which I think are ruining their shoes! Anyway, they seem to be the best fit for my Flintstone feet and I like how many miles I can usually get out of a pair- roughly 500. I bought some Asic's a few years ago and it's the only time I got blisters! What's nice is that up at Park City they have the Pearl Izumi Outlet, so I buy a couple pairs at a time and still save a couple hundred bucks. I miss having Jayton here because running by yourself kind of blows. We would tend to push each other and there was even some competitiveness every July 4th at the Freedom Run 10K. (He didn't want to lose to the old man). However, there are times when it's nice to run by yourself, crank up the music and be in your own zone. The funny thing is I can't NOT try running hard... people say to throttle it back and have an "easy" run. Yeah, I can't do that! Psycho? Yes. And that leads me to some of my favorite songs to run to- Boston's Walk On part 2, Joe Satriani's Andalusia live, Pete Townsend's Gonna Get Ya, April Wine's High Roller, Pat Traver's Boom Boom Out Go The Lights, Sammy Hagar's Heavy Metal, and the list can go on and on... Well, that's probably enough for now. I'll just end with saying that running has probably been the best thing for my psycho Snyder anxiety levels. If you're a freak like me, it really helps!