Runnin'

Early in junior high school I wasn't interested in playing sports at all. I'd given flag football a shot and had done alright even thought I didn't care for it, had been in Little League like every other stereotypical red-blooded American boy but I wasn't really into it, and never had much interest in basketball, but I still felt I needed to do something active and extracurricular. Because I've always been a skinny, long-legged guy who doesn't care much for team sports, I decided that running track might be a good idea. After all, I could run, I enjoyed running, and it's more of an independent sort of sport than the others were, so I thought to give it a try. Unfortunately, there wasn't a track program in junior high, so I decided to do a 5 mile run the town of Bridgeport, California, held on the Fourth of July.

I got second!

Second to last out of every other runner, sure, but still not quite last.

That didn't discourage me much, though. I knew as soon as I got into high school, had appropriate coaching and actual training, I would be able to run a lot better, further, and faster than my literal trial run. When I moved back to Independence, my old home town, I was really excited to get into the track and field team. A family friend was the coach, the team itself did really well, and I was really excited to test my body and my will with distance running.

But they cut track and field by the time I got into high school.

I got a bit lazy in school for awhile after that. I didn't do well in my classes, didn't try to do anything beyond the absolute minimum, and I was essentially just a lazy jackass teenager until I took up writing speeches and essays. I went into speech contests, essay contests, and did alright enough with my ability to string words together that I didn't have to deal with football or basketball. As a matter of fact, I'd spend most PE periods writing instead of doing anything regarding physical fitness (as was shown on my report cards), and I carried that ability of essay, speech, and paper writing all the way to my short lived college career, where I took up smoking and blogging as hobbies.

Of course they started up the track program at my high school after I graduated, but that's beside the point.

I've done my fair share of walking and hiking since my five mile failure, but thought of running never really came about again until this last weekend. Some friends and I went on a good, long bike ride, and the feeling of pushing myself again was pretty intriguing. My old Schwinn Traveler, thanks to its shoddy brakes and its warped back wheel, gave my legs a hell of a time on my several-mile cruise, especially after a few months of not doing much more than occasionally walking around and a lot of sitting around. The little endorphin kick that came with the little workout got me thinking about my almost nonexistent athletic career and how lazy I've been. I'm not in the indestructible shape I'd like to be in; it shouldn't be so rare to feel a good workout, and it shouldn't be such a kick in the ass hiking to the places I want to go.

I decided, while sitting at the narrowing part of Tuttle Creek Road next to my bike after huffing and puffing up the grade, to give a run another shot. There's a 5K in Independence during the Fourth of July, so if I can manage to not be so exceptionally lazy and out of shape I'd like to see if I can redeem myself of second-to-last place in running. Even if I don't place in the run-- and even if I don't participate in it at all-- I still want to be in better shape and feel that sore and exhausted kind of happiness that comes from kicking your own ass. This whole "not being a lazy ass" thing seems to work out for a lot of people, and after spending my time working a desk job for the last five years it might be nice to use my body for more than a place to store my brain.

If nothing else, working toward an Independence Day 5K or 10K might keep me from being bored, and something to do is always nice.