Running in Rye

There are few people in my life that can motivate me like my little brother Kevin can. At least once a year I try to make the trip out and spend a weekend with him and his wife. I always leave feeling refreshed and ready to take on the challenges that life has to offer. Beside my wife and kids, Kevin (A.K.A "the Wouk") is the closest person to me. He knows me well and is not afraid to call me out when something is not right. It really annoys me, but I appreciate that. 

 On this trip, I brought my daughter with me. She has really turned the corner with her running life and I thought it would benefit her to make the trip and spend some time with Kevin, Kristen and their coaches and teammates. I thought that she would get a lot of work in, get a different perspective on her running form and leave Rye feeling stronger. 

She did and I did too. I was only planning on doing some laps around the track as she worked with the coaches. The next thing I know I am on the starting line doing intervals with my brother's team. 

Up until then I was having some issues with my breathing (post COVID), although it has been getting better, I convinced myself that I was not ready for any type of speedwork. However, when the coaches call your name, you better respond. 

I was in horrible shape, and I finished last in every interval I did, but I felt great and felt energized that I am on the right track. Later that day I made a deal to run with my brother at the 2023 Boston Marathon. That means alot of training just to qualify. I am going to do it.

It has been almost two weeks since my trip to Rye and I have added intervals back into my workout calendar. With the workout program I am doing, changing my diet and most of all changing my attitude about what I can do. I believe that I will be a successful 50+ runner. 

50

 On December 10th of 2020, I turned 50. I have to admit that his one hit me kind of hard. 

I am officially old and I started acting like it.

It didn't help that there was a pandemic going on and we were all trapped in our houses with nothing to do but watching Netflix and eating crap. I liked washing down that crap with an occasional beer. It also didn't help that I work in a dining hall at the local college and at this college they have an exceptionally good bake shop. As a manager in this location it is my duty (or at least that is what I tell myself) to sample the items that we served the students. 

I was also recovering from two separate injuries at the time, well not really separate, but the same injury in both legs. I am not sure what I did but both Achilles tendons felt like they might of been torn. Of course I never went to the doctor because I didn't want them to tell me I had to stop running. Because of the fact that I did not take the needed break to heal I ended up developing a massive pain in my foot as well. I still kept running, or at least tried to. 

In March of 2021 I came down with COVID, I am not entirely sure where I got it, I want to believe that it was from the local Walmart, but it was more likely from the local bar I went to to have a pint of Guinness with some friends to celebrate St. Patty's day. This is my wife's theory and she is usually right (I hate that).

The thing about that is, I was forced to rest. I didn't leave my room for 10 days and although I was blessed to have an extremely mild case of the virus, it helped my body heal. When I got back to running my legs and foot felt 100% better and was running with very little to no pain. 

Things were pretty good, until things got warmer.

When the heat and humidity started cranking up I noticed that I was having a hard time breathing, my heart rate started going up on even the simplest of workouts. My chest started to feel like it had a rock in it. I got to a point where I could barely run a mile without stopping. It was also showing up in my everyday life as well, if I exerted myself in any way. I would start to feel the symptoms coming on. Post COVID is no joke.

With everything going on from my birthday on, I gained over 20 pounds. I was at the heaviest I have ever been, I was about ready to throw in the towel and accept the fact that this was my life now. I was going to take pride in the fact that my man boobs were getting larger and that my belly was getting round. My golden years will be me being a fat old man reminiscing about the golden days and being tortured about what could have been.

Laurel Run 2021 in Silver Creek NY.
Definitely a low point in my running career

I was getting depressed, and was about to hit an all time low when my wife came to me about this program called E2M (Eager 2 Motivate), a friend of ours was doing this program and was having great success with it. It is a get fit program that concentrates on proper diet and exercising the whole body. I discovered that there are some co-workers, former classmates and other friends who are in this program as well. They are all achieving such wonderful results. We decided to join, and I am glad we did. After a rough first week, I am starting to feel so much better. Although I am still struggling to breathe at times, the symptoms  have been getting better. I am glad we joined and love the support we have been getting through the program from the coaches and fellow team members.

So I decided to start this journal detailing the good and the bad about being a runner on the other side of 50. I have decided to look at the experiences of the last couple years as way of my body telling me I need to refocus and start anew. I am looking forward to what this will bring me, I am setting new goals, meeting new people , reconnecting with old friends and most of all making my relationship with my wife an even stronger one. I am believing that some dreams that I thought were dead, are not. I will detail those dreams in some future posts. 

But for now, I am embracing who I am. That is a husband, father, brother, friend and runner on the other side of 50.