Months ago, when I was in Iraq Celia pitched the idea to me about running a half marathon. I was still 2 months from returning home and thought this half marathon idea was just the latest thing to have briefly captured Celia’s attention. That is why at the time when Celia asked me if I wanted to run in a half marathon with her when I returned home I casually replied, “Yeah sure, it’d be fun.” Not in the least bit did I think when I returned home would Celia mention anything remotely similar to running a marathon. Just in case Celia was serious, I began to run a bit more towards the end of my deployment in attempts to come back in decent shape.
The first few weeks I was back neither one of us talked about running or even working out much for that matter. I have never been fat nor have I considered myself out of shape but the first few weeks I was back I barely thought about exercise. Gone were the days of sweltering heat, food served by Army cooks, and the closest touch to a woman being via webcam in the evening. Instead, I was afforded the opportunity to enjoy a cold beer while watching my beautiful LCD TV; I ate steak that was rinsed down with a fine European wine; and most importantly, I was able to reconnect with my wife, both physically and emotionally. Sure, I could have made time to go to the gym or go jogging, but at the time exercising did not rate too highly on the too do list.
About a month after I was home Celia and I took the kids on a day trip to Trier. On our ride home we began talking about how we needed to start working out again before we let our bodies go. It was on the car ride home we decided that on following day we would start to exercise again in attempts to look as good as possible for one another. That brings up another thing that has always made me think.
All too often you hear stories about when people get married how one or both individuals let themselves go because they no longer have to impress anybody. Or even before marriage, when two people are dating and the eventual break up happens. You hear of and see both men and women attempting to lose weight and look their best because they are once again back on the market. I understand the logic behind those actions but I refuse to accept them. My belief is I should want to look my best for the woman who has so graciously agreed to spend her life with me. The rhetorical question is why spend so much time and energy on impressing a vast majority of people who ultimately won’t matter? If one is so willing to exert that type of commitment to a Saturday night stranger then why does the woman who makes your dinner and folds your laundry not receive the same effort? That’s my two-cents worth but I’m getting off course.
After we successfully completed two weeks worth of productive exercise, the word marathon was once again tossed around. Now that I was home, I began to think that training for a half marathon and eventually competing in one would be fun for Celia and I as a couple. (I just read the last few lines of what I’ve written, and I am absolutely, albeit unintentionally, making Celia and I sound like “that couple.” How funny but sad. . . . . We’re so in love!) We subscribed to Runner’s World magazine and slowly began increasing our cardio as the weeks passed by. By no means was either one of us a poster child for running but we had to start somewhere, and we had done just that. We started.
When our first issue of Runner’s World arrived in the mail, the contents of the magazine couldn’t have had better timing. Inside was a complete 10-week program for beginners who looked to complete their first mini marathon. Celia and I began to Google 10K’s and half marathons in Germany. Fortunately, for us Europe loves the idea of running and bicycling so it was not difficult to find a race that suited us. After brief conversation, we both concluded that the half marathon in Köln (pronounced cologne) on October 4th (the day after a certain old man, me, turns 28) would be the one for us. All we had to do was begin training which was not going to be difficult because by this point both of us were thrilled about the idea.
The half marathon training for me had to be put on hold for about a week because I had an accident. 2 weeks ago, I partook in a day’s worth of mountain biking which was so much fun but an intense work out at the same time. For anybody who doesn’t know much about Germany it’s practically all mountains. Running on post here is agonizing because the land is nothing but rolling hills. The same holds true for mountain biking, the hills are hell to get up but a rush to go down. Anybody who really knows me knows that I am a 12 year old at heart. I always have been and most likely always will be. I love to have fun, I seek that adrenaline rush, and if I can bike down a hill, the best way to do it is like Ricky Bobby said, “I wanna go fast.”
The hill in question had a jump on it and rather than slow down I let my ego and self-confidence far exceed my ability. I hit the ground wrong; I got my feet tangled in the bike making me look like a pretzel as I rolled down a mountain. The result was a gash in my hip a good ½ inch deep, a dark purple bruise the size of a grapefruit, and a limp making it impossible to run. It hurt so bad that when I finally stopped rolling I wasn’t able to scream I was in that much pain. My mouth was open but no sound could come out. It hurt, real bad!
Once I was able to resume all physical activities my official half marathon training began. Even though I had been running almost every day for my morning PT session I had now increased my time and distance. I have now completed my first full week of training, which was capped off by a 6-mile run yesterday morning. What’s most frightening is how even after running 6 miles both Celia and I want to run more. When we first began discussing this topic running 6 miles would have completely broke me off. Now, even on my rest day, I’m looking forward to running some more.
Finally, what I am most proud of is how far Celia has come. This girl absolutely hated running when we first began dating and now I find her being the one pushing me to run and not just lift weights. She’s this motivated and looks this good just 6 ½ months after having her 2nd child.
I’m sure I will update the marathon status as the time (October 4th) gets closer, but right now we are both satisfied with ourselves and our new hobby.
The first few weeks I was back neither one of us talked about running or even working out much for that matter. I have never been fat nor have I considered myself out of shape but the first few weeks I was back I barely thought about exercise. Gone were the days of sweltering heat, food served by Army cooks, and the closest touch to a woman being via webcam in the evening. Instead, I was afforded the opportunity to enjoy a cold beer while watching my beautiful LCD TV; I ate steak that was rinsed down with a fine European wine; and most importantly, I was able to reconnect with my wife, both physically and emotionally. Sure, I could have made time to go to the gym or go jogging, but at the time exercising did not rate too highly on the too do list.
About a month after I was home Celia and I took the kids on a day trip to Trier. On our ride home we began talking about how we needed to start working out again before we let our bodies go. It was on the car ride home we decided that on following day we would start to exercise again in attempts to look as good as possible for one another. That brings up another thing that has always made me think.
All too often you hear stories about when people get married how one or both individuals let themselves go because they no longer have to impress anybody. Or even before marriage, when two people are dating and the eventual break up happens. You hear of and see both men and women attempting to lose weight and look their best because they are once again back on the market. I understand the logic behind those actions but I refuse to accept them. My belief is I should want to look my best for the woman who has so graciously agreed to spend her life with me. The rhetorical question is why spend so much time and energy on impressing a vast majority of people who ultimately won’t matter? If one is so willing to exert that type of commitment to a Saturday night stranger then why does the woman who makes your dinner and folds your laundry not receive the same effort? That’s my two-cents worth but I’m getting off course.
After we successfully completed two weeks worth of productive exercise, the word marathon was once again tossed around. Now that I was home, I began to think that training for a half marathon and eventually competing in one would be fun for Celia and I as a couple. (I just read the last few lines of what I’ve written, and I am absolutely, albeit unintentionally, making Celia and I sound like “that couple.” How funny but sad. . . . . We’re so in love!) We subscribed to Runner’s World magazine and slowly began increasing our cardio as the weeks passed by. By no means was either one of us a poster child for running but we had to start somewhere, and we had done just that. We started.
When our first issue of Runner’s World arrived in the mail, the contents of the magazine couldn’t have had better timing. Inside was a complete 10-week program for beginners who looked to complete their first mini marathon. Celia and I began to Google 10K’s and half marathons in Germany. Fortunately, for us Europe loves the idea of running and bicycling so it was not difficult to find a race that suited us. After brief conversation, we both concluded that the half marathon in Köln (pronounced cologne) on October 4th (the day after a certain old man, me, turns 28) would be the one for us. All we had to do was begin training which was not going to be difficult because by this point both of us were thrilled about the idea.
The half marathon training for me had to be put on hold for about a week because I had an accident. 2 weeks ago, I partook in a day’s worth of mountain biking which was so much fun but an intense work out at the same time. For anybody who doesn’t know much about Germany it’s practically all mountains. Running on post here is agonizing because the land is nothing but rolling hills. The same holds true for mountain biking, the hills are hell to get up but a rush to go down. Anybody who really knows me knows that I am a 12 year old at heart. I always have been and most likely always will be. I love to have fun, I seek that adrenaline rush, and if I can bike down a hill, the best way to do it is like Ricky Bobby said, “I wanna go fast.”
The hill in question had a jump on it and rather than slow down I let my ego and self-confidence far exceed my ability. I hit the ground wrong; I got my feet tangled in the bike making me look like a pretzel as I rolled down a mountain. The result was a gash in my hip a good ½ inch deep, a dark purple bruise the size of a grapefruit, and a limp making it impossible to run. It hurt so bad that when I finally stopped rolling I wasn’t able to scream I was in that much pain. My mouth was open but no sound could come out. It hurt, real bad!
Once I was able to resume all physical activities my official half marathon training began. Even though I had been running almost every day for my morning PT session I had now increased my time and distance. I have now completed my first full week of training, which was capped off by a 6-mile run yesterday morning. What’s most frightening is how even after running 6 miles both Celia and I want to run more. When we first began discussing this topic running 6 miles would have completely broke me off. Now, even on my rest day, I’m looking forward to running some more.
Finally, what I am most proud of is how far Celia has come. This girl absolutely hated running when we first began dating and now I find her being the one pushing me to run and not just lift weights. She’s this motivated and looks this good just 6 ½ months after having her 2nd child.
I’m sure I will update the marathon status as the time (October 4th) gets closer, but right now we are both satisfied with ourselves and our new hobby.
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2 comments:
You are a hottie! Your wife is one lucky lady!
Good luck you two on the marathon...keep up the good work and keep your hands out of the chip bag! love you guys and miss you tons!
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