Beyond Writing

"Personal experience is the basis of all real literature." George Henry Lewes

This particular post won't be about writing. In fact, once past this opening, I won't be discussing any of my work or the work of others. So there, you've been warned if you choose to read further.

What this post will be about is honoring a goal. And maybe/hopefully will be a little inspiring.

At the onset of summer, my wife and I began a program called Couch-2-5K. This downloadable app, for those that aren't familiar, is a running program designed with the purpose of getting a person who doesn't normally run acclimated with building the stamina to endure a 5K. The C25K program is split into an eight-week schedule with each week dedicated to conquering another level in regards to how much you run vs. walk in each session. In the beginning, you walk more than you run. By the end of the program you're running nearly the entire thirty-minute session. Sometimes the progress is slow, with you running less than a previous session but in longer intervals, and other times it can seem jarring, like going from running ten minutes in one session to twenty-two minutes the next time.

I don't think I need to tell you, but I will anyway, that neither my wife nor I are runners.

At least we weren't.

The program was difficult, at least for me, at the start. I'm asthmatic, and even in the best weather conditions of the summer it was tough enough trying to maintain the running intervals without stopping and sucking down a spray of Albuterol. But lungs be damned, I wouldn't give up; I pushed as hard as I could, every once in a while looking for my wife on the track. Seeing her reminded me of our goal. She inspired me to keep going. And I just kept throwing one foot out in front of the other, keeping a stride the best I could. There were times I was a faucet of sweat, my heart pounding through my chest, my lungs feeling as if they'd swelled twice their size, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. I wouldn't allow it.

What made us decide to tackle this program in the first place? For a while we'd been wanting to get into something that would inspire us to stick with making healthier choices - eating better as well as exercise. We love to go for walks but needed something more, something to dedicate ourselves to. And though the C25K program was an every-other-day-thing, we did it every day when we could. All each session required was thirty minutes to complete and that seemed quite reasonable to us. It got to the point where we looked forward to doing the next run together. By the end of the eight weeks I was running over twenty minutes straight without a break and not needing my inhaler afterwards. Talk about progress! No, seriously, even I was surprised by this. I even dropped five pounds. We bought more fruit during our weekly run to the grocery store and found ourselves turned off by unhealthier foods (though Oreos always found their way into our cart).

Our eventual goal in all this was to run an actual 5K. There had been one on the calendar for a while; a 5K run/walk that was dedicated to a man who long suffered with and eventually passed away from his long fight with cancer (a man who once went to school with my wife). Suffice to say we never got to run that 5K, but in honor of this person, and in honor of the goal we set for ourselves back in June, we were still determined to complete a race.

Today (Saturday, October 5) my wife and I are registered for the Color Run/Color Mania 5K in Scranton. Unfortunately, with the onset of school and just all around being busy from morning to night, we haven't been able to keep up with running daily. Heck, to be honest, we haven't truly run since the first weekend in September and that was only once. And it was a run around the neighborhood. Speaking only for myself, I know I've lost a lot of that built up stamina and conditioning. The constant changing of weather - from warm to chilly to hot to cold to rainy to humid - has been messing with my asthma (as it always does this time of year), making today's run a lot more difficult. The reality being - and I can feel it just in how my body has reacted to this weather change and lapse in exercise - that it'll be more of a walk than a run. A lot more.

But we're still determined. We have our shirts - printed with the name of my wife's friend, whom we are running in honor of - and we have our combined strength, supporting each other to make it through to the end. Whether it's run, walk, or even crawl.

Because we said we would.

But hopefully not crawl.