Humble Beginnings

For those of you who know me, which is probably 99.999% of anyone who will ever come across this blog, know that I have had some physical issues in the past couple years. What other twenty-three year old do you know that had to have hip surgery and get a bunion taken out of his foot?

Doctors have consistently told me that my life as a runner is over. My old man body cannot handle the stress that comes from running. Essentially, they have already set the over/under for my eventual hip replacement at 42 years old.

But who really thinks that doctors know what they are talking about? Its not like they went to school to develop a qualified medical opinion…

As you can probably guess, I have ignored the opinions of my doctors and have been running; however, I am always in fear of my hip breaking into a thousand pieces. Mike Winchell, the starting quarterback for the ’88 Odessa Permian Panthers, sums up my feelings about getting injured while running in the following quote from the movie Friday Night Lights:

“You ever feel cursed, Coach? Like, no matter what, inside your heart you feel that you're gonna lose. Like something's hanging over you, following you like a witch or a demon that just... I feel like that all the time. Even when things are going good.”

That was my outlook until this Christmas.

What happened this Christmas?

My mother, who easily ranks as the top mother in the history of the world, gave me a book called Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall. I won’t bore you with a summary of the book. I’ll let the author do it!

The book taught me a few things:

· Homo erectus (that’s us!) evolved because we are the best distance runners on the planet

· Barefoot running prevents injury because it teaches you to run correctly

· The Tarahumara Indians from Mexico have conquered disease, depression, and other ailments through running, diet, and over all outlook on life

What does this mean for me?

I am going to run 26.2 miles on Thursday, May 19, 2011.

I am going to use this blog as a way to keep myself on track and inform my friends of my progress.

“There is a subtle difference between a mission and a promise. A mission is something you strive to accomplish – a promise is something you are compelled to keep. One is individual, the other is shared. When a mission and a promise are one and the same… that’s when mountains are moved and races are won.” – Hala Maddelmog

Day #1: 5.05 miles - 39 min