Running from...

We are all running from something. It might just be harsh words to loved one this morning, a bad day at the office, or something far more dramatic. Each of us has something that we want left behind, something we'd rather forget, or distance ourselves from.

Too often however, when we run, are running from something, rather than running too something.

Last October, hopped on the scale, blinked a few times and told myself that couldn't be right. I stepped off and back on and the numbers didn't change.

I turned and looked at myself in the mirror and for the first time in years, I saw what a life of running from things had done to me. Gone was the 145 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal and charm I'd had in my twenties, replaced with 191 pounds pasty white flab and eyes filled with loathing and anger.

July 2006 191+ pounds

And so I started running. Literally.

I spent more time at the gym, and less time doing a job I hated.

I spent more time with my family, watching them play, and playing with them than I did eating.

I left work at work each day, and began filling up my free time with the things I wanted to be doing rather than the things others were telling me I should be doing.

I sat down, reviewed the course of my life and decided that it was time I started running towards something rather than from it.

April 2007 148 pounds 17.3% body fat VO2max 44

And my life changed, for the better.

I went from getting winded going up the stairs to running 5K's.

I lost weight. I found new energy to kick the soccer ball around with my son. I found I loved chasing my youngest daughter around the bases at her softball practices, or doing a bootay dance to embarrass my oldest daughter.

I started having fun with life, and my wife fell in love with me all over again.

I became happy with who I was, and worried less about the past and more about where I was going.

Posted by: Running From the Past at 01:20 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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