Becoming a Runner

"Th......a......t      Su.......c.....ked!"

Is the only words I could muster about 45mi into some diabolical hill repeats this Sunday. I was out with my buddy Dave who has been riding hard all summer and he completely handed me my ass during this training ride. It is awesome seeing my friend, who has put in a ton of hard work, turn into an absolute beast on the bike but damn, did he make me hurt!

We got in some brisk riding over some decent rollers over the first 25mi or so when we stopped at a gas station to refill our bottles. After that the first 10mi were on a newly paved section of road that was relatively flat. I figured this would be a good time to take it easy and warm-up before we got to the South section which is home to some ruthless hills. Dave had other ideas. It was go time from the first pedal stroke out of the rural town of Coldspring - and it was at this point I knew it was going to be an unpleasant ride!

I figured it was better to latch on to Dave's rear wheel going 27mph then it was to go it alone at 23mph so embrace the pain became my mantra for this rather painful Sunday morning. Unfortunately this was the easy part of the ride!

We eventually hit the brutal hills and the realization that this was going to hurt became a reality. I struggled and struggle bad. I watched Dave pull further and further away and my pride was the only thing that kept me from not walking up the last big ass hill. I had never been so happy to be spinning that final couple of miles back to the car. I made it, barely.

The funny thing is that 3 months ago this ride would have been just another day of training and I would have eaten those hills for breakfast instead of the other way around.  But this day was not 3 months ago and I no longer am that guy who rides 200mi over the weekend. Bike fitness sure fades fast!

And I am okay with this because ...

I am becoming a runner.

Over the last 2 months I have become run focused. The lycra is hanging in the closet, my running shoes have laces instead of yanks, socks are now being worn, chlorine is no longer my fragrance of choice, and my right calf is lacking smeared chain grease.

Yep, I am a runner!

At this point I am just your run of the mill recreational cyclist (as proved on Sunday) and swimmer and have decided to dedicate myself to becoming the best runner I can be. I've become so serious about this running thing that I have even sought training advice from running guru's Chris K and Adam (Thanks for the guidance guys)!

When I was a kid I was always one of the fastest guys in whatever sport we were playing and this carried over to high school and college. Then in my first semester of college I had my clavicle shattered and tore all three ligaments in my shoulder when I got tackled playing football and landed in a weird way (with a 300 pound dude on top of me). This ended my career in football and put me on the path of eating crappy foods and drinking lots of beer. 

By the time I graduated college my weight was exactly the same as it was when I entered but my pants had increased by four sizes and I was no longer good at running.  Over the years I gained even more weight until 2008 when I dropped 50lbs and started Triathlon.

Flash forward to today and I feel like it is time to see if I can be good a running again by giving the training the time and effort it deserves.  Over the last few years I've been on the podium in my AG at a couple local running races that have been done during Tri training but I have never trained or tapered specifically for just a running race. Last summer a huge amount of time was dedicated to getting better at swimming. Last winter and spring my focus was on the bike. Running has always taken a back seat so this fall and winter it is time to run.

So if any of you bloggy peeps are interested in this little running experiment I welcome you to follow along on this journey to becoming a runner.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff