How this all started part I

When I started this blog, I stated that I got into running for all the wrong reasons. Here's the story on that. I'll follow up on this with where this has taken me over the past 12 years.

I was always a racquetball player. My Dad got me into it at a young age and I just loved the competition. After moving from California to Colorado in 1995, I took up the sport again after a bit of a hiatus. I was on the court 5 days a week, 2-3 hours at a time. In 1997, my company had a group of people doing the Race For The Cure. I entered with the group with no expectations as I was not a runner. Race day came, it kicked my butt and I finished in 22:20. I was really pleased with this since my sole source of fitness was racquetball, not endurance running. Shortly after finishing the race, a guy from work who I barely knew was bragging about his time. He asked what my time was and after finding out he had ran faster than me said "what a loser" in front of a group of my co-workers. Having grown up with a parent who made a point of telling me all the things I wasn't good at, this hit me where it hurt. I started running at that point with the sole purpose of kicking this guys butt the next time around. Well, the next time around didn't come until the following years Race For The Cure. During this time, I got hooked on racing. I completed my first marathon and did a lot of trail races. When the time came for the 1998 Race For The Cure, I was ready to lay it all out there. I ended up beating this guy by a lot. I finished 4 minutes faster than the year before. When he came across the finish line, I was laying on a massage table near the finish and made a point to tell him good job. I took a lot of pride in that at the time. Now I just feel foolish. I have too much respect for every person who laces them up to race for whatever their personal goals might be. As I said, I got into this sport for all the wrong reasons. It did, however, open my eyes to a different lifestyle that gives my life balance. It's allowed me to do things I never thought I could do. I'll get into that in a later post.