Who am i……?
It’s odd that I’m doing this…I am not, and have never been an athlete, I was the kid that wanted a note from his mom in school to avoid gym class/phys-ed…
I didn’t mind sports..I’ve always biked, I learned how to swim young, I played hockey, some baseball or pick up football as a kid….but if the choice was that or watch TV, I’d go take a nap.
At some point in my adult life, I decided, bodybuilding or weights….obviously that didn’t last, no matter how many protein shakes I took, I ended up, well…still no muscle…and then at some point I fell into running?
I remember when this began…I was living in Kamloops, I was working out, and one morning I got to our gym, arrived on my bike, it was called MacArthur Island, the gym was closed..someone had pulled the fire alarm, and we couldn’t even go near the building until the fire department gave us the all clear….while we were waiting I was waiting with this young lady who just dropped her gear bag and said, she was just going to go for a run?
That was it..she just took off as easy as you can……..and thought, that was cool…I’m sure I would have had trouble running across the road, but to be able to just go for a run, that seemed kind of, why not?
A few months later, I thought, well, why not?….of course it was winter….I started out by running around that path, MacArthur Park, in early mornings, in winter, with no lights…it was awful..I slipped on ice and fell, I couldn’t run every far…so I then I moved to running on our street…I got splashed by slush, there was a lot of wet snow, and still, I could only go for about half a block without having to walk…
A few months/half a year later, we re-located to St.Albert/Edmonton…..I went back to weights for a while, but still wanted to run…our local gym had a Saturday morning run club and speed walking group..so I figured why not?……well, the first Saturday, the group run was me and two women, who kicked my ass…and suggested maybe I should try walking?….I tried walking the following week, and well, ran….
I at some point saw an ad for a learn to run clinic, a running room learn to run clinic….I asked the store manager about it…and signed up for 10 weeks on the dotted line….I remember telling my wife, it’d be just 10 weeks, 10 Saturday mornings…..that was in 1996……that’s where it all began….2 minutes walking 1 minute running way back then……in October of that year I took part in my first race, a fun run, th,e CIBC Run for the Cure 5K……took me 24 minutes……and well, I didn’t stop….still kind of hasn’t yet.
This kind of became my life/lifestyle……marathons, half marathons, triathlons, half and full ironman triathlons, and everything in-between….relay races, off road, on road..and lots and lots of everything endurance….and also volunteering at a lot of events..
At some point, I began to struggle with this…..in 2010 after a lot of years, a lot of races, and a lot of injuries….I decided to take some time off to heal, recover
Since, I’ve still done a few events and races – a thing called Sinister 7, a few half marathons – and I still run bike and swim….but, less……..and it seems way too hard to get that engine going again……..I became an employee of the Running Room, eventually store manager, and now, back to just being a part time employee, because, why not? I had the time
Now my goal, I actually I have two goals…me, and things are moving forward, I’m getting better, and am getting comfortable with being older (around the corner from being 63)…….getting comfortable with being able to do what I do, having fun with it all…..that goal is moving along, rebuilding Warren…
sharing……I first took the step towards instructing run clinics in 2006…and have been pretty much doing clinics back to back ever since……..I find it, fun….I learn as those in the clinic learn…I get to share, the good stuff, the nonsense..and hopefully inspiring or helping others do what I do….finding out how good, fun, pleasant, how enjoyable being active can be……..it’s really satisfying seeing those that I’ve had in those clinics, out running, racing, and continuing on doing……they get it.
In 2019 I had a bit of a huge hiccup…….on an icy run I had a bad fall, fell on the back of my head, gave myself a concussion that has yet to fix itself, and fractured my occipital, or simply fractured my skull…which has healed…….I slowly getting back to being as active as I want to be…and having some fun with that……so reconstructing Warren….
Right now, sharing, maybe leading, instructing is what I’m about……I’m not an elite, I’m a mid packer at best..I’m just a regular guy doing what I do…and if I can, I’m pretty sure anyone can……..all it takes, is one step in front of the other……I can teach that…
If someone just wants to learn how to run, I got that, if someone wants to go towards a triathlon, yep, been there….a marathon, or a half marathon..I can lead someone towards that…and if someone just wants to get out the door……..I can do that…….
This Saturday, I begin instructing a virtual Learn to Run Clinic…..10 weeks of emails and Zoom meets…. 24 in the clinic so far, all ages, lots of variety in abilities and experience, and from across the country……looking forward to it…….and all I do, is what I do, and what I can to help, and guide, hopefully inspire…
My personal immediate goal is to get to run half marathon distance, 21K/13 miles by the end of this month, September….just something to kick my ass and wake me up….it’ll depend on if my head will let me……..
The one key is, no matter what you do, you can..and if you need help doing it…you just ask…….that’s why I’m here…and well, there are others out there that may help me, I may need that..too
w