Shortly after completing my 2017 Free Press International Half-Marathon I began formulating what my plans would be for the upcoming year. I mentally committed early to running the International Half once again in 2018 and I was going to try to PR it. I was going to try some races I’ve had my eye on but what would I do to step outside my comfort zone?
I’ve been fairly lucky to correspond with some great folks online who serve as brand and race ambassadors and that has been something that has intrigued me for some time. Well I’m putting myself out there. The Free Press International Half Marathon is my go-to race. Sounds like a great place to start.
Talking about myself
Time to get comfortable with that again. There is a lot of that in the application process and there will be a great deal more during the actual act of being an ambassador (If I’m. I thought that I’d share what I submitted part of my application where I was asked about my “Running Story”, so…
…here it is.
My running story:
I started my fitness journey as I approached New Years 2005. I would be turning 29 that year and I knew I wanted to be living a healthier lifestyle by the time I turned 30. I wasn’t adhering to a healthy diet and was a pack a day smoker looking for an excuse to leave that lifestyle behind. The new year would be my cutoff and 2005 would be the year that I started taking my health and fitness seriously.
At that time cycling was the one physical pursuit that I felt comfortable committing to. I had often seen the MS150 advertised back while I was still in college and the prospect of cycling 150 miles in 2 days had always intrigued me. By the time I had successfully trained for and completed the MS150 I knew I had to come up with additional goals to keep my self on the right path. As my wife had began to attend Running 101 classes with a goal of completing her first road race in 2005, I decided I would participate in my first Freep relay with her later that year as well as do my first 5K. Later I dabbled in some longer distances, participated in several more Freep Marathon Relays and completed a Sprint Triathlon.
Along the way I had become a father two times over. My oldest son was born in April of 2009 at 28 weeks 6 days. His beginning would be precarious. The circumstances of his premature birth offered up few certainties and prevented him from coming home till he had spent 52 days in the hospital and had already had his first surgery. Thankfully my youngest’s entry into the world seemed positively rushed based on how quickly we were sent home. Under the best of circumstances, parenthood offers endless excuses on why one no longer has time for “personal indulgences” like time for one’s personal fitness. In a family such as mine it can take a lot of self-encouragement to realize that self-care time such as time for physical fitness benefits the whole family. Since becoming a father, I did my first Freep International Half (2013) as well as doing the Bayshore Half Marathon (2014) and the Disney Princess Half Marathon (2015) as well as doing the Freep International Half again in (2014 and 2017).
I’ve set a personal goal for myself this year to beat my Half-Marathon PR (which I set during my 1st Freep International Half-Marathon in 2013). My larger set of goals for 2018 are:
- To set new PRs for all distances I’ve run thus far (5K, 4mi, 10K, 10mi and Half-Marathon)
- Complete my first Duathlon
- Complete a combined Run + Cycle Mileage Total of at least 2018 miles in 2018
App submitted
Well now the waiting game is on. Keep your fingers crossed for me. ?
