"...the difference between a runner and a jogger is a signature on a race application." (Dr. George Sheehan) Now race applications are signature-free and on-line, but my name is being put on one: the CSUF iCare Festival's 5K Run/Walk. My daughter Joanna is the instigator... supporter... and sponsor of this event for me. April 21st, 2012... here I come! One of my mottoes from the early '70s: "Behold the turtle! He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out." 40 years later, I'm still making progress... and I'm still sticking my neck out.
So it's official... I'm going to run in an organized running event. I'll be lining up in the rear. My goal will be to finish. Whatever my time is... it will be my Personal Record (PR). A new baseline for a new chapter in The Life and Times of Don Evans (a book with a very small readership, but very important to me!)
I already had a training schedule. I have the shoes. And now I have a race date: April 21st. My daughter noted that the date is a week or so after Tax Day, which marks the eight week threshold that 80% of beginning runners don't reach. I'm trying to be part of the other 20%.
I'm on week three of my running journey, and the race comes as week eight will be beginning.
John Bingham, a runner and writer, says of himself, "
"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
Change requires courage. There is always a risk of failure. But then... the main goal is to show up, prepared, and to be glad that I'm fit enough to undertake my first "race" in over 40 years. That's what I'm shooting for.
And it feels good to be on the road to my 2012 dream: I choose to be in charge of my habits. I let it be easy.
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