I read we were born to run on Wyatt's blog today with interest, most runners I have met so far seems to have ran in high school or college or have been running for a while now due to early introduction to it. I on the other hand never played sport, ran or did anything athletic except what was forced on me in school and in most cases I got out of those.

There were many reasons why I never played but I know fear of failure, being shy and weight issue were probably the biggest. There was something about running, biking and swimming that I have always love even as a kid, I remember Olympic years being my favorite, basically 24 hours of none stop events, recap and analysis.

Running was always a favorite, I have tried so many times to make it a part of my life but always drop it out, of all three it was the easiest I could try since I can walk why can't I run, well I may have been born to run and love it, it just wasn't loving me in return. Trying to go a mile was agony and my body was rebelling so it was always just a matter of time. Biking was a mystery and being afraid of water, swimming wasn't happening either.

A trip to Hawaii and a wonderful adventure crew member that promise to keep me safe in the water while snorkeling somewhat broke a lot of fears. I came back home from that trip with a desired to learn to swim, signed up at the rec center and took a couple of lessons, well I did get to the point where I could get my face in the water and know that I have to turn my face to the side and breathe instead of holding it. There are just somethings that are easier learn as a kid, still working on the breathing and yet to get in the deep end, one baby step at a time on this one.

While tackling swimming , figure out I may as well work on learning to bike and there was Divine intervention when I went to Walmart later that day and strolled thru the bike aisle only to find a lady's Schwinn bike marked down to $75 from $180. I placed the bike in my basement and spent 5-10 mins on it everyday, by the end of the winter I could bike and first sunny day of the year went biking with the kids, the funny part about this is that I did teach both my kids how to bike, but at least they had training wheels. Now just need to figure out what all those gears means and when exactly am suppose to use them.

Back to running, I have always owned a treadmill, well need a new one now, and always wanted to race. Last year with the onset of turning 40 and the resolution yet again to take charge of my life, I signed up for track the tower, got to the top of that tower and thought I was going to die, I didn't but was sick for 3 days.

After, I got better, I remember the training conversation I overheard while waiting for my wave to start. those ladies have actually trained, so with my new physical interest, I went to the library to find running/training books and trained for my first 4 miler, only thought of dying once and felt good when done, so the running journey began. I realize I actually really love to run and running kept my life in balance, things were right with the world until the injury.

I may never win an age group award or be able to explain to my in laws why I get out of bed at 4:30am to run but there is something about that alone time with me and my maker and rejoicing in all the places I have seen because my leg took me there.

So Ultimate Swim, bike and run goals, may still be working on this at age 80, but at least should keep me from quiting;

1. Qualify for Boston
2. Run Boston
3. Break 7 hours in a 50k
4. Run a 50 Miler
5. Do a duathlon (distance is irrelevant)
6. Do a sprint Tri (Probably the most I can handle without drowning)
7. Run the Comrades Marathon in South Africa (Because it use to be on my birthday)