Why I Run

My wife LOVES to run. She is my beautiful "run bunny", and has been my inspiration to get myself in shape enough to run a race. She has been in three major MVAs (motor vehicle accidents) over the past five years, and after the first two accidents, managed to get herself back in shape enough to run her first full marathon last year!

I am so proud of her for that accomplishment. It was weeks and weeks of training; hundreds of kilometres run; a couple pairs of shoes; numerous blisters, sore muscles, and missing toenails; but she did it AND finished in under 5 hours!

It was inspiring to watch her run that day, to be there with the kids to cheer her on at various points in the race, and meet her at the end of the race - a truly incredible accomplishment and it still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it!

Sadly, this past January, she was in another bad MVA accident, and has not yet been able to bounce back into running form. I know it has been weighing on her heavily, and she clearly misses being able to get out and run again (it doesn't help that they're coming out with all this new run stuff - she just loves the new running skirts - as she says, "a nice way to run and feel girly!").

I have never been a "runner", and for the most part, never understood how my wife could enjoy runing 42km all at once (give me a bike and we'll talk, but run?!?). However, this past April, when I saw that she wasn't making a speedy recovery from her latest accident, I made a promise to my lovely wife, that I would get myself in shape, and join her in a race when she got well enough to run.

My first challenge, was to loose enough weight to not feel like the Pillsbury Dough Boy running down the street. I changed my diet, cut out junk food, began long walks and short runs each day, and managed to drop 45lbs in two months! That in itself was a small miracle, but one I'm thankful to God for helping me accomplish. I haven't been this light since after high school! :)

Since then, I've invested in some proper running shoes and clothes, and have begun to train myself up for my first race...

I run for God - He has blessed me so much - in Him I can accomplish anything - and I love Him to bits!
I run for Love - "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." ~Helen Keller

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