Fort 4 Fitness, year 2

It's that time again... 

time for the Fort4Fitness run in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

It's a 4 mile run in downtown Fort Wayne that Shawn and I ran last year around the same time. 

Last summer my cousin Dave kept saying, "Sign up for Fort4Fitness", blah, blah, blah. My reply,

"Fort for what?" You see I was a novice runner at the time. I had just started the c25K training plan just a couple of months short of that. A 4 mile run sounded daunting. It sounded, well, almost impossible. If I could barely run to my mailbox without practically dying, how was I going to run 4 miles straight? Well, as the training would have it, you start off really, REALLY slowly and work your way up. The idea is to be able to run a 5K at the end of it. What is another nine-tenths of a mile anyway?

Having my husband by my side to encourage me and spur me on was hugely helpful. I had gotten him into the running thing shortly after I started training. His only concern initially was that old knee issues would resurface. At first they had, but then his body adjusted, I adjusted him (chiropractically speaking), and all was well. He has taken to this running thing.

Let me tell you. Right in the beginning of the run, we passed a bakery that smelled of cinnamon and apple pie. Not fair! I would much prefer a piece of apple pie with a cup of coffee than pushing my body to do things it doesn't want to do. And halfway through I wasn't sure I could run another 2, but we did. Running is very much a mental thing and you have to be determined to finish or your brain will tell you to stop a million times.

And as the beginning of any race would have it, your adrenaline is pumping so hard that you run ridiculously faster than you are truly capable of and you overdo it right from the start. That's when you reconcile your true abilities, slow down, and continue the mental game you are playing with yourself. You run like the wind and pray hard that it ends soon. 

Wait a minute. It sounds like I hate running. It's the exact opposite. I love it! 

It's just hard. If it wasn't for my running partner, Pam, I probably wouldn't run as much as I do. 

We keep each other honest, engaged, and running on a regular basis.

Since last's year's Fort4Fitness run, she and I have done a 10K and a half marathon. I'm looking forward to more runs together ahead.

Well, Babe, let's do this! We are going to have fun with Jill, Becky, Marcus, Dave, Sheryle, Theo, Lauren, George, Cherie, Mike, Heather, Robbie, Amber, and whoever else is running with us. My favorite part of this weekend will be when we all get together as a family on Saturday night to talk about the run, life, past memories, and what's new as we share dinner together. We'll talk about our parents, who are since gone, and how Bobby D. loved to tell jokes and make us all laugh, how we miss Aunt Perina's cooking, how Dave and George do practical jokes and are probably planning one as we are sitting there, and what each of our kids are up to these days. We'll undoubtedly mention how we need to plan another family reunion and that responsibility will fall on my shoulders because it usually does. I will sign up for the task because I usually do. We'll eat delicious food, scrumptious desserts, and laugh our heads off. We'll plan next year's run and talk about how more of my family should travel to Indiana from New Jersey to join us because of the great fun we have had. We'll have the best time together as a family because...

that's what we usually do.