Mile One

I have run nearly 300 miles this month and I can say, without a doubt, that the hardest of them all is ALWAYS the first one.

During the week, I typically run at lunchtime and you’d think that would make starting easier. Give the body some time to wake up, have breakfast, coffee, mid-morning snack, more coffee, bathroom break, hydrate and go. Easy. Right? Well, not so much. You see, I have a desk job. So, I’m pretty much going from stationary to 7 min miles in the time it takes for me to get dressed. And during that first mile, my legs let me know, quite loudly in fact, that they don’t appreciate the sudden change of pace. Easy does it, desk jockey!

Grinding Away

I signed up for the TARC Spring Thaw in early January with the hopes that, come mid-March, the weather would be warmer, the snow would be melted and there would be plenty of lovely dirt trails to run on. Wrong. Wrong. And WRONG! The stark race-day reality was a cold slap in the face courtesy of a brisk 20 degree day (with 15 mile per hour winds) deep snow pack and almost no dirt to speak of. Oh, well. I suppose 6 hours of slipping around on snow and ice must be worth something!

The Forgotten

Occasionally, in this space, I’ll write about a topic other than running. Sometimes, something catches my eye and just begs to be explored, or reflected upon.This is one of those times…

Early one morning, in Pontiac Michigan, Pia Farrenkopf quietly walked to her garage, got into her car, and died. This is not unusual. Approximately 34,000 Americans die every year in their vehicles and over 10 times that many die annually in their homes. So, Pia Farrenkopf’s death in her car at her home was not, in and of itself, unusual. What was unusual about Pia’s death, however, was that she died and no one noticed.

…for SIX YEARS!