You were a hell of a runner, Bob.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Yesterday’s run began in the usual way. I exited my car wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, running shorts, socks on my hands and my beat-to-hell cycling cap. It was around 35 degrees, but sunny, and the crisp, cool breeze felt good on my legs. I ran a short distance on the road before jumping on to the bridle trails. With the slight warming, the packed snow was giving way under each step causing me to pitch in every direction. Today’s workout out would be more from staying on my feet than the speed of the run.

I went along in this fashion for most of the run, but knew the last mile would be on dry road and I was looking forward to it. When I emerged from the trail and began running the road, I was facing the orange glow of a setting sun on the trees just beyond the river for which I was headed. Then, something weird happened. I noticed I was in a comfortable stride, breathing easily and with a runner’s gait. I say ‘runner’ to differentiate from ‘jogger’ which is what I had felt like for the years since my calf injury. I had thought of myself as runner since my junior high track days and through to the injury. It was part of who I was and when that changed, so did I. My body gave in more easily to the ravages of advancing age and my levels of dedication to my training program suffered. Maybe, just maybe, I’d turned another corner.

I finished 46 minutes of running feeling like I was back. It wasn’t fast and I was still way overweight, but I saw a light at the end of the tunnel and I’m sure it wasn’t a train. Later that night, I received a call from an old high school friend asking me if I had heard that Bob Rudloff had died. Bob and I had been close in high school, he knew, and figured I’d know something about it. I didn’t.

Naturally, I started to think about Bob and our relationship. You see, it was Bob that had inspired me to run in the first place. He was one of the best high school runners in the country our senior year, but sadly never reached his full potential from, in my opinion, a lack of good coaching. I had decided then that if I was ever in a position to help young athletes to achieve their potential, I would do so to honor him and what he should have been. I kept running and pursued my Masters degree in exercise – coaching numerous high school athletes along the way. State champions and all-Americans followed and I’m pleased to think about the debt of gratitude I owe to Bob.

Thanks, Bob. I’m a runner again and this time I won’t stop.

Run duration: 46 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140 bpm

Calories burned during workout: 780