well, my legs were working overtime this year. when I was in high school, I used to run on the track team: (how about those socks and laces?!)
I spent a lot of time at the church-gym trying to work it off, but it never really worked.
this year has been different. my little legs have covered quite a few miles.
it started with a fascination with the new almaden mines. I hiked every mile of trail of the new almaden mines this year- which was 34 miles in all.
then I got serious about learning bible verses. so I started walking the los gatos creek trail before work for 50 minutes, 3 or 4 times a week, at about 2 miles per walk. I reviewed my flash cards while I walked. who knows how many miles I put into this trail this year- maybe 200?
then things got really serious. I started dieting, and dropping weight, but I hit a plateau. so I decided to go back to the gym. I also discovered the Nike+ app on my iPod that tells me how far I've run while I'm listening to music. I started slow, and my runs got longer and faster. the treadmill only lets me run for 1 hour at a time. before long, I was running 8, sometimes 9 miles in an hour. this is well over a 10K a night for 5 nights a week. deanna told me that at the pace I was going, I might hit 1000 miles before the year was over. she gave me a goal. once I have a goal, it becomes a focus. and I became very focused on this goal of 1000 miles on the treadmill before the year was over.
it took 2 pairs of shoes, 2 iPods, about 4 different running shorts, and about a dozen headbands (I'm kind of a sweat-er...) but on Monday, I did it. 1000 miles.
I was kind of hoping that the nike app would make a big deal about this, but it didn't. I didn't really either. its just cool for me to lose weight and to finally get the tools that I need to actually start to enjoy running again. one of my new year's resolutions 2 years ago was to start running and to actually enjoy it. and I can now say that after almost 2 years, I have met that goal. I never thought that I would, but I enjoy it a bunch, and look forward to it each night. I miss it when I miss it. and it gives me an excuse to eat more junk, which I love. thanks to my pals Marc and Adrian who have both inspired me with their commitment to running, and achieving their own goals in both running and fitness.
so my little legs travelled quite a bit in 2012- at least 1200 or 1300 miles. next year, I'm hoping to get to 1500 miles on the treadmill alone, and to actually run a race outside! we'll see about that! hopefully nothing on me breaks!
God is love.
-rev-rob
