I Run For My Wife

I do not talk about it much here on my blog, but my wife is very sick. Two years ago she was diagnosed with severe lung disease that is a result from radiation treatment years ago. It has progressively been getting worse, and now the doctors are saying it may be due to other factors as well.

This past Thursday night I was writing a blog post about your body being stronger than it thinks it is, a post which is still saved in my drafts and will be published later, when my wife called me from the other room.

She was having trouble breathing, and I could tell it was not good. I needed to call 911. Her lung collapsed, and since her lungs are diseased it made the situation worse. She is still in the hospital and it seems she will be in here for some time yet.

In the back of my mind I have always ran for my wife and kids. I run to get healthier, so that I can take care of them. I run to have more energy, so that I can keep up with them. I run to inspire them, so that they can know what the human body is capable of. But now is the time that I really need to run for my wife.

This is race week in Philadelphia. The ING Philadelphia Distance Run is on Sunday and I have been signed up since the beginning of the summer. Luckily, even though my wife may still be in the hospital, she will be well enough for me to head over to the art museum and run the 13.1 miles.... and run it for her.

I need to show her that the human body will always think itself to be weak, but even when it is sick, it is capable of much more than we can even fathom. I need my running to inspire her and give her hope. I want my running to get into her soul and give her strength to push on.

This weekend at the Philadelphia Distance Run I will be letting everyone know who I run for. I will be wearing one of these on the front of my shirt so the cameras can pick it up, and I will be wearing another on the back, so that every runner I pass will know that I run with a purpose.

This weekend I am running with only one thing in mind. My Wife.

Sick Week

I have been sick most of this week. I hate that... every time I get into a groove and start building my mileage up, something happens to cut me down.

I am better now and will be doing a great long run tomorrow... and writing about it afterwards.

I also have not been blogging as much as I like. I have been writing though, or at least working on my writing. This blog is not exactly Pulitzer prize material, but I do want to improve my writing and possibly start getting published. This was an ambition of mine many years ago, and while it might have been put on the back burner at times, it did keep brewing in the back of my mind.

So I am going to try to keep up with this blog a little more, and keep up with my running a lot more.

Life Can Get In The Way

So my trip to Nashville was cut short because my wife was sick. The race there would be my last run in over a week, because my wife was getting worse and needed to go to the hospital. She finally got home today, after a week in there. I am not going into the details here, but she is better than she was when she got admitted.

I have two sons. One is 5 and the other is 2. That makes it incredibly hard to run when you are the only parent around.

So my mileage has been horrible this month.

My original goal for The Broad Street run was 1:45... a 10:30 pace. Now I am just hoping to finish it.

I ran for the first time in over a week on Monday and it killed me. It felt like I was a complete beginner again. I had a 3 mile run today that felt really good... I mean almost perfect. Hopefully I can carry that through the next month and into Broad St.

My goal now is to build my mileage and do a few days of speed work, maybe just fartleks, and then do Broad Street as best as I can.

I know I can finish it, but how well is another question.