Running Towards Fitness

Personal Awareness
The ancient Greeks used to believe that a healthy mind and a healthy body not only went together, but were both critical for happiness and a successful life. They were also intertwined, meaning that a weakness in either area would affect the other. When I started this transformation I was overweight and full of excuses. And by overweight I don't mean just a few pounds - I weighed over 70 pounds more than I do now. I finally took my life into my own hands and started exercising. At the time, I had no idea where it would lead - to a stronger body, a happier, more nimble mind, and a chest full of race medals. Healthy mind, healthy body, indeed! It hasn't been easy, or without issues, but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.

Little Run

My knee is feeling a whole lot better, and I can bend to about 100 degrees without pain, but all I feel up to doing is walking. Which we did a lot of today at the Luling Watermelon Thump (of which I had to skip the 5K - ah, well). This evening we went to Chipotle with my mom and stepdad, and it was raining really hard, and I ran from the car to dinner without thinking of it. I was wearing the brace, but even so I felt fine doing it. Now, that was only 20′ or so, so that was a very little run, but it makes me feel a little hopeful that this will heal up quickly.

I wish I had more to say, but I haven’t done much this week. The good news is that even with my not-very-good eating habits, I didn’t gain anything and I’m seeming to be pretty stable at 175.

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About

I'm Richard Stanford, a fit, happy runner. Of course, that wasn't always the case. Dip into the archives to follow my progress from couch potato to sub-four hour marathoner.

I also like to cook, write, code, and play with power tools...

Personal Records

DistanceRaceTimePace
Marathon2006 Freescale3:54:078:56
20 Miles2006 RunTex3:00:089:00
30K2005 RunTex2:42:448:45
Half M2006 3M1:42:577:51
20K2005 Decker1:40:428:06
10 Miles2005 Pervasive1:20:138:01
10K2005 Dublin Dr Pepper48:437:51
5 Miles2005 Turkey Trot37:017:24
5K2005 Margarita Run22:327:15
4K2006 Fila Relays17:247:15
1 Mile2006 Congress Ave6:236:23

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Activity

3 total comments, leave your comment.
  1. Alex
    Jun 26th 2004
    10:10 PM

    Glad to hear you’re improving. I suppose following all the recommendations actually does work!

  2. Isn’t it odd how our body, head, or heart can all tell us different things? Hang in there Richard.

  3. Glad your knee is feeling better, hope that trend continues. In the meantime, running to dinner is a worthwhile exercise :)


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Famous Marathon Times

RunnerTimePace
Al Gore4:58:2511:23
Oprah4:29:3010:17
P. Diddy4:14:549:43
Will Ferrell3:56:129:01
George W. Bush3:44:528:35
John Edwards3:30:188:01
Carrie Sapp3:29:067:59
Boston Qualifier3:10:597:17
Lance Armstrong2:59:366:51
Gilbert Tuhabonye2:23:075:28
Paula Radcliffe2:15:255:10
Paul Tegat2:04:554:46

People I Train With

Alex - Addicted to Exercise
Carrie - Tri to be Funny
Erine - Thousand Miles
Frank - Running Blog
Gilbert - Gilbert's Gazelles
Jay - Leotian Blog
Mike - BROTH