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.

Simple little loop

Met up with Thon and Mike this morning, 6AM bright and early, down at Barton Springs. This time we just went out and did the Congress Avenue loop, about 5.6 miles in 55 minutes (with waterstops). Nothing earth-shattering, although we did pick it up a bit to about 8:45 on the way back from MoPac to the pool. Got some powerade, dove into the water (the only way to enter Barton Springs, I’m convinced), bumped (almost literally) into Carrie doing her swim workout (what are the odds?), got out, dried off, and headed back for home. Showered and back to work before 8AM, just in time to meet with an A/C guy about the fact that their filter boxes only seemed to fit the expensive custom filters provided by, hey, the filter box manufacturer, and no that wasn’t acceptable. Ah, well; at least the run was fun.

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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

2 total comments, leave your comment.
  1. Thanks for helping me practice for race day! Running into people in the water is all part of the triathlon experience :-)

  2. Jason
    Aug 28th 2006
    12:01 AM

    Just thought I’d blog by and post here. What the heck, ya know?

    Maybe I should start running again (it’s been, like, close to two months - at least if you don’t count the sprints I do when I’m trying to catch the bus).

    Sounds like training is going great. You’ll love Dallas (that’s the one your doing, right?).


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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