I Blame Ali

So why this adult onset athletic endeavor? It was a trivergence (is that a word?) of 3 factors. One) I was approaching my 60th birthday and thought if I was ever going to run, it had to be soon..... real soon. Two) My football Buckeyes got stomped by Florida, and I went into an irrational funk. This made me realize that I needed some type of athletic activity of my own, rather than deriving vicarious enjoyment (or pain) from the activities of others . Finally, a few days after the OSU-Fla debacle, one of my dogs and I were sitting on the couch, munching on cookies, and admiring my brand new running shoes sitting in their Christmas box...... when I got mail: email. It was from an old high school classmate, informing me that Ali (another high school classmate) had just completed a half-marathon in Arizona. Despite the upcoming 60th birthday breathing down my neck, my aging fuel tank had just enough testosterone to cause me to make the predictable and preposterous statement: "Well if she can do it, I sure as hell can." (Even my cookie-munching dog rolled his eyes.) Of course, this outburst of bravado ignored a few pesky facts: Ali wasn't overweight, wasn't a former heavy smoker (so far as I know), and had been running for the past 21 years. Nevertheless, Ali's achievement was the final catalyst for me to give the rest of the cookies to the dog, put on the new shoes (filled with cookie crumbs) and get off the couch. So..... I blame Ali for my late life running obsession. Of course, if I actually achieve a half-marathon, then I guess I'll have to give her some credit too.

ORN: 20' bike; 28' walk /treadmill