50

In late September, when David Hanchrow and I drove to Atlanta to see a Dodgers - Braves game, I stayed overnight with my longtime friend and fraternity brother, Todd Blankenbecler.  We stayed up after the game and talked for a bit, then had breakfast the next morning at a local diner.  It was a brief but fulfilling visit as is almost always the case with old friends.  

As we talked, TB mentioned that he was a three mile a day runner.  He said he ran the same course - three miles - almost every day.  Interesting, I though, particularly since TB and I used to run the Thanksgiving Day Half-Marathon in Atlanta together in our mid-20's.  How does a runner go from running for mileage which, almost by necessity, includes longer runs and runs of varying distances, to running the same three miles route on a daily basis.

On my five hour drive home, I thought about this a lot.  As a longtime runner, I am always looking for different ways to motivate myself to get out and run.  Mileage goals for the year.  Running a certain number of times in a given year.  A certain number of long runs for the year.  Preparing for a race (although that hasn't happened for a while).  

Runner are hard on themselves as a rule.  I am very hard on myself if I don't put the work in running.  More is better, I think I had come to believe, looking down my nose at a three mile or, sometimes, a four mile run.  Why?  For no good reason, I realized.  

On the drive home, I decided to run three miles 50 times before the end of the year.  Not the most ambitious of goals, I know.  Still, it was a new approach for me.  After all, it's pretty damn easy to find 30 minutes to run three miles, including stretching before and cooling down afterwards.  I figured all I needed was good health, no injuries, and a little determination.  

The stars lined up and, sure enough, this morning, on Christmas Eve, I ran three miles in Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, then followed that up with a cup of coffee at Honest Coffee Roasters in the Factory.  As I listen to Christmas music and the hum of conversation in the background, I am happy and content.  

Happy that I've been blessed by God with the ability and desire to continue to run at age 58.  Content that, on Christmas Eve, I reached the modest goal I set for myself back in the fall.  

Once a runner, always a runner.