Epiphany on a Lifetime of Exercise

I've always been outdoorsy and athletic.  I grew up on a farm and rode horses, bicycles, and played hide and seek in the barns and shed, even the corn crib. In elementary school I took pride in being a good kickball player and running the mile in gym class. In junior high and high school I ran cross country and played basketball. In college I continued running on my own, and joined ROTC so I did orienteering, obstacle courses, sky diving, rappelling and conoeing in the Ozarks, and anything else that sounded fun.

I've always liked food though.  I always thought that the longer my workouts were, the longer my distances run, I could eat more.  That's true to a certain extent.

A couple months ago, as our family was hanging out in our kitchen (yes, the center of our universe), one of our adult sons who has been into body building and fitness in general, was talking about how people think you can get into shape in 2-3 months, like many people make plans after their New Year's Resolutions or want to get in shape for summer.  He said he used to think that too. Then he said it had taken him 4 years of serious work to get to the point where he is now.  It's more than a 2-3 month ramp up.  It's a lifestyle, he said.  And....he said he felt that it was more about nutrition than about the exercise.

"YOU CAN'T OUT-RUN YOUR FORK," he said.


This entire conversation was fascinating to me, but this is when it hit me.  I'd been trying to out-run my fork my entire adolescent and adult life.  Too funny.  Or maybe not so funny.

I've run marathons, Ragnar Relays (200ish mile relays with 10-12 person teams), bicycled across Iowa in the RAGBRAI, kayaked on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, done back to back 20ish mile day hikes on the Appalachian Trail.

Running the Adirondacks Ragnar Relay

Did I tell you I absolutely LOVE night runs?

Our Key West Ragnar Team on our 3rd KW Ragnar, southernmost point in the US.

I love running in the winter too! THis is our second run around Lake Waramaug in CT, 7 miles.

Our Tom's Run team on the C&O Canal Towpath.

Our Long Distance Truckers, along the RAGBRAI route. RAGBRAI is  an annual bike ride across Iowa. We self -supported when we did it (first time)  this year.

OK, I had to out-run, I mean out-ride a beer or two as well.

You've heard of singing for your supper?  Here we are riding for our supper.  We rode about 15 miles round trip to eat at a pub, outdoors, off the B&A Trail in Severna Park.

Our Long Haul Truckers taking a rest at The Taproom, Severna Park.

So once again, I was attempting to out-run, I mean, out-ride a beer or two.

Did I mention we like cycling at night too?  This was on the way home from  The Taproom.

And still, I hang onto a few extra pounds. Because I've been trying to out-run my fork all these years.

It's been fun.

But probably hard on my knees.