There was an old Nike ad years ago: I’m not a runner…

…yet.

I resumed running on about 3 January. About a year after the fall and a stroke. And on the tail end of the infection issue… and a collapsed lung.

I was completely sedentary for the year.

Recovering.

Existing, really.

So, I began walking.

Not very far. I couldn’t even walk much more than a few hundred yards (!) at first.

I’m far too narrow-minded to just hobble along. I wanted to do more.

After a few weeks, I found that I could walk a bit further. I could go half mile then found that I could even jog for very short bursts along that half mile walk.

Re-learn how to walk before you can re-learn how to run.

After a few more months, I was able to jog more than walk. Very, very slowly. And only 10 or 15 minutes or so. Maybe a kilometer. I’m sure it seemed peculiar to the neighbors to see an old guy out at odd hours ambulating around the neighborhood.

I eventually went further and faster than my wife could keep up. So, I made sure that her bicycle was in sufficient shape to travel along with me. She could go with me occasionally when I was out for a run.

I’d posted a few months later that I was going to do a 5k. Okay, fine. Did that. It wasn’t meant to be a metric of speed to compare to anyone else. But a metric of completion.

Fast-forward a few months…

I still run. In fact, now I run a 5k regularly, two or three times per week.

My determination to move, to do more than just exist, has gone a long way toward recovery and improving my overall health.

• My endurance is improved.
• My resting and peak heart-rates are improved.
• My mental focus is improved.
• My stress is decreased.
• My fatigue is decreased.
• I no longer feel consistently “drunk” all the time.
• I no longer have diplopia.
• I no longer have migraines.

I am not a physician. Do not expect that running or exercise is going to fix anything and everything for you. Consult your doctor. Seriously. But do not give up and accept defeat.

On each Tuesday and Thursday morning, I run a 5k. On Saturdays, I run a bit further. It seems that over a few months, that Saturday run has grown to a 10k.

Besides, I have a run that I need to prepare meself for next May.

And then another in October.