Why Do You Run??

I was recently approached by a normal middle aged man who wanted my advice. This man started off by telling me that his friend (a very dedicated triathlete) had died a few days ago. Unsure of where this story was going I continued to listen. He told me about all the races his friend had entered and that he was even buried in his racing outfit. After the funeral this man and two of his friends were sitting in a bar and decided to do something that their late friend would be absolutely amazed if they did. They decided to sign up for Ironman Canada. None of them have ever swam, biked or ran in their lives, one of them actually asked if they would be able to use his kid's 10 speed bike for the 180km bike course. Less than a year till the race and obviously not knowing a whole lot about the sport will prove to be a huge challenge for these 3 guys. This guy was asking me everything from what to wear, eat, how to run- anything you can think of he probably asked it. I really hope these guys follow through with this and somehow find it in themselves to finish an Ironman with so little training and experience. I have a feeling it will be one of the biggest accomplishments they will ever experience. And best of all, they are doing it for their friend and I'm sure he would have been very proud.

After he said goodbye and left with maybe too much information at once on his plate, I really started to think. On August 28 in beautiful Penticton BC, there will be 3 normal guys who 6 months ago didn't know a thing about triathlon. Now they will have 17 hours to swim, bike and run 226km. Because they wanted to make their late triathlete friend proud they will be digging deeper than they ever have and hopefully overcoming all the obstacles thrown at them that day.

These 3 guys have a pretty inspirational reason why they are deciding to do this. There are hundreds of thousands of people in thousands of races who all have a different story as to why they train and race. People in races shouldn't just be viewed as numbers, they all have a reason why they are there. It could be simply to get in shape, make friends, compete or even do it to honor a friend. So why do you run? If you don't, why not? Chances are whatever your answer to that is, is simply an excuse. Get out the door and go for a run! These 3 guys have 6 months to train for an Ironman Triathlon, they will certainly have a lot of excuses why they would rather do anything else other than go for a 3 hour training ride, but they will do it to honor their friend. The hardest thing in anything is always the first step. Go ahead, put your shoes on and just do it, I promise you'll feel better about yourself.

Still haven't entered in our contest to win a free Timex Ironman Watch? You have until Feb 28 to join mytrainingbuddy.com and enter. Details are on the website.