Seven More Miles and a Follow-up to Transformation Tuesday

Today was a very simple run.  It was raining just enough to be annoying.  So I went to the Y.  Set the treadmill for 0.5 incline and 7 MPH, and ran for an hour. 

The rest of the morning was not boring as I then rodw the commuter train between Baltimore and Washington DC and there was a gentleman who was speaking to no one in particular and not getting any feedback from anyone on the train but spoke incessantly.  If someone had chosen to take offense or wanted to pick a fight it could have gotten nasty quickly , but at 8:10 in the morning most people just want to get to where they are working so he was ignored.

Today was easy after yesterday’s day off.  Total mileage for the year is now at 1919.4.  I should have noted that on Saturday when I ran the 24 mile workout, I passed last year’s total mileage of 1867.  I am now within 80 miles of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, on my virtual pilgrimage.  I am so close to meeting the goal.  It is amazing to realize that I will exceed it and quite handily, and I may never run that many miles in a single year again.

What I didn’t talk about this week was Tuesday.  I was thinking about having something to say on Tuesday because on Facebook several days of the week now seem to mean something.  Thursday we have “throwback Thursday”.  Many people are celebrating “transformation Tuesday.”  This seems to be particularly true for people who have taken a lot of weight off.

I don’t even have a lot of pictures from the time I was near or slightly above 180 pounds.  I’m not even sure what it would feel like to put that much weight back on at this point.  (Other than the fact that I know I would not like the way it feels.)  In any case, we have a lot of pictures of the kids from all periods. Not so many pictures of me.  So, it would be hard to show my “transformation” in a way that people could really appreciate.

With respect to physical transformation, I am reminded of a photographer back at the School of Public Health who saw me at two different shoots and commented on how I was svelte at the latter one. 

However, I can talk about a transformation that I have gone through over the past eight and a half years.  The transformation of expression.  The transformation of seeking.  The transformation of confidence.  The transformation of socializing.  So many parts of my life have been transformed by 8½ years of exercise and running. 

I suppose I don’t need to talk about all of the transformations in one day.  There is a lot of transformation that has occurred.  But let’s begin with the transformation of expression.

I have written for years.  I kept a journal in high school.  I wrote prose.  I wrote poetry.  I envisioned songs.  I mostly wrote about things that are symbolic of male teenage angst.  Who I was interested in?  Whether there was any evidence they were interested in me?  What I would do about it?   (Most often, nothing.)  I continued writing in college but not nearly as much. Although some of the songs got turned into music.  (Not that I was ever much of a musician.)

Then I went for years where most of my writing was professional.  And I went for years without running.

On January 1, 2006, I got back to exercise.  By mid-2007, I could run the half marathon distance again.  And then in 2009, I actually registered for a half marathon.  Then, since 2010, I have run at least one marathon a year.

And in 2010, I started writing again.

This time, not in journals hidden from eyes forever.  No, this time in a public journal called a blog. 

I have honed my story telling.  No, I’m not a Stephen King or Tom Clancy.  I have my own style.  I have my own voice.  I reflect my own ponderings.  I write in what is essentially a memoir format.  I sometimes ramble.  And my writing reflects a search for meaning.  But the biggest key is that the story telling has translated into mentoring.  The story telling has translated into telling people what I want to do and why.  The story telling has translated into leadership. 

The transformation is a transformation in expression.  A transformation of what I express and how and with whom I share it.  That transformation is critical to my future.  We will see where it goes. 

One new feature.  For anyone who has read my blog but not met me, here is a link to my first "audio blog".