On the Road to a Healthy Lifestyle

Running started for me in July of 2012. Yes, not even a year ago. I was never a very active individual, and really preferred to sit around, watch TV, be lazy, hang out, blah, blah, blah. On top of this my drinking habits were not great (and I still have work to do... we love the wine in our home, especially me), and I was a social/occasional smoker. The only real thing I had going for me was the fact that my wife (Karine) is a great cook, and she loves to eat well. So we never had crap food in the house. In fact, Karine taught me how to cook after being on this planet for 38 years.

The key things in my life that were bothering me were the following... and in this order:

1. I turned 43 years old on May 1, 2012.

2. I was not active, and had no exercise routine except that we walked our children to daycare every morning, and picked them up at the end of the day.

3. I was a social smoker.

4. I could do with less alcohol.

I needed to do something about 1, 2, and 3 quickly... but I can also be a procrastinator, and I was simply putting it off. The times when I would smoke the most were when I was in a social situation, mainly around other friends who were either smokers, or social smokers themselves. That said, I was on two and a half week trip in Utah, at the beginning of July and I was with several friends from work. We all like to have a good time, and that included indulging in the drink and the cigarettes. After two and half weeks of indulgence, being all alone after all of my friends had gone off and flown home, I was standing in my hotel room, literally in front of my mirror looking at myself with a half package of cigarettes in my hand. I cannot even begin to explain the level of disgust I felt with myself. I felt like I was a loser. I felt the overwhelming need to cry. That may sound ridiculous, but it's true. I felt horrible, really for the first time in my life. I don't mean to say YOU are a loser if you happen to smoke... that's just how I felt at that time in my life. I really felt like I hit the bottom of the barrel, and this was the catalyst that was going to help me address points 1, 2, and 3 (above) for the first time in my life. I crushed the package of cigarettes that were in my hand, and threw them in the garbage can, and proceeded to get ready to head home for the weekend.

When I got home I mulled through the weekend thinking about my plan to take steps towards an active, healthy lifestyle. I knew this was going to take me time, and I needed something to start things off with. Karine and I signed up for a 10km run (the Oasis Montreal) in September, and I felt that running would be a good motivator for me to stay off the cigarettes. Karine was always a good runner, and she encouraged me to get out, and get moving. And that I did.

On Monday, July 23rd I began to run... and I haven't stopped since. I distinctly remember the level of exhaustion I felt when I finished a 4km run around some of my local streets. How much I sweat. How heavy I was breathing. How GOOD I felt. I really felt that this was going to be the way out of the social smoking circle. And boy was I right.

I trained (in an unstructured way) through July, August, and September... and I ran that 10km run at the end of September. That was my first official race, and I was HIGH on the excitement, and the fact that we all ran that race and received a medal to prove it. The medal hangs in my bedroom today. A reminder that running is my motivation to stay healthy. Running is my motivation to be focused, and there for my wife and children. Running is my motivation to stay alive. And running is my new found drug. Literally, I do experience a high from running - it usually comes after the 4km mark.

The experience I felt on that weekend was beyond what I expected. I immediately started signing up for races in 2013 - the ones where registration was open. I started frequenting my local Running Room store, and reading like crazy. I'm not saying I'm "there" yet. I still have a lot of work to do. I want to do more in the way of changing my eating habits (experiment with more vegetarian, and plant based), and reduce my alcohol consumption even more (we have eliminated consumption during the week, and reserved it for the weekends... although we sometimes indulge during special events).

I am now running at least 5 days a week, and because of the structure of my training programs (although I am adjusting constantly to challenge myself more and more), I am becoming stronger and stronger. For example, Karine spoke to me in August of this year about the benefit of hill training - that's running up and down a 1/2km hill several times to build strength and endurance. I listened, so I went to a hill she recommended close to where we live, and ran up. Then ran down. Then ran up again... really slowly. And back down. By this time I was completely exhausted, and there was no way I was running that hill again. It intimidated me, and so I went home. I stuck to the flat surfaces from there on, until I started on my first real training program. I now run hills every Wednesday, and I have to say that it is my second favorite run of the week - of course my Sunday long run is my favorite. I now run that same hill 6, 8, 10 times... and I'm having no issues at all. This is my body telling me that it's getting healthier. My lungs are stronger. My legs are WAY stronger than they EVER were in my life. And because I run that hill every week, over and over again, and because I run long runs which consist of nothing but hills, I have found (with evidence from my GPS watch) that I run a faster pace when I am running uphill, than on flat surfaces or downhill. Wow!! My body immediately shifts into another gear when I am going uphill, and I get into a zone which is basically my mind completely focusing on getting up to the top.

I have found a new found passion. I truly have. Many of my friends know me as a passionate person. When I find something I like, I like it a lot and I go all in. The same can be said about my passion for SCUBA Diving. I hope you too can find the beauty in such a simple activity. Just get yourself a good pair of shoes, some basic running clothes, lace up, and get out there. I promise that somewhere along the lines you will find the point where you will find your zone - the peace at which the run becomes so beautiful and enjoyable. As I mentioned, that for me starts at around 4km... that still holds true today, whether I'm running 5km or 30km (although, I would prefer 26km of peaceful time than just 1km). All you need to do is push yourself until you feel it. Believe me, you'll know when you reach that point.

"Every day is a good day, when you run".

Cheers!
Mark