I Love Being in Shape
Unfortunately, I am not as in shape as I would like to be right now. Unless, as the old joke says, you count “round” as a shape. But I am getting there.
Perhaps I am being a little hard on myself as I know I am far from fat. But, in August, while cycling, I was struck by a car. Happy to be alive, I was quite unhappy to have suffered a Grade III AC separation. For the uninitiated, that means my shoulder got all messed up and junk. For the month of August, I logged a total of 93 miles, 26.2 of which were a marathon. A fortnight of zero running and a few weeks of trying to get back into shape, while being amazed that my metabolism was no longer what I thought it was, left me with a few extra pounds which have stubbornly hung on.
When mid-December hit, I finished off a streak of 8 marathons in 64 days and had a whole three weeks off before my next go at 26.2 miles. With no traveling, no eating bad food at book signings, and being able to sleep in my own bed, I was looking forward to racking up the miles. Now, these were not arbitrary miles meant to pad my stats and feed my ego. You see, I am doing a solo running of the American Odyssey Relay in April, and will need to build my body up to handle the 204 miles I will be running from Gettysburg to D.C. So, these are necessary miles.
And as I ran those miles, I lost some weight. Running became easier even when I was doing two double-digit mileage runs a day. Clothing fit better, I felt healthier, and I reveled in my food choices. In my time off in August, I totally understood how easy it is to be out of shape. It requires, by definition, very little effort. It also gets easier as time goes by. But I never once was happy.
Now, I am happy. I still cannot do laundry on my abs yet, but I can no longer use my midsection as a half-globe. I am smiling. Birds are singing (metaphorically, of course. It is January.) I do not want to ever go back.
And if I have a Twix, well, I will just run a few extra miles.
Dane Rauschenberg is the author of See Dane Run, which recounts his 2006 feat of running an official marathon every weekend of the year in a different North American city. Running Matters is his new weekly blog for Blue Ridge Outdoors.
great article and love the fact that it is real! Thanks for the authenticity. God Bless, Selina Nordberg
This article is great! It’s nice to be reminded that even those we think are super in shape and healthy have struggles to stay that way as we all do. You’re awesome Dane! Thanks for keeping it real!
I have enjoyed reading your book, have enjoyed listening to you speak and now I love that you have a place for your musing with BRO here. You nailed the reason why it is called “staying” in shape as it is a constant struggle to maintain that physical fitness. Any day not working on that fitness (and yes, a day of rest and recover is part of that working on process!) is a day where that fitness is eroded.
Thanks for the insight!
Great article Dane! I admire your attitude. It is certainly much harder to get back into shape (especially after an accident) than it is to just stay that way in the first place. Keep inspiring and good luck with the American Odyssey “Relay”! Looks like you are on the right on track.
I just made a decision to let the Christmas eating habits go because I have developed the “half globe” and it happened so fast (well, 2 months of non-stop sugar and bread). It is good to know that I am not the only one and that by continuing to run and eat right, I will get back my abs!
I finally sat down to catch up on emails. Dane, this article is very good! Nice that you humble yourself so that it encourages others to keep on running even in the down times of our lives. I am working on getting my abs back too, I think I see them under that new baby weight. LOL! I’ll pass this along – great work.