Beginnings - Middles - and Me

Where to begin? I was off on a side-track of life when running beckoned me. I think it was more like a taunt. You see I don't see myself as a runner - I see myself as someone who just goes out and covers ground - and the end result is that I wear out several pairs of running shoes in the process. Before I began wearing out shoes I had never quite connected the fact that shoes have mileage limits and that at some point in time you have to throw them out. Ask my wife about the box of shoes I have in the garage that are from my sixth grade year. Great for roofing or taking the trash out - but not near as usable when it comes to going 10 miles.

So the reason that I took some time off was because directly after the Top of Utah Marathon - of which I was able to finish in 5 hours - Mollee and I took an interesting exit off of the main thoroughfare of normal life and welcomed David Henry Lamb into our lives. He was supposed to come along in November - but in a hurried state his advent was moved up from November to September and voila we have a cute little boy - now 24 pounds of smiles and happy thoughts.

His advent slowed my running to a blip of two runs in four months. But he was worth every minute and he is currently passed out after gorging himself on fruits, vegetables, and milk. Mollee does a great job of helping him to realize how much food can fit in hollow legs.

In January I was itching to run. Some people don't itch in January to run at all. But, I did. So I was thinking that I should plan to run another marathon. Now you would at this time lay me down on a long leather couch and ask "Dave - when did your body and brain separate and become so estranged?"

I thought that I should do the Ogden Marathon - but that race was closed - so I began to go short distances with the goal to be ready for the Spudman in July. BUT the gods of running smiled on this poor demented fool of a man and thus I am now entered into the Ogden, and the St. George Marathons. Sometimes the leather couch would do someone good.

I was asked at church once "Why do you run?" I cannot definitively give you an answer to that question. Is it the challenge - is it the grind - is it the drive and the accomplishment? I cannot give you one answer to it. It seems to be something within the psyche that yearns ever so slightly to push the fibers that wrap the muscles and see how fast and how far they can go - and not die.

So, Come along with me - as we ride the school bus of running - and make sure to bring your crayons and something to read because along this path all it is is the man, the shoes, and the drive to fly.