Happy 3rd Running Anniversary to Me!

Today is the 3 year anniversary of when I started running.  I was 40 years old and had finally realized that a combination of crappy diet and zero exercise was probably not so smart, and that being blessed with a high metabolism that kept me relatively slim wasn't going to be enough.  So on April 2nd 2006, after telling all my friends, family & colleagues that I would run the Honolulu marathon for charity in December, I ran/walked for 3 miles at a blistering and exhausting 10:55 pace.  I hadn't intended to walk at all but after 3/4 mile I was unable to run any more.  

Roll forward 3 years and I recently ran a race which was about the same distance as that first adventure in just over 18 minutes (6:04 pace).  Amazing the difference a little exercise can make. I still have the GPS track for that first run and I run that some route occasionally just for fun .  Man, was I out of shape back then!

I had peaked in weight at 169 lbs before starting running, and am currently about 20 pounds under that, although I dipped to 143 when at the height of training last July.  Blood pressure is down, as is heartrate (I have never measured my resting heartrate, so not sure what it is but now I often see HRs in the 50's when I put my garmin on).

My cholesterol, which was one of the reasons I started running is way down.  Pre-running I peaked at 265, with bad cholesterol hitting a pretty scary 186 (recommended value is under 130).  Last year total cholesteroal was 221, with bad being way down to 123 (Good cholesterol is now up to 88).  I have another test next month and I am hoping that the last year of running will result in even better results.

Mileage-wise the last three years have been 1,250 followed by 1,900 and then 2,350.  If I can manage to run a full 12 months without injury I expect to break 3,000 in the next year.

I also expect my race times to continue to improve for a while, but obviously not in a linear fashion.  My first ever race was a half marathon, which I ran in 1:51 (8:31 pace).  I recently ran a half in 1:25 (6:31 pace), which was exactly 2 minutes/mile faster.  It would be awesome to trim 2 more minutes/mile from my pace but it's a little unlikely that I am running 4:31 pace for a 59 minute half marathon anytime soon.

So after 3 years I am more into running than ever, and what was initially an activity to get in shape is now truly an everyday part of my life.