A Reason to Run

I think I've said it before, but just to be clear, I hate running. Even when I was an athlete in high school, I still dreaded running. I loved playing football, basketball, and the like, but I hated conditioning and hated running. I've come to grips with my dislike for this activity and I do it anyway. It is a fantastic way to get in shape and stay in shape. The late fitness guru, Covert Bailey once said, "show me how fast you can cover a mile, and I will tell you what kind of shape you are in".
So, this morning, I'm on the treadmill at the gym, doing my heart rate thing (keeping it between 135 and 145), thinking "I know I can go faster than this, I know I can cover a mile faster than this." But the end game here is to burn fat, not to cover ground asap. I then got thinking about the 5k's I want to do this summer. I can think of 3-4 I want to run. The first one that I was really planning on was a 5K on the 4th of July in Centerville. BUT, I had another one brought to my attention that I think I will do first.

Let me introduce Deak.

Deak has an extremely rare Chromosomal abnormality, simply titled Ring 18. Deak's parents are friends of my little sister. I've only had the pleasure of meeting Deak once, but I feel like I know a lot about him due to reading his mom's blog. He is one cool little kid, and he inspires me quite a bit. And despite all of the odds stacked against him, he is a fighter and so are his parents.

Deak's mom has put together a charity benefit 5K on May 14th in Kaysville.

I am so there.

Here is a link to the race: Deak's Run for Hope

Go there, read about Deak, read about his life, and you too will be inspired.

So, I've got some getting ready to do. I'll still be doing my heart rate based training each week, but I'm going to throw in some training to improve my stamina and cardio efficiency to get ready to run. Thanks Deak! See you on May 14th!