What Happened to Sporty Dad?

It’s been a while since I have posted anything about being a sporty dad, but that does not mean I have been living the sporty dad life…(that sounds weird). Since my last Sporty Dad post, I have run a few races, did a Spartan race, and I did not run the Chicago marathon. That is the one race I was sad I did not run, but maybe I'll do it again in the future. So here is what went down last year.

How do you define aging? #DadsDisruptAging

Disclaimer: The following post is sponsored by Disrupt Aging from AARP. All thoughts, opinions and body pains are my own. 

Have you ever thought about why you do the things you do? For me, it's trying to be athletic and show my children how athletic I am, but that has not always been the story. I was never much of an athlete when I was younger. I ran around with my friends playing games like freeze tag, and hide-n-seek, but never anything too strenuous. When I went to high school, I joined a few teams, but not being physically fit, my high school athletic career did not advance at all. After graduation, I started thinking that I passed my prime. I passed my time to be fit and to be athletic, but all that changed when I had my daughter.

Just Keep Running, Just Keep Running! (Sporty Dad 110)

On October 8th I joined about 45,000 other runners to run the city for the 40th Bank of America Chicago Marathon. The marathon has gone through a few different name changes, but the goal of all the runners is the same: to finish. Whereas last year I trained like a machine to run the marathon, this year my training was not up to par and I was nervous about how things were going to turn out. 

I ran the Chicago Marathon and I feel fine!

As I was approaching the Charity Block Party at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, I could feel the energy from the tents of all the participating charities. My legs were starting to get tired but the energy and support from these tents gave me an extra boost to continue for a few more blocks.

I say a few more blocks because my thighs were starting to hurt, they were not cramping up, but it sure felt like it. I tried to block it out and keep running, but the pain was too much that I signaled to my running partner to keep going, hoping that I would catch up with him eventually. I started walking to soothe my legs and started thinking to myself "Why are you doing this?" "Do you think you can really finish?" I knew as soon as those thoughts started coming into my head I was in for some trouble.

Run like the wind or Look at me trying to be sporty 104

I know that is not how the songs goes, but it would have been strange to title this post "Run like the wind, Bullseye!" because I am not a fast runner like Bullseye the horse was. Since our last episode, I am still training for the upcoming Chicago Marathon.

The program I am on has me running 4 to 5 days a week and it has not always gone as planned. There have been a few hiccups here and there, but what has been bothering me lately is my running playlist.