A couple of months ago I began a health journal on this blog under the premise that it connected the the gamification concepts of RAMP – Relatedness, Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. The published journal was a way to tie in “Relatedness” as a mean of connecting with the audience. For more on the logic you can read the original post here. Over the last few weeks I updated my status on Fridays with a reflection on the week, current weight, and a running log. My goal was to get down to 200 pounds and run a full 5K by Memorial Day. Well I got close on the weight. I am currently at 205 which was down about 10-15 pounds from where I started. My clothes fit better and I feel way more energetic so I’m calling this a victory!

My second goal was to finish the Brookgreen Gardens Memorial Day 5K. When I turned 30 (11 years ago) I began to distance run and had even finished a couple of half marathons back in 2013 & 14. My running fell off about 2 years ago though. I had started to develop heel pain and it crescendoed just as the Pandemic hit. At that point I was hesitant to go to the doctor and my little bit of rest turned into a long hiatus. By the time I went to the podiatrist and discovered a growing heel spur I was very much out of shape. Throw in Pandemic weight (a combination too many snacks and too many adult beverages) and I was not even able to get around the block much less 3 miles. I tried to start running again back in September with mild success but the stress, anxiety, and depression that went along with teaching in a pandemic hampered my efforts. I don’t know about you all but my wife and I would have days were we came home and one of us would be overwhelmed and just start to cry for no reason – we would call them “Pandemic Days” and thank God I have a wonderful partner and we were able to pull each other through.

That was a long introduction to say that I successfully reached my goal!

About 450 people ran in this 5K. The event was fully outdoors, my wife and I are fully vaccinated and we stayed away from most of the crowd. It was wonderful being in a race again. It was wonderful feeling like I was back to a reasonably athletic shape. At about the 2.5 mile marker I realized that I was going to easily complete the race and felt like I was making pretty good time. The only thing that would play on my Spotify app (there was almost no signal) was my son’s top40 inspired playlist. I laughed and cried a little bit as Post Malone’s “Congratulations” came on. 5K races already have an emotional place in my mind – my first 5K was a month or so after our first miscarriage – and all of the emotion of the Pandemic, of the pain in my legs, of being around people after 18 months just flooded through me. That I knew my family was a mile behind me in support just added to the feels.

At this point I am going to retire the RAMPing My Health Journal.

Thank you to anyone that was reading. I appreciate the support!