The lengthy process of the turning of a leaf.....

You could probably say that I'm turning over a new leaf. The process of flipping this leaf from one side to the other has been going on for some time, and as life keeps dictating, it ain't completely flipped yet. The whole process started about three and a half years ago. We went to war. The price of gasoline skyrocketed. Some of the wealthiest and most powerful oil families in the world were running our country. So, I bought a bicycle. For piece of mind, I would ride it around town; to work, the grocery store, the library, the coffee house, and the pub.

I loved riding this bicycle, my new 2003 specialized hybrid, so much that I quickly began to ride it simply for fun. From my apartment on West Hill in Akron, I would ride down into the valley and go as far as my legs could peddle me at the time....10, maybe 15 miles. The weeks and months passed and I kept riding and the climbs began to get easier; and I could ride further.

Then, the Akron Marathon rolled around and a few of my favorite people in the world needed someone to run a 5K for their relay team. Out of despair, they decided to ask me if I wanted to do it. Julia first mentioned it to me, the infliction in her voice already accepting my percieved awnser....no way! But rather, my first response was...."how far??"

"5K, just about 3 miles. We need someone to do it so we all can run."

I started thinking and responded, "so, all I really need to do is jog for about a half hour, right?"

"For sure," says julia. "You'd be done with your section in less than a half hour."

"How much time before I need to do this?"

"You've got about 3 weeks."

"Yeah, I'll do it," I responded, while simotanously giving this "leaf" a giant push towards it's backside.

I trained for my first 5K. I ran small loops around the neighborhood that ranged from 1.5 to 2, or so, miles. I did not find these runs nearly as fun as spinning on the bike, but I had to be able to finish my 5K. I made sure I ran and was prepared. Race day approached, and after one run per week, totaling 3 training runs altogether, I was ready.

My portion of the relay was up Sand Run Parkway, through the metroparks, along a beautiful stretch of road that was gently uphill the entire way. The uphill grade didn't matter to me though, I was pumped, surrounded by hundereds of people all gathering together to do one thing, run as far as they could. I breezed through my 5K passing many runners along the way and logging a time of approximately 26 minutes. I was content. I had finnished my leg of the race.

That was 2005. Yestarday I set out for another 5K, the "spring classic" through the Cleveland Metroparks on the west side. I have, of course, been running ever since that first 5K. I still ride my bicycle; in fact, I now own 2 of them. And I also swim, of course, which is my newest addiction.

For this "spring classic" there was perfect Cleveland spring weather, 25 degrees and plenty of snow. The 1/2 marathon that day drew many more runners than the 5K. In 6 more weeks I'll finish my first half marathon and I'm sure I'll have something to say about that race as well, but today, it was a measly 3.1 miles for me. The 5K start was 15 minutes after the half marathoner's start and my head was drifting to the end of May in downtown Cleveland when the half marathoner's took off. As the 5K start approached I became more focused on what lay ahead, 3.1 miles.

As the race began I set out at the front of the pack and as the leader pulled away, I settled in next to the nearest runner in front of me. Side by side we ran for nearly all 3 miles. I knew I was running much harder than I had since I have taken up this running hobby (addiction?). The 3 miles flew by and as I approached the finish I knew I would have a new PR, and I did.

Second place overall, first in my age group, and a new PR of 19:30 (give or take a second or 2). That blew my previous PR out of the water by almost 2 minutes!! And it was cold as hell. And I still don't inclued speed workouts in my training. So, I was stoked, to say the least. My training this winter was producing results, big results.

After such an improvement, I had to venture over to the McMillan Training Calculator and see what sort of goals I should set for myself this summer. I looked at the projected marathon time for a runner with a 19:30 5K and I saw the magic number...3hrs. 10min. No, something must be wrong. I plugged my 5K time in again and brought up the chart and it was still there....3hrs. 10min, which is exactly my qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. Now, I'm not packing any bags, thats for sure, but just last summer a BQ time seemed really....fast. Certainly much faster than I was capable of running. And now this calculator is telling me that if I train properly for the distance it is very feasible.

After my first 5K we talked about Boston, the most famous foot race in the world. At one point I think I even said, "if you qualify, you've gotta run it." After my 26 minute 5K on that fall day in 2005, keeping a 7:16 pace for 26 miles seemed impossible; but today, I know I can do it. I never thought it would seem feasible so quickly. When the price of oil skyrocketed and Baghdad turned into a blood bath I bought a bicycle, and turned over a new leaf. Today that leaf is a little closer to finally being flipped over and, much to my suprise, I'm starting to wonder if the Boston Marathon lies on the other side.