15 December 2007
Better Late than Never!
Posted by Charles Mockridge under: Charles Mockridge .
Hey everyone! Welcome to my blog…where I can complain all I want and nobody can tell me to shut up! I am still not sure how or why I was lucky enough to be chosen for this year’s Road Warrior team, but I appreciate it! I have never been a runner and I definitely do not consider myself a runner now, even after two successful Riverbank runs, a few half-marathons and, as of this October, a full marathon finisher. I suppose I was just gifted with a natural stupidity to not know when to stop… With a little luck, a lot of determination and, hopefully, some motivation from all of you, I will be able to turn that gift into actual running ability. So here is how I got started running in the first place: May, 2005: I had just received my diploma from Hillsdale college and was about to start celebrating (or maybe I had already started), when one of my best friends, who had already graduated, handed me a beer and said, “by the way, I ran 15.5 miles today”. I started laughing, punched him and gladly cracked the beer. You see, this friend was not much of a runner at all: pack a day smoker and one of the most impressive drinkers known to the small town of Hillsdale. Anyway, to make a long story short, this was when I first had that thought that “if he could, then I could”. However, this thought didn’t last long and I went back to the Chaz everyone knew…who only ran from cops and responsibility. January 2006: At this point, I was living in Toledo and working for a public accounting firm, where it seemed that all my coworkers were either runners or alcoholics. One of my managers and a co-worker were both marathon runners and regularly gave me crap about my not-so-healthy lifestyle and inability to make it to the second floor w/o hacking up a lung and needing a rest. One night at a work happy hour, the two runners were talking about their goal times, when I blurted out ”I bet I could do that”. This comment sparked a new level of badgering; soon the entire office was in on the betting and wagering as to whether or not I would make it back to Toledoalive. So, I took the challenge, half-heartedly, and started running. This motivation lasted about, say, one week… Next thing I knew, it was the first week of May and I had not yet really begun training. I showed up on race day and actually finished…and with a decent time (under two hours), which was enough to beat my manager by over 10 minutes. Since then I have been running races fairly regularly, however I still have not started “training”. I always think about training but it never seems to happen….you know, “something comes up”. So, with the help of the Road Warrior team and the coaches, I hope to show up to the 2008 Riverbank Run well prepared and trained for the first time since I started running two years ago.
3 Comments so far...
Dongshow Says:
1 January 2008 at 10:40 am.
Chaz:
I never knew you could write so eloquently. Where did you learn all these skills? You seem to be in the same boat that I am in. One time after a heavy night of drinking, I decided to run with a good friend before an exam. I dry heaved for five minutes. Do you know any tips to stop the dry heaving? I look forward to meeting you at the River Bank Run. I hope we can meet at the Run for a couple brews (before the race, of course!) Regardless, you are my inspiration and I anxiously await your blog every day. Sincerely, Inspired in Indy.
MOM Says:
11 January 2008 at 2:15 pm.
OK honey, you need to get real, like you have ever ran from the cops. Number 1 you were to slow and they caught you before you even had a chance to step two feet ahead. Do you want me to post your Attorney bill????
sobbing expenditure Says:
20 February 2008 at 8:20 pm.
Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning? — George W Bush
You’re about as useful as a one-legged man at an arse kicking contest — Rowan Atkinson
Last Monday a string of amendments were presented to the lower house; these altogether respect personal liberty… Sen. WILLIAM GRAYSON of Virginia in a letter to Patrick Henry.
If you’re sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign — George W Bush