Sammy crossed life's finish line April 22, 2013 after a long battle with cancer. Sammy was 52 years old and he competed with cancer with a superhuman resolve and attitude. I am confident I will see him again in the future and dedicate this Blog to Sammy's memory.
Highlighted text below was inspired by Sammy.
Yesterday, I posted “Tim’s Running Rules” and received several great adds from old (and I mean OLD) running buddies and friends who are avid runners the very next day. I've added those rules, some are excellent. Italicized remarks are mine.
From
my old running Buddy, Tom F.
- Always run negative splits.
- For you non-runners – time your first mile and make every subsequent mile faster – Tom’s the only guy I know who can do that.
- Don't get passed by a mom pushing a stroller when they are taking photos at the Sunrise Run.
- Don't believe your friends when they tell you they ran in a hurricane.
- Don't call your wife to pick you up early on a Saturday morning because you were daydreaming and ran too far out...she will make you wait in the cold while she puts on her makeup.
- Tom had a near-death experience from hypothermia the day he learned this lesson.
- Don't run next to mailboxes on your right when your "friend" is on your left.
- “Friend” Sammy had a tendency to nudge you into a mailbox if you were not paying attention during a run. I can still hear him "Say hello to Mr. Mailbox!"
- Run to NOT think.
- Always show up on time when running friends are meeting you.
- It's never too cold to run.
- It's never too hot to run.
- It might be too rainy to run.
- Always eat at Cracker Barrel after a marathon.
- Tom, Sammy, Chris and I ate too many biscuits at a Cracker Barrel in Virginia the morning after the Marine Corps Marathon. I don’t recall if they cut off our biscuit supply or just asked us to leave. But their profits for that month were way down.
- You can lie to your running log but you can't lie to your legs.
- Cherish the hills!
From Bob B., in Boston
- Don’t assume food will be provided at the start of a marathon.
- Run solo so you can be stoic rather than commiserate.
- Run by moonlight – kind of like night time bowling effect.
- Sidewalks are deceivingly tricky to run on, especially when surroundings are pretty (or at moonlight). Not much worse than falling hard on misaligned concrete.
From Andy N., in Orlando, FL
- Don’t try to jump and click your heels together while running in a celebratory fashion. You might just fall which will leave your running partner laughing hysterically.
- When running a marathon, half marathon, or any race that you have prepared for extensively and you feel the urge to give up just remember all the training you did. Running is 95% mental and 5% physical. If you think you will fail then you will fail.
- Running is not always comfortable. Good runners learn how to deal with the discomfort and great runners secretly enjoy the discomfort for they know of the high at the end.
- Go to a specialty Mom and Pop running store where they watch you run on a treadmill or run behind you to check your gait. Proper shoe selection can make all the difference between loving or hating running.
From Me
- Always wear a belt and suspenders on your running shorts if there is television coverage of the race.
- Never let another runner walk off the course before they finish - run with them.
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