It's all good...

Just finished tonight's run. Up to four miles now, and my time's coming down a bit too due to a change in pace from my old jogging pace to a longer stride. Speed is up but it's a bit harder, let me tell you. Still, considering that I only started outdoor running a bit over a month ago, four miles isn't bad.

I remember back when I went to my last police academy. I was about ten years older than average in my class, and I'd come out of a private law practice where I did little more than sit around and eat lots of good lunches with clients and legislative staffers. When I got to the academy, I was seriously out of shape and actually at risk of getting dropped out if I didn't ramp up fast. I was about the slowest and least fit in the class on day #1. But I decided to work on it, so after a full day of whatever we'd done--and it was a pretty heavy program at times--I spent a lot of after-hours time in the gym and running around the campus after dinner. Soon, the day's fitness runs started to get a little easier. My classmates noticed that I wasn't the tail-end runner any more as I started moving up in the pack. We were all getting fitter, but my extra work was bringing me up more than the norm.

The crowning event was when I decided to run the 10K course one night. I'd never run that far before, but it was one of my goals before leaving the place, so one night, when I felt up to it, I started out. I'd told a couple of classmates that I was going to try, but I'd wanted to keep it low key, just in case. 10 Kilometers is six miles, and even back then, that was a pretty good run, especially for a guy who'd started out on PT probation.

About half way through, I was tiring and wondering if I could finish, when a car pulled up alongside me with two of my classmates in it. They'd heard that I was running the course and came out to see. One handed me a bottle of water and told me to keep going. That was the motivation I needed to keep going despite the pains and fatigue that was setting in. And when I was about a mile out from the start/finish line near our dorm, what did I see but about half a dozen more of my classmates in their running gear--they'd come out to wait for me and run in with me because that's what the law enforcement family's all about. I finished that 10K, and I finished it strong, and I was sore the next day but it didn't matter because I'd done it. I felt good, my peers were supporting me, and even our class coordinator/supervisory instructor pulled me aside about half way through the day to let me know that he'd heard I'd done it. Now that guy had been a total prick to me and everyone else all through the program, but his congratulation was sincere and for the first time I felt that I'd actually earned his respect.

I kept on with the running and eventually finished in the top third of my class. I kept with it when I hit the street and there were several times that I was able to run down some punk twenty years my junior even though he had a fresh pair of Nikes on his feet (probably stolen) and a head start. I, on the other hand, usually had twenty extra pounds of gear, including a duty belt, gun and body armor, and boots. But I still managed to catch the little shitbirds. And it gave me motivation to keep running in my off-time, because it's a fact that you can catch nine out of ten running punks, but let that one get away and you'll get no end of razzing from your own peers (which is ok) and the other scumbags on the street (and that's never ok.)

Well now it's coming up on two years since I've worked the street, thanks to that woman driver who woke up one morning and apparently decided to go out and crash her car into the first police motorcycle that she could find, but there's no reason that I can't get back to where I used to be, fitness-wise, and even better, given a bit of time and effort. Since my current employer is now essentially paying me to sit around the house and watch old cowboy movies all day, I'd be a fool to waste the opportunity and not use every free day to get out there and trade some fat for muscle. Life is what you make of it, and I'm using my free time to make mine good.

Run total since June 1: 29.5 miles.
Weight lost: 11 lbs.

Onward and upward.