Guest Blog
By Alan Barbell (aka Robyn’s running buddy, Dad)
“Get moving Barbell, gym class is only an hour.” That is
what I would hear in grade school from the gym teachers whenever we had to do a
timed run. They would use a stopwatch
for the class, and for me, they used calendar. That was 40 years ago. Now that
I am over 50 years old, I have just registered to run my first half marathon
later this year in June.
I guess my interest in getting more fit has increased over
time starting in college. There I started playing racquetball and volleyball.
Not really endurance based sports. After graduation I enjoyed bicycling, which
I continue to do, but I never was breaking any land speed records. It wasn’t
until my kids started playing sports did I pick up jogging. I would take them
to their practices, and then hang out at the fields and walk or jog.
When Robyn was playing field hockey in high school, I would
try to help her by offering to run with her on the weekends as she was
training. While I never did anything more than two or three miles, it was a
start. A couple years ago I ran my first 5k at a local charity run. I was happy
to finish that race. I ran it again this year and finished well under 30
minutes. I started running more frequently with Robyn once she got home from
school and began training for her marathon. I would join in on her shorter
distance runs, and I was starting to think, maybe I like this running thing.
June 2016 marked a threshold. I ran the Lancaster Red Rose 5
mile race with both my kids and my brother-in-law. What a great day that was! I started the race
running with Robyn for the first 2.5 miles. We were talking and having fun. We
were running much faster than I had expected or wanted to go. I told her to go,
as I did not want to hold her back. The back part of the course was a long up
hill climb. I found myself shuffling along. Then my son came up from behind and
told me to get moving. This was some great motivation and I got to run almost
the last mile with him, before he left me in his dust. My goal at the start was
to finish in under an hour. I succeeded by finishing over 9 minutes better.
Yes, I do like this running thing.
The rest of the summer found me extending my distance,
increasing my time, and spending time with my daughter. Robyn had goals to train for including a
Spartan race, several distance races, and her first marathon. My goal was just
to have fun running. I found that three miles was no longer enough, a short run
now looked like four to five miles. I no longer liked running on a treadmill, I
longed for being outside. Even this week, I was much happier running a 10k
distance in 25 degree weather than being inside on the treadmill. Yes, I am a
runner.
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| Red Rose Run with Robyn and Elliot |
My running journey has been a long trip, and I do not want
it to end anytime soon. I am ready to start my training for my first half
marathon. I am excited about the training. I am excited about racing. I am most
excited to run 13.1 miles with my daughter, and have my wife and son cheering
us on along the way!
Thank you Robyn for being my motivation. I am excited to see
where my legs take me in 2017!
