I have not posted on this blog in about 10 months. Which was a good thing. It let me step away from all of the feedback from last year's Philly Marathon, where I experienced one of my most frustrating days as a runner.
Stepping away from this blog also indirectly led to the most unexpected surprises of 2015 - my renewed passion for running via "The Contest."
"The Contest" first took shape in mid-January when we were in the early stages of a godawful winter. As neither Janine nor I were able to leave the house much due to all of the ice and snow, and because I was putting in my regular running miles on the treadmill, I remarked that for the first three weeks of January my two feet had covered about 75 more miles than either of our two cars. It was supposed to be just a punch line.
But winter continued to be godawful. And I continued to pound out miles both on the treadmill and outside (when Mother Nature let me). Before I knew it, March ended and I was still ahead of the cars.
The punch line suddenly had a purpose. How long could I keep this thing going? Suddenly all car trips meant something. If I needed to run errands around town in one of our vehicles I found myself strategically mapping out the shortest route of travel, knowing that some time along the way I would have to counter that distance with my feet. If I woke up groggy and not wanting to get out of bed, I checked my chart to see if I could "afford" to take the day off of running or if it would put me too much in a deficit. When one car got a little distance ahead, I found myself using the other car more often to even out the numbers.
Even after I had to take a two week break from running in May due to serious illness, and found myself for the first time at about a 200 mile "deficit," I didn't give up - it just motivated me even further.
In fact since June 1st, I have averaged about 72 miles/week worth of running. One week I even hit 100 miles just to see if I could do it. When summer came and the family took 4 trips down to North Wildwood (about 150 miles roundtrip of driving), I alternated the cars and just upped my running mileage further.
Chasing cars has been the greatest game. At the end of each month, I post an update of the stats on Facebook for family and friends to track along at home. Their responses just goad me even further. I am not sure who takes more glee out of the contest, me or my followers.
But what "The Contest" also helped me realize is how little I really do NEED to drive. Both Janine and I live within about 3 miles of our jobs, our main grocery shopping, Janine's parents. We don't really NEED to drive that much. We certainly don't NEED two cars.
So yesterday we took our two cars to Cherry Hill Nissan and traded them in for one really nice family car. "Big Red" has all wheel drive for those nasty winter snow days. Neither "Blue" nor "Gray" had all-wheel drive. "Big Red" has a remote starter, a moon roof, heated seats, a navigation system, vehicle-surround cameras, and DVD players in the headrests. Neither "Blue" nor "Gray" had any of those. So when Janine has to navigate her way to work on icy/snowy days, she could do so in the comfort of "Big Red." When we take our weekend getaways to North Wildwood in the summer, we could slide open the moon roof, get some extra sun, take scenic back roads with our handy navigation system, all while the girls watch their favorites movies in the back.
Win-win for everyone. Win for the Coleman family. Win for the climate, with one less car on the road. Win for our gas costs and insurance rates, both of which will go down.
And win for my running. "The Contest" will continue, of course. I was 55 miles behind the "lead" car at the time we purchased "Big Red." So "Big Red" will get a 55 mile head start.
I will continue to chase cars, big dreams, fast times. But I already found what I didn't know I was looking for. I am one happy running dude again.
No matter if "Big Red" or my two feet ends up with the higher mileage of 2015. I am already a winner.
Cheers.
