the running shoes on the hook

i let go of my running identity the summer of 1991. and i can still remember the day of my last run. at the time i was training to be a distance runner for moorhead state university on a partial athletic scholarship. after not going directly to college after high school, i was pretty excited that the moorhead coach was still interested in me. i ran from my parents’ house in new hope, minnesota, down to a beach on medicine lake. i took my shoes off and did some running in the water. as i was heading back to my house and feeling a bit fatigued, i started to question the appropriateness of me running collegiately at moorhead, and i somehow landed on the conclusion that i was making a mistake.

i soon after had a very uncomfortable phone conversation with the moorhead coach that also is pretty vivid in my memory.

in 1997, i made a partial return to running. i bought some shoes and some running clothes and trained for about a month. i did not get past the barrier of discomfort and soon let the endeavor go due to feeling a bit depressed by how far out of running shape i had slid.

i vaguely recall a couple more times between 1997 and 2008 that i gave running about a two week effort.

now it does appear that i am officially back. i am officially once again a runner.

the shoes were on the hook for 17 years.