Running Man

I was having panic attacks, a diagnosis from a fifth trip to the ER in less than a month. I admit it was embarrassing, but I was thrilled it wasn’t something I perceived to be worse. It made plenty of sense. We were having our first child, and with training and the Alaska marathon done, much of our focus turned to getting ready for the baby.
We kept the pregnancy quiet for more than three months, but in late June started to tell friends and co-workers. We also went baby shopping (no, you don’t buy babies), and I was stunned at the sticker-price. Not quite the SoCal real estate market, but I was amazed at the amount of stuff to buy, and the cost. (At the time I didn’t quite get the concept of baby showers, and how gracious others would be in buying gifts for the baby. Thank you all, again.)
There was also another huge problem, and it was weighing on me. My dad died when I was three months old, at the age of 27, after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. The more I thought about this, the more I was blown away. We never discussed it as a family growing up, and it hit me just how young he was. And it continued to hit me often. I didn’t want to leave Kyan and Rebecca in the same situation.
Suddenly, it made sense. I use my runs to sort out my thoughts (as well as get in shape), and during the dreaded two-miler that sent me to the ER, my thoughts were on the health of the baby, my father’s passing at such a young age (10 years younger than I would be when Kyan was born) and my perceived cost of having a baby.
But how to get over the panic attacks? That was the next issue.
You guessed it. Check next week’s blog entry for that.
This was my best week of training. My cardio is improved, to the point where I ran three miles in 25 minutes, 36 seconds. It’s a three minute improvement from my first training day.
I was also thrilled to run six miles Wednesday at Balboa Park while pushing Kyan in the baby jogger. He loves to look around and check out the scenery. Of course, that’s when he’s not sleeping. As for the upcoming week, I run 3 miles (Tuesday), 6 miles (Wednesday), 3 miles (Thursday), 6 miles (Saturday) and 12 miles (Sunday).