Part Two of the greatest story ever told

Bob -

This is part two of the story of how I got back to running.  I'm assuming you read part one, otherwise part two is not going to make sense.  If you haven't, I'm going to sum it up quickly.  I was young once and fairly fast, but did not like to run anything more than sprints.  Then I pretty much quit running in college to pursue other endeavors such as drinking and sleeping.  From that point on, I mostly would play sports for fun.  I played a lot of basketball and tennis.  Some softball and pick up football games.  When my kids were small, I coached soccer and I ran around with them and the kids on the team a lot.  That was fun.  Every once in a while I would run a 5k.  My training for that was a two mile loop near my house.  The loop had a number of hills and was kind of challenging.  I knew that when I was able to complete that loop in a certain amount of time I was "ready" for the 5k.  3.1 miles at that time was way more than enough for me to run.  I was in decent overall shape and still young enough that my body could take whatever abuse I was giving it.  I mean physically, because once I left college my partying days were pretty much over. 

The first 15 years of my work life, I was in banking.  A relatively physically easy job...that I hated.  I served in various capacities in banking and pretty much hated all of them.  But, I could come home, play with my kids, do the physical things that I liked and put work behind until the next day.  One reason I talked about the speed and quickness that I had, was because I always relied on that.  On the tennis or basketball court, I could cut and run and get to the ball and had a blast doing it.  I could jump over things.  I was agile.  I loved that.  And I took it for granted.  When I was in my mid 30's, I had come to the point that I did not think I could take another 30 years of banking.  By this time, I had been building stuff on the side.  Different types of furniture and things of that nature.  I found that I loved to build.  I loved to figure out how things were made and learn how to use various tools of the trade.  I had no formal training.  I was not brought up doing that sort of thing and I always hated shop class in high school.  But now, I would be in my basement for all kinds of hours figuring out how to use my new tools, building stuff and the hours would pass so quickly.  Other than watching my kids grow and develop, nothing was more fascinating to me than learning to create stuff.  Norm Abrams was my teacher.  I watched the New Yankee Workshop religiously.  To this day, I want a bobble head doll of Norm Abrams that is filled with pine shavings.  I love the smell of fresh cut pine in the morning.  Nothing like it.  Long story short, by the time I was about 37 I was out of banking and into the cabinet building business.  That transition is a story for another day. 

What does this have to do with running you may ask?  In my case, everything.  By the time I was 42, I had been working for a cabinet company full time in addition to  having my own business.  At 42, I was on my own.  Full time.  Knee deep in cabinets.  I went from a relatively sedentary job to one that was incredibly active.  Carrying, lifting, kneeling, building.  I loved all of it, but it took a toll on my body.  My knees especially.  My left knee even more especially.  There were times it would just lock up.  I would have to bend it quickly, hear the pop and then it seemed better for a while.  It was like it needed oil.  Walking the dog down a hill was horrible.  If she would jerk suddenly, I felt like I was going to collapse.  This is why I hate squirrels to this day.  Little squirrel bastards hiding and then popping out and making her chase them.  I know what they were saying.  "Let's watch the fat, gimpy guy cry and fall down.  Cabinet making mother #$%^&@."  Squirrels hate cabinet makers for some reason.  Something about taking their trees.  It is a proven fact.  I am a naturalist and a animal whisperer by night and I know this stuff, so you are going to have to take my word for it.  No need to Google this information, because squirrels do no not go on Google and they keep this info tight to their chest.  Chipmunks too.  They are even worse, but that too is a story for another day.  Suffice it to say that squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits are not my friends to this day.  We have an uneasy truce, but it could escalate at any time.  I can only hope that they do not read this, because it could get ugly.  Right now, we have a Nourse-Cute yet Insidious Rodent Treaty.  You can Google that.  It is in the books.  Suffice it to say that my knees were not what they were.  My days of basketball, tennis and other things that I loved to do were over.  At least the way I liked to play them.  Fast, fun and agile days were over. 

I'm gonna have to go to part three because I need to get some work done.  This is one of those fascinating (to me and my mom, but I think she lies) to boring stories.  Plus, I have a marathon next week and I have to get out and run a bit.