Two living beings helped me run my way back into health last year.
David Goggins and my dog, Bam Bam.
At the time I got started last May, I was in the worst shape of my life.
The dog would pull me like a sled as we shuffled along in those early days.
The good part about that is when you are starting from such a low point, progress comes rapidly.
After the initial shock wore off to my body, every run I went on for the next six months was the best run I’d had in years.
And thanks to fitness trackers, I had data to prove it.
Then Autumn turned to Winter and it started getting cold in Ohio.
As I lost weight however, I no longer had the layer of blubber to keep me warm in the winter months.
My running regimen began to slack.
Progress began to stall.
The dog began to give me sideways glances.
And then I read “Can’t Hurt Me” by Navy SEAL, ultra-endurance athlete and general badass David Goggins.
It then occurred to me that the reason I was cold was not because I lost weight. It’s not because I’m from the deep south and now live north of the Mason-Dixon line.
It’s because I wasn’t tough enough.
Period.
So one day in December it was snowing, and I went a run in shorts and a t-shirt.
It was balls cold.
After 10 minutes, I’d warmed up and no longer felt the edge of the cold.
And between the bewildered looks of people in their warm cars driving by the half-naked man running in the snow with his fully-sweatered dog, I found freedom.
You are capable of more than you know.
Surprise yourself.
It may just change everything.
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