First Time for Everything

Running is something I have always done. It is an easy way to get in a nice training session when time, weather or conditions don't warrant a ride. Normally, running is an activity that doesn't last longer than an hour before I call it quits due to boredom, the sheer discomfort involved or most often laziness. On occasion the running experience can be described euphoric with runners high taking you along wooded trails or slick asphalt at a pace and with an ease most often reserved for deer and other nimble game. It is a feeling that comes when you least expect it. I love it, and I found it today, at least for the first 12 km.
I took up a challenge to earn some money for a project to build a classroom for a school in Kenya. Due to not managing to accumulate significant sponsor funds I was forced to give it everything I had and attempt to accumulate as many laps of the just over 1 km course as possible to maximize my contribution to what I felt was a very worthy cause, especially considering the current situation in that part of the world. In 2 hours I pushed myself through 27 laps, nearly 30 km, and earned a decent sum for the project. Apparently I now hold the record for an event that has been going on annually for a number of years.
It feels good to put training to good use and to my surprise the first hour and a half was actually a pleasure with the exception of two unwelcome pit stops at the local Shell station to empty a gut in distress. Staying fit pays off, and not only for yourself. If you get the chance take it. You may look like you rode bareback from Saskatoon to Boise and back for a couple of days after, but its a small price to pay.