Crazy Like My Dad?

One of the weirdest things about turning 40 is the realization that I have VIVID memories of my parents at that age.  Of course as a young person many of us would cringe at the thought of becoming like our parents.  As I near the big birthday, I still fight off many of my parent's traits, but there is one thing that is eerily, insanely, and oddly similar.  When my Dad turned 40 he started running and ran his first marathon.  He went on to run countless more and ran his last one in his later 60's.  He also flew all the way to Japan and climbed Mount Fuji  (I think it was when he was 70, but I can't remember - madness nonetheless).  I thought he was crazy then and, oddly enough, still do now.  But now I know what causes the crazy.  At the time of his big birthday, he was overweight and stuck in a personal rut.  Nothing like a big milestone of middle age to give your head a good shake.  I think that's what did it for me - I don't want to turn 40 with bad habits in place. 
I went through a very major surgery last May and spent the next 6-8 months basically sitting on my butt and eating junk.  This isn't too different from how I lived my life before the surgery (I've NEVER been athletic), but the older I get the more obvious it is that I can't abuse my body forever.  So one day last this past January (a cold day, let me tell ya), I turned to my husband and said, "I'm going to start running - starting today.  Can you help me?".  This produced a chuckle (more of a guffaw and slight choking sound) and a skeptical "OK".  Erik has known me for 22 years and is well aware of my "fitness level".  He has also heard me mock runners relentlessly my entire life.  Why on EARTH would you choose to run??? This was my familiar refrain (that, and the overused "I only run when chased" - I liked to say that one a lot as well).  I used to be totally grossed out by my Dad  - ask anyone who knows me where my hatred and fear of feet comes from! He was sweaty and smelly all the time and he ran EVERYWHERE! As a teenager I could not escape the mortification - he was OLD!  He wore socks on his hands to keep warm! He wore goofy John McEnroe-type sweatbands that barely contained his wild man hair!! Couldn't he just go to the "old people's gym" or wherever parents went to exercise?
Well, Lord help me, now I get it.  I don't know whether to laugh or cry over the fact that I have turned out exactly like my father in this respect.  But I totally understand why I have picked up running, like my father did, at this stage in my life.  It's relatively cheap (like my Dad - and I say that with love, not scorn), unlike gym memberships.  Just put on your shoes and put one foot in front of the other.  I can do it alone at any time of the day or night, or with friends to make it social - so it's easy to fit in to my schedule.  And unlike any other form of exercise I have tried, it makes me feel completely powerful and peaceful at the same time.  I have never felt this level of personal accomplishment.  I can run 10 miles darn it!!! I want to tattoo it on my freaking forehead! Who cares if it took me 5 months to work up to it?
And just like it helped my dad with his physical and mental health, it has been life changing for me as well.  I have NEVER been this physically healthy in my life, and there is NOTHING like running mile after mile and sorting through life's stresses in your head with every step you take.  I can start a run with catastrophic thoughts of my son's problems, and end that same run with total optimism and a plan to help him with is latest challenge.  I love the solitude of doing it by myself, and the bonding produced when friends run with me.  I can feel it changing me, not just physically, but mentally as well. I work through all kinds of internal questions when I run and my mind races as fast (okay, not fast) as my feet.  I'm becoming a different person and I like who that person is, possibly for the first time in my life!
So now, 30 years or so after my Dad paved the trail, I'm getting on it and running it.  I look forward to embarrassing my children with my ridiculous winter running outfits as I train for my races.  I can't wait until they laugh at me for my ridiculous "wild woman of Borneo" hair after I take off my hats.  They can make fun of me all they want because I'm pretty sure I'm planting some kind of seed in them.  My seed took 30 years to grow - hopefully their seeds won't take as long. 
So bring on the 1/2 Marathon in November and the full 26.2 in May.  I'm ready to put my crazy on full display.