Growing up in Huntington, West Virginia--now deemed America's most unhealthiest city--I was never a serious athlete nor was I a couch potato. Running the mile loop at Ritter Park was hell for me in high school and I remember that agonizing gym class that made me do it. I spent most of my time busy with Scouting and the Church while trying to play various sports such as baseball and soccer. I even had a brief and unsuccessful middle school season in football, don't ask! All in all, I was never willing to spend much time practicing. I was too selfish with my time and never allowed enough space for me to grow by practicing and challenging myself.
Running Lesson #1: Practice does not make you perfect, just better. It takes time to build stamina and increase your base mileage. And, no one is perfect.
I attended college in the rolling, pastorale hills of southern Virginia at Hampden-Sydney College. Like most freshmen, I did my fair share of the unhealthy. There it is something of a rite of passage. However, I did find two new activities that I enjoyed and have since remained, racquetball and running. Through a college friend I explored these two new worlds which were very foreign to me and I quickly saw their benefits. I had more energy in the evenings to study and my mind was not only clearer but more focused. There and then I started to feel in my body the connection between choosing an active, healthy lifestyle and my energy levels and ability to really focus.
Graduating in 2002, the job markets were down, well everything was generally down. And so was I. Somehow I managed to forget those lessons learned previously, a result of depression for sure. I did not run for several years and in the summer of 2006, I resolved to change that.
Months before my daughter was born, I forced myself to get out of bed at 6:00 a.m. and run the mile loop in our neighborhood. Then, I was walking more than my running. I had not yet learned about maintaining a steady pace. I would go all out and in just a few blocks I would be spent. There was nothing like having a new-born baby in the house to make those early morning runs disappear. Before long, I was diagnosed with a psychosomatic disorder which hit me right in my bowels, the result of internalized stress. While I won't go into the details, it is worth noting that I had a lot of expensive medical tests that ultimately proved nothing was medically wrong, it was surely a mind-body connection that would haunt me for several years.
As life was just beginning to settle into some routine of normalcy, I began a discernment process for priesthood in The Episcopal Church--my life long faith community. I kept telling myself that when and if I get to attend seminary, there I will change my ways and adopt a more active lifestyle. Well, I got that chance in 2007 when my family and I packed up our house and moved to the magical mountain of Sewanee in Tennessee to attend The School of Theology at the The University of the South.
It really began, or so I believe, that December 2007. I started going to the Fowler Center to run on the treadmill at night when most of the college students weren't there. I was embarrassed to be seen! I couldn't run a mile, much less hold my head up. I plugged my i-Pod into my ears and off and I went. I focused on time, 30-minutes no matter what and see how far I could go. By late winter, 30-minutes became 45-minutes and so on. Not only could I run a full mile but I could go two! A seminary friend kept encouraging me to take my running outdoors, to the streets and trails surrounding the Domain. And so I did. At this point in my running life, I had not yet subscribed to Runner's World, did not own a proper pair of running shoes, or could even describe an interval run. I was just out there pounding the pavement and my knees were telling me something that I should have listened to.
Running Lesson #3: Patience wins the race. Who ever thought it was "slow and steady?" Oh, and it's not about winning, but finishing.
I was hooked. Then, I was running every single day. Rain or shine. It didn't matter. My body was free from the mental repression and it was very telling. Through running I was able to reconnect with my body and sense things like when I needed to run and when I needed to rest. I was paying attention to what I was eating and putting into my body. At the age of 27, I was finally paying attention.
In the Spring of 2008, I ran my first 5K and I did it in 27 minutes--I was excited. I spent that summer in Naples, Florida completing my hospital work for ministry. There I ran in the Naples Firecracker 5K and went further down to Key West to run in the Hemingway 5K. In August, I did the first Nike 10K Human Race. I bought my first road bike and began cycling as a cross-training element to my routine.
By the Fall, I biked the MS-150 in Tennessee, known as the "Race to Jack and Back" honoring the sponsors of Jack Daniels. In October, I ran my first half-marathon, the Tennessee Middle Half in Murfreesboro. "Chad Krouse from Sewanee, Tennesssee," the announced intoned as I crossed the finish line. I had done something that day that I never would have thought possible, not with my body anyway. In 2 hours and 15 minutes, I ran 13.1 miles and I received my very first finisher's medal. I was sold on the running life. Running across the finish line was the most incredible feeling in the world and that day remains close to my heart.
I kept pushing the high, running the following month in the Huntsville Half-Marathon. I attended an Episcopal Church conference in New York City around that time and got up one morning before sunrise and took a cab to Central Park and ran the full loop as the sun was coming over the city skyline. It was amazing. At one point, I was running while talking on a cell-phone to my mother-in-law bragging about how beautiful the city was that morning. It also turned out that this was the week prior to the running of the ING NYC Marathon. The park was being converted into a major finish line, complete with all the bleachers, portable toilets, etc. It was then and there that I resolved to somehow run the NYC marathon to catch a piece of the glory of the city combined with running.
In February 2009, I ran the Scenic City Half-Marathon in Chattanooga. March came I was running the in Tom King Classic Half-Marathon in Nashville which proved to be the most difficult run for me. It was pouring the rain and I had become a fair-weather runner. That finish line, so it seemed, would never come fast enough. I applied that spring for a lottery position in the 2009 ING NYC Marathon, trying to make good on that glorious fall morning run in Central Park.
By April, I was spent. Between being a full-time graduate student in seminary and a father of two young children, I was wearing out but I had registered and paid for the Covenant Health Half-Marathon in Knoxville. Against my better judgement, I ran the Covenant Health Half in late April and was officially, 100% burned out from running. I spent that summer in England. I took my running shoes with every good intention of running, but I could not bring myself to do it. In June, I learned of my acceptance into the ING NYC Marathon. I was shocked! I also knew that I was not ready--mentally or physically.Running Lesson #4: Burnout is inevitable. Why else do you think so much motivational material is published? Give yourself permission to take a break, just don't quite running for good.
The fall of 2009 was the beginning of my senior year in seminary. The workload had increased, the dreaded canonical General Ordination Exams (GOEs) were coming up that winter, and I had stopped running altogether. I received an e-mail from the organizers of the NYC marathon inviting to me participate in leading an interfaith prayer service prior to the start of the marathon. I wanted to be there so badly, but I knew I needed to delay my acceptance of the race until 2010 with renewed vigor. I also professed vows in the Order of Saint Anthony the Great, a young contemplative monastic order in the Episcopal Church. My plate was full.
And now this brings me to the present. Following graduation from seminary in May, I resolved to start running and preparing myself to complete my first full marathon--ING NYC 2010. Blogging came to mind to serve as my motivational tool, keeping me honestly working towards the goal that I set in the fall of 2008.
My running story is nothing glamourous or exciting to anyone else other than me. However, I know that runners hold a lot of these traits in common. The runner's world is fraught with personal challenges and success stories and mine is just one of those. Run with me and help me prepare for the greatest physical challenge of my life. Amen!
A Summary of Races Completed to Date:
- Guatemala 5K Charity Race--Sewanee, Tennessee (2008)
- Naples Firecracker 5K--Naples, Florida (2008)
- Ernest Hemingway 5K--Key West, Florida (2008)
- Nike Human Race 10K--Sewanee, Tennessee (2008)
- Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon--Murfreesboro, Tennessee (2008)
- Huntsville Half Marathon--Huntsville, Alabama (2008)
- Scenic City Half Marathon--Chattanooga, Tennessee (2009)
- Tom King Classic Half Marathon--Nashville, Tennessee (2009)
- Covenant Health Half Marathon--Knoxville, Tennessee (2009)
Some planned upcoming Races:
My other blog, with a decided religious theme is Walsingham Wanderings.
- West Virginia 5K Championship--Huntington, West Virginia (June, 2010)
- The Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon--Virginia Beach, Virginia (September, 2010)
My other blog, with a decided religious theme is Walsingham Wanderings.
