Wow, 1st time for everything!

Ok, so I'm really new at this. But after reading blogs of many other people who are runners, I felt compelled to create one of my own. Many thanks to Chad, whose blog (i'd post the link but not sure how to) I read pretty regularly, for inspiring me to do this. And since we're early into the year, and I'm running fairly well, I thought I'd take the plunge.

Now I have no idea who is going to read this, so I'll write an intro that tells you a little bit about myself. After a few days, I'll assume if you want to know soemthing, you'll ask.

INTRO
My name is Peter, and I've been running since I was 10 or 11 I suppose. I had two older runners that ran track and cross country in H.S. and College, so I figured it must be fun. They are also 7 and 8 years older than me, so it was easy to idolize what they did. I did run a bit of age group races back in the running boom era of the 1970's, but did not get serious or realize I had any talent until I was 14. That is when I ran in the summer to get ready for High School Cross Country. I ran 3 years of track and cross country in Madison, WI from 1978 to 1981. I ran some pretty decent times, but also against very stiff opposition. My PR for the 1600 meters was run in a race where I was 20 seconds behind the winning time of 4:06! After a long period of hit or miss running from age 18 to 30, I began running in earnest again when I moved back to Wisconsin 10 years ago. After finally figuring out what made a middle aged person improve (run more miles, stupid), I trained and ran a marathon (3:07) in 2003 at age 39. Another 2 years went by before I was able to complete another marathon in 2:59:13.

It seems like the even numbered years I am hurt or distracted and my running suffers, while the odd years work better for me. Hmm, 2007 is an odd year, right? Ok, so I've braved the elements here in Janesville, WI to run pretty consistently this year, averaging seven miles a day, six days a week thus far. I hope to build on that to give the marathon another go this fall.

Personal stuff - I am married for almost 20 years to Cathy, a wonderful non-runner, and have two kids who might be runners yet. Mike is 16 and only runs to get/stay in shape for soccer, and Megan is 13 and could be better than I ever was as a runner. The most important thing is she really enjoys it!! I will offer advice to her if asked, but mostly i plan to stay out of the way and watch her learn and grow as a runner. She'll be running Cross Country this fall as a frosh, I can't wait! We live in Janesville, WI, and I am a Human Resources Specialist for an Insurance Company that does Disability Management for General Motors.

I call this blog Run For Your Life because when I moved back to Wisconsin I decided that was what I wanted to do. I had started and stopped too many times, and made a ton of mistakes in training and racing, but through it all I really love everything about long distance running. Even though my wife says I'm too skinny and have no butt, I like the way I feel when I'm in shape and can eat anything I want. I don't race very often, I run 99% of my workouts by myself, in the morning usually before the sun is up.

So I hope that eventually someone might actually read my writing. But if not, I'm going to do it for me, to getsome thoughts down beyond "7.4 miles in 59 minutes,' which is what I did this morning, btw. So if you read this, make sure you stop and say hello. Thanks,

Peter