I’ve mentioned somewhere here before that 2024 was my year for taking advantage of moments when they present themselves. I’m far, far away from the end of my days, but I’ve just been shaken to the core this year with thoughts of missing out on life experiences because I don’t think I’m ready, don’t think I have time or am too afraid of messing up. It’s why I bought a vertical spit for my smoker and why I drove in Italy. It’s why I wear my pork pie every chance I get and built a big-ass garden bed despite not knowing how. It’s why I did CreepyCon as a vendor and ordered the Lobster Poutine in Cincinnati. You get the point.

Earlier this year, my boy Aaron asked if I’d be into doing a Spartan race. I wasn’t conditioned for a Spartan but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never had anyone who would do it with me. Needless to say, I not only agreed to it, but I even offered to drive us and cover accommodations.

That didn’t pan out, unfortunately, but Aaron did pipe back up a little later in the year and asked if I’d be into doing a Turkey Trot. Again, I wasn’t conditioned for such a thing, but how could I pass it up? This whole fitness thing got started with a Turkey Trot a whopping 10 years ago now – what better way to celebrate a decade of health wins than by taking it back to where it started? 

Another curveball came up that made us change our race. That curveball came in the form of Aaron learning about the Knoxville Whiskey Run being held on Sunday, November 17, that included a 5k, 10k and half-marathon and ended with post-race tacos and whiskey samplings. Your classic Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot usually involves bottled water and brown banana halves. It was a no-brainer, really.

With the exception of the Marine Mud Run that Aaron and I did back in September 2023 (that I barely made it through), I haven’t been a “serious” runner ever since I finished the Bluegrass Half Marathon in 2017. After that race, I got a tattoo and decided to take a three-week break. That three weeks turned into three months … then six years … I mean, I still ran, just not regularly and wasn’t training for anything.

In 2021, I had beef with my boxing gym and we parted ways. I took my clients to Exclusive Fitness in Rocky Hill, which I loved, but it was very different. Exclusive is owned and operated by a champion bodybuilder who specializes in training bodybuilders and employs trainers who train bodybuilders. While I was neither, I wasn’t exempt from the social influence and before long, I was eating and training more like a bodybuilder and less like a prize fighter.

This means my conditioning went to shit. My physique continued improving and I got bigger than ever (in a positive way) but my cardiovascular endurance was absolute trash.

Since 2021, I have started – and quit – running programs about three or four times. It got to the point where I felt like Katie would start rolling her eyes at me every time I told her I was going to start running again. This time was different, however. The Knoxville Whiskey Run represented more to me than just cardio endurance – it represented me having a drive and a passion for a full decade. I had to train and I had to finish this race as a runner.

Thankfully due to my physical activity level, I never quite lost that base-level of cardio ability required to knock out those first two weeks or so of a classic Couch-to-5K program. This is usually when I’d quit running (again) but this time, I kept pushing. Before I knew it, I was running two miles … then two and a half. 

On Tuesday, November 12 (my last full training run), I ran a 5k at Mayor Bob Leonard Park. It was my first 3.1 coverage since 2023’s mud run and the first time I’d fully ran that distance since the Bluegrass Half Marathon! I was elated. I had proven to myself that I could do it. I had proven to myself that I was ready.

I took that confidence into my final run – an easy-breezy maintenance run at the same park – three days before the big day.

JUST GET TO IT, WILL YA?

Geez. Be cool.

When I got to the parking lot at El Mezcal in Bearden on Sunday, I was immediately filled with that nervous excitement you always get before a race – a feeling I hadn’t gotten in much too long. After picking up my packet, I ran into an Juan, a former Title Boxing member, who was doing the half-marathon (and tried bullying me into changing which race I was doing). Next, I saw Rio, a former client and current ultramarathon runner who was also there to do the half. She didn’t ridicule me for doing the 5k. It wouldn’t have gotten her anywhere to do otherwise.

Both the 5k and 10k started at 9:00am. Aaron and I stood in the starting line BS’ing about our usual BS. I noticed the line at the bathroom had gone down to nothing and my watch read 8:58. Trying to be smart, I decided to make a quick pit stop before the race started since I have the bladder of a 90-year-old man. Just as I stepped into the porto-john, however, the announcer belted out “We start in 30 seconds!”

I could hear Aaron shout “30 SECONDS, J!” just as the door slammed shut. Dammit.

For some reason the announcer counts down from 10, which I thought was stupid at first but ended up being very happy about. I was able to finish my business and bust back out into my place in line with a single second to spare.

We were off. And by that, I mean Aaron and I crossed the starting line together, then I bid him arrivederci since he’s much faster than me. Regardless, I was doing the 5k and he was doing the 10k so I was going to finish before him. Even though we were in two different races, I made sure to hold that one over his head as he darted off into the sea of slower runners ahead of us.

The race itself was fine. I was very pleased with my endurance and felt like I ran the whole thing with relative ease. The scenery on Knoxville’s Third Creek Greenway is gorgeous and we were lucky enough to encounter a passing train on our route. It was in the upper 40s and sunny so the weather couldn’t have been better for a run like this.

The course organization, however, left some to be desired. All three races had more-or-less the same out-and-back routes, just different turnaround points. The 5k runners were told the turnaround would be at the first aid station and when I approached the friendly volunteers with cups of water at the ready, I overheard one shout “5k runners! The turnaround point is up ahead! Look for the black sign!”

Easy enough.

Another tenth of a mile or so later, I saw the black sign. It said “5k Turnaround Ahead.” Taking it as a warning, I continued running. And running. And running. Before long, I looked at my watch and saw that I was fast approaching two miles. I’d gone a full half mile past the sign and didn’t see anything clearly stating there was a turnaround. I had seen other runners realize this too late (though before me) and turn around, so I decided to do the same.

It sounds like many people made this mistake. For starters, a sign that says “turnaround ahead” indicates a future landmark, yet there wasn’t one. I’d later heard some other people admit confusion because they heard “first aid station” and interpreted it as first-aid station so I guess they were looking for a booth with bandaids or something. I’ve never seen this in my years as a runner, so this interpretation is a little silly to me, but I do understand the confusion.

I was irritated that if I wanted to cross the finish line at this point, I would need to run four miles, which was 0.9 miles longer than I had signed up for, but it was either finish the four-miler or just die on the greenway. I did keep an eye on my watch so I could make a mental note of what my unofficial time would have been had I ran 3.1 and was happy to record 34:12. It wasn’t my best 5k time ever, but it was better than my first and not too shabby for my first 5k in years. When I hit 3.1, I briefly thought about walking the rest of the way back since I had technically did what I had set out to do, but remembered I’m a Son of Ragnar. I maintained my pace all the way back through the finish line, happy to be done but also impressed with myself for knocking out a four-mile run after only training for three.

Some time later, Aaron crossed the finish line and accepted a banana after a few minutes of bitching about his hamstrings cramping. We made our way over to the restaurant where we each sampled two whiskeys and enjoyed a taco bar. It was 10:00 in the morning. There are no rules.

At the end of the day, I was very proud of myself for picking up running again and making it a part of my life. Aaron took first place for the 10k in his age group and Rio got first place for both her age group and gender in the half-marathon! It’s hard to not feel good about what you’re doing when you’re hanging out with winners! 

I have many more things to chat about regarding running and fitness in the next year. Some of which I’ll be announcing via this blog before the end of the year. It’s good, oh so good, to be back.