It all started with a girl.

Sort of.

My wife heard about the Ragnar Relay Series many years ago, and decided she wanted to try one.  At the time, I was not interested in partaking in the running part. Not one bit. See, in school, when we had to run, I was miserable for the most part. Sure, I was pretty fast at sprinting around the track once, but that was it. I never learned pacing, I ran binary, on/off. That was it.

The problem with running that way, especially for me, I could not breathe at all. I was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma when I kept having breathing issues while running. Hello crutch.

I have had a deep rooted desire to run, after high school, I would try to go run laps, as I thought that’s what runners did. I didn’t think to run the hills and roads of the town I grew up in. During the track sessions, I could run pretty quick, until a few issues would arise.

First off, track work outs are b-o-r-i-n-g! Round, and a round I’d run, four laps are a mile, eight for two, 12 for three. My mind hated it, nearly as much as my body, which brings me to trouble point number two: My left hip would absolutely hate me for running laps, same thing with skating, skiing, using my left hip in a repetitive way, in certain circular activities was extremely painful. Lastly, being unable to breathe effectively is a bit of a hurdle when trying to run.