How I Became A Runner
Those who knew me when I was much younger, might remember me with my blue buddy: a box of Gauloises cigarettes. Not that I was a chain smoker, but 20 cigarettes a day were not unusual.
In The Netherlands, I had a business partner, who disliked smoking, but he eventually accepted the fact I was smoking; he even accepted me smoking in the same room where we were supposed to eat. And when I was alone at the office, I also smoked at my desk.
Then, in 2003, I moved to Denmark. My new girlfriend (now my wife!) then was an anti-smoker. Even though nearly her entire family (at least the adult part) were smokers at that moment. I eventually told her I’d quit smoking. Which I did in my head — but not in real life. I continued smoking when I was not at home. I simply do not understand how she believed me, when I told her that others might have been smoking close to me, when my clothes and my breathe smelled of cigarette smoke. After a long fight about whether I should smoke or not, my wife reluctantly accepted the fact that I was smoking. Although she kept commenting on my smoking whenever I lit a cigarette, or came back from the basements, where I was “allowed” to smoke.
In 2013, I became so very tired of all her comments, I decided to decrease the amount of smoking. I made a plan that should help me decrease smoking, with the ultimate goal to quit smoking in one year — to prove that I was able to not smoke; that I was not addicted (as if …):
1. Since Gauloises was very difficult to get hold of in Denmark, I decided that it would be helpful for me, to ONLY smoke Gauloises, and not accept other brands.
2. I wouldn’t allow myself to start the car for buying cigarettes: only if I was in the neighbourhood of one of the spare shops, that sold Gauloises, I allowed myself to buy; and only one pack at a time.
3. If I ran out of cigarettes, I had to wait 24 hours before I bought new cigarettes.
4. On the 29th of October 2013, my 37th. birthday, I would stop smoking for that one year.
With these rules, I wanted to proof that I was able to manage my desire to smoke.
On the 25th of October, however, I ran out of cigarettes. I was that day with a customer, who offered me a cigarette (which wasn’t Gauloises), and I accepted. That was against my own rules, so I decided I’d need to quit smoking already from that day, until my birthday one year later.
In 2014, I read a few books. One of them was The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey, and I became aware of the necessity of motion. The other book was “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking” by Allen Carr. Although Carr says, the reader should continue smoking while reading the book, to finally quit smoking upon closing the book, I already had stopped, for the purpose of one year. So I couldn’t continue smoking while reading. However, I decided, when I finished the book, that I never ever wanted to smoke again. Simply because … there is no profit in smoking!
The process from smoker to ex-smoker doesn’t make a runner. But because of The Seven Habits, I decided to exercise a bit more. So I began to do some fitness: dumbbells, pushups, situps, and so forth. In 2015, I suddenly began to run. Only 500 meters or so, more I couldn’t do. After I had done that four, five times, my wife told me, that the Danish crown prince had planned something called “Royal Run”: May 21st, 2018, the Crown Prince would turn 50. And to celebrate that, he invited the whole of Denmark to run together with him: one mile, 5 kilometres or 10 kilometres. “And,” said my wife, “I am challenging you to join”. I am not sure whether she meant the shortest track or not, but I accepted the challenge. And so I became a runner.
At the picture below, you can se me at the halfway check point, after 5 kilometres.
I eventually managed to run 21,1 kilometres one year later — the Esbjerg City Half, but I bet that was actually beyond my reach: Multiple times I had to stall. I made it within two hours and a half, while I should be able to do it in two hours.
In the autumn of 2020, I got some problems with my right leg: every time I runned, I wasn’t able to walk normally in four days afterwards. My wife, who is an occupational therapist, said to me, I should stop running in a while, to make sure the pain was gone. Then I should start from scratch.
After Christmas 2020, I began running tracks of 2 kilometres. As of now, I am running tracks of 5–10 kilometres. Sometimes, the pain in my right leg returns, but exercising afterwards helps. As for now, I am testing my wife’s suggestion: remove the special inlay soles, I bought from my physiotherapist, two years ago.
I am not sure if I can make it, but in 2021, I’d like to run the Marathon of Rotterdam, which should be in October — if Covid-19 isn’t blocking it.
